The deviance approach focuses on police abuse, which is secretive and confuses legitimate dissent with political delinquency, such as terrorism. This paper distinguishes between the high policing and low policing models of police action. Political policing is then seen as a core feature of high policing instead of being a suspicious peripheral aspect of the police apparatus. It is argued that mainly through technological change, western police forces are increasingly operating under the high policing model. Footnotes and about 40 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)