Book excerpt: A classic text about the need for fundamental principles for policing - by the father of community policing. John Alderson is well-known as the former chief constable of Devon and Cornwall and a leading exponent of liberal, democratic values and human rights in relation to police work. In Principled policing he demonstrates how it is all too easy for everyday police officers to fall into behaviour which becomes difficult to comprehend-as a result of working practices, working cultures, state manoeuvring and a lack of fundamental values for decision-making. Through his description of what he calls 'high police' and by way of worldwide examples-from Northern Ireland to Tiananmen Square, Nazi Germany to the FBI to the British miners strike of 1984/5-the author calls for decency, fairness and morality to act as touchstones for police officers everywhere. Principled Policing - which is dedicated to 'the innocent victims of the world's unprincipled policing' is now in use on courses for police officers looking to reach the very highest positions.