Violence and policing are inevitably associated. Criminals use violence, not only against innocent members of the public, but also against the police themselves. For our own protection and theirs, we have given police the right to use damaging, even lethal, force. But this licence for violence has become fraught with risk to the community. The disturbing record of police shootings in Victoria, and irresponsible police violence elsewhere in recent years, vividly illustrate this risk. In Violence and Police Culture, eminent contributors argue that there are features of police culture which foster abuse of the right to use violence. The book makes positive suggestions about institutional changes that might alleviate the problems bedevilling what the philosopher Thomas Hobbes called 'the right of the sword'. This book should be read by anyone who is concerned about continuing levels of unacceptable police violence in our society.
