Policing Bodies in Wandsworth

Abstract

This chapter analyses the actual operation of so-called hybrid policing and private policing ‘on the ground’ and examines their relationship with Home Department police forces. Clearly, this requires applying a considerably more circumscribed geographical focus — the London borough of Wandsworth — to the subject matter of private security and public policing. The chapter looks at the nature of the policing organisations on the ground — their functions, powers, and geographical remit. Prior to considering the policing of Wandsworth, however, this chapter first explores some of the background features of the borough itself — a borough which has undergone significant changes over the last twenty years or so. As one of the Thatcherite ‘flagship’ boroughs, the local authority was at the forefront of innovation in terms of privatisation and liberalisation during the 1980s. Wandsworth's major policing bodies are divided into two broad groups: private (in the sectoral sense) policing bodies and private security organisations. Public bodies are subdivided into three categories: the Metropolitan Police, other bodies of constables, and other public policing bodies.