Bethan Loftus' research makes a major contribution to the analysis of contemporary policing, and of the impact of the extensive reform initiatives of the last quarter of a century. It does this by replicating the classic studies of police culture conducted from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, which constituted the core foundations of the understanding of policing. This book would thus fill a hole in the analysis of policing that has long required plugging. It does this in an outstanding way that matches the very best of the classic studies.
Bethan Loftus is a fellow at the Centre for Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Manchester. Previously, she was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Centre for Criminology, Oxford, specialising in policing and police cultures and policing social divisions. She was awarded a Ph.D at the Centre for Criminological Research, Keele University in 2007 for her thesis 'Police Culture in a Diverse Society: A Provincial Police Force in Transition?' She holds an MA in Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice and first class honours degree in criminology and criminal justice, both from the University of Wales.