The publication of Erick Laming’s book Policing the Police: International Perspectives on Police Oversight could hardly be more timely as governments and civil society groups around the world wrestle with the challenge of police accountability. Policing is a task which contributes enormously to the safety and well-being of citizens and visitors in diverse locations, but it is also an activity which is highly vulnerable to a wide range of types of misconduct and betrayals of trust. ‘Policing the police’ is therefore an apt phrase for the essential task of managing complaints and disclosures about misconduct, and also monitoring and advising police on improvement strategies, which is now usually assigned to civilian oversight agencies. The book addresses the difficult issues involved in police oversight through in-depth scholarship and systematic reasoning. The work is to be commended for addressing what counts as best practice in this domain through an evidence-based approach to optimising oversight to ensure the best form of democratic policing.Tim Prenzler, Professor of Criminology, School of Law & Society, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia