In marked contrast to the decade before, the 1980s saw an enormous growth of sociological research on the police and on policing. Originally published in 1989, the chapters in this book stand as evidence both of the growth of police research in those years and its variety. Contributors were asked to take stock of research in their respective fields and to assess where policing research had got to and how it had arrived there. The resulting contributions range from broad conceptual reviews (chapters 1, 5 and 9) to concentration on specific pieces of empirical work, some of which was being reported for the first time (chapters 7 and 8). Other papers were concerned with the relationship – actual and potential – between research and policy (chapters 2, 3 and 4), yet others on charting and accounting for developments in policing policy and speculating about their likely effects (chapters 10 and 11). Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.