NCJ Number
228175
Journal
Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 337-357
Date Published
August 2009
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the impact of the policing of firearms crime on the overall trend in British policing.
Abstract
Results suggest that the overall trend in British policing toward specialization and expertise create an increasingly complex architecture and division of labor. The article examines the policing of guns and gun violence in the United Kingdom, analyzing why the police have increasingly developed specialized responses to the perceived gun problem. Data were collected on the work of Operation Trident in policing gun violence in the South London Borough of Lambeth. In-depth interviews were conducted with police and citizens involved in or impacted by Operation Trident. Conclusions drawn from this study were further used to engage in a discussion of an overall trend in British policing toward the specializations used in conducting Operation Trident, and the subsequent decline of the general range of police services provided by the traditional police constable. Because this change in the conduct and delivery of police services, the authors suggest that research is needed to review basic principles of the public policing system. Figures, notes, and references