On September 29, 1829, the Metropolitan Police started patrolling Greater London. This agency was the idea of UK Home Secretary, and later Prime Minister, Robert Peel. Their original headquarters entrance was on Great Scotland Yard in the Whitehall section of London. The unofficial name is synonymous with the Metropolitan Police. Although there had been other police forces prior to the Metropolitan Police, this force is often viewed as the first major modern civilian police force. Its founder, Robert Peel, is seen as the father of modern policing. Many of his views and the design of the Metropolitan Police are still used today. He based his new force on 9 principles that are still recognized today as basic pillars of policing a free society.
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 proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.”
5 “Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the 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 exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.”
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 give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
8 “Police should always direct their action 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.”
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