MACMILLAN On the Wrong Side of The Law: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1829-1964 (Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies)

This book, the first of a two volume study, provides an historical account of complaints against Metropolitan police officers between formation of the force in 1829 and codification of remedies for misconduct under the Police Act 1964. A complainant centred standpoint is developed to counteract the marginalization of the interests of victims, which is held to demonstrate that the drive for effective and efficient law enforcement has overshadowed the public interest in holding officers to account for misconduct. After officer accountability before the criminal courts diminished in the nineteenth century, missed opportunities to reform complaints procedures following commissions of inquiry in 1906-08, 1928 and 1960-62 are discussed. The second volume of the study,  Combating Impunity: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1964-2021, will examine the part played by complainants and civil society organisations in combating police impunity in the citizen oversight era.   Review “Graham Smith has grounded his powerful and masterfully researched history documenting the lack of police accountability in London’s Metropolitan Police Service in the experiences of the people most impacted by police violence.  His “complainant-centered” approach reveals three themes that have impeded police accountability, despite repeated government inquiries and gestures toward reform: (1) the marginalization of complainants including racism, (2) police resistance to independent oversight (3) power asymmetries between the complainants and the police. As a law professor in the U.S., I cannot help but note the striking similarities in the challenges facing our countries, when it comes to addressing the realities of police impunity vis-à-vis marginalized communities. On the Wrong Side of the Law has the potential to inform our policies and practices in the present to achieve a police force that is accountable to the public. I can’t wait to read volume two!” (Craig B. Futterman, Clinical Professor of Law, The University of Chicago, US) From the Back Cover This book, the first of a two volume study, provides an historical account of complaints against Metropolitan police officers between formation of the force in 1829 and codification of remedies for misconduct under the Police Act 1964. A complainant centred standpoint is developed to counteract the marginalization of the interests of victims, which is held to demonstrate that the drive for effective and efficient law enforcement has overshadowed the public interest in holding officers to account for misconduct. After officer accountability before the criminal courts diminished in the nineteenth century, missed opportunities to reform complaints procedures following commissions of inquiry in 1906-08, 1928 and 1960-62 are discussed. The second volume of the study,  Combating Impunity: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1964-2021, will examine the part played by complainants and civil society organisations in combating police impunity in the citizen oversight era.   About the Author Graham Smith is Senior Lecturer in Regulation in the School of Law at the University of Manchester, UK and co-founder of ManReg: The Manchester Centre for Regulation, Governance and Public Law. Graham has close to 40 years of experience in the field of police misconduct and officer accountability as a complainant, civil rights activist, consultant, researcher and international expert on human rights law. In recent years he has advised governments on behalf of the Council of Europe on criminal justice reform and combating impunity for torture and ill-treatment.