The Rise of a Comparative Science of Public and Private Policing: Results, Challenges, and Prospects

This book argues that policing should be studied in a truly comparative manner as a way of identifying more accurately the diverse features of police organisations and the trends which affect contemporary policing. Studying policing comparatively is also a way to develop more sophisticated theories on the relations between police, state, and society aiming at higher degree of generalization. In particular, broadening the empirical basis, often limited to Western countries, favours the formulation of more encompassing theories. The comparative analysis, then, is used to refine meso or macro theories on various aspects of policing.

The book covers the challenges of comparative research in diverse areas of policing studies with innovative tools and approaches to allow for the development of that subfield of policing. It is a significant new contribution to policing studies, and will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Public Policy, Sociology, Political Science and Law.

The chapters in this book were originally published in Policing and Society.

Jacques de Maillard is Professor of Political Science at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin and at Sciences Po Saint Germain-en-Laye, and director of the CESDIP (a research centre affiliated to the CNRS, the French Ministry of Justice, the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin and CY Cergy Paris Université). His interests lie in the questions of local governance of security, the comparative study of policing in Western countries and plural policing.

Sebastian Roché is CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) Research Professor at Sciences Po / University of Grenoble Alpes, Pacte research unit. He is the European Editor of Policing and Society. He specializes in comparative governance of police systems and of policing practices.