Community policing seems always in vogue, yet its essential qualities remain elusive. There has been a rush to evaluate community policing before commentators have got to grips with what community police officers do which is distinctive. This important new book by a leading expert on community policing in Britain offers a detailed analysis of the activities, functions, and operations of community police officers, and shows how community police officers gather information about crime from the communities in which they serve, and also how they apply informal social control to public disorder situations. This original and scholarly work offers a conceptual framework within which the activities of community police officers may be understood, and as such will be of great interest to all those with an interest in contemporary British policing.