Care and control: The role of the UK police in extreme circumstances

Abstract

Recent discussion about the functions and roles of the British police has (with a few major exceptions) characterised policing in terms of either care or control, with the two characteristics seen as not only separate but exclusive and existing in a state of tension. The article illustrates, by reference to the police role in extreme circumstances, that although both are expected of the police by central government, the public and the police themselves, the efficient provision of care cannot exist without control. The relationship of the two is closer than that of simple combination because both are integral parts of the role, though not necessarily of the technical function, played by the police.