Policing and Public Trust: Exposing the Inner Uniform (Applied Criminology Across the Globe)

The treatment of victims and complainants by the police is examined in this pioneering new work. Case studies, based on interviews carried out at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, in the United Kingdom, reveal that victims and complainants are routinely discredited by police agencies. Whilst in the United States, victims may include anyone subjected to police interrogation, particularly those of African-American origin, complainants across the globe may include victims of rape, bereaved families, and individual officers. The reason why certain victims and complainants are targeted by policing agencies is complex and leads to an investigation into police bias, covert practices, and one of the most common areas of policing: road death investigations. Consequently, other members of the criminal justice system, such as prosecutors, coroners, and hospital pathologists (medical examiners) are shown to often corroborate the police’s version of events compromising victims’ rights and the very nature of justice. Given recent miscarriages of justice and public relation campaigns on behalf of the police, Eccy de Jonge argues that never before has a greater openness on the inner workings of the police been needed to fully support the interests of those the criminal justice system is meant to serve.

Eccy de Jonge is a British philosopher, author and artist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy, from the University of Essex and a Postgraduate Certificate in Policing, Policy and Leadership, from the University of Portsmouth. The author of Spinoza and Deep Ecology and Reinstating the Infinite, she has published numerous articles in books and journals on metaphysics, applied ethics, and mental health. She has appeared on national radio and presented papers at international conferences. A keen birder and hiker, she has recently completed a memoir, set on the Shetland islands, exploring the nature of grief. On St Ninian’s Isle: A Search for Solace, is forthcoming.