The Scottish Police Officer

The structure of policing is undergoing change in Scotland at present and the profile of the police officer differs from that of the past. This book takes an informative approach and offers a unique account and insight into the Scottish police organisation, describing the ‘Scottish police officer’ from the point of recruitment through to training, development and specialist policing.

Written by an ex-senior police officer, this book examines how the qualified police officer goes about his/her daily work policing and how this has changed over time as a result of organised crime, terrorism and the changing priorities of the public and politicians. The contribution of non-police officers such as police civilian staff, auxiliaries and the private sector, plays a key role in the policing of Scotland in the 21st century and is considered at length. As police supervision and management is crucial to the organisation’s success, the subjects of personnel development, promotion and management in the police is examined with comment on the suitability of the system in the 21st century.

The book concludes with commentary on the future profile of the Scottish police officer and makes some general comparison with their colleagues in the rest of the UK and European Union. This will be an essential text for police officers in Scotland and elsewhere and students and academics in the areas of law, politics, management, police studies, criminology and criminal justice.

Daniel Donnelly is a retired senior police officer and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Criminal Justice and Police Studies, University of the West of Scotland. He has obtained the degrees of B.A., M.B.A. and Ph.D. and has regularly taught at a number of Scottish universities. Daniel is the author of Municipal Policing in Scotland (Dundee University Press 2008); co-editor/author of Policing Scotland 1^st and 2^nd editions (Willan 2005 and 2010), and author of Municipal Policing in the European Union – Comparative Perspectives (2013).