Book review: Queer Histories and the Politics of Policing (Queering Criminology and Criminal Justice), by Emma K Russell
| Author | Justin Bengry |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895820918444 |
| Published date | 01 July 2022 |
| Date | 01 July 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2022, Vol. 22(3) 498 –502
© The Author(s) 2021
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Book reviews
Emma K Russell, Queer Histories and the Politics of Policing (Queering Criminology and Criminal
Justice), Routledge: London; New York, 2020; 162 pp.: 9780815354901, £120.00 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Justin Bengry, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
DOI: 10.1177/1748895820918444
An apology is a good thing, right? And if it comes from the police, acknowledging their
mistreatment of queer people, that must surely be even better. What about a leader of the
police forces marching in solidarity at Pride? Looking at police interactions with queer
people, Emma Russell, a Senior Lecturer in Crime, Justice and Legal Studies at La Trobe
University, Australia, asks us to consider what political work these kinds of public
actions by the police do and for whom. Engaging with queerness creates opportunities
whereby ‘progressive ideas can be absorbed into violent institutions in ways that
strengthen and enhance those institutions’ reputation, without relinquishing any power’
(pp. 8–9). Queerness is, Russell suggests, an ‘evolving site for policing’, arguing that it
plays an important role in how the police position and rebrand the institution.
Homosexual offences were only removed from the Australian state of Victoria’s
Crimes Act in 1981. Much of the history of legal harassment and vilification of queer
people in Victoria therefore falls within living memory, meaning that Queer Histories
and the Politics of Policing speaks to issues of intense personal investment by queer
people in Melbourne and beyond. The book comprises eight relatively short chapters
(including Introduction and Afterword) dominated by case studies including the 1994
Tasty nightclub raid, Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon’s 2002 participation in
Melbourne’s Pride March, and Victoria Police’s 2014 apology for the Tasty raid. In other
chapters the book further explores the ‘ideal’ queer victim, queer anti-capitalism and the
politics of hate crimes. It focuses on Melbourne as a locality with its own significant his-
tory, but one that affords broader insights into queer communities and policing across
Australia. This focus on the significance of locality is important, demonstrating how
local and regional historical specificities shape experiences. Taken together, these case
studies, Russell argues, comprise a ‘growing archive of efforts made by the police to
achieve a queer-friendly image’ that may ‘build trust’ even as they contribute to ‘rebrand-
ing’ efforts (p. 1).
Russell’s research extends beyond the police services to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisex-
ual, transgender and queer) activists and community members whose energies focus on
918444CRJ0010.1177/1748895820918444Criminology & Criminal JusticeBook reviews
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