British Police Research Articles

“Jack of all Trades and Master of None,” is this a True Reflection of Today’s British Police

The purpose of present study is to explore the British policing methods and their effectiveness. Generally, four key goals of their policing include preventing crime and disorder, pursuing and bringing to justice those who break the law, keeping the peace, and helping the public. When considering these aims carefully, it leads to a subsequent question: If the majority of regular police officers are not directly fighting crime, what are the reasons for it and what are they actually doing? This is the foundations for the “Jack of all trades” argument of this paper, which gives rise to the two competing paradigms. One is that the role of the police should involve much more than simply apprehending criminals. Furthermore, the other paradigm suggests that the police are simply spending too much time on the activities that are not part of their main duties. These polarised viewpoints need to be taken into account before any meaningful conclusions can be drawn. This paper argues that the answer can be found in the culture of policing by examining the goals that the British police forces are currently attempting to achieve. It is clear that as the police have finite resources, they have to make choices about how to deploy them. This requires reconsidering their priorities and placing more emphases on some activities more than others.

Doing it Live! Planning and Preparing for a Live Drama Episode: A Case Study of 'The Bill' (ITV, 2005)

Over the last decade there has been a move towards live episodes of popular television dramas and soap operas in the UK being used to celebrate programme and channel anniversaries. This paper, written by a member of the production team is focused on the ‘behind the scenes’ preparation and subsequent broadcast of the live episode of British police drama The Bill on September 22 nd 2005. This live episode became a landmark broadcast as it was the first time that dramatic stunt sequences had been performed live. This article will be supported with examples from the original planning documentation and rehearsal photographs and will examine the production culture in the planning and preparation of the episode. It will also reveal some of the trickery used to execute the stunts, will discuss the difficulties experienced during the live episode and how problems were overcome.

Doing it Live! Planning and Preparing for a Live Drama Episode

Over the last decade there has been a move towards live episodes of popular television dramas and soap operas in the UK being used to celebrate programme and channel anniversaries. This paper, written by a member of the production team is focused on the ‘behind the scenes’ preparation and subsequent broadcast of the live episode of British police drama The Bill on September 22nd 2005. This live episode became a landmark broadcast as it was the first time that dramatic stunt sequences had been performed live. This article will be supported with examples from the original planning documentation and rehearsal photographs and will examine the production culture in the planning and preparation of the episode. It will also reveal some of the trickery used to execute the stunts, will discuss the difficulties experienced during the live episode and how problems were overcome.

The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1921. By D. M. Leeson.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Pp. xxii+294. $55.00.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1921. By D. M. Leeson.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Pp. xxii+294. $55.00.Joost AugusteijnJoost AugusteijnLeiden University Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Journal of Modern History Volume 85, Number 4December 2013New Directions in Legal and Constitutional History Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/672545 Views: 113Total views on this site For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Lost in Translation: The English Policeman through a German Monocle, 1848–1914

AbstractConceptions and misconceptions about foreign models for law enforcement and criminal justice often shape reform debates in important ways by excluding certain options and promoting specific agendas, which are claimed to be more effective, humane or legitimate. This article analyses the reception of the ‘English police model’ in German debates between 1848 and 1914. It argues that the frequent references in German debates to English policing functioned as an important rhetorical device to promote certain reform agendas. Highly diverging projects for police reform were promoted in German debates under the label of the ‘English model’. These projects bore only a partial resemblance to English principles of policing as the original model was deliberately misinterpreted or the elements presented as the ‘English model’ was limited to certain selected elements. Nevertheless, the ‘English model’ as a label had the important function in German debates of shaping which forms of police reform could be considered. Conversely, negative references to other foreign influences – notably French ones – served to undermine the credibility of existing institutions or competing reform projects. Accordingly the ‘englischer Policeman’ in German debates bears little connection to the original model and the English Bobby is only discernible as seen through a German monocle.

