Commentary

Abstract

We now know more about the direction in which the new Coalition Government intends to take police reform. Its consultative document Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting Police and the People was published in mid July, consultation ended in September and legislation, the forthcoming (at the time of writing) Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, is imminent. The consultative document claims this as ‘the most radical change in policing in 50 years’. The claim has some legitimacy in the light of the Coalition's proposals for changes in the structure and governance of policing.