Elite conflicts over policing in South Africa: 1980–1990*Weitzer, Ronald
doi: 10.1080/10439463.1991.9964621pmid: N/A
Conflicts within dominant groups in racially divided societies over issues of law and order have rarely been studied. This paper examines key cleavages over policing policy and operations among white South African political elites. The conflict grew particularly intense during the 1980s, as a result of the escalation of popular unrest and police repression and government departures from traditional apartheid policies. Parties to the left and right issued diametrically opposed criticisms of policing. The paper describes the central features of the policing doctrines of these political parties; assesses the impact of pressures from liberal and conservative parties; and concludes with an examination of changes and continuities under the new De Klerk Government. Data are drawn from parliamentary debates, newspaper reports, and in‐depth interviews with party representatives.
Police organizations and their use of knowledge: A grounded research agenda†Tremblay, Pierre; Rochon, Claude
doi: 10.1080/10439463.1991.9964622pmid: N/A
A traditional but somewhat neglected goal of policing is to be well informed and knowledgeable not only about their own effectiveness, but about crime matters and patterns themselves, and aware of what the public wants or expects from them. This paper argues first that police organizations are unnecessarily under‐informed about social expectations; second, that they are unnecessarily overloaded with unanalyzed crime data; and finally, that an adequate understanding of their own effectiveness cannot be dissociated from a principled strategy of making police organizations active participants in a knowledge production process that satisfies most of the scientific norms of social science research.
Who polices violence?Bryett, Keith
doi: 10.1080/10439463.1991.9964623pmid: N/A
This paper reappraises the role of the police in public order situations. In doing so, it suggests that the often mentioned, but just as frequently discarded, option of a ‘third force’ needs to be re‐examined against the costs of trying to maintain an incompatible range of police functions, and an increasingly unpopular public image.
Implementation and non‐implementation of the 1839–40 policing acts in East and West SussexWells, Roger
doi: 10.1080/10439463.1991.9964624pmid: N/A
The common assumption that there was an inevitable progress towards professional policing in England during the nineteenth century, after the creation of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, through a smooth succession of statutes, is challenged by this study of the implementation and non‐implementation of the 1839–40 Rural Policing Acts in the two divisions of the county of Sussex. The implementation of the Acts in East Sussex was achieved through a determined campaign by a leading county grandee, against considerable opposition, notably from the ratepayers who had to foot the bill. Non‐implementation in the West was equally the product of another principal grandee's hostile attitude to the legislation. These contrasts were important in galvanising support from the wealthier members of rural and small town Victorian communities for relatively expensive professional policing, which contributed to reduce both the ideological and materialistic opposition to further policing innovations.
Problems of law and order in France in the 1980s: Politics and professionalismGuyomarch, Alain
doi: 10.1080/10439463.1991.9964625pmid: N/A
As governments of the left and right have alternated in power since 1981, the political debates about law and order and civil liberties have often been vitriolic but there has been considerable policy continuity to improve the professional performance of the police and the courts. The intensity of the debates reflects not only the attempts by traditional parties to mobilize their supporters on these issues and the campaign of the National Front to link crime and immigration, but also the institutional and political divisions within the police and judicial professions. Despite the recent reforms, these traditional divisions continue to hamper the performance of the law and order services and to undermine their public image.