ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a typically vague definition of community safety from the most influential report to date in Britain on the potential significance of the concept for crime management strategies. It is based largely on current research on one such strategy in an English Midlands county, 'Middleshire'. Much contemporary research into the 'policy process' has emphasised the strong possibility of a 'gap' between the stage of policy formulation at the centre and that of policy implementation at the level of subnational government. The chapter explores this crucial research issue and, in the process, critique two dominant sociological interpretations of policing/crime prevention trends, namely Radical Totalitarianism and Sceptical Pluralism, which are neglectful of local, countervailing forces at work in this contested terrain. It outlines some of the major policy developments in 'routine' policing, crime prevention and consultation/accountability issues during the last two decades from central government in Britain.
