Book Review: Australian Policing: Contemporary Issues
| Author | David Burns |
| Published date | 01 December 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486588902200406 |
| Date | 01 December 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
276
BOOK REVIEWS
(1989)
22
ANZJ
Crim
Australian Policing: Contemporary Issues, edited by Duncan Chappell and Paul
Wilson, Butterworths (1989) 224
pp
$39.
Most edited books contain two and sometimes three articles that make the
document worth borrowing from the library and spending a
few
minutes in front of
aphotocopier. The immediate book, however,
is
different in the same way
that
the
six sociological essays edited by David JBordua (1967) was unique.
That
is, 10
of
the
12
articles which make up this book contribute individually to apicture
of
policing in Australia where the absence ofeven one essay would have destroyed the
mosaic image. Yet, each article stands alone as ascholarly discussion
of
an
important aspect ofpolicing in afree society. The two articles not based on research
into police work in Australia are applicable to the debates about police effectiveness
in police organisations universally. Among the issues surrounding the central hub
of
concern about the quality
of
policing in Australia, are specific discussions focused
on
police and society, leadership and management, effectiveness and efficiency,
control and accountability, and the future.
The
chapter~
on police effectiveness, one by Grabosky and the
other
by
Robinson, are 'both excellent reviews of the existing literature and raise serious
questions about how police performance should and can be measured.
Accountability
is
discussed in one chapter by Freckelton and Selby and in
another
chapter by Sarre. There
is
agood balance in the discussions
of
formal versus
informal accountability mechanisms. Operational concerns about policing youths
(James and Polk), an appraisal of community policing (Bayley), and the role
of
the
police (Veno and Veno) offer theoretical as well as practical issues for further
examination. The challenges and opportunities confronting police managers and
executives are addressed in three chapters: Munro sets the agenda for improving the
capacity to manage and lead, Avery notes the difficulties and complexities chief
executive officers have in working within aweb of tension, while the discussion and
evaluation
of
financial management
is
covered by Hudzik. Bradley and Cioccarelli
do agood job of reviewing the reasons behind the move toward higher education
for police officers and the actions being taken in New South Wales. Their discussion
demonstrates that the views expressed by August Vollmer about the
need
for
College Educated Cops over half acentury ago were right on the mark. Paul
Wilson's application
of
social forecasting
is
acautious but well reasoned argument
about anumber
of
emerging factors and events which will have an impact
on
every
police officer and every police organisation. Collectively these chapters form asolid
foundation for abetter informed and much wider discussion about the future
direction of policing in Australia.
According to the editors, the book was produced as aresource for academic
courses related to police.
For
this purpose there
is
more than adequate descriptive,
conceptual, theoretical and practical content to make the book appropriate for use
in awide variety ofcourses-undergraduate as well as post graduate. Yet, the level
of
analysis and the type of issues examined are such that the book
is
of
equal if not
more value to police practitioners, especially those decision-makers who are
prepared
to invest their best efforts in the future ofAustralia. While the student will
gain abetter appreciation
of
the complexities and contradictions facing the police
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