Book Reviews
| Author | Marian Duggan |
| Pages | 77-85 |
77
BOOK REVIEWS
Edited by Marian Duggan
GLOBAL POLICING
Ben Bowling & James Sheptycki (2012), London SAGE publications, pp180 (pbk) £22.99,
ISBN 978-1849200820.
In 2011, public services in England and Wales saw their budgets cut deeply as the realities
of the global recession took a hold. This led to organisational change across many of th ese
services, not least police ser vices. The recession was, in part, a reminder of the impact
globalisation can have at a local level. We can easily come to focus on that which is
immediately in front of us, and forget the wider-ranging impact. Global Policing provides a
timely reminder that policing too has a global presence which is not confined to England
and Wales. Cross-border polici ng has led to a ‘new global policing architecture’, shaping
policing practices acro ss the world. The book at first appears short (180 pages) for such a
broad subject matter, however these established authors provide a very informative and
accessible discussion throughout, which will be of valued interest to academics, police
practitioners and students alike.
Chapter one introduces global policing, contextualising the ‘subject with regard to
theories of policing, globalisation, social order and governance.’ The problems of th e
concept are addressed, including the use of a compelling case of mistaken identity i n
which Derek Bond was wrongfully arrested in South Africa due to inaccurate information
flagged by the US FBI and circulated by Interpol, highlighting some of the fun damental
flaws to the global policing structure. T his leads the authors to raise critical question s of
the infrastructure and administration of global policing, which they address in the
proceeding chapters. Chapter one further provides a theoretical base for these questions
to be answered. Two tab les (pp. 24-25) provide an excellent overview of the way in which
transnational policing is undertaken. This leads into chapter two, which considers the
emerging transnational-state-system within which global policing occurs. The chapter
discusses the role of economic globalisation and political and cultural chan ge in the
reduction in power of the state and the con sequent role of the police within. The authors
suggest that the ‘social quality of politics’, not the ‘letter of the law’, shapes the
boundaries of policing, and glob al policing is ‘highly influential in the world system’.
British Journal of Community Justice
©2014 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 12(1): 77-85
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