Tvenin' all'
P.J. Kavanagh
Inside the British Police Simon Holdaway (Blackwell £14.95) 'Simon Holdaway left school and joined the police force. He served for eleven Years and was then seconded to read sociology at Lancaster University. After graduating he returned to the police, carry- ing out research at the same time.'
This is taken from the jacket of his ex- traordinary book, which is an account of that research. He did not return to the POlice as a 'spy', he returned as a working Police sergeant in charge of a station (which he calls 'Hilton'), who also, now, happened ,to be a sociologist engaged in research. He Is honest to the point of scrupulosity about the difficulties this put him into. It also af- fects his language: 'In my covert research a constant triadic dialogue took place bet- ween the balancing of personal ethical limits, the aims of research and my duty as a Police officer.' However, the jargon of Sociology (which on the whole he uses spar- ingly) helps him to define the 'occupational cu, lture' of his profession of policeman; and his agonies as a policeman (for he wishes to ne loyal to police colleagues, whom he understands) are what make this book so convincing. In brief, as a policeman and as a sociologist, he considers that his colleagues have got almost everything wrong. And he Provides plenty of examples. He believes that policemen of the lower ranks 'maintain and legitimise a definition of policing which IS seen to be at variance with the "real" context of their work'. They choose to see themselves in the front line of discovering fld Preventing crime (and to this end tin fetter themselves from legal and °rganisational restraints'), whereas police studies — as well as commonsense — show that most of their work should be concern-
With 'peace-keeping' and 'police social work'.
In order to confirm their view of l‘neMselves as crime-busters, this legal nnfettering' consists of a hefty amount of accepted 'unorthodox questioning' (heating-up), and 'verballing' (perjury). 0.t. all policemen take part in these ac- tIvities, they are left to specialists at the sta- tion, but probationers are left in no doubt ah.out what it takes to be a 'real copper'. In this waY the 'occupational culture' is passed ?n. As for the 'social work' side of policing 9-1o.se constables who had made a positive decision to remain on the beat were viewed ts,uspiciously . . . they were thought to lack ne motivation of their promotion- te,,°n.setous peers', and little recognition of r ucir work is granted them by superior of- leers because it cannot be measured in
numbers of arrests. Whereas obviously the avoidance of the need for arrests is the highest form of policing.
So, what can be done about this? Not much, it seems, until the lower-rank at- titude is changed. According to Mr Holdaway, policemen see themselves as isolated in a world where law and order have broken down ('It's chaos out there' a colleague said to him, on a particularly uneventful day). 'Their implication is that if Hilton is on the brink of chaos, then the of- ficers have a licence to intervene . . . Thus the uncertain, diffuse and conflicting nature of police work is rationalised.' It is easy to sympathise with these policemen, what with criminals, doctors, lawyers, MPs, their superiors, sociologists (and reviewers) all waiting to pounce. It is hardly surprising that they cut corners, behave secretively, and tell lies. This is an 'occupa- tional culture' that defines itself in terms of a hostile world. (Even hospitals, if they ask questions about the state of some of the ac- cused people brought to them,are regarded as 'hostile'.) They protect themselves semantically: an arrested suspect is a 'prisoner' and is the arresting officer's 'property'. One can deal with one's proper- ty with a certain freedom. You do not have to be a life-long believer in 'Dixon of Dock Green' to be shocked at how extravagant a euphemism it is that 'a man is helping police with their inquiries'. He is more likely being kicked round the charge-room. All sorts of comparatively minor innova- tions have only seemed to make matters worse. Policemen now summon help on their radios and thus turn what could have been a small matter, out of which in the old days they could have talked themselves, in- to a major confrontation. The emphasis on statistics, on the number of arrests as a measure of success, has led to unprovoked raids and victimisation, especially of blacks and micks' and others even more disadvan- taged than are the policemen themselves.
Not all policemen are 'occupational' villains, of course. Mr Holdaway himself is a product of the police, but the notes he made while on duty all seem to show how difficult it is to go against the tribal values of the group. He is in no doubt that nothing can be done from above, that nothing will change until the 'occupational culture' is changed. 'Unless a balancing series of what the police come to regard as positive rewards can attract the lower ranks to ac- cept reform . '• we risk creating an even more beleaguered and defensive British force than exists at the moment . . The tightly-bound culture of the lower ranks has to be broken into, the virtual sanctity of police policy has to be demystified . .
That is a lower-rank policeman talking, we must remember, or at least ex-policeman, for Mr Holdaway has now left the force. `If I desire anything for this book, it is that it may make a small contribution to our search for a more just and loving society and therefore a more just and loving police.' That may make them guffaw down at the Hilton manor — but not while Sgt. 'Holdaway was around. It is odd that this short — surely unique — book is so ex- traordinarily expensive. Let us hope that, despite this, it falls into the right hands.
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