This book sets out an argument about the nature of crime control and the implications for good policing. It draws on criminological research, in particular, on procedural justice theory, but it is not intended as an academic work. It aims to synthesise the work of an international network of police researchers who have developed ideas of trust in the police, police legitimacy and compliance with the law. This introductory chapter first provides some context for a discussion of good policing. It then summarises my arguments in brief – in a way that I hope will provide the reader with a clear sense of the book's direction of travel. I am a British academic and crime and its control in Britain are my main points of reference; however, the book's conclusions have, I hope, wider applicability.

Crime control and its regulation: the policy context

Crime is as old as the social institutions that have evolved to regulate it. In the distant past when humans began to make the transition from hunter-gathering to farming and lived in small agrarian groups, there was conflict, for certain, but no crime – as there were no formal systems of justice. The last two millennia have seen the evolution of increasingly institutionalised systems for regulating conflict. Ancient cultures had well-developed systems of law, and in Europe, elements of Roman law formed the foundation of law from the Middle Ages onwards.

Many of us have a mindset that leads us to believe that in most areas of life, ‘things are getting worse’, and it is certainly true that most people have a pessimistic view about law and order, thinking that crime and disorder are on the rise. However, any cool-headed assessment of long-run trends in crime, especially in violent crime, would conclude the opposite. This countervailing and more optimistic position has been most clearly articulated by the 20th-century sociologist Norbert Elias, and more recently popularised by the North American academic Steven Pinker. They – and I – would argue that the long-run trend from mediaeval times can be characterised by greater self-restraint, less violence and more respect for the rights of others. Certainly, the best historical analyses of trends in violence are consistent with this perspective.