The History of Policing

Sir Robert Peel had a huge impact on England, American, and the world policing. He is also known as the father of modern policing. In 1829 Peel persuaded the Parliament of England to create the London Metropolitan Police, which is now recognized as the first modern police force. Peel created three elements he incorporated into London Metropolitan Police. First was mission. The mission was crime prevention and what can be done to prevent crime from happening. The second was strategy. Peel created a strategy to that he had hope would deter crime. The third was organizational structure. Peel set up hierarchical organization, a standard uniform, ran designations to police officers, and a chain of command similar to the military’s (Walker & Katz, 2011).

Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.

Police forces or Law enforcers have been used for centuries all around the world but America took particular interest in the English’s policing system. America’s policing ideas and process began

The reform from the political era transitioned into the professional era. This era is focused on crime control and was a centralized organization. The main focus was to stay professional, including with the community, therefore the relationship with the community was very distant. Police were to follow the “3 R’s”. The first R is the rapid response to service calls, police must respond to calls quickly. The second R is random patrol, which helped keep crime rates down from a police officer being around at random times. The last R is reactive investigation, investigators must investigate crimes with the intent to solve them. The pitfalls of the professional era were the attitudes of the police were extremely unfriendly and cold toward the citizens. They were basically an enemy to anyone who were not one of them or their family. This attitude did not go well with the people of the

This essay will introduce two competing perspectives of policing, they are the orthodox and revisionist perspectives. This essay will then relate the orthodox and revisionist perspectives to the themes of lack of structure, industrialisation and finally hostility. It will then discuss whether the creation of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 was an effective solution to the changes within society as well as the challenges brought about through crime and disorder. The orthodox view is that the Metropolitan Police were, in fact, a rational decision made to adapt to the needs of the society. They argue that the establishment of the ‘new’ police was inevitable. The revisionist view would state that the ‘new’ police were not a rational decision. They believed that crime and disorder were not increasing, it was just that the ways of counting crime were largely different to previously. The revisionists also believe that the new system was in part beneficial for which to tackle issues that may have occasioned due to the new ‘dangerous class’ (Monkkonen, 1981, p147). In this essay, there will be reference made to the Brixton Riots in 1981 with a clear explanation as to how the orthodox and revisionist perspectives relate to modern policing activities.

Sir Robert Peel is known in the books as the founder of the first form of an English police department: the London Metropolitan Police. This was after his London Metropolitan Police Act passed in 1829, giving greater power to the English police force and establishing what he is known for today. Peels ideas were very well defined and offered a lot to policing even up to modern day. To understand the impact of this, we must take a look at Peel's act, and know how it would change policing.

Policing today consists of three eras. These three eras have adapted and built off one another through history (Parr, 2014). The first era started around 1840 to 1930, and is known as the Political Era. The second Era is known as the Reform Era and lasted from 1930 to 1970. The last era is called the Community-Problem Solving Era and is still being adapted and used today. The Political Era emphasizes on meeting the needs of politicians. The police were given power through the local government and the community had very little say in what happened. The police and politicians worked together to control the city and neighborhoods (Palmiotto, 2000). This was often referred to as a ward. The ward politician controlled all the police in their neighborhood. The police officers tasks included not only crime prevention and order but a lot of social service activities that involved their neighborhoods. The officers resembled the ethnic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they lived and worked in and performed their patrols gaining trust from their community (Palmiotto, 2000). This allowed positive integration of police officers leading to more public service, and the trust of the officers to stop crime when is starts.

Starting In 1829, Sir Robert Peel began developing his theory of policing. These nine principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1800's. Peel established the Metropolitan Police when he served as Home Secretary of England. Since Sir Robert Peel introduced his principles of policing in the early 1800's, our country has continued to follow his ideas of effective policing. Community policing is based on Peel's concept of prevention.

The role of police officers is very significant to American history. Police work toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America become the land of the free. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights and police play a major role in making sure American rights are met. Evolution has changed many of American history for the better; policing is part of those changes. As new issues in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public.

The four eras of policing are political era, reform era, community era, and homeland security era. The political era was between 1840s and 1919 where police agencies were underdeveloped, decentralized, and disorganized in their mission, role, and function. Police organizations nationwide were exposed for their inability to maintain order, to control crime, or to fairly provide appropriate services. The reform era occurred between 1920s and 1970s where police was removed from the political arena and established them more as members of a centralized, professional organization formed for the public good. The primary role of police in this era had contributed to the problems crating negative police-community relations. The community era was between

For over a century police departments in the United States and across the world have been following Sir Robert Peel's twelve principals of policing. Almost nothing or very little has changed since these principals were first implemented in England's "Scotland Yard". Many of these principals are behind today's investigating and policing practices.

The three eras of policing are political, reform, and community problem-solving Era. The Political era was from 1840s-1930s. Police work was done by foot. It was the police duty to build a relationship with the neighborhood and to serve the community. Police officers didn't play games, they were brutal. In 1929, president Herbert Hoover established the Wickersham Commission. Which led to the reform era. The reform era was from 1930-1980. During that period, the police officers and the citizens had a professional relationship with each other. The police department was no longer considered as protectors of the communities. Law enforcement ethical codes of conduct were established. The research study " The Kansas City preventive patrol experiment: A summary report" led to the community

The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.

Sir Robert Peel was born in Bury, Lancashire, England on February 5, 1788. “He was the eldest son of a wealthy cotton manufacturer, Robert Peel (1750–1830), who was made a baronet by William Pitt the Younger. The younger Robert was educated at Harrow and at Oxford, and, with his father’s money, a parliamentary seat was found for him as soon as he came of age, in 1809.” (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Robert-Peel) “A proud, shy person, Peel was by nature quick-tempered, courageous, stubborn, and often autocratic. With a first-class intellect, an exact memory, and great capacity for work, he was a superb administrator and an outstanding parliamentary debater.” ( https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Robert-Peel)

Many philosophers, sociologist and those who are involved in the field of criminology, including the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, he called for a police force to protect the citizens and to have everything in order. The most powerful and professional police force was Sir Robert Peel. He was the Minister of Parliament that served as a Home Secretary for the UK in the early Eighteenth-Century. In the early 1800’s, Sir Robert Peel, had figured out and made the Metropolitan Police Services in London. He became big and was thought of by all of the criminologists and historians. In Britain, police officers are still known as “Bobbies” in honor of his first name.