In 1829, Sir Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police when he served as Home Secretary of England. He created the first modern police force, the Metropolitan Police in London. According to Peel, the real key for policing is “the police are the people and the people are the police (Wikipedia 2010). ” It was his belief that prevention of crime could be accomplished without intruding into the lives of citizens. He set about nine principles that still seem to be true and useful in the present day world when observed. Peel established nine principles to his theory of policing.
The National Crime Prevention Council defines Peels’ nine principles as follows: 1. The basic mission for whom 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 force. 5.
Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law. 6. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the expertise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient. 7. Police at all time should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition; the police are public and the public are the police. The police being only full-time individuals charged with the duties that are incumbent on all of the citizens. 8.
Police should always direct their actions strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary. 9. The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it. The relationship between police and citizens in American society is generally understood as a development from the political era, when police were introduced in American cities in the 1840s to the early 1900s; to the reform era, stretching across the middle part of the 20th century from the 1930s to the 1970s; and then to the community era of current policing since the 1970s.
There lacked an involvement of minorities in policing throughout these different eras. Communities of color were largely powerless during the political era and therefore not able to influence police strategy. During the reform era, police strategy was determined largely on the basis of law, although communities of color were generally unprotected. In today’s community era of policing, one of the beliefs is the requirement for an organized community working in partnership with an approachable police department.
Peel established the police, also known as “Bobbies” or “Peelers. ” The introduction of “beats” was performed by Bobbies as a form of patrolling. This was the beginning of patrolling of communities on foot, bike, etc. as a closer approachable encounter with the community. Peel stated that the ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions and they must secure the willing support of the public in voluntary performance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.
Then and now, in our diverse society, it is necessary for police to comprehend the different cultures through multi-cultural training and education so they can understand their communities. As noted in one analysis of law enforcement in multicultural communities, “The more professional a peace officer is, the more sophisticated he or she is in responding to people of all backgrounds and the more successful he or she is in cross-cultural contact. ” There must be a respect of the public in order to secure the cooperation in voluntary observance of law.
When there is respect the necessity of physical force diminishes. Whether you reside in a wealthy neighborhood or the city projects, police should be visible and gain the trust of the citizens. Gaining respect in turn will assist them with their duty of preventing crime or their ability to solve a crime when one occurs. Lack of trust and cooperation between citizens and police is harmful to the effect that people will not call on them and neighbors are forced to be prisoners in their homes or take law into their own hands.
All communication between police and community would diminish. The use of physical force should only be used in the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or restore order when persuasion, advice and warnings fail to be sufficient. Police across America have new tools like the tasers instead of having to use lethal force. However, these too have become controversial when used to attempt to bring someone under control. Again, the public’s opinion has to be interpreted that the police officer acted in the least invasive manner as to restore order.
The amount of force has to be reasonable and necessary. Today’s police as in Peels’ day must work to maintain public favor by upholding the laws in an unbiased manner. Many officers often laugh saying that they would give their own mother a ticket, and in truth, if their mother broke the law then she should receive the same treatment as another person’s mother. It is important that the police maintain the reality that they are paid citizens of the community whose duties are serving in the interest of the community welfare and existence.
Police should be assigned to jurisdictions that compliment a diverse or minority based community. For example, if a police officer is assigned into a Hispanic or Asian community, yet does not possess the ability to communicate with that community, then those residents can not gain trust and respect that the police will be able to help them in their time of need. At no time should police believe that they are above the law or abuse their position. In today’s immense use of media and internet, the police are being held to higher standards as people are always looking to criticize their actions.
With thousands of police and citizen interactions each day, one bad judgment by an officer sparks criticism of all police as being corrupt or abusive. The measurement of good policing is evidence of the absence of crime and disorder and not the visible evidence of police action dealing with it. The diverse needs for the present day would inquire much importance of effective communication that requires a shared base of experience and a common set of rules about the meaning of not just words, but how you sound when you say something, the order of your words, volume, pauses, facial expressions and gestures (Larrabee2007).
For example if a guy is walking with his hands in his pockets it does not necessarily mean he has a weapon, some cultures believe that you keep your hands in your pocket. Another example would be direct eye contact; some would think that is rude while to some cultures it is a sign of respect. Without diversity the main thing beyond cultural values, is to deal with is racism. Racism is not the simple name calling, its opportunity, progression, barriers; things that make our day to day work difficult, unfair assessments; the fact that tokenistic colleagues are brought out to challenge you.
It really borders on moral corruption against anti racism. Peel visualized equality underneath the uniform. Peel proposed that senior uniformed ranks should be filled from below and not brought in from the higher social classes has been followed to this day. Peel himself said that he accepted low pay for the men as he did not want any policeman feeling superior to the job or his colleagues. Robert Peel set the example for our police and our communities and together we have to achieve. Timeline 788 Born on 5 February at Chamber Hall, Bury, he was the first son and third child of Robert Peel. 1800 Attends Harrow School. 1804-5 Upon leaving school, Peel went to the House of Commons with his father during the winter months to listen to the speeches. He witnessed the final battles between Fox and Pitt who was now back in office. 1805 Peel became an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford, where he studied for a double degree in Literae Humaniores, which included Greek, Latin, Logic, Rhetoric, and Moral Philosophy; and Mathematics and Physics.
He achieved academic distinction. 1809 Thanks to the patronage of his father (an MP) and on the recommendation of Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington), who did not even know Peel’s first name, he became MP for the Irish seat of Cashel City, Co. Tipperary, a borough with only twenty-four voters. No contest was held for the seat. 1810 Peel became Under-Secretary for War and the Colonies in the Tory government of Spencer Perceval, at the age of 22. 1812 Peel became the Chief Secretary for Ireland in the new government of Lord Liverpool.
He also became MP for another “rotten” borough, Chippenham (Wilts). 1817 Peel made a strong speech in Parliament opposing Catholic Emancipation. This position made him attractive to Oxford University and he subsequently becomes its MP. 1818 Peel resigned his post as Chief Secretary for Ireland. 1819 Peel was appointed as Chairman of the parliamentary committee enquiring into state of finances-the Bullion Committee. His report was influential in the passing of the Currency Act. 1820 Peel married Julia Floyd. 822 He became a Cabinet minister for the first time as Home Secretary at the age of 34. 1823-5 Peel reformed the goals and reduced the number of offences that carried the death penalty. 1826 He supervised the response to the outbreak of industrial unrest especially on Lancashire and Yorkshire. 1826-7 Further reforms were made to the Criminal Law. 1827 Liverpool resigned because of ill health and was replaced by Canning who supported Catholic Emancipation. Peel resigned because of Cannings’ views. 828 Peel became Home Secretary and leader of the House of Commons in the new Tory ministry headed by the Duke of Wellington. 1829 Peel was forced to support Catholic Emancipation and subsequently resigned his seat at Oxford University. He returned to the Commons for the pocket borough of Westbury (Wilts). Peel’s Metropolitan Police Act was passed. References Community Relations Service. (2003). Principles of Good Policing: Avoiding Violence Between Police and Citizens. Retrieved from http://www. justice. gov/crs/pubs/principlesofgoodpolicingfinal092003. tm Larrabee, A. K. (2007). Law Enforcement: Sir Robert Peel’s Concept of Community Policing in Today’s Society. Retrieved from http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/435980/law_enforcement_sir_robert_peels_concept. html? cat=17 National Crime Prevention Council. (2006). Crime Prevention History and Theory [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://www. ncpc. org/training/powerpoint-trainings/crime-prevention-history-and-theory. ppt. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. (2010). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sir_Robert_Peel
