Many of the essays in this book originally appeared in Transaction/Society magazine.

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It is safe to say that the true role of the police, and indeed the criminal justice system over all, is largely misunderstood by the public and very likely by the people who make up its ranks. It is the purpose of this book to define this role by asking the question: WHY? Why do we have a police force and a criminal justice system in American and what are the true sociological ends being served by them; or better still, to what ends are they being asked to serve. We may discover that what the police are expected to accomplish is more important for society than their actual performance.