ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses upon the increasing deployment of the disruption mode in contemporary police crime control strategies, arguing that these changes are connected to, and are at least partly explainable by, police attempts to make their activities more intelligence-led. The chapter begins with an extended discussion of the concept of intelligence and its application to policing. It provides a framework for thinking about the turn to disruption in police practice. The chapter considers some of the limitations of the ongoing changes, together with their wider theoretical and ethical ramifications. It presents the product of two separate research projects, both funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Home Office. Study One was an examination of strategic criminal intelligence processes across the police sector in the UK. Study two was more focused exploration of intelligence-led policing in two UK police forces. The chapter also focuses on the basis of common themes that emerged from both studies.