In 1964 Ben Whitaker, who later defeated a former Home Secretary to become Hampstead’s first ever Labour MP and a Junior Minister, wrote The Police to try and reconcile (in his own words) ‘the very different impression police officers make when, as a barrister, one is defending from when one is prosecuting in court’. This book was widely praised as ‘The best and most impartial book that has yet been written on the police’ (Lord Gardiner); ‘The most truthful picture to date’ (Sunday Times); ‘Valuable’ (Observer); ‘Terse and telling’ (Sunday Telegraph); ‘Excellent, generous and sensible’ (Punch).
After that time, the crime situation seriously deteriorated, as uncertainties about the exact nature of the police’s role in a democracy multiplied. Ben Whitaker spent five years interviewing policemen and others, and in this title, originally published in 1979, almost entirely rewrote his assessment and proposals for ameliorating the situation. Perceptively, critically yet impartially, he analyses the effectiveness, sociology, misconduct, and future of the police, and suggests radical reforms in their powers and relationship with the public.
The Police in Society was timely and essential reading for anybody concerned with the human rights of individuals in a democratic society at the time and today can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.