Abstract
The quotation above by the ex-MPS commissioner Sir Robert Mark makes a number of bold claims, many of which would probably be re-asserted by senior police officers and politicians today. It also raises a number of key questions about cases of DAPC. Are police answerable to the law? Do they act on behalf of the community? Are they accountable? This chapter examines these questions and unpicks various issues that underpin them. It highlights the importance of relationships to understanding these questions and wider issues relating to cases of DAPC. The relationship between police, state and society is examined throughout this book, but this chapter particularly considers the relationship between the symbolic representation and practical reality of policing; it considers how discretion plays a significant role in the gap between representation and reality; and it examines how this affects the types of police accountability that might be produced from the perspectives of state, society and the police themselves. These relationships are complex and dynamic, and are inextricably linked with concepts such as legitimacy, consent and ambiguity.
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