Violence And Police Culture

(Paperback)

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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.

Author Bio

Professor Tony Coady is ARC Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Commonwealth Special Research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (University of Melbourne node). Dr Steve James is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Melbourne. Professor Seumas Miller is Director of the Australian Research Council Commonwealth Special Research Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (Charles Sturt University).