A book for the bobby on the beat

"Well, Sarge, I was proceeding in a westerly direction down Green Street when I was struck by this matrix management theory." This might seem an unlikely storyline for ITV's police soap The Bill, but far from impossible.

Researchers at Staffordshire University had just finished Practical Police Management, the first police management textbook to be published in ten years, when they were contacted by ITV.

"They are interested in how they might incorporate it into one of their episodes and we hope they still will be after they've seen the book," says Geoff Berry, head of Staffordshire's Centre for Police Management and Research.

The first copy was presented this week to the Chief Constable of Staffordshire. The only previous textbook was written by Tony Butler, now chief constable of Gloucestershire.

Dr Berry believes most readers will come from lower ranks: "The police, rather later than most public services, have come under much greater pressure to prove that they are effective, efficient and give value for money. This has produced great pressure at ranks like inspector, chief inspector and superintendent, but there is very little to help them. We hope the book will introduce them to basic management principles and the way they relate to the practical needs of the service."