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The path to Police and Crime Commissioners

Matthew Davies (PhD Student, based at Department of Criminology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK)

Safer Communities

ISSN: 1757-8043

Article publication date: 7 January 2014

1064

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the key political factors behind the introduction of Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and attempt to address some of the major tensions in the democratic governance of the police.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a literature review, the paper examines the changing face of police accountability in England and Wales over the last 50 years.

Findings

Three critical insights emerge from this analysis. First, the politicization of the police began in the 1980s – well before the introduction of PCCs – and was in fact one of the key antecedents behind the introduction of PCCs. Second, the paper finds that the simultaneous growth of managerialist practices further enabled politicians to interfere with policing in ways which eventually laid the foundation for PCCs. Lastly, the investigation illustrates how the policy architecture then drew inspiration from models of police governance from the USA, which chimed well with a new generation of Conservatives intent on police reform.

Originality/value

The paper offers a unique policy history which helps to better understand the political rationale behind PCCs and helps to clarify the underlying trajectory of the policy.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge the Police Foundation and Green Templeton College for the collaborative doctoral studentship which funds his PhD.

Citation

Davies, M. (2014), "The path to Police and Crime Commissioners", Safer Communities, Vol. 13 No. 1, pp. 3-12. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-07-2013-0014

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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