ABSTRACT
This book, based on oral history interviews as well as archival and other sources, has two main purposes. The first is to fill a gap in the historiography between policing studies that usually end with the First World War, and the contemporary focus of most criminologists. Although there has been some work on the police in the inter-war period, this has largely concentrated on the policing of strikes and demonstrations. Only T.A. Critchley's history, and Clive Emsley's text on English policing provide something of an overview, while Mike Brogden’s book on policing in inter-war Liverpool most nearly parallels the period and themes covered here, but within the confines of one city.1 This still leaves a need for more knowledge about the work of the police and their relations with the public, and about their self-image and views on their role and occupation in the inter-war and Second World War period. So far, there has been no historical inquiry into this question and its implications for the style and content of police work. The key question addressed in the text therefore concerns the police view of the priorities of the job and the aspects they considered the most important, in order to encapsulate the motivation and the norms and values that guided their behaviour, as well as any changes that may have occurred over the period.
