Table of Contents
Preface vii
About the Authors xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
1 Introduction: The Hardest Job in Policing? 1
Shots Around the World 4
Controversy 8
Changes, Mistakes and Learning in Police Circles 9
Contexts, Command, Frequencies and Victims 16
Structure and Contents 20
Timeline on Police Weapons and Firearms 23
2 The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and 'Operation Kratos' 31
Stockwell, 22 July 36
Briefing and Kratos 41
3 Old Myths and Changing Realities 53
Discourses Within and About Policing 53
Tooling Up? 55
Driving out the Dixon Myth 58
New Problems and 'Exceptional' Measures 64
4 Shootings, Policy Shifts and Competing Pressures 71
Continuing Official Caution 75
Hungerford 76
Tragedy and Farce 78
After Hungerford 80
'Event Driven' or 'Gun Driven' 81
Shooting to Kill? 83
Men, Guns and Ammo 89
Replica Arguments and Replica Weapons 92
5 Police Politics and Morale 97
Hanging, Shooting and Opinion Polling 97
Click by Click? 100
The 'Greatest British Defeat since Dunkirk' 104
New Frontiers and Supply Side Questions 107
The Most Important Decision for the Future of British Policing - Since Last Year 109
War and Order: The New Continuum of Force 114
The Dunblane Primary School Massacre and its Aftermath 115
6 Policing in a 'Gun Culture'? Policing of Guns and Policing with Guns 117
Unpacking the Notion of a 'Gun Culture' 122
Guns and Gangs 124
Gang Studies and 'Cultures of Violence' 126
Policing and Enforcement Action in 'Gangland' 133
Gun Crime Hotspots and 'Problem-oriented Policing' 136
Operation Ceasefire 138
Bringing It All Back Home: 'Gunchester' 141
Policing of Guns, Policing with Guns 142
7 Intelligence Dilemmas, Armed Response Policy and Research 147
Gang Culture and the 'Trident Model' 149
From Reactive to Proactive 150
Intelligence-led Dilemmas 152
Research on Recent Police Shootings 159
8 Critical Case Studies of Selected Police-involved Shooting Incidents 165
The Shooting of James Ashley in Hastings, 1998 166
The Shooting of Harry Stanley, 1999 171
The Shooting of Andrew Kernan, 2001 177
Caution at Highmoor Cross, 2004 181
Ambush at Chandler's Ford, 2007 184
9 Concluding Themes: Losing by Appearing to Win? 193
Bibliography 205
Index 227
