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Leanne Weber, Policing non-citizens

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 March 2015
Published date01 March 2015
DOI10.1177/0004865814554338
Subject MatterBook Reviews
untitled
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
2015, Vol. 48(1) 147–152
Book Reviews
! The Author(s) 2015
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865814554338
anj.sagepub.com
Leanne Weber, Policing non-citizens. Routledge: New York, 2013; 214 pp. ISBN 978-0-415-81129-3,
$44.95 (pbk)
Reviewed by: Willem de Lint, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia; Lorraine Mazerolle, University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Rick Sarre, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
Policing Non-Citizens is a carefully crafted study of the theoretical and practical dilem-
mas raised in the policing of immigrants. In examining this topic, the book advances a
number of themes that are pertinent to observers of policing in Australia today. Drawing
on her mixed method case study of the policing of people seeking migration into New
South Wales, Dr. Leanne Weber provides a f‌ine illustration of theory-driven empirical
research. Having undertaken an extensive (and exhaustive) array of in-depth interviews
across a host of agencies comprising the policing ‘‘web’’ (as Jean-Paul Brodeur would
describe it), Dr. Weber makes it clear that the law pertaining to the policing of non-
citizens is complex. She notes a lack of harmonization of federal and state laws. The
overlap, convergence, complexity, and contradictory natures of these laws create a legal
web that police and immigration of‌f‌icers (and others) rarely negotiate successfully. That
being the case, consistent and fair outcomes for ‘‘non-citizens’’ become virtually
impossible.
Dr. Weber begins her inquiry by making no a priori assumptions as to whether or not
there is a core agency responsible for policing non-citizens. Her research, therefore,
captures the inter-agency linkages and the dispersion of sovereignty. She ultimately
f‌inds that actors comprising the policing web share an interest not only in ‘‘how the
community is policed, but how it is constituted’’ (p. 176). At the same time, Dr. Weber
...

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