Peel's Principles and Their Acceptance by American Police: Ending 175 Years of Reinvention

Abstract

Since the inception of modem policing in 1829, the policing styles of Britain and the United States have run incongruent courses. While the Metropolitan Police Department of London has stayed true to the principles first articulated by Sir Robert Peel, American policing has undergone several sweeping changes in the administration of service. These reinventions have hampered the establishment of a true ideology of police service in America. Through a comparative historical overview of these policing models, this article will strive to explain the reason behind the lack of acceptance of Peel's original nine principles by police in America. Further discussion will focus on the current acceptance of these principles by many police agencies within the United States in their community policing missions and ask what might have been had the Peelian virtues been accepted from the beginning.