Recent Book: Modern Police Administration
| Published date | 01 July 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300312 |
| Date | 01 July 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
felonies and misdemeanours. The reader
who stumbles over the inevitable
jargon
will take
comfort
from the glossary at the
rear of the book. Areader who is
politically aware may find some interest
in the Constitution of the United States
printed at the end of the book.
This isa very basic text but it provides
interesting material
about
the American
system of policing for the general reader.
The specialist will need to look elsewhere
for further. detailed study. MW
Do""I.I> O.
SCHUL
rz. Ed.: Modern Police Administration.
Gulf
Publishing Co. Price £7.75.
This book is a collection of papers
from twelve contributors. all of whom
have some active interest in law
enforcement in the United States.
Academic
and
practitioner
have
combined
to
present
papers
for
discussion on issues considered to be
important
in the policing of the United
States.
At first sight. there is nothing in the
book
that
will arouse immediate interest
for the English reader. Police Unions.
Classification and Pay. and Politics are
not debated to the same extent in this
country. On the
other
hand. there is
growing interest in Britain
about
police
accountability and it is interesting to note
the role and influence of politicians and
politics in the American police system.
The reader will also find papers on
Discipline and Leadership. Few would
doubt
the relevance of these matters to
our
system of policing.
All the papers combine to raise a
number
of interesting issues. The authors
quote
a
number
of references to
other
texts. The English reader may well find
an irritation here because most of the
texts quoted are American and I suspect
that they could only be obtained in
Britain after a long search. It wil not be
easy to follow up some matters even
though one's interest may be stirred. A
description of foreign systems includes a
review of England. There are some errors
here. This raises questions
about
the
accuracy of the descriptions of the
other
countries systems. Finally. there is an
account of the development of women
police in America. It may cause
comment. not least because it is relatively
short
and placed near the end of the
book.
This is not a book for the newcomer.
The student of the American system of
policing will find it useful. It is intended
to bring the reader up to
date
on
important
issues. Perhaps the best judges
of this will be American rather
than
English. MW
THE UNFORTUNATE OFFENDER?
R. H.
LAWRENCE:
Driver'sGuide to the
LOll".
MacDonald
&Evans in association with the R.A.C. £2.95.
The
author
points out in his preface
that the book is aimed at all of those who
come into conflict with the law. primarily
the
ordinary
motorist. but in addition the
lawyer and student of law. This
book
is
too simplistic in its
outlook
to be of use to
any person
other
than
the ordinary
motorist.
Athird of the
book
is devoted to a
hypothetical traffic case. It contains the
detailed conversation between the
defendantand the solicitor. leading
tothe
final Magistrates'
Court
hearing.
The remaining text deals factually and
283
clearly. in layman's terms. with the
intricacies
of
endorsement
and
disqualification
and
how
best
a
defendant can avoid them. Advice
regarding legal aid is also mentioned.
With the
abundance
of fine traffic law
books
available. there is no point in
including this text as necessary Ihelpful
material for a person who earns his living
through the law.
Asageneral guide to the layman, it is
concise, easy reading which should prove
useful. R.
POWELL
Police Journal
Ju~1'
1980
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