Police in the United States and other developed democracies are in a period of unprecendented rethinking of their basic purposes and operational procedures. The internationalization of policing is a major current phenomenon, as a consequence of the growth of international crime problems and such developments as European integration. Despite the fact that there is a general perception among police professionals and observers that this is a watershed period in policing, surprisingly little is known about patterns of resource allocation, organization, and strategy. This is not only true on a comparative international basis, but for individual countries as well. This grant will provide support for the completion of a comparative international project on police operations in five developed democracies. Specifically, Professor Bayley will compile data from Great Britain, following the research design already followed in Japan, Australia, Canada, and the United States; organize and analyze the data from the five countries; and write a book-length manuscript on policing in developed countries. Longitudinal and cross-sectional data will be collected on police resources, personnel, dispositions, demands, workloads, and strategic plans in three British forces as well as national data from the Home Office. As in the other four countries, information will be collected about trends in allocations for the past twenty years and about variations in allocations among different social settings contemporaneously within each force. In addition, interviews will be conducted with key operational and managerial personnel. This project will produce the most extensive collection to date of information about the character of contemporary police operations on a comparative basis. It will increase our understanding of the ways that differences in environment and organization of policing affect the work police do. As such, the study has practical relevance to public policies about police organization and service delivery. Also, the study will provide important theoretical insights into the linkage between policing functions and the organizational, administrative, and cultural milieu of police organizations. Finally, it will provide a basis for examining other issues in law enforcement such as morals, attritions, police values and attitudes, and the police subculture. Understanding these issues will contribute to basic knowledge about individual rights and collective responsibilites as well as the proper relationship between government and the governed.
