Government and accountability of the police

Barry Loveday

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

This chapter will look at current debates surrounding the accountability of the police service in England and Wales, and issues related to the government of the police in the United States and France. It will also consider the application of typologies of police systems first developed by John Stead in his influential study of the French police in the 1950s. These typologies have a continuing application in terms of developing models of police systems. Traditionally examples of the typologies developed by Stead have been relatively easy to identify and may, in part, have reflected the divide between European and Anglo-American police and legal systems. Stead was to develop three typologies of police systems which he classified as fragmented, combined and national centralized systems. Traditionally the police systems of the USA and Britain would be classified as respectively fragmented and combined where a large number of police forces operated in relative isolation or where local and central government were jointly responsible for the government of the police. Similarly, France has traditionally been identified as being a clear example of a national centralized police system. This relatively easy allocation of existing police systems to particular typologies made in the past may now need to be reviewed.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPolicing Across the World
Subtitle of host publicationIssues for the Twenty-first Century
EditorsR. I. Mawby
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherUCL Press
Pages132-150
ISBN (Electronic)0203500849
ISBN (Print)1857284887 (hbk.), 1857284895 (pbk.)
Publication statusPublished - 1999

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