Disproportionality in Internal Misconduct and Counter-Corruption Proceedings in Three English Police Services

Disproportionality in Internal Misconduct and Counter-Corruption Proceedings in Three English Police Services

‘Backroom Boys’: Occupational Dynamics in Crime Scene Examination

Despite a sustained preoccupation with crime scene investigation in policing and instructional literatures, government reviews and media accounts, the crime scene examiner has received scant sociological attention. Focusing on scientific support personnel in an English police force, this article analyses how embedded actors who routinely facilitate the provision of crime scene examination reflect on their role and position in the investigative process. The analysis draws on data collected in a small number of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders at different levels of seniority, in order to map an understanding of the inter and intra-professional interactions, exchanges, dependencies and negotiations employed by those working at the coalface of investigative practice. Hoping to illuminate some of the sense-making practices behind the enactment of forensic activities, the discussion examines the articulation of professional identities and the conclusion reflects more broadly on the processes of professionalisation and discourses of professionalism that accompany standardised forensic accomplishments.

Muslim communities attitudes towards and recruitment into the British police service

Recent UK media reports have often portrayed Muslim communities in a negative light (Allen, 2010). Indeed, the frequent media focus of Muslim's being arrested for counter-terrorism offences have been reported in great length. Yet the Muslim community remains diverse and is one of the longest established UK communities within Britain. However, previous studies show that there remains a tense relationship with the police and Muslim communities (Awan, 2011) with negative attitudes held by many young British Muslims towards the police (Kundnani, 2009), and indeed negativity remains stronger from young people from minority ethnic communities. The focus and aim of this research was to gather perceptions from the Muslim community in Birmingham as regards whether they would choose or recommend a career within the police service. Thus the objective for the study was to try and get a better understanding of Muslim perceptions about police recruitment.This article reports on the findings and implications of a small-scale study conducted in 2011 comprising of interviews with two Muslim groups namely the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities from Birmingham (in the UK), where 20 people were interviewed in four groups consisting of (5) participants. The categories included Young People (aged between 15 years and 18 years); Community Leaders; Mosque Representatives and Female Groups (aged between 18 years and 30 years) which aimed to identify and gather the views of Muslim communities in respect to their views about choosing a career with the police service. Analysis revealed that the Muslim community responded in a fairly homogeneous way: they had a lack of trust towards the police and also issues were raised about the legality of counter-terrorism policing operations; a perception that the police service were a racist organisation and that the police had failed to engage with the Muslim community in Birmingham which had left a negative experience of Muslim communities and the police.3 Recommendations to improve the image and recruitment into the police service include more pro-active work with local communities and the use of community policing as a means to reach out to otherwise ‘hard to reach groups’.

A British ‘Foreign Legion’? The British Police in Mandate Palestine

The men of the British section of the Palestine police have romantically imagined their time as officers in Mandate Palestine, a land infused with historical and biblical significance. Many compared their service to that of the famed military force, the French Foreign Legion. This study sets the nostalgia of memory against the reality of service in Palestine, one that involved considerable brutality against local people. This essay details the empirical evidence of violence, including torture and a ‘dirty war’, mining archival sources, contextualizing primary source material within wider notions of British ideas of collective punishment within the empire. The Palestine police failed in its job of policing, necessitating the deployment of the army to Palestine, and with this collapse in police control the force became more violent. Ironically, the reality of life in the Palestine police was similar to that in the French Foreign Legion: a shock force there to maintain imperial control. The article argues that policing methods from the Mandate period continued after the Palestine force was disbanded in 1948, both within Israel and in other parts of the British Empire where demobilized Palestine police officers went to serve. It pushes the current paradigm on policing, extending the literature that details reforms and institutional change in the Palestine police to include the impact on local people.

British Muslims, Trust and the Police Service

Black and minority ethnic communities remain chronically under-represented in British police forces. Imran Awan assesses the situation and asks what the police can do to improve their relationship with Muslim communities in particular.

