50 Facts Everyone Should Know about the Police : Criminal Investigation and Policing in England and Wales / John Lamb [and four others], editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Lamb, John, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Law enforcement--Great Britain.

Law enforcement.

Police--Great Britain.

Police.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (383 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Fifty Facts Everyone Should Know about the Police

Place of Publication:

Bristol, England : Bristol University Press, [2025]

Summary:

Have you ever wondered whether crime dramas reflect the reality of police work? Or what the future of policing could look like in the context of recent controversies? Offering thought-provoking insights into understanding, addressing and preventing crime, this fascinating 'go to' book reveals the myths and realities of policing in the 21st century. The 50 facts take in crime prevention, the investigative process, forensics, models of policing, the limits of police powers and a range of other provocative themes. Offering a deeper and richer understanding of the profession, this book will equip you to think critically about modern perceptions of policing.

Contents:

Front Cover

50 Facts Everyone Should Know About the Police

Copyright Page

Dedication

Table of Contents

Notes on the editors

Acknowledgements

Introduction

FACT 1 There is no definitive proof that Robert Peel ever developed the principles that underpin British policing

Peel's principles

Conclusion

FACT 2 'Trust is the foundation upon which consent and legitimacy for policing is built'

Peeking under the stone: from the Dixon bobby to the Scarman Report

The murder of Maxwell Confait

FACT 3 The police have acted as 'moral guardians' since the early 19th century

Policing social order

Police as moral guardians

FACT 4 The senior investigating officer role is not like you see on TV!

Senior investigating officer: ensuring effective critical policing investigations

Compassion and complexity: navigating victim relations and decision-making in homicide investigations

FACT 5 The role of the custody sergeant is to be the guardian of an individual's rights and wellbeing

Police custody: an introduction

Who is the custody sergeant?

Help for custody sergeants

The custody records

Custody sergeants and investigations

The custody clock

Custody sergeants and charging decisions

FACT 6 Crimes are classed as solved once someone is charged with an offence

Pre-.trial processes

Evidence, evidence, evidence!

Quashed and overturned: when evidence is not handled correctly

FACT 7 The Integrated Offender Management scheme has aided significant reductions in reoffending since its formulation in 2009

Carrots, sticks and Intelligence-.Driven Integrated Offender Management

Conclusion.

FACT 8 Roads policing is key to saving lives, disrupting crime and police legitimacy, but it has been routinely undervalued and is sometimes resisted

Overrepresented yet underacknowledged

Technological dependence

FACT 9 The police investigate some crimes that occur inside prison

The role of the prison officer

FACT 10 The number of volunteer 'special' constables has reduced from 67,000 in the 1950s to under 10,000 in the last decade

The special constabulary

Other forms of volunteers

FACT 11 Policing has now been 'professionalised'

Rationale of the Police Education Qualification Framework

Controversy and opposition

FACT 12 Until 2020, police officers did not require formal education qualifications

Two centuries of change

FACT 13 The senior rank structures of the Metropolitan and City of London Police differ from every other force in England and Wales

The importance of history, structure and scale

A civilian style of policing

The City of London Police

FACT 14 The chief constable is operationally independent and cannot act on unlawful orders or unduly intrusive political direction

The evolution of central government, chief officers and local authorities in 19th-.century policing

Constabulary independence: from historical friction to legal affirmation and modern challenges

Shifting power dynamics: from centralised authority to balancing constabulary independence and government control

FACT 15 Policewomen had a separate department from that of their male colleagues until the 1970s

History of the Women's Department

Modernisation of the Women's Department.

Closure of the Women's Department

FACT 16 In the six months leading to March 2022, more than 1,500 police staff in England and Wales were accused of violence against women and girls

Failures in policing and safeguarding: inadequate responses to sexual violence accusations

Undermining trust: domestic violence and abuse within police ranks and its impact on public confidence

The dilemma of exposing misconduct to recruit more women while facing erosion of trust in policing

FACT 17 A 2022 investigation highlighted 11,277 instances of internal misogyny and sexual misconduct in the police

Power relations and gendered practices

Manifestations of misogyny

Responses

FACT 18 Between 2011 and 2020 there were 173 suicides in the UK police force

Austerity as a stressor

Post-.traumatic stigma

FACT 19 Over 100 police officers are assaulted every day

Violence and victimisation on the front line

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words are hard to quantify

Serious violence, serious harm

FACT 20 The Independent Office for Police Conduct is independent and makes its decisions entirely independently of the police and government

The Independent Office for Police Conduct: structure, function and relationships

Policing the police

FACT 21 Police rank structures have remained relatively unchanged

Traditional policing hierarchies

The 'Kaizen' approach

A look to the future

FACT 22 Helicopters assume a crucial role in contemporary policing

Origins of the National Police Air Service

The roles and responsibilities of the police 'chopper'

Critiques of the National Police Air Service.

Conclusion

FACT 23 The Ministry of Defence Police has the highest number of Authorised Firearms Officers, second only to the Metropolitan Police Service

The unseen force

Key functions

FACT 24 Violence is an essential tool in the vocation of policing

An appreciation

A balance, not a binary

FACT 25 Despite popular belief, a substantial proportion of the British police is armed in England and Wales

The technicality of TASER®?

FACT 26 Between 1987 and 2023, only one officer has been convicted for manslaughter following a death in which police used force in England and Wales

A more nuanced picture

Notes

FACT 27 There is no automatic right to access body-.worn video footage in England and Wales, even if the footage is about you

Rollout, regularity and privacy

Rights to record … rights to privacy?

FACT 28 When the police refer to evidence, this doesn't just mean DNA and fingerprints

Why do we need evidence-.based policing?

Evaluating and improving policing practice by gathering and analysing evidence

Using evidence to inform police decision-.making

The challenges of implementing evidence-.based practice in policing

Moving forward: improving police uptake of evidence-.based methods

FACT 29 Criminal profiling of serial murderers has never worked

A (very) brief history of profiling

Mindhunter and the legacy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

More harm than good?

FACT 30 The perception of the police as being institutionally homophobic has hampered the ability to protect members of the gay community in England and Wales

The case of Dennis Nilsen.

The case of Stephen Port

Note

FACT 31 The police uniform serves an important symbolic purpose

Uniformity: legitimacy, practicality and symbolism

FACT 32 The majority of police investigations by 'uniformed officers' focus upon volume crime

Who investigates what?

FACT 33 In 2023, just 5.7 per cent of reported crimes led to a charge or summons

Rates of charge and summons

The great charge decline

FACT 34 In England and Wales, no suspect is identified in 74.2 per cent of residential burglary cases

Crime prevention and policing

Shifting policing priorities

FACT 35 Only 1 per cent of fraud in England and Wales results in a criminal justice outcome

Fraud, cyber-.fraud and cyber-.scams

Challenges in policing cyber-.fraud

FACT 36 The state is overwhelmingly reliant on the private sector to effectively police art crime

A tainted market

Interrogating the realities of 'regulatory capitalism' in the art market and beyond

Unpacking the implications of anti-.money laundering and counterterrorism financing regulations

FACT 37 UK policing structures create an open goal for organised criminals in rural areas

Where are the gaps in current organised crime policing structures?

FACT 38 The UK Serious Organised Crime Strategy (2018) aims to 'equip the whole of government, the private sector, communities and individual citizens to align their efforts in a single collective endeavour to rid our society of the harms of serious and o

Contemporary organisation of responses

Historical organisation of responses: back to the future?.

Regional Organised Crime Unit evolution.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781447370499

144737049X

OCLC:

1509443002