This book is a thorough revision of the 1999 edition, incorporating the changes that have occurred in crime and policing during the first years of the 21st century. The book examines the history, philosophy and practice of policing in Australia, Great Britain and the United States, showing how the constitutional structure of the three countries give rise to different policing structures and different styles of policing. The book also looks in depth at crime and its effect on society, and the effect the media has on public perceptions of crime, and, as a result, the way in which police strategies are closely reported by the media. Successive approaches to policing since the second world war are closely examined, and the current community policing methods considered. The book also analyses various forms of police accountability, both of individual officers and of police organisations as a whole. The final part of the book is completely new, examining changes in the way police organisations are managed and political imperatives, including the war on terrorism, and the effect this has on policing and the public. It also examines some specific 21st century crime problems.