Recent Book: Winning by Appearing to Lose: Public Order and the Police
| Published date | 01 January 1979 |
| Date | 01 January 1979 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7905200124 |
| Subject Matter | Recent Book |
years there has been a growth in violence
in the United Kingdom, and not only in
the grim Irish context. But the point
might also be made
that
the real root of
all these internal British problems is the
fact
that
people and government have
been not so much in agony, as in an
unhealthy
drugged
condition
of
inability to perceive the facts of the
world situation in which this country
must struggle to survive. A numbness of
the senses, a kind of paralysis, seems to
be
the
characteristic
of
British
discontents,
rather
than
agony.
Agonising incidents there are in plenty,
yet this seems to accompany an apathy,
an apparently callous indifference to
public problems, on the part of much of
the populace. Violence occurs, tension is
endemic, yet many people seem more
concerned with their private problems,
and with the apparently endless fight
against inflation. Nothing is more
striking in Britain today than the co-
existence of public disorder and political
bitterness with the concentration of
masses of people on their own individual
concerns. To many it seems that the
agonising and posturing of political and
industrial leaders become ever less
related to reality. There is an ominous
gap between what people feel, and what
public men deem it appropriate to
discuss. Many people, and not only in
Northern Ireland, no longer identify
loyalty to a government with loyalty to
the country. Superimposed on this are
other
pressures
making
for
the
disintegration of the existing political
structure, ranging from the narrow
nationalism apparent in some of the
constituent parts
ofthe
United Kingdom,
to racial antagonisms, to the habit of
putting loyalty to a group or class or
party above
that
to the state or
community as a whole.
In the concluding section of his book
Dr. Clutterbuck rightly stresses that the
bulk of British people yearn to regain
that
underlying unity which the events
and trends of recent years haveso terribly
eroded. The hope is that this renewed
consensus can be attained within the
existingstructure of society, and with our
existing organs of public opinion.
Democratic government should mean
government on behalf of the whole
people, not just of bellicose and loud
mouthed factions who claim to be
"democratic" at the same time as they
display their arrogant contempt for the
wishes and interests of the majorityof the
population. Dr. Clutterbuck rightly
emphasises the importance
In
amodern
democratic society of the media, and the
responsibility displayed by most of these
operating these powerful instruments.
"Tell the people" is the key to ending the
alienation of government from the broad
masses, and of giving to legitimate
authority the necessary will to subdue
those creatures of violence who think
that their crimes against public order can
be justified by their smug belief in their
own righteousness. I. A. WATT
WINNING BY
APPEARING
TO LOSE
KENNETHS
LOAN:
Public Order
and
the Police. Police Review Publishing Company. £2
This small, handy volume provides a
comprehensive
and
succinct coverage of
the subject and will interest Policemen
both for the practical information it
contains as well as by students for
promotion examination purposes.
A great deal of information is packed
into 133 pages which is written in an
interesting and readable form with a
wealth of detail about historical and
current background, as well as existing
law.
The book gives a brief but wide-
ranging survey of the problem of Public
Disorder. It explores the underlying
political motivation of past and present
extremist leaders and analyses the Police
dilemma when operating in a society
which supports free speech and the right
of assernblv,
The role of the Police in taking what
action when, with a genuine attempt
at impartiality, is already difficult and
94
becoming more so. The
author
paints a
picture of the scale of operations interms
of manpower required for a show of
force, but he could have acknowledged
that training methods of the Service have
progressed beyond basic trudging and
wedging. A book on public order would
not be complete without reference to Sir
Robert MARK and hisfamous doctrines
of "winning by appearing to lose"
forcibly highlights the value of a
favourable public opinion.
The Law is dealt with under four main
headings - "Meetings", "Processions",
"Trade Disputes" (with a specific section
on picketing), and "Miscellaneous
Offences". Existing Statute Law is well
explained, supported by case law both in
the text and with further cases set out
conveniently in alphabetical order in an
appendix. There are some impressive
statistics. It is perhaps surprising to learn
that in 1974,31 cases of Riot and 144of
January /979
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