ABSTRACT
The pace of organizational transformation in policing institutions was ramped up as a result of the so-called information revolution. Policing scholars saw a resulting shift in policing vocabulary with the introduction of new terms such as 'strategic' and 'proactive', together with 'intelligence-led policing'. Understanding the revolution in intelligence affairs potentially offers a way out of the paradox of the security control society. In confronting the security control paradox, it is essential to have a view of the inside workings of the policing machine. At a very fundamental level, the advent of new information technologies is driving drastic changes in the architecture of policing. Intelligence-led policing is a transnational phenomenon. Popular explanations regarding globalization and crime seldom display any awareness of the systemic or structural bases of transnational crime. The background to the emergent security control society is a scene of intense global political and economic restructuring.
