Police in the Age of Improvement: The Origins and Development of Policing in Scotland, 1775-1865

Synopsis

The study of police history in Scotland has largely been neglected. Little is known about the Scottish police's origins, development and character despite growing interest in the machinery of law enforcement in other parts of the United Kingdom. This book seeks to remedy this. Based on extensive research, the central aim of the book is to provide an in-depth analysis of the economic, social and political factors that shaped police reform, development and policy in Scottish burghs and surrounding counties. It addresses questions such as: How was social control exercised in Georgian society and why was it increasingly deemed to be ineffective by the early nineteenth century?; Why, and in what ways, did the pattern, nature and origins of police development in Scotland differ from elsewhere in the United Kingdom?; What was the relationship between police development and urban growth?; and Who were the police commissioners and what were their concerns and priorities?