Policing is changing rapidly and radically. An increasingly complex array of public, private and municipal bodies - as well as public police forces - are now engaged in the provision of regulation and security. It is, therefore, widely recognized that policing has become increasingly "pluralized" in many countries. This relates to three key developments across the globe:
- The huge expansion of the commercial security sector since the 1970s
- The increasing "market pressures" and importation of business management techniques from the private sector, coupled with increasingly strict regimes of performance targets and monitoring placed on state police forces
- The emergence of new forms of patrol provision that can be distinguished both from commercial security and traditional state constabularies.
"Plural policing" is now a central issue within criminology and police studies throughout the world, and there is a growing body of research and theory concerned with its extent, nature and governance. To date, however, this work has been dominated by Anglo-American perspectives. This volume takes a detailed comparative look at the development of plural policing, and provides the most up-to-date work of reference for scholars in this field.
Edited by two leading authorities on policing, and including individual contributions from internationally recognized experts in criminology and police studies, this is the first ever volume to focus on "plural policing" internationally, and to draw together empirical evidence on its developments in a formal comparative framework.
