Reforming police management: the introduction of a Police Board in Victoria

Abstract

Describes how, in the 1970s and 1980s the issues of formal political accountability and police powers dominated debates about policing. However, as programs designed to “reinvent government” have developed, police, like other public sector agencies, are increasingly subject to the practices of “new managerialism”. One technique used to promote change to the practices of managing the Victorian Police Force was the introduction of the Police Board in 1992. While formally limited from considering operational matters, the research program of the Police Board already indicates the possibilities of significant changes to police work practices. Examines the context within which the Police Board. Provides an outline of the research program of the Police Board. Argues that the Police Board and its research program are suggestive of the need to infuse debates about police practices and police accountability with analysis of managerialism