Providing an overview of the history of policing in the UK, the book investigates the changes in policing strategies over time, and provides a historical foundation for contemporary debates. It will be essential reading for anybody interested in the history of policing, and in today's intense debates on what the police do.
Philip Rawlings is Professor of the Law of Finance, and Deputy Director of the Centre for Commercial Law at University College London.
1. Introduction 2. From the blood feud to the justice of the peace 600 - 1400 3. Policing the poor and the bureaucratisation of policing: 1400 - 1660 4. The professionalization of policing: 1660 - 1800 5. The Jenny Darbies: the new Police 6. 'In the midst of starving hordes': 1850 - 1939 7. 'The Foundation of Law and Order' 1939 - 2000