Recent Book: The Book for Police
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X5903200111 |
| Published date | 01 January 1959 |
| Date | 01 January 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
Recent
Books
ALAN
GARFIlT
(Editor): The
Book
for Police.
Caxton
Publishing Co.
5 Vols. £12 17s. 6d.
A
BRITISH
police officer visiting
the
United States cannot help but be struck
by the
number
of books on police procedures
that
are available to
the
American police officer. In this country, there is a great shortage of similar
books available to the British police officer. Although the
number
of books
written on various aspects of the law runs into
many
hundreds, there is an
important
gap in
that
there are few books which cater purely
for
the police
officer.
The
policeman in this country must rely mainly on the well known
works of the late C. C. H. Moriarty, sometime Chief Constable of Birming-
ham,
for
his basic instruction, and on Stone's Justices'
Manual
for his
law.
Very few Police Forces have even a comprehensive set of Force Orders
such as those compiled
for
use by the Metropolitan Police and the provin-
cial policeman has, as a rule, to be guided on matters of procedure by a
series of
memoranda
issued
from
Force Headquarters piecemeal through
the
years.
Mr. Alan Garfitt, abarrister, assisted by a
number
of experienced retired
Metropolitan police officers and others, has now attempted to remedy
that
defect by writing a
book
which in the words of the editor "will provide a
comprehensive library
for
the instruction and guidance of the police officer
throughout his whole career."
The Book for Police, which is well bound, attractively printed
and
pleasant to handle, is arranged in five volumes.
The
first is devoted to the
English legal system, police history, the organisation and practice of
the
police and criminal law; the second to administrative duties and sanctions;
and the third to
road
traffic law, evidence and criminal procedure.
The
fourth volume contains a
number
of glossaries and the index to
the
whole
work, while the fifth consists of a world atlas and a police gazetteer.
This arrangement could well
have
been improved upon.
It
would have
been better had
the
portion
of the first volume dealing with criminal law
been combined with
that
portion of the third volume which deals with
evidence and criminal procedure; volume 2 could have contained the chap-
ters dealing with the English legal system, and the organisation and practice
of the Police, while the section on
road
traffic could have been a volume to
itself.
There
would then have been three main volumes of similar length
to the present ones
but
the subjects in each volume would have been
better
related. .
It
is unfortunate
that
the emphasis
throughout
the work has been on the
law with which the policeman has to deal,
for
to provide acomprehensive
work of reference for a police officer
the
editor
must deal with
the
procedures he should follow in the course of his daily work.
In this, of course, it is appreciated
that
the
editor faces a most difficult
task because while
there
still remain over one hundred and twenty separate
Forces there will be a great variety of instructions issued by Chief Constables
on points of detailed procedure. Yet if the work is to be comprehensive, it
must contain some points of detail.
The
editor must choose, therefore, with
the greatest of care, points of detail
for
inclusion which
"Yill
be of value to
the reader and yet are not likely to
run
contrary to
anysnstrucnons
Issued
by any Chief Constable. . . .
Taking each volume mturn,
the
first section of volume Idealmg With
the
English legal system is adequately set out, while the story of the early
history of the Police is better written than in
al:'Y
o.ther book.
The
section on police organisation and practice
IS
too sketchy and,
un-
60 The Police Journal
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