Diversity in the British police : adapting to a multicultural society

Historically white male dominated, the police service was criticised for having a sexist and racist culture and lacking black, Asian and female officers. The low numbers of ethnic minorities in the police service and other public institutions was highlighted in 1999 with the publication of the Macpherson Report into the Inquiry following Stephen Lawrence’s murder. The Race Relations Act of 2000 reinforced public authorities' duties to prevent racial discrimination, promote racial equality and promote good relations between members of different racial groups. All forty-three police forces in England and Wales were required to meet targets set by the government to increase the number of recruits from minority ethnic communities. These targets vary from region to region set according to the make-up of the ethnic population in each region. However, the National Target set by the government in 1999 of 7% of ethnic minority officers by 2009 to reflect the national average 7% ethnic minority population in England and Wales. By 2012, the proportion of police officers that consider themselves to be from a minority ethnic background had risen from under 2% in 1997 to 5%. This paper examines the nature and extent of the changes in recruitment and training of police made between 1995 and 2005 and examines the reasons for its relative success drawing on interviews with Thames Valley Police officers and staff in 2007.

Twenty years on: lesbian, gay and bisexual police officers' experiences of workplace discrimination in England and Wales

Twenty years ago Mark Burke's pioneering research into homosexuality and policing evidenced widespread prejudice and hostility toward lesbian, gay and bisexual police officers in nine forces across England and Wales. These serving officers were felt to represent the most serious kind of contamination and threat to the integrity of the British Police Service by their heterosexual colleagues. Twenty years on this research, which represents one of the largest ever surveys of LGB police officers in England and Wales (N=836), evidences that just under one-fifth reported experiencing discrimination, with those in small and large forces, those in senior ranks and non-uniformed positions, and those who identify as gay male and Black, Minority Ethnic experiencing the highest levels of victimisation in training, deployment and promotion. Like Brown and Woolfenden, the authors conclude that a central aim of the diversity reform agenda must be a renegotiation of the psychological contract between staff and the organisation. A relational setup must be sought where mutual expectations of exchange are established and efforts are made to create a rich working environment that draws upon and invests in the subjective and intersubjective identity characteristics of LGB police officers.

Confidence in the police: Balancing public image with community safety – A comparative review of the literature

Examining the evolution of British and Australian policing, this comparative review of the literature considers the historical underpinnings of policing in these two countries and the impact of community legitimacy derived from the early concepts of policing by consent. Using the August 2011 disorder in Britain as a lens, this paper considers whether, in striving to maintain community confidence, undue emphasis is placed on the police's public image at the expense of community safety. Examining the path of policing reform, the impact of bureaucracy on policing and the evolving debate surrounding police performance, this review suggests that, while largely delivering on the ideal of an ethical and strong police force, a preoccupation with self-image may in fact result in tarnishing the very thing British and Australian police forces strive to achieve – their standing with the public. This paper advocates for a more realistic goal of gaining public respect rather than affection in order to achieve the difficult balance between maintaining trust and respect as an approachable, ethical entity providing firm, confident policing in this ever-evolving, modern society.

Television crime series, women police, and fuddy-duddy feminism

This essay argues that Prime Suspect has become a canonical text for feminist television studies and that Helen Mirren's performance of Lynda La Plante's creation has provided an influential template for television, and the broader culture, to imagine what a senior female police officer is like. So Jane Tennison is important not only within the depicted world of the “canteen culture” of the police in Prime Suspect, but also within the broader context of television production where she has demonstrated that crime shows with female leads can be extremely successful. Juxtaposing Prime Suspect with two later “girly” British TV police series, I ask how we might approach the “daughters of Jane Tennison” found in series such as Ghost Squad (2005) and Murder in Suburbia (2004–2006). Are these “postfeminist” shows? I argue that attention to these programmes can productively inform our understanding of what is entailed for women in not being “fuddy-duddy,” and my comments thus engage, in the continuing debate about the utility and periodisation of the notion of “postfeminism.”

