Policing: An introduction to concepts and practice

by Alan Wright

This book provides a highly readable introduction to the role and function of the police and policing, examining the issues and debates that surround this. It looks at the 'core functions' of the police, the ways in which police functions have developed, their key characteristics, and the challenges they face. From the outset questions are asked about the conceptual contestability and ambiguity of policing, and different views of police roles are addressed in turn: policing as social control, crime investigation, managing risk, policing as community justice, and as a public good.

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Alan Wright was formerly a police officer with the Metropolitan Police, where he worked on the Kray case and on other gang crime and homicide cases. He later lectured at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, and is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at Keele University. He is the author of Policing: an introduction to concepts and practice (Willan Publishing, 2002).


Librarian note: There are other authors with the pen name "Alan Wright"