Additional information
by Carl B. Klockars (Author)
What is the best way to define the police? Why do we have police at all? In modern democracies like the United States and Great Britain, why is most policing done by employees of the state? What is the relationship between police and the law? What makes a good police officer? In addressing these questions, Klockars makes the reader look at the idea of police from a new perspective. First he explains how any definition of police must include the reality of coercive force--the fact that police officers everywhere have the right to "forcibly compel other people to do something." Next he describes the evolution of the police in the United States vis-a-vis the police in Great Britain. After exploring the role of the detective, he highlights the moral conflicts and issues of discretion that police officers face daily. Finally, Klockars examines what makes a good police officer. "An informative introductory resource. . . may prove valuable even to graduate students." --The Social Science Journal
Author Biography
Carl B. Klockars is a Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology at the University of Delaware. A criminologist of more than thirty years experience, Prof. Klockars is the author of five books, more than fifty scholarly articles, and numerous professional papers. He has served as nationally-elected vice-president of the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and was three times elected by the members of the American Society of Criminology to serve on its Executive Board. He has also served as a lobbyist for the Maryland Sheriffs Association and as an expert witness in cases alleging police misconduct. Prof. Klockars has been a pioneer in building collaborative research relationships between police and academics. He has written extensively on professional crime, criminological theory, the moral dilemmas of policing and police use of force. With colleagues he has recently completed a study with police agencies in Charleston, S.C., Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and St. Petersburg, FL that seeks to understand the mechanisms through which police agencies may create organizational environments that enhance and encourage integrity.
