This chapter discusses the qualitative methodology used in the study. Fieldwork was conducted in two divisions in the Metropolitan Police and one in Surrey Constabulary. Beatbook accounts were used along with observational fieldnotes, plus interviews and group discussions conducted with officers by the research team as a comparative base for analysing community policing practice. Researchers observed over 1,200 police/public incidents in hundreds of hours of fieldwork, and interviewed officers of all ranks and functions in the three research sites. The community policing system is then...

This chapter discusses the qualitative methodology used in the study. Fieldwork was conducted in two divisions in the Metropolitan Police and one in Surrey Constabulary. Beatbook accounts were used along with observational fieldnotes, plus interviews and group discussions conducted with officers by the research team as a comparative base for analysing community policing practice. Researchers observed over 1,200 police/public incidents in hundreds of hours of fieldwork, and interviewed officers of all ranks and functions in the three research sites. The community policing system is then described based on the data gathered.