Race relations is one of the most contentious areas of contemporary police work. Its bearing on public concerns about social order, discrimination and justice means that it is never out of the news headlines for long.

This illuminating study of the key areas of policing in which racialised relations may be identified draws on sociological theory, extensive empirical evidence and contemporary British police policy to explore and assess the ways in which racialised relations have been constructed and are sustained in the course of routine police work.

The author argues that 'race' needs to be placed within the particular organisational and occupational cultural context of policing, and he explores the precise ways in which race is constructed within these contexts using vivid and memorable case examples. Although the book focuses particularly on policy in England and Wales, its theoretical framework and general sociological orientation will be of direct value to understanding the particularity of the racialisation of police work in other societies.

This book offers an excellent introduction to policing and race relations and will appeal to students and researchers of the police and of race relations on degrees in sociology, criminology, social policy and politics, and also to students of police studies.