Introduction: Contextualising Death After Police Contact.- Chapter 1. Police, State and Society.- Chapter 2. Regulating Death after Police Contact.- Chapter 3. Constructing Verdicts in the Coronial System.- Chapter 4. IPCC: Fit for Purpose?.- Chapter 5. Discursive Practices and Systems.- Chapter 6. Accountability, Governance and Audiences.- Conclusion.

"Deaths after police contact raise the most anguished and sensitive issues in policing. Dr David Baker's important book is the first comprehensive analysis of this, and goes to the heart of most of the crucial questions about the police, the state's repository of legitimate force. It notably tackles thorny issues about the role of police, and how can they be rendered accountable for their performance of a highly contested mandate. It will be vital reading for all concerned about policing, whether as academics, practitioners, policy-makers or citizens." (Robert Reiner, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, Law Dept., LSE) "This book represents the first profound academic study into the subject of "death after police contact". It is an original, timely and necessary contribution to the body of knowledge of policing studies. The volume goes far beyond the technical issue of "death after police contact", and raises unavoidable questions related to law, criminal justice, sociology, political science, and governance more generally. It appeals to academics, students and practitioners in these areas, and anyone interested in social justice and - without any doubt - in the central question of police accountability." (Prof. dr. emeritus Paul Ponsaers, Ghent University, Belgium) "In the United Kingdom, as in other countries around the world, many people die after police contact-some kinds of people far more than others. In this thoughtful and highly original study, David Baker illuminates some of the reasons why this troublesome pattern persists, year after year-and offers compelling suggestions for change. Beyond the problem of deaths after police contact, this book provides important lessons about the fraught relationships between the police and the rest of us more generally-not only in the U.K. but in other countries, including the United States, where tensions between police and the communities they serve have reached crisis levels." (Elliott Currie, Professor of Criminology, Law and Society: University of California, USA)