6.2 English Policing
In England, only economically stable areas could afford watchmen to patrol streets, a luxury beyond the means of most. High crime rates in economically disadvantaged areas prompted government reorganization, leading to the appointment of magistrates tasked with overseeing community watch programs (Langworthy & Travis, 2003). In 1738, Henry Fielding was appointed to supervise the Bow Street Court with watchmen, later known as the Bow Street Runners. Despite being unpaid, the runners were eligible for thief-taker rewards.
Fielding initiated the first official crime report, demonstrating the Bow Street Runners’ efficacy in crime reduction (Langworthy & Travis, 2003). Recognizing this success, the government granted Fielding additional funding to bolster the civilian police program. During this period, analogous civilian police departments in London were established; nevertheless, these law enforcement organizations faced dissolution in the late 1820s, replaced by a government-operated professional police department as enacted by Parliament.
Robert Peel and the Metropolitan London Police
The London Police, initially formed in 1829, became known as bobbies or “Peelers” in honor of Sir Robert Peel, immortalized in Figure 6.2, who is often referred to as “The Father of Modern Policing.” Peel, then the Home Secretary of England, is credited with creating the London Metropolitan Police Department. Recognizing the potential resistance to a large, uniformed force of government officials suddenly appearing on the streets of London and to address the skepticism among those who disagreed with the idea of visible authority, Peel put forth a set of ideas to define law enforcement officers and their duties as focusing on crime prevention and deterrence rather than solely apprehending criminals (Brodeur, 2010).
Peel’s vision necessitated highly visible officials who worked around the clock to more effectively serve the public and deter criminal activity. With officers donning uniform blue attire that resembled military outfits. However, to distinguish them from the military, officers were only armed with wooden truncheons, and pocket pistols were restricted to those holding the rank of inspector and above (Emsley, 1997). Peel also introduced distinct patrol areas, ensuring officers worked within defined regions, fostering familiarity with the community and vice versa.
Under Peel’s direction, a set of “Instructions for Officers” was developed and distributed to all officers, serving as guidelines for their approach to work. Although historians doubt Peel wrote them himself, he played a central role in their creation. Condensed into nine principles, known as “Peel’s Principles of Policing” (Law Enforcement Action Partnership, n.d.), his foundational ideas gained global adoption by policing organizations as detailed in the list below.
Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principles
- To prevent crime and disorder, as an alternative to their repression by military force and severity of legal punishment.
- To recognize always that the power of the police to fulfill their functions and duties is dependent on public approval of their existence, actions and behavior, and on their ability to secure and maintain public respect.
- To recognize always that to secure and maintain the respect and approval of the public means also the securing of the willing cooperation of the public in the task of securing observance of laws.
- To recognize always that the extent to which the cooperation of the public can be secured diminishes proportionately the necessity of the use of physical force and compulsion for achieving police objectives.
- To seek and preserve public favor, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humor, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.
- To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public cooperation to an extent necessary to secure observance of law or to restore order, and to use only the minimum degree of physical force which is necessary on any particular occasion for achieving a police objective.
- To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
- To recognize always the need for strict adherence to police-executive functions, and to refrain from even seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary of avenging individuals or the State, and of authoritatively judging guilt and punishing the guilty.
- To recognize always that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, and not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with them.
Recognizing the essential role of public support, Peel famously coined the phrase, “the Police are the Public; the Public are the Police” (as cited in English et al., 2022, p. 66), illustrating the intertwined relationship between law enforcement and the community. Peel emphasized that not just anyone should be a police officer, advocating that only even-tempered and reserved men would be capable of appropriately handling situations. He implemented hiring procedures designed to select those best suited for police work. The success of Peel’s policing model garnered citizen support and served as the blueprint for early city police departments in the U.S.
Attributions
- Figure 6.2: Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850), Prime Minister by Tony Harris (photographer) in the Public Domain; This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.
Financial rewards offered by government authorities or private individuals that were given to thief-takers or bounty hunters as monetary incentives for capturing and bringing criminals to justice. These rewards, commonly used in various societies prior to the establishment of modern policing systems, were typically aimed to encourage private citizens to assist law enforcement in apprehending offenders. However, it was often criticized for potentially incentivizing corruption, abuses, and false accusations, as some thief-takers resorted to unethical or unlawful methods to secure rewards.
slang terminology used in some regions to refer to a police officer, originally named after the founder of the British Metropolitan Police department, Sir Robert Peel.
A type of weapon commonly wielded by law enforcement personnel for the purpose to enforce compliance, control crowds, subdue individuals, defend against physical threats, or maintaining order. Commonly referred to as a baton or nightstick, they are typically short, weighted sticks made of wood, metal, or plastic. They are considered a less-lethal weapon and are intended to be used with restraint and in accordance with established use-of-force protocols.
