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Thinking at the Top

NCJ Number
120135
Journal
Policing Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: (Autumn 1989) Pages: 181-199
Author(s)
R Reiner
Date Published
1989
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study reports on interviews with 40 of Britain's 43 chief constables in England and Wales and focuses on the chief constables' backgrounds, career patterns, policing philosophies, and views on social and political issues.
Abstract
The study finds that chief constables are highly individualistic and see their role in the community as larger than merely fighting crime, even though they believe that crime and disorder are increasing. Constables attribute crime and disorder to moral decline, the disintegration of social controls, increased opportunities for crime, and social divisions resulting from a multi-racial and ethnic community. The constables believed that racial and ethnic minorities were hard to control. Four dimensions accounting for variations in chief constable attitudes are discussed, and four types of chief constable leadership styles are identified. The value of chief constables as representatives of Britain's national police policy is assessed. 23 footnotes.

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