Vol. 10 No. 1 (January 2000) pp. 45-47.

THE CHIEF CONSTABLES OF ENGLAND AND WALES: THE SOCIO-LEGAL HISTORY OF A CRIMINAL JUSTICE ELITE by David S. Wall. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate Publishing Co. 1998. 341pp. Cloth $68.95.

Reviewed by Jerry Waltman, Departments of Political Science and Criminal Justice, University of Southern Mississippi.

This book is more a study in public administration than public law. There is little focus on police interpretation of the law and the discussion is only directed to parliamentary statutes when they address the organization, structure, and operation of administrative bodies. Nonetheless, the book should prove of interest to students of British law, especially constitutional law, for the office of chief constable has occupied an ambiguous constitutional position since its inception.
Police organization in England and Wales has a tripartite structure: the Home Office which is a cabinet level department headed by a minister; local police authorities which are bodies whose composition has been periodically changed but whose essence has traditionally been to reflect local opinion (although this was altered somewhat during the Thatcher years); and the chief constables. The Home Secretary is accountable to Parliament via the collective responsibility of a government while police authorities are created by parliamentary statute, arrangements which both clearly maintain the sovereignty of Parliament. Court cases and statements by Royal Commissions, however, have declared that the chief constable derives at least a portion of his or her authority directly from the crown. Thus, although selected by the police authority and (ordinarily) obligated to carry out Home Office circulars, there is a degree of independence granted to chief constables that most local government officials lack.

Wall's book is a chronologically organized analysis of the social and career backgrounds of all those who have held the office of chief constable between 1836, when the office was established, and 1996. The research is comprehensive and exhaustive, drawing on every conceivable historical source, whether quantitative or qualitative, along with interviews with many of those still living. There is literally a treasure trove of data here. Much of the presentation is a rather straightforward factual narrative buttressed by numerous tables and quotations. However, a number of case studies, relying on autobiographies or letters, spice up the book, and provide a fascinating glimpse not only into the types of people who served as chief constables, but also the character of police work and life in general at various periods of British history.

Given the nature of the topic, something of a slant toward the reference book tone is all but inevitable. It is stronger, that is, on data than theory. Two themes do emerge, however: professionalization and centralization.

Prior to the First World War, chief constables were primarily recruited from the

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ranks of retired military officers. Most of them had political connections of various sorts, and viewed the chief constableship as a position that carried the appropriate social status to make them a member of the local elite. Following unrest in the lower ranks and several difficulties associated with the war, a committee of inquiry was appointed (the Desborough Committee), and its recommendations were largely adopted in the Police Act 1919. The committee recommended that except under unusual circumstances chief constables should be required to have previous police experience. Furthermore, the role of the Home Office in overall policing policy was strengthened significantly. The story from 1919 to the 1980s was largely the same. A number of committees and Royal Commissions were set up at various times to deal with policing, the outcomes of which usually led to the consolidation of smaller forces, a growth of professionalization within the police, moves to make the chief constable someone who rose entirely through the ranks, and a growth in the role of the Home Office. One conspicuous development was also the increase in the part played by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) in developing policy within the Home Office. All these reports, statutes, and regulations are laid out in detail in the book. The author notes that "The cumulative effect of the policy debates and the legislation has been to centralise both the police and . . . also policing policy" (pp. 74-75). In effect, England and Wales now have a national police force in fact if not in name.

The centralization theme has carried into the 1990s; however, the professionalization norm has been shaken a bit. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the "new public management" school, stressing measurable accountability and business methods, infected the police and other public agencies in Britain. The question of external recruitment was consequently raised anew. This time it was asked: Could not a businessperson be a good chief constable, since management is management? Though the ardor of the new public management advocates seems to have cooled, the issue of rising through the ranks versus external recruitment is never really "settled."
Wall also devotes some attention to how the patterns of recruitment and their supporting ideologies have affected the internal leadership styles of the chief constables. When military officers dominated, the accepted model was one of "command," with parades, inspections, and the like. That gave way to the "administrative leader" as professionalization and advancement through the ranks became common. Then, even if chief constables were not recruited from the outside, in the 1990s they began to speak the language of business management, a trend which was encouraged by the Home Office and codified by the Police and Magistrates Court Act 1994. This act required written policing plans, called for the setting of goals, etc., and restructured the police authorities to allow (at least under the Conservatives) for the introduction of more appointees from the business and financial world. The book concludes with an enlightening discussion of the current tensions and possible changes that lie ahead.

Two other attributes of the book deserve to be noted. First, there is a commendable discussion of higher police training, a topic that is often neglected. Second, Wall addresses the dispute that has whirled around Freemasonry in the police. This issue always seems odd from an

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American perspective, but it is put in understandable terms here.

In short, the book largely accomplishes its goal. Its faults are either minor, or would require a different book. One of the former is that it was more repetitious than need be. To be sure, certain topics had to be raised in several different places, but the author seemed to go a bit overboard on this score. Another matter that is not really a fault, but which would have enhanced the value of the book to non-expert readers if included, is the omission of notes regarding the intricacies of English administrative history and structure. For example, the historical difference between counties and boroughs, which is important throughout, is not explained.
My chief wish, though, was for the inclusion of much more theoretical material. There is some discussion of administrative theory, but it is truncated. I would like to have seen more tie-ins to ideas of modernization, organizational evolution, and broader theories of political change in Britain. If Wall or someone else sets out to write such a needed book, this work will provide an invaluable database.