Inside an African Police Force

The book discusses police practices in Uganda, which are understood as fluid and reflective of the socio-political, cognitive and discursive contexts within which the Uganda Police Force (UPF) exist. The author was immersed in the UPF both as an ethnographer and a consultant. The book demonstrates how police officers navigate clashes between personal interests and those of the UPF shedding more light on the divergences and convergences between policies in theory and policies in practice. It contributes to the literature on police research, especially to our understanding of policing and the anthropology of the state in Africa. It highlights that the Ugandan police engages in political policing and its role is stretched beyond its legal mandate. The target audience is twofold: first, academics interested in police studies and the undercurrents of interface bureaucracies in Africa. Second, practitioners focused on improving state and police services in African contexts.