Overview
One of the few books on the topic of police use of force based on primary ethnographic research (interviews with police officers)
First book to focus on the problem of police violence in India as well as other major countries
Compares social and political climates surrounding police shootings in New York, London, and Mumbai
Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
Extrajudicial executions have blighted parts of the world for generations, but criminological coverage has been superficial and selective, in that it has concentrated on South America giving the impression that this is a problem specific to that part of the world and associated with military rule, dictatorial regimes and colonial heritage. Permission to Shoot?: Police Use of Deadly Force in Democracies brings a new dimension to the problem of police abuse of deadly force by concentrating on India and the United States, both large democracies and vibrant superpowers.
In the book, the research is based on primary sources—interviews with police officers of varying ranks: those who are involved in the killings; those who facilitate such operations; and those who are mute spectators. The book deals with universal, fundamental themes such as: what makes ordinary, decent human beings do horrible things? What motivational techniques and justifications are used to override social norms governing moral conduct, centring on the sector of society mandated to use deadly force against civilians? Why in a democratic country the abuse of police powers appears to be overtly and tacitly encouraged?
Permission to Shoot? seeks to provide broad guidelines and recommendations for reforms in policing policy and practice in developing countries. The research peels back the lies and deceit that surround this issue, but more than that it shows how those lies and deceit act to support the practice itself.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Jyoti Belur is a Research Associate at the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, University College London in London, UK. After obtaining a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Mumbai, she briefly worked as a lecturer of Economics at that university. She then joined the Indian Police Service and served as a senior police officer in the North of India. During her training period at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad she completed a Masters in Police Management (Osmania University). She has since then done another Masters degree in Human Rights at the University of Essex in the UK, after which she completed her PhD at the London School of Economics. Her recent research activities at the Jill Dando Institute include a consultancy project for the London Metropolitan Police to help them get a better understanding of the Muslim communities in a number of London boroughs. Dr. Belur’s key areas of interest are policing and police studies, terrorism and processes of radicalization and extremism.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Permission to Shoot?
Book Subtitle: Police Use of Deadly Force in Democracies
Authors: Jyoti Belur
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0975-6
Publisher: Springer New York, NY
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-0974-9Published: 06 October 2010
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4939-0234-7Published: 05 September 2014
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4419-0975-6Published: 27 September 2010
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 226
Topics: Criminology and Criminal Justice, general, Political Science