This is a book about change in Australian policing. As it turns out, it is also a book about resistance to change. The conduct of police officers and the performance of police organisations are increasingly under public scrutiny in recent years, following revelations of systemic corruption and malpractice in some police forces (Fitzgerald Report 1989, and the current Wood Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service). Reforming the police has become an urgent item on the political agenda of governments. At a time when the necessity for change seems most pressing, it is important to consider our state of knowledge about change. While political urgency may have created unique opportunities and a favourable climate for wide-ranging reforms, there is considerable danger in pushing change for the sake of change. There is much to learn from experience.

This book examines the dynamics of change and resistance within a police organisation when reforms were introduced to improve relations between police and minorities. It captures the complexity and unpredictability of the change process. For example, radical change, though politically risky and unpopular, can be more successful in transforming organisational directions than incremental change, which requires a long period of sustained organisational and political commitment to produce effects. On the other hand, change introduced from the top of the organisation is often resisted by those at the bottom. Similarly, externally imposed change can be sabotaged by members within the organisation. Overall, the path of change is never straightforward: change can lead to further change in the intended direction, it can bring about unintended consequences, or it can suffer setbacks and reversals.