Policing after the act: police governance after the Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1994

The controversial Police and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1994 made significant changes to both the composition and the powers of police authorities in England and Wales. It substantially reduced the size of police authorities and the numbers of elected councillors on them, adding new, ‘independent’ members for the first time, and requiring local police authorities to produce policing plans for their areas. Policing After the Act is the first major study of the new police authorities created as a result of this important legislation. The research is based on interviews with all the interest groups involved - government ministers, civil servants, senior police officers and local government representatives - together with a detailed survey of all police authorities and in-depth studies in three representative police force areas. As the only comprehensive analysis available of the new system of policy accountability, this will be of great interest to policy-makers, police officers, police authority members and officials, and will be required reading for all students of policing and criminology.