The Racialisation of British Policing

Race relations is one of the most contentious areas of contemporary police work. Its bearing on public concerns about social order, discrimination and justice means that it is never out of the news headlines for long. This illuminating study of the key areas of policing in which racialised relations may be identified draws on sociological theory, extensive empirical evidence and contemporary British police policy to explore and assess the ways in which racialised relations have been constructed and are sustained in the course of routine police work. The author argues that 'race' needs to be placed within the particular organisational and occupational cultural context of policing, and he explores the precise ways in which race is constructed within these contexts using vivid and memorable case examples.