Dissertation

Contested Control: An Ethnographic Study of Policing a Metropolis

Kilgallon, Mark Christopher

2003

Overview

This is an ethnographic study of the operational patrol culture of rank and file police officers who deal with the competing and complex issues facing law enforcement in a metropolis. This study has five main areas of focus: it considers the competitive aspect within the patrol culture and explores how groups of similarly minded officers vie for control of the dominant working practices of their units; it analyses the tension between the agency of patrol operatives and the structures imposed by their managers; it reviews the differing patrol officer 'types' and their relationship with the public; it evidences the racial tensions at street level between patrol workers and aspects of the local black community; finally it considers the impact that New Public Managements has on the actions of patrol operatives. As the government drive for an effective performance culture increases in political significance, this thesis analyses the scepticism demonstrated by officers who are more inclined to situationally justify their policing than rely on the image management of their leaders. We therefore explore the perceived difference between policing by statistics and policing by shared practical experience. As the research progresses, the ethnography will evidence a growing mistrust by workers of management practices that attempt to impose structures at the expense of individual agency. The research also explores the real racial tensions that exist between patrol officers and black youths operating at street level. At a macro-level, the ethnography explores the complex relationships during the Notting Hill Carnival; at the micro-level it analyses the daily relationships between police officers and local black youths. Finally, the effects of the Stephen Lawrence investigation and the subsequent Macpherson enquiry are examined from a rank and file perspective. This thesis will evidence the consequences of isolating patrol officers not only from sections of the community, but significantly, from their own leadership.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Black studies / Cultural anthropology / Law enforcement
• ISBN: 9781339195001, 1339195003