POLICE AND COMMUNITY

This comprehensive social history of policing in twentieth-century Scotland offers a fresh perspective on the complex relationships between police officers and the communities they served. Drawing on a rich collection of archival materials, oral history interviews, memoirs, and autobiographies, the book examines how social and economic change, wartime disruptions, technological advancements, and governance centralization influenced the dynamics of trust and cooperation between police and community.

By exploring the ways in which social identities shaped police-community relationships across time and geography, this book contributes to ongoing debates about effective policing. It provides a unique geographical coverage of rural areas, including the Highlands and Islands, as well as densely populated urban areas, shedding light on patterns of change over time and space.

Published for the first time in 2022, this book contextualises Scotland's experience within broader comparative frameworks, offering valuable insights into the evolution of police-community relationships from Victorian times to the present day.