Are Informed Citizens More Trusting? Transparency of Performance Data and Trust Towards a British Police Force

In Britain, substantial cuts in police budgets alongside controversial handling of incidents such as politically sensitive enquiries, public disorder and relations with the media have recently triggered much debate about public knowledge and trust in the police. To date, however, little academic research has investigated how knowledge of police performance impacts citizens’ trust. We address this long-standing lacuna by exploring citizens’ trust before and after exposure to real performance data in the context of a British police force. The results reveal that being informed of performance data affects citizens’ trust significantly. Furthermore, direction and degree of change in trust are related to variations across the different elements of the reported performance criteria. Interestingly, the volatility of citizens’ trust is related to initial performance perceptions (such that citizens with low initial perceptions of police performance react more significantly to evidence of both good and bad performance than citizens with high initial perceptions), and citizens’ intentions to support the police do not always correlate with their cognitive and affective trust towards the police. In discussing our findings, we explore the implications of how being transparent with performance data can both hinder and be helpful in developing citizens’ trust towards a public organisation such as the police. From our study, we pose a number of ethical challenges that practitioners face when deciding what data to highlight, to whom, and for what purpose.

Policing Violent Homophobia in the Caribbean and the British Caribbean Diaspora

This essay examines how premodern representations of Jamaicans at home and their descendants in Britain are interwoven and have contributed to new postmodern images. These images around violent homophobia have been crucial in the promotion of the western international queer agenda abroad, and British gay activists' goals at home in the context of discussions around hate crime and dancehall music. The British police occupy a central role in this dynamic by enforcing anti-racist and anti-homophobic legislation and addressing issues associated with contemporary identities. The essay demonstrates that contrary to postmodern assumptions essentialist representations are critical in understanding British and western perceptions of Jamaicans and their descendants in the diaspora and how the police respond in important instances. It shows how claims of Jamaican homophobia and racism intersect, creating important challenges for the contemporary police, and raises questions about hate crime theory which are brought to the fore in the international controversy around Jamaican dancehall music.

Who does what to whom? Gender and domestic violence perpetrators in English police records

The article discusses findings from first study in Europe to track domestic violence cases over six years through the criminal justice system and compare cases involving male and female perpetrators. Ninety-six cases involving men and women recorded by the police in England as intimate domestic violence perpetrators were tracked to provide detailed narratives and progression of cases, establishing samples with a single male or female perpetrator or where both partners were recorded as perpetrators. Domestic violence involves a pattern of abusive behaviour over time and the in-depth longitudinal approach allowed similarities and differences in violent and abusive behaviours used by men and women, as recorded by the police, to be explored. Gender differences were found relating to the nature of cases, forms of violence recorded, frequency of incidents and levels of arrest.

Explaining the pattern of growth in strategic actions taken by police services during the New Labour years: an exploratory study of an English police service

After a decade of rapid spending increases under New Labour, this paper seeks to explain the pattern of growth in the range of strategic actions undertaken by police services during that period. Referring to a longitudinal analysis of documents, including annual reports, which related to strategic actions taken by one English police service (Blueshire), the common perception that ‘police mission’ has been subject to expansionary pressures is placed under scrutiny. An analysis is conducted which differentiates between new and cyclical policy issues and whether the strategic response is locally or centrally directed. Content analysis derived data has been supplemented with information secured during interviews with police leaders, to provide greater contextual depth. While it was observed that the capacity of police leaders to focus on core policing roles has, to some extent, been compromised, this cannot be explained purely in terms of central government pressure. The concept of path dependency is used to explain how this has occurred. A discussion is provided of the implications for the strategic direction of policing.

