The history and the future of the politics of policing

The relationship between the State and the police is a dynamic relationship that changes to reflect the nature of the policing that is being carried-out, the political interests of the party in power, and to some extent the personalities of the key players within both the police services and in politics at a specific period in time. [...] An understanding of the organizational workings of the police is essential to any attempt to reconcile the tensions between the dictates of police autonomy and the restraints imposed on the police. [...] The objective of this paper is therefore to illustrate the complexity of the relationship between policing and politics and in the process to suggest how the truth of the relationship might be built into the formal policy, legislative and accountability mechanisms. [...] Most policing issues are of no particular interest to the state— neither the target of the policing action nor the nature of the incidents. [...] In a detailed study of the relationship between the police and politics in great Britain, France, Germany and Italy, David Bayley argued that the role behaviour of the police in each country is a reflection of the: “…purpose for which the force was created and the political culture of the country, especially the way in which authority is manifested by government officials”.33 He saw the police rol