Law Enforcement: Sir Robert Peel's Concept of Community Policing in Today's Society

In 1829, Sir Robert Peel created the Metropolitan Police when he served as Home Secretary of England. According to Peel, the real key for policing is "the police are the people and the people are the police". Peel believed that prevention of crime could be accomplished without intruding into the lives of citizens. With the development of the Metropolitan Police, Peel established nine principles to his theory of policing. These nine principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1800's.

Community policing is based on Peel's concept of prevention. Community policing has been embraced by many law enforcement organizations across our country. Community policing is based on its goal to prevent crime and promote better police-community partnerships. Community policing requires an investment in training with special attention to problem analysis and problem solving, facilitation, community organization; communication, mediation and conflict resolution, resource identification and use, networking and linkages, and cross-cultural competency. (Patterson )

Prevention

Sir Robert Peel's first principle was that the "basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder". Peel established the police, also known as "Bobbies" . The introduction of "beats" were performed by Bobbies as a form of patrolling. Our law enforcement agencies still have police patrolling the streets with the goal of preventing crime. James Q. Wilson and George Kelling's wrote an article, "Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety" and called for a "return to the nineteenth-century style of policing in which police maintained a presence in the community by walking beats, getting to know citizens, and establishing the feeling of public safety and trust." (Siegel, 4^th Ed.,) Wilson and Kelling asked Police administrators to get their officers out of depersonalized patrol cars and play an active role in the community by identifying the neighborhoods' problems and needs, and set a course of action for an effective response.

Public Approval