Introduction and Background: Policing in Transition

The chapter provides an overview of the book, with a key objective of illustrating ways in which policing, from its earliest appearance, has been in a continuous state of transition and re-invention in response to changes in society. This is established partly drawing on a brief historical sketch but places more emphasis on recent and current developments in how the objectives of policing are defined, and how decisions are made concerning the best methods to employ. We discuss in turn several central concepts that underpin police operations and the basis on which police work proceeds. We then consider the extent to which it can be shown to be based on a scientific process of knowledge accumulation. Several key concepts are introduced, including those of intelligence-led, problem-oriented, hot spots, community and evidence-based policing. The chapter provides brief overviews of what is known about the effectiveness of these approaches in contemporary policing. Recurring challenges to, and criticisms of, some aspects of the role of police in society are also discussed, including the fundamental proposal that police funding should be diverted to other forms of social expenditure. The chapter concludes by describing the origins of the research project, which led to the series of reviews reported here, and briefly anticipates the contents of the other chapters of the book.