This book is concerned with the gendered world of police leadership at a time when calls are being made for a different kind of police leader to guide the organisation through the twenty-first century. Drawing on in-depth interviews carried out with senior policewomen across a range of police forces in England and Wales, Women in Charge is the first book to provide a detailed study of women in police leadership. The work challenges existing conceptualisations and theorisations of police culture for the study of police leaders, demonstrating the various ways in which police cultures are shaped by both rank and gender. Women in police leadership face a different kind of gendered environment than their non-managerial counterparts, one in which a 'smart macho' culture of police management dominates. At the same time this book investigates the extent to which senior policewomen are involved in developing new styles and conceptualisations of leadership. It argues that women are involved in promoting a different kind of police leadership, using more consultative and holistic styles - styles not traditionally associated with the police organisation.

Marisa Silvestri is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at London South Bank University.