Critical analyses of policing have accompanied accounts of the police since the early days of modern police organisations. More so than ever, police and policing are subject to close and critical scrutiny from governments and the public. It is timely, therefore, to consider what is critical about police and policing.

The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Policing Studies brings together scholars and practitioners to critically explore the full continuum of safety governance from police reforms to the redistribution of policing resources to the replacement of state police. In offering the three Rs of policing—reform, redistribute, replace—we provide a conceptualisation of critical policing studies that acknowledges a continuum of policing that mirrors the different trajectories, priorities, and possibilities that exist across different cultural and historical contexts. This collection is composed of 65 scholars and practitioners across 39 chapters, edited by a team of police pracademics and policing scholars, to showcase accounts of policing from outside the Anglo-European metropole, privileging works from First Nations people and from the Global South, and presenting contextualised solutions to the problems facing police and communities.

This Handbook identifies the key issues facing the police and safety governance across the globe and offers insights into the implications for policing theory and practice, proposing solutions to some of the most intransigent problems facing contemporary societies. Individually, and as a collection, this Handbook will be an essential read for scholars, practitioners, and activists alike.