Police Powers and Citizens’ Rights: Discretionary Decision-Making in Police Detention. By Layla Skinns (Routledge, 2019, 233pp, £120.00)

Abstract

The purpose of the book is ambitious: to explore comparatively the relative influence of discretion, law and other rule structures on police practices in police detention; and, more globally, to highlight what it reveals about the state’s relationship with its citizens in neoliberal democracies (p. 3). The issues raised are undeniably crucial as they relate to the use of powers (underpinned by the potential use of force) to detain by the police and, thus, question the rights of citizens. Based on 480 hours of observation and 71 semi-structured interviews (both with police officers and detainees), the book analyses the influence of discretion, the law and order rule structures in four different cities located in four national jurisdictions (Australia, England, Ireland and the United States). After a short introduction, Skinns starts by theorizing police powers, whether police officers abide by legal rules and how they employ their authority. She also reflects on the role played by the law and other rule structures by drawing on Ericson’s typology (distinguishing between following the rules, using the rules, acting beyond the rules, acting within the rules and acting without rules). She then devotes two chapters to understanding police action in context by taking into account not only the macro-context (social demographic context, income differentials and status of egalitarian values) but also the patterns of police work in each jurisdiction. In Chapter 5, she describes the conditions, routines, rituals and rules of police detention, which provides the framework for the exercise of coercive control in detention facilities. She also examines the legality of police custody by focusing on the more or less strict respect by police officers of three key rights (the right to silence, the right to custodial legal advice and the right not to be detained indefinitely). In Chapter 7, the focus is on the styles of authority (coerced, legitimate and symbolic) exercised by police staff. Chapter 8 is then dedicated to the ways police custody is adjusted to detainees considered vulnerable (children, detainees with medical conditions, mental health conditions, women and public with non-English speaking background). In the conclusion, she not only synthetizes the main findings but also examines the relationships between neoliberal values and police authority.