Summary Of Robert Peel's Twelve Standards Of Policing

Robert Peel’s twelve standards of policing starts with the standard of police being “stable, efficient, and organized along military lines” (Bohm & Haley, 2011, p. 141). This basically means that policing in general needs to be structured, much like the military. The second standard states that the government must control the police force, which in America means that they are not independently ran by a company, but by the government of that jurisdiction. Next he states that the police will be judged on the effectiveness of the job they are doing by what crime is doing in the area in which they police. Peel’s next standard states that “the distribution of crime news is essential” (Bohm & Haley, 2011, p.141.) He then goes on to say that an
officer’s temperament should be controlled and quiet as opposed to violent and stresses the importance of an officer’s appearance (Bohm & Haley, 2011). Next he states that efficiency in policing comes from securing and training the right people for the job as well as advising that each officer should be assigned a number (Bohm & Haley, 2011). The tenth and eleventh principles are that the headquarters for police should be accessible to the public and centrally located and that officers starting the job should be hired on a probationary basis. Finally, Peels states that records for the police should be kept to properly know how to utilize the police force (Bohm & Haley, 2011). Each of these principles are as important today as when Peel created them. They provide a guideline for policing any jurisdiction and each are still utilized, from the structure all the way to the police records. Departments should use Peel’s principles as the basic guidelines for their functions.