ABSTRACT
The chapter concludes the study, drawing together the core themes identified across the chapters to present three central findings. These are: firstly, that a shared language of suspicion demonstrates continuities in proactive policing practices, as part of a wider project of policing public order; secondly, that proactive policing agents exercised discretion and made active choices in their policing practices; and thirdly, that proactive policing directly influenced the numbers and nature of those who compose the historical record of criminal activity and contemporary societal perceptions of criminality. Here we transcend the immediate historical impact of proactive policing, to reflect on the longer-term implications of these practices. While this provides a vital context for understanding some challenging aspects of contemporary policing and its damaging effects on targeted communities, it also offers a potentially pessimistic picture for those seeking reform in this sphere. However, we can be cautiously hopeful that the contemporary engagement with re-evaluating the impact of history may bring changing ideas of how to unpick problematic interactions between the police and the communities that are disproportionately targeted by policing. Finally, this chapter considers the international context for proactive policing, calling for further research and transnational connections to be drawn.
