The cultural craft of policing ‐its past and future relevance

Michael Banton's description of the uniformed police officer as a peace officer drew attention to the autonomy they enjoyed and to the limits of organisational and legal controls. This enabled them to police in accordance with conceptions of morality which they shared with the community. This paper reviews other work on the police that subsequently highlighted craft practices which sustained the low level visibility of policing and methodic use of the law and organisational rules to achieve practical ends. It is argued that this aspect of the culture of the lower ranks tends not to receive the attention it deserves in contemporary studies of policing. Several recent developments in police management techniques, technology, and the legal framework suggest that the effectiveness of the craft may have been considerably weakened. The paper concludes by enquiring, if this is accurate, how police officers will adapt when faced with increasing pressures to attain results, within tighter legal constraints and with more limited resources. Several scenarios are considered in conclusion.