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Sir Robert Peel, Father of Modern Policing

11K views 71 replies 18 participants last post by  Denton 
#1 ·
Those of you who pursued a degree in Criminal Justice already know this, most likely. This is what we are missing in so many of our police departments, including my town's police department.

The link and a recap of Peel's Principles:

How 200-year-old police principles could have helped Ferguson - MarketWatch

Perhaps it's a return to these nine Peelian Principles. Here is the essence of each:

A civilian police that prevents crime and disorder is much preferable to repression of crime by military force and draconian legal punishment.

A police force's power to fulfill its functions is dependent on public approval and respect of the police's existence and actions.

Securing the public's cooperation with the work of the police force is critical for the police to be effective.

The more help the police can get from the public, the less the threat of physical force is needed to achieve police objectives.

Police must consistently seek public favor by demonstrating even-handed enforcement of the law, and through courtesy, good humor and a willingness to make personal sacrifices in service to the public, regardless of the wealth or social standing of the individuals involved.

Police should use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion and warnings are insufficient to obtain an individual's co-operation - and then only the absolute minimum degree of physical force needed.

Police should always 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.

Police officers must refrain from seeming to usurp the powers of the judiciary or the state. It's not the job of the police to judge guilt or punish the guilty.

Police officers must always recognize that the acid test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not high-visibility police actions in dealing with them.
 
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#54 ·
The bottom line is this...Sure there are some bad cops...and there are some bad citizens....Cameras show everyone who was what in a situation...If they can put CCT cameras up everywhere to capture images of the citizens doing bad things (traffic cams, etc) then they should put them where it benefits both the city and the citizens...on the enforcers of laws so that both sides get equal opportunity to have truth represented. (exceptions for undercover work obviously). This would cut so many BS lawsuits out of the system it would save millions over all. "He assaulted me!!!" Ah...ma'am...would you like to review the video footage?"....wha' video??? .ya'll didn't ax me bout no damn video takin....It's the law ma'am we have to now because of all the BS lawsuits and lies......awwww shit......"
 
#55 ·
SF -

You and I agree on almost everything (except remakes of Frank Sinatra songs). But damn man, if I wanted to live in London, I would move to England. I do not want CCTV on cops or citizens. We have the forensic science to be able to piece together a crime scene very accurately without cameras everywhere. For those instances where the science does not work, I prefer Jefferson's adage: It is better to let a guilty man go free [and have his face punched in by Inor] than to persecute an innocent man. (Part of that was added by me in case you thought Thomas Jefferson was clairvoyant.)
 
#62 ·
I'm not opposed to dashcams or cameras on the Officer themselves. If they are doing heir job the right way it shouldn't matter and will actually serve to exonerate Officers who are wrongly accused.

I worked a traffic crash in which an uninsured, illegal alien struck another car. When I arrived it had already become a heated argument. I separated them to separate parking lots. I issued the illegal two citations and explained that he would have to call his friends or family for a ride home as he was unlicensed. The other driver was inconsolable. He yelled at me the whole time came at me with a closed fist and threatened to sue. I gave him a report number and advised him to call his insurance company. The next day he filed an official complaint and began casting aspersions against me on Social Media. I was instructed to report to the Chief's Office. It had already been decided that I would be punished. I had not even been given the opportunity to give my account.

I asked my supervisor if anyone was interested in watching the footage of the incident from my Mobile Video Recorder he said "There's a video?". Great investigative skills boss.....Yes. The video completely exonerated me and the Chief said only "You showed great restraint and patience with that guy." The insults kept pouring in from the driver until I threatened civil action for defamation and made sure everyone knew the whole incident was recorded and that the tape was available for public viewing. That video saved my butt and I did nothing wrong. Sometimes we are guilty before we even get a chance to explain what happened from our perspective. It is one of the reasons that when I retire from Police work I'm done.
 
