Home Office and Policing:Outline

POLICING:

THE HOME OFFICE AND THE POLICE

Outline

Details

Objectives

This final part of the module seeks to build upon the following objectives set out in the original course outline sheet which you already have:

To describe policing institutions in the U.K. with reference to their legal, political, social and cultural implications. The institution in focus in this part of the course is the Home Office. In this way, it is intended to examine the viewpoint from "the centre" - from the governmental department which is designated to deal with policing matters. This should both build upon, and to some extent contrast with, the approach in Prof. Adam Crawford's lectures, in which he dealt with the local governance of policing. There is admittedly some overlap, but only by looking at similar issues from different perspectives will you see the full picture.
To enable students to develop analytical and research and communications skills with reference to policing issues. In view of the availability of electronic materials in this area, the development of IT skills is one special feature here. The web is the chosen vehicle because there are some very useful links you can follow to obtain up to date source materials.

Study plan

There is no lecture on these topics, though several aspects will have been covered in other lectures. It is then up to you:

to work through the notes on the web pages which I have written for you
to follow some of the web links suggested in those pages
to read the set texts. There is both general reading which covers the whole field (immediately below) as well as more specific sources in the notes.
to test your understanding and knowledge against some of the sample exam/essay questions at the end.

Research resources

Reading

Home Office, Policing a New Century: A blueprint for reform (Cm.5326, 2001)
Home Office, Building Communities, Beating Crime (Cm.6360, 2004)
Leishman, F, Loveday, B, Savage, S, Core Issues in Policing (2nd ed., Longman, Harlow, 2000) chaps.1-3, 5, 6, 13, 16, 17, 18
McLaughlin, E., The New Policing (Sage, London, 2006)
Newburn, T., The Handbook of Policing (Willan, Cullompton, 2003) chaps. 1, 8
Reiner, R., The Politics of the Police (3rd ed., Oxford University Press, 2000) chap.6
Web sources
Home Office, Police Reform web-site
University of Leeds Centre for Criminal Justice Studies' UKweb links site

Guide to learning resources

The Home Office policies and practices in regard to the police are set out under the following headings:

Read through each successive set of pages at the links above. Then try the Self-study exercises