Defence and international security-policing into the next century

The Commissioner sees three major areas of influence to the debate raised in this article—both media and public perception of the police, and how the police themselves feel about these issues. In addressing these issues, Mr Condon reflects upon how society's practices and demands are changing, and the need to understand the criminal mind above the crime itself. Police mistakes have been made, but, argues Mr Condon, the law currently favours the criminal, and parliament, in its forthcoming review of the Criminal Justice Act, has the perfect opportunity to redress the balance Policing is a two‐way process between officers and the community, each relying on the support and understanding of the other With this cooperation and the continued efforts of the police to align themselves to the demands of the next century as raised by the Sheehy report, Mr Condon ‘believes that there is every reason to be optimistic that the future will not inevitably involve an mexorable rise in crime.