ABSTRACT
The 1960s: change all round The 1960s heralded a marked change in the seemingly good relations between police and public and witnessed significant developments in police organisation. A key indication of the growth of affluence and the consumer society was the enormous increase in private motor vehicles; all the attendant problems of regulation and supervision meant a major extension of road traffic duties for the police. The decline in deference and the general inclination to question authority which, together with the spread of education, appeared to characterise much of the cultural development of the decade, probably contributed to growing suspicions about the unique nature of the English Bobby. So too did the glorification of youth culture, the incidence of civil disobedience and protest demonstrations, and the emerging self-consciousness of Afro-Caribbean and Asian immigrants and of their British-born children. But the most immediate and tangible changes were to be found in police organisation and structure.
