In this first major empirical study of its kind, the authors examine the growth of 'private' policing and its relationship with, and implications for, the public police service. Beginning with a critique of the sociology of policing, the authors then provide a detailed analysis of the concepts of public and private, and examine the boundaries between different forms of policing. Using data from the first ever survey of the private security sector in Britain, the authors provide estimates of the numbers of employees and firms in the industry; the range of services and products offered; and the attitudes of those at senior levels in private security organizations. Competiting theoretical explanations for the growth of private policing are then considered. The book then examines policing at the local level. Using a case study of the London Borough of Wandsworth, the authors examine the range of individuals and organizations involved in policing on the ground.
They describe and analyse the activities of the full range of 'policing' bodies, including the public police force, investigatory and regulatory agencies attached to national and local government, and private security organizations. Using this analysis, the authors offer a thorough reconceptualization of what is meant by 'policing' in the late modern era, and consider the implications of this for the public police service and for the future of policing generally.
Industry Reviews
`Jones and Newburn's study of private security and public policing provides an appropriate and entirely convincing evaluation of the incresingly diverse provision of policing arrangements in England and Wales.'
Barry Loveday, Local Government Studies Vol 25 No 1 Spring 1999
`This book is probably the most significant research that has yet been published on private security in the UK.'
Mark Button, Labour Campaign for Criminal Justice Newsletter 49
`Private Security and Public Policing provides a solid basis for the understanding of private secutrity within the context of policing.'
Mark Button, Labour Campaign for Criminal Justice Newsletter 49
`important contribution to the sociology of policing ... Jones and Newburn provide what is probably the most reliable account to date of the size, scope and activities of the private security firm industry in Britain ... an important book ... notable both for the grounded and much needed account it offers of the extent and dynamics of plural policing in contemporary Britain, and for drawing some key conceptual distinctions.'
Ian Loader, British Journal of Criminology (2000) 40
From a criminological perspective, Jones and Newburn, drawing on their major empirical study, make a significant contribution to the emerging body of literature concerned with the role of private security./ For those academics and practitioners who seek to grapple with these issues in the future this well argued and well written text makes a vital contribution./ Lesley Noaks, Cardiff University, Journal of Law and Society, Vol 26, no2, June 1999
