In 1829, the British Parliament passed the London Metropolitan Police Act, adding a new arm to the British Government. It created a full time, uniformed police force in the city of London. This police forces primary job was the prevention of crime and social disorder. With the population expanding rapidly in London there was an increase in social disorder, crime, riots, and public health issues. This force was seen by Britain’s Home Secretary, Robert Peel as a necessity as the current system of constables was not able to handle the problem. In creating this organization, Peel established nine principles to guide the new police officers so they had a clear understanding of their role in society. If policing in America had followed Peel’s nine principles of policing, it could have possibly avoided multiple eras of reform and not be facing much of the criticism we see today.
Peel’s nine principles of policing:
(1) The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.
(2) The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.
(3) Police must secure the willing cooperation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.
(4) The degree of cooperation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionally to the necessity of the use of physical force.
(5) Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion, but by
enjoy the highest possible level of police services. That these services shall be provided with the
Another role that the police have is to foster good relations with the public. They have to do this in order to gain trust and understanding with the people that rely on them, to ensure that they can carry out the task they have to do and have the public on their side.
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 was british, He is regarded as the father of the modern British police and as one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party. The Peelian principles summarise the ideas that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force. There were nine principles: prevent crime disorder, public approval, willing co-operation, diminishing use of physical force, public favor, only necessary force, police are the public, do not usurp authority, and absence of crime. In my opinion all these principles are important but the two i'm going to talk about are the seventh and eighth principle: Police are the public, and do not usurp authority.
Police officers are faced each day with a variety of situation in which they must deal; therefore we should ask ourselves the following questions: Should police officers enforce the law equally in all situations? In what situations should police officers be allowed to not enforce the law? What types of situations would they be required to fully enforce the law? Why does police discretion exist? What are its strengths and weaknesses? And what is the relationship between police discretion and police ethics?
Policing has been a part of America for many decades. In fact, policing was known to exist prior to 1066, the year of the Normandy Invasion of Britain. Throughout the years policing has been a complicated and ongoing progress. The people of England did not have a stabilized policing standard and were often responsible for protecting and serving themselves. As early as the 1600s the Colonial America introduced the English styles of policing; citizens were responsible for monitoring community members’ behavior. Early constables and sheriffs were with the increased rate of crime and developed a ‘sort’ in community policing known as “watch and ward.” Later throughout history in the early 1700s policing became an
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.
The second principle states, “The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police existence, actions, behavior, and the ability of the police to
Robert Peel is probably the most influential name associated with modern day policing. In 1829, he formed the first modern metropolitan police department in England where his officers were known as “Peelers,” or “Bobbies.” He set up principles, which are called Peel’s Principles of Law Enforcement that have influenced modern day law enforcement. These nine principles set up what he envisioned the metropolitan police to stand for and wanted officers to mold themselves to them. If Peel’s principles were incorporated in modern police departments than encounters could decrease, police brutality wouldn 't have existed and the relationship between the police and citizens today could have been stronger and more trustworthy.
7. Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police: the police being only members of the public who are paid to
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.
7. Police, at all times should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public
The philosophy of Robert Peel that “the police are the public and the public are the police”, is one that perfectly sums up the relationship between the police and the rest of the community (Lentz & Chaires 2007). This quote suggests that law enforcement needs approval from citizens and residents of neighbourhoods to perform their duties correctly. Meaning, this requires the police to maintain an informed relationship with the community. By doing so they are reducing the reoccurrence of the themes in crime prevention mentioned above.
In a national Institute of Justice study it was found that interactions with police are the factors that most influence public opinion. (Factors That Influence, 2007) Interactions were defines as “person to person”
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