Police Scanner Review

As the nation paid its respects to the police officers who lost their lives in the September 11th terrorist attacks, it became clear that we'd never look at the cop on the beat in the same way again. "The Evidence on Policing explores police work in the new century, replacing myths with research findings and providing recommendations for updated policy and practices to guide it. This book answers the most basic question: What do police do? "The Evidence on Policing reviews how police work is organized, its expanding responsibilities, the increasing diversity among police employees, and the complex interactions between officers and citizens. It also discusses community policing, use of force, racial profiling, and more. The book evaluates the success of common police techniques, such as focusing on crime "hot spots." It looks at the issue of legitimacy--how the public gets information about police work, how police are viewed by different groups, and how police can gain community trust. "The Evidence on Policing will be important to anyone concerned about police work: policy makers, administrators, educators, police supervisors and officers, journalists, and interested citizens.

'the most significant theoretical work on the police since Bittner's The Functions of the Police (1970).' -- Jerome H. Skolnick, Visiting Distinguished Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York 'extends the "risk theory" literature into new and important areas, while offering a radical reconception of police work and organisation.' -- David Garland, Centre for Law and Society University of Edinburgh The Information Age Has Left Few of us Untouched; individuals and institutions have undergone radical transformations in the race to get the most out of new technologies. The police are no exception. Policing the Risk Society introduces us to a shocking new vision of police work where information gathered by the police with surveillance and data collection technologies is brokered to other institutions. Richard Ericson and Kevin Haggerty contend that the police have become information brokers to institutions such as insurance companies and health and fare organizations that operate based on a knowledge of risk. In turn, these institutions influence the ways that police officers think and act. A critical review of existing research reveals the need to study police interaction with institutions as well as individuals. These institutions are part of an emerging 'risk society' where knowledge of risk is used to control danger. The authors examine different aspects of police involvement: the use of surveillance technologies, and the collection of data on securities, careers, and different social, ethnic, age, and gender groups. They conclude by looking at how police organizations have been forced to bureaucratize and to perpetually develop newcommunications rules, formats and technologies to meet external demands for knowledge of risk. Ericson and Haggerty revolutionize the study of policing and are the first to provide concrete evidence of the central tenets of risk society theory.