Introduction

Abstract

If a dozen people were stopped in any high street in Great Britain and asked to give a definition of policing, it is likely that most of them would describe the police service as a law enforcement agency, and there the definition would stop. What is also likely is that those people would not be able to give an accurate account of the role of police in society and that most of them would not have given the matter any serious consideration. To many people the word ‘police’ is synonymous with ‘trouble’, and most would rather not be closely associated with the police, although it is still true that opinion polls consistently show the police service to be held in high esteem.¹