International Policing, Wartime, and Innovations

Abstract

This chapter addresses the impact of the First World War on police development. During this period, there was a gradual increase in the introduction of women police, often just to fill the gaps filled by men but occasionally, and especially in Britain, to relieve men of the task of having to police women and children. The war also encouraged the use of some technological innovations such as motor vehicles and radio. In the United States, some forces stressed mechanization and the need to train policemen as professionals. At the beginning of the twentieth century, there were moves to bring police institutions together to deal with international threats and problems, but in the interwar period, different national attitudes tended to split such links. Equally, such attitudes impacted upon the way that the police of different states dealt with similar problems. The chapter then considers international policing.