Policing the Caribbean: Transnational Security Cooperation in Practice. By Ben Bowling (New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc., 2010, 350pp. 60.00 hb)

Abstract

The globalization of crime has called forth a criminal justice response that is aptly characterized by the popular catchphrase ‘transnational policing’. Transnational policing embodies an array of activities including cross-border police cooperation in investigations and tactical operations, intelligence sharing, training and the dispensing of donor aid, all of which constitute an increasingly noticeable aspect of Caribbean criminal justice administration. In his book, Policing the Caribbean: Transnational Security Cooperation in Practice, Ben Bowling focuses on this important and still evolving topic by highlighting the numerous developments in transnational policing in the Anglophone Caribbean. He examines the development of transnational policing in this region from early attempts by colonial authorities to foster inter-island police collaboration to the more contemporary multiagency and multijurisdictional arrangements to advance a regional security agenda. A prolific scholar of Caribbean criminology, Bowling has produced several works on policing and other criminal justice issues in the region. In his current work, Bowling describes the emergence of a new policing paradigm that is continuously influenced, not only by security threats posed by the transnational drug trade and the presence of organized criminal networks, but also by rapid developments in technology, communications, and regional and international travel. Even though the bulk of police work takes place in villages and towns, the main focus of the book is on ‘policing practices that look beyond the boundaries of the Caribbean nation state’ (p. 22). Drawing primarily on information gleaned during numerous interviews with high-level security officials and ground-level practitioners, the author provides a convincing account of how the security of the small, vulnerable island nations of the Caribbean may be impacted by transnational crime, particularly drug trafficking, as well as non-traditional security problems such as environmental disasters and socio-political and economic developments (pp. 39–41). In terms of how these threats are managed, the numerous excerpts of interviews cited throughout the book permit rare insights into various approaches and personal and institutional challenges encountered by practitioners in the quest to coordinate effective response mechanisms.