ABSTRACT
Control over policing has been the cause of recurrent conflict. As the polity undergoes change, so has the relation between the police and judicial and executive institutions. Legislation from the 19th century maintained the subordination of the police to the magistracy, but became less relevant than the contest between police authorities and chief constables, with central government a shadowy, but increasingly influential, actor. More recently, central government has emerged more starkly from the shadows and we have seen the influence of chief constables rise, but as ‘Chief Executive Officers’ working largely in accord with central government. Local government influence has waned, accentuated by its general diminution under governments guided more by corporate state principles than their manifestos admitted.
