Many people believe that police officers need to carry guns to protect themselves as well as us from crime. But do we want our police forces to become armies? This volume arises from the author's study of the police shootings and paramilitarization of the police in Australia.

Jude McCulloch lectures in Police Studies at Deakin University. She has worked as a community lawyer for many years and represented the families of several men shot and killed by police in the late 1980s.