“A welcome, detailed account of the background to the prosecution of Brighton police officers around 1957 and their Chief Constable.” —History by the Yard In the late 1950s the reputation of Brighton as a popular seaside resort took a sinister and notorious turn. After a series of drunken disturbances, suspicions were raised that the owner of the Astor Club, which became known globally as “The Bucket of Blood,” was bribing members of the town’s CID to ignore licensing hours. The situation escalated to the point where Scotland Yard’s Flying Squad was called in. Their investigation soon revealed that these bribes were the tip of a police corruption iceberg. Criminality among crooked cops had been going on for years. Provided money was paid, charges were dropped, previous convictions overlooked and evidence disappeared. Others were “fitted up” unless they paid up. Police were party to burglaries, assisting in the “fencing” of stolen property and protection payments from bookmakers, clubs and bars. During the scandal filled trial of the Chief Constable and CID ringleaders there was perjury, violent witness intimidation with one having his premises burnt to the ground. All this and more is described in this meticulously researched account of one of Britain’s most publicized police corruption scandals written with insider knowledge. “Another excellent book from an established writer on the history of police and crime . . . He does not pull any punches in considering what is good and not good policing.” —The Law Society Gazette
In the late 1950s the reputation of Brighton as a popular seaside resort took a sinister and notorious turn. After a series of drunken disturbances, suspicions were raised that the owner of the Astor Club, which became known globally as 'The Bucket of Blood', was bribing members of the town's CID to ignore licensing hours. The situation escalated to the point where Scotland Yard's Flying Squad was called in. Their investigation soon revealed that these bribes were the tip of a police corruption iceberg. Criminality among crooked cops had been going on for years. Provided money was paid, charges were dropped, previous convictions overlooked and evidence disappeared. Others were 'fitted up' unless they paid up. Police were party to burglaries, assisting in the 'fencing' of stolen property and protection payments from bookmakers, clubs, and bars. During the scandal filled trial of the Chief Constable and CID ringleaders there was perjury, violent witness intimidation with one having his premises burnt to the ground. All this and more is described in this meticulously researched account of one of Britain's most publicized police corruption scandals written with insider knowledge.
Despite much recent interest in the area of urban governance, little work has been done on the changing ethical standards of urban leaderships, 'governing' institutions or the policing of public life. Yet the issue of ethical standards in public life has become a central concern in contemporary public discourse; with issues of public probity, moral order and personal standards re-emerging as central features of political debate. This volume places these debates into their historical perspective by examining the linkages between processes of 'modernisation', urbanisation and the ethical standards of governance and public life. It considers how ethical debates arise as a result of differential access to positions of authority and from competition for public resources. The contributions are drawn from a wide range of scholarly and disciplinary backgrounds and provide a broad analysis of the phenomenon of corruption, assessing how debates about corruption arose, the narratives used to criticise established modes of public conduct and their consequences for urban leadership.
In this book, leading experts from across the common law world assess the impact of four seminal House of Lords judgments decided in the 1960s: Ridge v Baldwin, Padfeld v Minister of Agriculture, Conway v Rimmer, and Anisminic v Foreign Compensation Commission. The 'Quartet' is generally acknowledged to have marked a turning point in the development of court-centred administrative law, and can be understood as a 'formative moment' in the emergence of modern judicial review. These cases are examined not only in terms of the points each case decided, and their contribution to administrative law doctrine, but also in terms of the underlying conception of the tasks of administrative law implicit in the Quartet. By doing so, the book sheds new light on both the complex processes through which the modern system of judicial review emerged and the constitutional choices that are implicit in its jurisprudence. It further reflects upon the implications of these historical processes for how the achievements, failings and limitations of the common law in reviewing actions of the executive can be evaluated.
This book provides a comprehensive history of police reform, charting its history from its origins in the early 18th century to the most recent examples in the 21st century of the Labour, Coalition and Conservative governments. Each key reform programme is explored in the social, political, and intellectual context of its time, how the necessary legislation was passed, how each programme was implemented, and what its legacy has been. This is the first study that concentrates on the key reforms that shaped the modern police service, their enduring legacies, and their underlying flaws. It is an essential read for police historians, criminologists, police academics, policy makers, and everyone interested in police history.
In his latest thrilling book, much published crime author Dick Kirby draws on his fast moving policing service, much of which was with Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime Squad and the Flying Squad. As if that was not enough he brings in accounts of fellow coppers during the final decades of the 20th century to add a fresh dimension. It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Kirby and his colleagues practiced their art in a markedly different style than that prevailing today. Corners were cut, regulations ignored and pettifogging rules trampled on in the wider public interest of bringing criminals to justice and preserving law and order. Above all the best senior detectives led fearlessly. Kirby describes front line policing where the public came first and the criminals a poor second. There are great stories of arrests, ambushes, fights and meeting informants in unlikely places. Eyebrows may be raised at the book’s contents but many will feel that there is no place in the fight against serious crime for ‘woke-ness’ and political correctness and regret the passing of no-nonsense law enforcement.
