ABSTRACT
Therehasbeenmuchpublicitysincethemid-1990sabouttheintroductionin boththeUSAandBritainofget-toughpolicingstrategiestargeting,among others,drunks,vagrantsandbeggars'behavingbadly'onthestreets.Itisan approachtothepolicingofwhatcriminologistsnowterm'incivilities'. Perpetratorsareusuallyidentifiedasmembersofasocially-excluded underclassthatcloselyparallelssimilarinterventionsagainsttheirVictorian equivalentthe'dangerousclasses'.1Thefocusofmuchacademicstudyof theseactivities-inbothperiods-hasbeenonthetargetingoftheweak andpowerlessintheinterestsoftherichandpowerful.Certainly,such policinginterventionshaveservedthedisciplinaryandtutelaryinstinctsof thosemotivatedtoensuretheefficientmaintenanceofcapitalism.Thefocus ofthischapternonethelessgoesbeyondthatrecognitionandconsidersthe muchwiderpublicenthusiasmthathasanddoesexistamongallsocial groupsforthisstyleofpolicing.
