Posted: 8/28/2014; Updated: 8/28/2014
Triggered
I have recently read about them and was again reminded today (8/28/2014) of these principles by following article “Are Police More Damned Trouble Than They're Worth?\Modern police forces have become little more than a new set of predators from which the public needs protection.”
In the beginning of this article, the author refers to Sir Robert Peel's (who established the London Metropolitan Police) principles as presented by the current New York city police commissioner William J. Bratton on his blog post.
The New York Times in this article casts doubt that Sir Robert Peel ever enunciated such, but admits it could have been the first two commissioners of the London Metropolitan Police.
The Nine Principles
These principles are excerpted from Mr. Bratton’s blog post (emphasis added):
Principle 1 - “The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.”
Principle 2 - “The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon public approval of police actions.”
Principle 3 - “Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observance of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.”
Principle 4 - “The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.”
Principle 5 - “Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to the public opinion but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.”
Principle 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.”
Principle 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.”
Principle 8 - “Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.”
Principle 9 - “The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.”
I think, this should be taught in every high school!
Some Notes
We have recently witnessed several instances of excessive use of lethal force against unarmed citizens or mentally ill citizens by police officers that were prominently featured in the news.
I remember that e.g. in Germany police officers were trained to shoot first in the legs or arms of a suspect in an effort to immobilize a threatening suspect, in particular if the suspect is wielding a weapon of any sort (e.g. hammer, knife), but a gun.
I also sense from past news reports that police officers too often use Tasers to deal with fairly harmless suspects.
The Unarmed British Bobby
It would probably not hurt to learn that most British police officers were unarmed most of the times during most of modern history. There are some lessons learnt for the U.S. police departments.
This should in no way be construed to suggest that police officers in the U.S. should be unarmed, but the use of lethal force should be the ultima ratio and every police officer who uses lethal force should be held fully accountable for its use.