Reducing the offending of a UK organized crime group using an opportunity-reducing framework—a three year case study

The proliferation and capability of organised crime groups (OCGs), threaten to overwhelm the finite resources of police agencies. Although proactive ‘intelligence led’ approaches are more adept in identifying the most problematic offenders, responses predominantly rely on enforcement tactics, often delivering limited outcomes at significant cost. This paper outlines a case study involving a northern English police force, working alongside community safety partners and the public, in a bid to reduce the offending opportunities of an OCG. The multi-agency disruption tactics were categorised using the five themes highlighted by Cornish and Clarke (Criminology 25:933–949, 1986) in their Rational Choice Theory framework. The impact of the operation was evaluated by comparing criminal conviction data and police intelligence immediately prior to the police operation with similar data 2 years later. This was supplemented by semi-structured interviews with police officers (including patrol, detective, middle and senior ranking officers), partner agencies and the community. The operation was effective in reducing the threat posed by the OCG and was popular with those involved in its implementation. As it was delivered with no increased resources it provides a viable and cost effective method of reducing the threat of OCGs although further research is required to test its impact in different police agencies and against different OCGs.

The Development of Policing in Britain in the Next Five Years

The British police service is currently going through a radical transformation phase. The present Tory-led coalition government has set out an agenda to bring about drastic changes in policing. These proposed changes are unprecedented in the history of policing since 1829. The police service is governed by a tripartite arrangement of checks and balances laid down under the Police Act 1964. By this I mean that there are three key players in relation to police governance in Britain: the Home Secretary, the local police authority and the chief constable. The future of policing in the next five years is set out clearly by the Home Secretary, Theresa May MP, under the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill, which is currently being reviewed in the House of Lords. The recent phone hacking scandal has made it imperative for the British public to have a closer look at the police service in relation to proper accountability. There have been references to police corruption as far back as the era of ‘parish constables’, dating back to 1800, when it was alleged that police officers took bribes, got drunk whilst on duty and lacked moral credibility to protect and serve us (Critchley, 1978). In the seventies and eighties the British public was informed of another scandal involving members of Scotland Yard and criminal gangs in the East End of London. In this article, I shall argue that the issue of police corruption is not a new phenomenon. It is has been an ongoing issue that has haunted the police for over a century. This article is divided into three parts. In the first part of the article I present the following issues: the Metropolitan Police policing plan 2011–2014; the merits and demerits of the policing plan; tripartite police accountability and its shortcomings; democratic accountability and localisation of policing; the professionalisation of policing and the creation of the Police Body; review of police pay and benefits; and the impact of this on police officers' morale. In the second part of my article I present some of the criticisms levelled against the ongoing police reforms. I will look at the criticisms from both internal and external perspectives. By internal criticism, I mean police officers' opposition to the reforms. By external criticism, I mean criticisms from criminologists and members of the British public. In the third part of my article I made my position clear on where I stand in relation to the ongoing police reforms. I shall argue that the current ongoing job cuts in the police service are a disaster waiting to happen, and that our safety has been compromised by politicians. We are now living at the mercy of criminals and law breakers due to manpower shortage. We are all living witnesses to the ongoing public disturbances in Tottenham, Enfield, Brixton, Peckham, Walthamstow and Croydon, in London. The speed of the spread of these riots to other cities like Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool occurred on an unimaginable scale. We all watched how difficult it was for the police to restore order and normality. Rioters looted and plundered goods and burnt down buildings as if no laws existed in our country. A complete breakdown of law and order put the lives of citizens at risk. My article makes a passionate appeal to the present coalition government to rethink the issue of reducing the numbers of police officers protecting us. I shall argue that we need more police officers in Britain not fewer. The level of anger and social discontent is higher than the government ever anticipated, partly because of economic hardship. My argument is that economic hardship is not an excuse to commit burglary, theft, arson, murder and criminal damage with intent to endanger life. Rioters are shameless opportunists, a bunch of hoodlums, criminals who have no place in any civilised society, who should be made to face the due process of law.