Citation

Innes M. Br. J. Sociol. 2002; 53(1): 67-87.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology, University of Surrey.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, London School of Economics and Political Science, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1080/00071310120109339

PMID

11958679

Abstract

This paper draws upon a range of empirical data to consider the ways in which police murder investigations are symbolically constructed, both within and outside of the police organization. It is argued that a range of communicative formats serve to produce the activities associated with police murder investigations in a way that serves to legitimate the police function to both members of the public and police officers alike. A particular emphasis is placed upon understanding the connections between informal and formal communications, and the instrumental and expressive objectives that variously underpin them.

Language: en