POLICING WITH A SMILE: NARRATIVES OF CONSUMERISM IN NEW LABOUR'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY

A recurrent theme in New Labour's public service reforms has been a tendency to orient services to the user as a consumer or customer of those services. However a consumerist approach – and particularly the 'customer is always right' imperative – appears problematic in relation to criminal justice. This article uses content analysis to explore the use of consumerist narratives by selected members of the UK criminal justice policy network (Prime Minister, Home Office and local government). It finds that the terms customer and consumer are used less in relation to criminal justice than they are in relation to other public services. When used, it is 'law-abiding citizens', particularly victims and witnesses, that are the priority customers of the service. Customer-orientated policing is primarily about standardizing services and encouraging more coproductive behaviours. The language of choice and personalization, which has come to characterize New Labour's approach to public service reform, has as yet had little penetration into criminal justice. However, the policy network is fragmented, with different narratives of consumerism emerging from Tony Blair (the then Prime Minister), the Home Office and local government, demonstrating the contingent ways in which policy-makers draw on historical traditions.