The British Politico-Legal Structure and Police Accountability: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

Police has a very important role to play in a society. Broadly, the police are responsible to prevent and control any conduct or action that is recognized as threatening to life and property in order to create and maintain a feeling of security in communities. However, police is often criticized for their excessive use of force, lack of accountability, political interference, corruption, and abuse of power. It becomes, therefore, important to keep a constant check on the police so as to avoid any abuse of powers by the police force as well as raising awareness among the citizens about their rights vis-à-vis the police This requires a legal framework which ensures the proper accountability of the police force. In this paper, we critically look at the complex structure of the tripartite system of police accountability in England and Wales and put forward some suggestions to improve the system so as to build a police that is more accountable.