Changing policing: Revolution not evolution

Since the inception of the "new police" in 1829, policing has changed by slow evolution, always appearing to be one step behind the changes in society. This was tolerable while the pace of change was slow and its direction relatively predictable. That is no longer the case and a more radical approach to changing how we are policed is necessary. This book, written by Michael O'Byrne, who served in every type of force, retiring as a relatively young chief constable in order to be free to state his views, covers all the major issues which need to be addressed if policing in England and Wales is to retain its pre-eminence. In doing so, he examines: how the service has dealt with change since the revolutionary sixties; the strengths and weaknesses of the "canteen culture"; the flaw in the current approach to the control of drugs; the key role of patrol; the vexed issue of institutionalized racism and the likelihood of successful implementation of the Macpherson recommendations; the concept and limitations of a "policing philosophy"; the confused and confusing role of the Home Office; the counter-productive effectivness of the Police Federation; and the "demonic deficit" created by the current police authority structure.