This report, published by the Economic and Social Research Council, highlights the views of experts presented during the Public Policy Seminar Series organised by the ESRC in collaboration with the Scottish Institute for Policing Research, The Police Foundation and the Universities' Police Science Institute. Speakers draw on latest research findings to offer their answers to crucial questions such as: 'How responsive should policing be to community priorities and concerns?' 'Can and should the police solve more crime?' and 'What is the role for policing in securing economic and social well-being?' The threat of deepening recession, over-centralisation, bureaucracy and politicisation raises the question of how the police service should change.

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