World Police Encyclopedia (2 volume set) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0415942500 ISBN 13: 9780415942508

Publisher: Routledge, 2005

Synopsis

The increasingly international nature of crime underscores the need for countries to work together to control crime and terrorism. For there to be effective and efficient cooperation on the international level, it is necessary for countries to understand the structure of other police systems. The World Police Encyclopedia fulfills this need by providing a systematic survey of the police systems of all the member nations in the United Nations and Taiwan.

Written in a clear and accessible style, the World Police Encyclopedia is an essential resource that scholars, students, and those involved in working to control international and domestic crime will turn to for fact-checking and as a solid starting point for wider research and exploration.

For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit www.routledge-ny.com/ref/WorldPolice.

About this title

About the Author:

Dilip Das, who began his career as a police office in India, is professor in the department of socilogy and criminal justice at SUNY Plattsburgh and editor of the journal Police Practice and Research. Among other positions of leadership in the field of policing, he serves as an expert of the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva and has taught police human rights courses all over the world. He has published widely on the topic of policing, including Challenges of Policing Democracies: A World Perspective and Meeting the Challenges of Global Terrorism: Prevention, Control, and Recovery.

Michael J. Palmiotto is professor of criminal justice at Wichita State University and has written and edited several books, including Police Misconduct: A Reader for the 21st Century, and Policing: Concepts, Strategies, and Current Issues in American Police Forces.

From Booklist:

The goal of this ambitious work is to present a comprehensive survey of policing around the world, "providing the reader with rounded descriptions and keen analyses of national policing systems while placing each national system within an international policing perspective." For the most part, the team of 28 editors and associate editors and 125 contributors succeed. However, there are glaring omissions, which the editors attribute to the lack of data. The 191 member nations of the UN, plus Taiwan and the European Union, are profiled in alphabetically arranged, signed articles that, according to the editors, follow a uniform design: background information about the nation's history; current demographic and economic statistics; contextual features such as the political structure; police profile, which includes organizational description, functions, training, terrorism, police use of firearms, complaints and discipline, and international cooperation; and police education, research, and publications. Unfortunately, there is either a minimal or no police profile for several countries, despite the fact that their policing practices have been the subject of international criticism (e.g., Morocco, Myanmar, Zimbabwe). Moreover, a number of entries, including those for Iran, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, lack a bibliography of relevant cited sources, contrary to the introduction's claim that each entry concludes with such a list. Other bibliographies, such as those for Panama and Thailand, seem woefully incomplete.

Most entries, though, including those for countries as diverse as Canada, Chile, Greece, Sierra Leone, and Ukraine, follow the uniform design promised by the editors and convey a wealth of analytical and descriptive information about each element. Of particular interest are discussions of the historical context of policing and of the cultural, ethnic, and religious forces that shaped the policing system. A comprehensive index and list of entries are included in both volumes. Although better editorial control would have helped this work reach its full potential, it is still a valuable addition to reference publishing and is recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries. Few similar works are available: Facts On File's World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Penal Systems (1989) is out of print. The second edition, titled World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, is scheduled for publication in June 2006 by Gale. Libraries with budget constraints may wish to compare the two new encyclopedias before making a purchasing decision. Jan Lewis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0415942500
• ISBN 13: 9780415942508
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 1120
• Editor: Das Dilip K., Palmiotto Michael J.