Little shocks the British public more than learning of the killing of policemen and women whilst tackling criminals. Even the vast majority of hardened crooks baulk at what is seen as the ultimate crime _ the mandatory death sentence in days of capital punishment reflected public disgust at such a crime, particularly when the police were largely unarmed. This book spans fifty years of crime enforcement and describes in detail the ever present danger to the police who patrolled LondonÍs streets and who lost their lives in the line of duty. Many of the police officers died carrying out run-of-the-mill police duties; from PC Nat Edgar, shot in 1948 by a burglar to PC Patrick Dunne, the home beat officer murdered while investigating a domestic incident in 1993; it took 13 years for his killer to be brought to justice. WPC Yvonne Fletcher was mercilessly gunned-down policing a demonstration in Central London in 1984, as was Detective Sergeant Ray Purdy, whilst arresting a cheap blackmailer. PC Ray Summers, an officer with less than two years service, stabbed to death as he broke up a gang fight, and the three-man crew of the ïQÍ car wiped out by gunmen in 1966, all feature in these pages. There are the thrilling stories of the investigations into the IRA after the murder of PC Stephen Tibble and the horrific bombing of Harrods store which cost three brave police officers their lives. Retired detective Dick Kirby has drawn deep on his knowledge and contacts within and outside the Metropolitan Police to track down those people who were there, who were involved in the investigations and those who were left behind; and how the trauma of losing a colleague or a loved one affected them. Written in his trademark gripping authoritative style, Death on the Beat, Dick KirbyÍs ninth book, promises to be the best yet.
With the war over, the forties, fifties and sixties have the aura of a golden age. But nostalgia is deceptive. From teenage Teddy Boy razor gangs and casual stabbings at dance halls to the psychopathic Krays, 'Mad' Frankie Fraser and Ronnie Biggs, Villains' Paradise reveals the chilling true story of the crimes of postwar Britain. With the narrative pace of the best detective fiction, Donald Thomas creates a thrilling journey into the heart of postwar Britain's secret history.
The patrolman has the most difficult, complex, and least understood task in the police department. Much less is known of him than of his better publicized colleague, the detective. In this important and timely book, James Q. Wilson describes the patrolman and the problems he faces that arise out of constraints imposed by law, politics, public opinion, and the expectations of superiors. The study considers how the uniformed officer in eight communities deals with such common offenses as assault, theft, drunkenness, vice, traffic, and disorderly conduct. Six of the communities are in New York State: Albany, Amsterdam, Brighton, Nassau County, Newburgh, and Syracuse. The others are Highland Park, Illinois, and Oakland, California. Enforcing laws dealing with common offenses is especially difficult because it raises the question of administrative discretion. Murder, in the eyes of the police, is unambiguously wrong, and murderers are accordingly arrested; but in cases such as street-corner scuffles or speeding motorists, the patrolman must decide whether to intervene (should the scuffle be stopped? should the motorist be pulled over?) and, if he does, just how to intervene (by arrest? a warning? an interrogation?). In most large organizations, the lowest-ranking members perform the more routinized tasks and the means of accomplishing these tasks are decided by superiors, but in a police department the lowest-ranking officer--the patrolman--is almost solely responsible for enforcing those laws which are the least precise, the most ambiguous. Three ways or "styles" of policing--the watchman, the legalistic, and the service styles--are analyzed and their relation to local politics is explored. In the final chapter, Mr. Wilson discusses if and how the patrolman's behavior can be changed and examines some current proposals for reorganizing police departments. He observes that the ability of the patrolman to do his job well may determine our success in managing social conflict and our prospects for maintaining a proper balance between liberty and order. Table of Contents: 1. Introduction 2. THE PATROLMAN The Maintenance of Order Justice as a Constraint Some Organizational Consequences 3. THE POLICE ADMINISTRATOR Managing Discretion Critical Events 4. POLICE DISCRETION The Determinants of Discretion The Eight Communities The Uses of Discretion 5. THE WATCHMAN STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 6. THE LEGALISTIC STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 7. THE SERVICE STYLE The Organizational Context Some Consequences 8. POLITICS AND THE POLICE Politics and the Watchman Style Politics and the Service Style Politics and the Legalistic Style Some Findings from National Data 9. CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS Reviews of this book: [This book] is a departure from the traditional treatise...and actually does take a large and long-awaited step toward revitalizing an exciting and important but inexcusably weak area of political science. --The American Political Science Review Reviews of this book: This book "must unquestionably become an indispensable study of politics in the American city. It is based on enormous and detailed research ... The material is presented in a controlled and disciplined no-nonsense style. --New York Review of Books Reviews of this book: This is surely one of the most informative books about the police ever written .... Varieties of Police Behavior is a rich, sophisticated book by an author unusually able to tackle the comprehensiveness and interdependence of the issues which affect police performance, and his analysis and conclusions have much to teach. --Times Literary Supplement It is, without doubt, the finest book on the American police ever written, and Professor Wilson is one of our best-known scholars of urban affairs...Rich...full to the brim with increasing details and shrewd insight. Anyone who wants to have an informed opinion about the policeman's relations to law and order ought to read it. --Irving Kristol
A former Scotland Yard detective examines real cases of murder in which accused criminals were convicted without a body found. Murders in any form, and the more gruesome the better, hold a morbid fascination to the British public but never more so than when the bodies of the victims are never found. Aside from the lack of closure for relatives and friends, this factor creates problems for police and prosecutors and has macabre appeal for the public. Muriel McKay, wife of a senior News of the World Executive was kidnapped in 1969. Although her body, believed to have been fed to pigs, was never found, the perpetrators were convicted. The same fate was suffered by the business partner of a Polish farmer. James Camb murdered a glamorous actress feeding her to sharks but this did not stop women flocking to see him in court. John Haigh confessed to disposing of his nine victims in acid. Again, his trial was a sell-out. Dick Kirby, former Scotland Yard detective turned best-selling crime writer has ‘unearthed’ a fascinating collection of disappearances such as the dismemberment of a gay man’s wife who had threatened to expose him in the 1950s. Later, when a woman’s head was discovered near his home, he confessed only to find that it dated from Roman times. These and numerous other cases make Missing, Presumed Murdered a riveting, if grisly, read.
