Speaking legal English. Борисова Л.А. - 38 стр.

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       Reading and Speaking
       Exercise 9. Read the text «The British Police» and compare the structure
of the British police forces and the Russian ones. Find similarities and
differences.

                                   The British Police
       The British police officer is a well-known figure to anyone who has
visited Britain or who has seen British films. Policemen are to be seen in towns
and cities keeping law and order, either walking in pairs down the streets
(«walking the beat») or driving specially marked police cars. Once known as
'panda cars' because of their distinctive markings, these are now often jokingly
referred to as 'jam sandwiches' because of the pink fluorescent stripe running
horizontally around the bodywork. In the past, policemen were often known as
'bobbies' after Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the police force. Nowadays,
common nicknames include 'the cops', 'the fuzz', 'the pigs', and 'the Old Bill'
(particularly in London). Few people realize, however, that the police in Britain
are organized very differently from many other countries.
       Most countries, for example, have a national police force which is
controlled by central Government. Britain has no national police force, although
police policy is governed by the central Government's Home Office. Instead,
there is a separate police force for each of 52 areas into which the country is
divided. Each has a police authority – a committee of local county councillors
and magistrates.
       The forces co-operate with each other, but it is unusual for members of
one force to operate in another's area unless they are asked to give assistance.
This sometimes happens when there has been a very serious crime. A Chief
Constable (the most senior police officer of a force) may sometimes ask for the
assistance of London's police force, based at New Scotland Yard – known
simply as 'the Yard'.
       In most countries the police carry guns. In Britain, however, this is
extremely unusual. Policemen do not, as a rule, carry firearms in their day-to-
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