A New Study of the Police Service
| Author | P. D. Knights |
| Date | 01 July 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700711 |
| Published date | 01 July 1964 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
P.
D.
KNIGHTS
Assistant Chief Constable
of
Birmingham and Deputy Commandant
of
the Police College
A
NEW
STUDY
OF
THE
POLICE SERVICE
The publication of yet another book about police (The Police, by
Ben Whitaker, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 2Is., Penguin Books, 3s. 6d.)
has been pretty favourably received by the press at large. The
author, according to his publishers, is a 30-year-old practising barris-
ter who read history at Oxford, spent some time at Harvard, worked
in Sicily and also studied psychology and criminology at the London
School of Economics for three years. The dust-jacket says that the
book
"aims
to help the public and the police understand each
other's viewpoints better.
It
also fills an urgent need both for a
fresh look at the police and for factual information about them,
and presents a radical and far-reaching analysis of the current
problems ". Whether Mr. Whitaker's experience is altogether
appropriate for such a task may be questioned but at least he has
made a brave attempt.
By way of introduction he criticizes the composition of the 1960
Royal Commission on the Police and the methods used in its
inquiries; he then takes issue with the Commission on a number of
its findings, particularly in the field of police-public relations; he
nevertheless draws frequently on the evidence it heard, and on its
conclusions, when arguing his own case.
The role of police is then discussed, together with its historical
origins and the political and social pressures affecting the Service.
Policemen will not disagree with his contention that it is as a social
service rather than as a repressive force that police should develop
in the future. The extent to which it has already done so is sufficiently
remarkable.
This leads to an examination of the efficiency of the organization
today and to a general criticism that police authorities are parsi-
monious in providing men and equipment. The powers available to
police in the investigation of crime, the case for a national force,
recruiting, training and career prospects are discussed as, also, and
very naturally, the contentious problem of the investigation of
complaints against police. The concluding chapters deal with sug-
gested methods for improving police-public relations and the future
development of the Service, where the author returns to his social
theme.
In many ways the author is very sympathetic towards the Service
and there is much in the book with which the police officer will
July 1964 344
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