Policing Urban Poverty

Annotation Policing Urban Poverty provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging analysis of the policy implications of social problems for the welfare state in general and the police service in particular, through an examination of the relationship between discourses on urban poverty, crime and disorder in Britain and America. Drawing on extensive empirical evidence, the book adds to the sociological and historical analyses of these issues by considering their practical relevance at different times and in different places for police policy-makers. Throughout history the police have been charged with the difficult task of peace-keeping and crime-fighting in poor communities, with potentially calamitous consequences when things go wrong. Senior police officers have argued that successive governments have not provided adequate support and guidance to assist them in their attempts to be tough on crime and its causes Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-18 Historical Perspectives on Poverty and Crime....Pages 19-40 Debating Poverty and Crime in the US: from Moynihan to Murray....Pages 41-63 Poverty and Crime in Britain....Pages 64-86 From Theory to Practice....Pages 87-106 The Police Policy Process in Modern Society....Pages 107-131 Policing and the Power of Public Debate....Pages 132-156 Policing Poor Communities....Pages 157-180 The Changing Nature of Crime and the Workless Society....Pages 181-202 Conclusion....Pages 203-222 Back Matter....Pages 223-264 Policing Urban Poverty demonstrates that, since the nineteenth century, a core task of the police has been crime control and order maintenance, especially in poor communities. This illuminating book focuses on the policy implications of discourses on poverty and crime in America and Britain. It draws on sociological theory and extensive empirical evidence, which show that in recent history senior police policy-makers have been involved in a struggle with their political masters in determining the most judicious means to tackle urban poverty and crime. "Policing Urban Poverty provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging analysis of the policy implications of social problems for the welfare state in general and the police service in particular, through an examination of the relationship between discourses on urban poverty, crime and disorder in Britain and America. Drawing on extensive empirical evidence, the book adds to the sociological and historical analyses of these issues by considering their practical relevance at different times and in different places for police policy-makers."--BOOK JACKET.