#66 ·
If we have a good cop that wants to protect himself from bogus claims by wearing a camera, no one should stop him from doing so.

On the other hand if he thinks his employer is corrupt and he's a cop, why isn't he addressing the problem? I've quit jobs over less. There is always employment for good people.
 
#68 ·
To use physical force only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient to obtain public co-operation 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.

Another rule that was instilled upon this once young pup.

Yeah, yeah, there are going to be times when you are faced with an angry, violent person who gives you know choice. That is a given, so I don't think I even need to bring it up.

What should be a cop's best tool when dealing with people? Not a can of mace, a taser or a sidearm, but his mind. Being able to deal with human beings as a human being, with empathy, compassion and understanding, coupled with appropriate humor can diffuse a lot of otherwise bad situations.

A way it was put to me, years ago. You've done something wrong if your presence on the scene causes the situation to worsen. You are doing things right if the situation gets better. There's no clock ticking; you have all the time you need.

The U.S. Army Police motto is, "Of the Troops and For the Troops." It is not, "Above the Troops and Beat the Crap Out of the Troops." Just one example that popped into mind.
 
#69 ·
Officer presence is the first step in the use of force continuum. The second, and one that we simply don't train enough on is verbal dialog. The ability to deescalate a situation and convince a person to comply is an absolute gift that few officers possess. There are plenty of "Cops" out there but precious few "Peacemakers" and "Peace Officers". "Cops" think the "Peacemakers" aloof and affable while the antithesis is no more accurate. We have to strike a balance in this profession, now more than ever. A good, professional Police Officer must be able to go from one end of the spectrum to the other in an instant. he or she is perpetually in the middle.
 
#71 ·
No, not verbal judo. That implies the citizen is the enemy and the cop is the warrior. Wrong idea, wrong profession, and a big part of the problem we see, today. A man's attitude shines through, more so than you might think. Do you think the citizen can't smell such an attitude?

Why is it that a cop is making contact with a citizen is an important thing. How it is happening is important, too.

Today's notion of patrolling is based on Sir Peel's men, who were called "Robert's Runners." Robert's Runners ran through the streets of London, giving the appearance of omnipresence. A pick-pocket, robber, mugger or thief had no idea if his activity was going to be caught by one of Robert's Runners coming around the corner. Side note - I guess one can understand where the term, "Bobby" came from, right? Back on target. How do we see patrolling used, nowadays? Speed enforcement. Rather than giving the appearance of omnipresence throughout the city/town in order to prevent crimes against the people, the car is used to make contact with the citizen so that the citizen might have the opportunity to pay extra tax based on uniform commercial codes, rather than using that same car to patrol neighborhoods, where families and property can be found.

How can one expect the public to view Officer Friendly, when the usual form of contact with him is blue lights behind the car, little to no discussion and the meeting ending with the issuing of a citation?

See, there was a time when peace officers made contact with citizens for misdemeanors after an injured party made and swore to an affidavit, which caused the judge to issue an arrest or search warrant, which caused the officer to serve the warrant and carry out whatever the warrant indicated. Of course, nothing more than witnessing a felony was reason enough for the officer to make contact with the offender. Of course, this is a basic description, but it is clear that the individual, the reason for a government in the first place, was respected and he was not to be the object of interference was he conducted his pursuit of happiness.

Like society in general, our professional policemen might need to study the basics, again.
 
#72 ·
Can the cops make a difference? Well, I thought about it a bit, and realized they can. I say this because it has happened.

I worked in a small town of less the 20,000 people. Monday night was court night, and most cases were traffic related. One night, a beautiful young girl's plea was simply that she did not want to pay the ticket. The judge asked how bad did she not want to pay the ticket. The girl went to the judge, sat on his lap and gave him a big hug. She was found not guilty. Every other case was found guilty. What did the cops do in response? They turned in the KR-10's tossed their citation books into their brief cases and wrote no more tickets.

Just an example.
 
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