Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 2
Abstract
This paper will introduce you to Sir Robert Peel, a pioneer in law enforcement technology and
innovation. This paper will give you the history of law enforcement and the Nine Pillars of
Truth that Sir Peel introduced into society. Sir Robert Peel was referred to as the founder of
Modern Conservatism, in an article by the English Historical Review. He is noted in 1829 for
creating the Metropolitan London Police Force. Before this force came to be, London was in
serious trouble with many crimes. London began calling police officers “bobbies” or “peelers”
for Sir Peel. “Recorded crime in London fell significantly after Peels reforms, despite
continuous population growth in the city.” (Patterson, Taylor, Pillars of Truth in Law
Enforcement’s Past, February 9, 2023) This paper will introduce you to these pillars and how
they worked.
Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 3
Article Critique
Major Patterson works for the FBI and works to broaden the area of police officer behavior.
Major Patterson does a lot of training using these nine pillars created by Sir Robert Peel. In his
article, he describes how each pillar is used with his officers. These pillars, developed in 1829,
have helped create a principle of making better behaved officers. “The principles and values
that form a foundation for policing must not only direct officers to act ethically but lawfully but
also encourage the building and strengthening of public trust and increase legitimacy.”
(Patterson, 2023)
Article 1-Background
These Nine Pillars of Policing were called the Peelian Principles. Every new officer that
came into law enforcement was taught these principles and it gave them a strong foundation of
policing and what was expected of them.
Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 4
Article 1-Critiques and Strengths
Strengths
Patterson’s paper does an effective job of showing what Sir Robert Peel did to make officers
better and more efficient law enforcement. He gives us his view of the meaning of each of the
pillars for instructional purposes with his officers. Each pillar that Peel created helps officers to
focus and understand what their role in law enforcement is. “How officers prevent crime and
disorder is critical to their legitimacy.” (Patterson, 2023)
The Nine Pillars stand more relevant today because the behavior of law enforcement has
come under extreme scrutiny in the past few years. “The principles of today’s officers will
shape and determine what their ethical conduct will be as future leaders.” (Patterson, 2023)
Weaknesses
In an article written by Anthony Critchley in 2022, “As public condemnation of the police
and many social institutions permeates social discourse, an increasing number of citizens and
groups are mobilizing their adherents by deploying disruptive repertoires of contention.”
(Critchley, Anthony, Policing in a Postmodern World, September 28, 2022) Critchley believes
that law enforcement should get to know the community they are policing and that this is one of
their biggest weaknesses. He believes that interacting with the community will help them
embrace the officers and make them feel more at ease and willing to work with them when
crimes happen in their neighborhood.
These pillars created in 1829 are now so dated that they must be improved and brought into
the 21st century. Times have most changed since then for the most part and these pillars, which
could still be implemented, need to be upgraded.
Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 5
Article 2 Background
Andrew Critchley stated in his article that Peel’s Nine principles “holds the key to a
successful and symbiotic relationship between the community and the police: the police and the
public are but one community, which in turn, gives its “consent” to be policed.” (Critchley,
2022) Working with the community and getting to know them on a personal level can mean that
when crimes occur, the community is eager and willing to help if needed. Peel’s principles laid
the foundation for this type of relationship between the two.
Strengths
The principles in Sir Robert Peel’s nine pillars are essential in helping police manage the
behaviors of their officers. How they react to the community and how they respond to situations
is very important. Peel saw this, as a way, to make a better police officer. They need to know
what they can do without stepping over the line. These principles teach them the nine steps in
becoming a better officer. Crime fell dramatically once Peel’s principles were put into effect.
Weaknesses
Today, the public's reaction to policing has changed significantly. They are taking to social
media to sound out their outrage for how police are handling situations. Communities are
marching in protest to fight prejudices and they no longer feel comfortable around police. The
police officers have much work to do to gain the trust of the people in these communities today.
We have seen so much discord and hate being pushed around towards officers and people are
confused about who is good and who is bad.
Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 6
Summary of Articles
Sir Robert Peel served as Prime Minister to England for two terms. He served from 1834
-1835, and then again from 1841-1846. He was the founder of the Conservative Party that was
subsequently, responsible for the appeal of the Corn Laws. These laws restricted all imports
into the country. He wrote and put Peel’s Nine Pillars for law enforcement, into effect in 1829.
Each one of these pillars gives law enforcement the right tools to police a community. These
principles are still used today. These articles showed us how useful his principles are, and they
help gain trust and respect from citizens of the communities. We learned of the problems that
we have today in law enforcement and how people perceive officers. Today, our officers are
perceived in a bad way, and we need to be able to turn this perception around. Times have
changed and our officers go through much more today than in yesteryear. These articles were
good in showing us how policing used to be and what techniques were used, but today, they
need to be worked on. The articles showed us strengths and weaknesses in these principles but
all in all, they are good, and it seems that they can work.
Conclusion
Police behavior is a relevant topic in today’s culture and these principles seem to show us
how to make that change. With social media playing such an important role with society today,
everything is scrutinized and on camera for all to see. “Earning and maintaining public support
is a complex process: building trust can be difficult as police officers commonly appear in an
individuals' life when something has gone wrong or is about to go wrong.” (Critchley, 2022)
The world today has a large diversity of ethnic cultures and groups, and we see a lot of racial
Police Ethnocentricity, Subculture, and Historical Evolution 7
bias. This bias is what makes policing today incredibly difficult. They have a job to do, but they
must also be sensitive to people's cultures and their perceptions are what will grant the officers
their trust or not. God has always taught us to love one another, no matter where we are from.
“Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21) We
were also taught by our own Constitution that we are all equal under the law. This has not been
the norm for centuries and each time I think we are getting better; we take 3 steps back. We
need to remember that God’s word is what we should be listening to and not spread hate or
discourse. For police officers today are facing such scrutiny that it makes it hard for them to do
their job. If they cannot do their job, then we are not protected. We all need to work on our
behaviors and remember that only God can judge. When we try to judge others, we go against
his teachings. Don’t wait for something bad to happen before you realize that the police, as a
whole, are who you want and need to be there for you. Police and communities need to work
together to make their streets safer and more enjoyable.
