This timely and important work takes a critical look at the shifting role of police who are
becoming increasingly responsible for handling terrorism threats on top of their regular
responsibilities. With an unprecedented empirical study the authors of this book examine
whether this increased focus on security-related threats may come at the expense of addressing
classic police responsibilities such as fighting crime and dealing with local day-to-day
community problems. They also examine whether this shift has had a detrimental effect on
police-community relationships and perceptions of police legitimacy as their role changes from
service to suspicion. Through a four-year multi-method study specifically focused on the
Israel National Police the authors of this work have examined the effects of this shifting
role on a number of key areas of policing concern namely: police effectiveness at fighting
crime and police legitimacy drawing conclusions applicable to any democratic police force. The
results of the study provide a number of concrete recommendations for maintaining effectiveness
and community relationships of the police with increasing responsibilities challenges and
limited resources. This work will be of interest for researchers in criminology and criminal
justice particularly with a focus on police studies and counter-terrorism police
administrators and researchers in related disciplines such as sociology and public
administration.
