Sir Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing – Principle #5

I am continuing my series of articles about Sir Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing.  I am still amazed by the relevance today of something written in 1829.  Start here to read my introduction to the topic and discussion of Principle #1.   Click here to read about Principle #2.  Continue here to read about Principle #3.  Click here to read about Principle #4.

Today, my focus is on Principle #5.

Principle #5

To seek and preserve public favor, not by pandering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to law, in complete independence of policy, and without regard to the justice or injustice of the substance of individual laws, by ready offering of individual service and friendship to all members of the public, without regard to their wealth or social standing, by ready exercise of courtesy and friendly good humor, and by ready offering of individual sacrifice in protecting and preserving life.

Again, this principle centers on how we, as law enforcement officers, treat others.  This principle also takes it a step further by focusing on how we apply the law.  This lengthy principle contains a lot of useful information.

According to Peel, the police should never pander to the public.  I wasn’t exactly sure what the word pander meant, so I looked it up.  Pandering means to please other people by saying or doing what you think they want you to do or say. 

In this context, Peel is strongly suggesting that when it comes to the law, law enforcement cannot act based on what the public wants or what some special interest group of the public may want, just to gain their favor.  Instead, we should act based on the law and what the law says.

Lady Justice

The symbol of Lady Justice is one we are all familiar with.  In many early depictions, she had her eyes closed.  But, since the 16^th century, Lady Justice has worn a blindfold.[i]  In one hand, she holds the scales of justice, and in the other hand, she wields a sword.

The scales represent the weighing of evidence, and the sword represents the swiftness and finality of justice.  Both are important.  Yet, for this discussion, I will focus on the blindfold. 

You see, the blindfold represents the fact that justice should be blind.  It represents impartiality.  Justice should be applied without regard to one’s race, color, creed, national origin, wealth, status, or any number of other attributes.  We commonly see Lady Justice in many courtrooms across the country.

Law enforcement must be like Lady Justice.  We must avoid any hint that we are not impartial.  We must never let our decision making be influenced by someone’s race, gender, socioeconomic status, or other factors. 

When we demonstrate our impartiality in carrying out our duties and applying the law, our actions contribute to the idea of police legitimacy.  Police legitimacy is the degree to which the public views the legitimacy of the police. [ii]

Discretion

What about the idea of discretion?  If we are supposed to treat all people the same when it comes to applying the law, how does that concept account for individual circumstances? 

Peel even says that we should impartially serve the law without regard to the law’s justice or injustice.  Is that really what we should do today?

When Peel wrote these principles in 1829, there was little diversity as we know it today in London.  People were divided by class, rich or poor, politically connected, or not.  When Peel spoke about absolute impartial service to the law without regard to the law’s justice or injustice, we have to take this comment in context.  Peel was trying to develop a professional law enforcement agency devoid of political influence.

Today, law enforcement executives expect their officers to exercise discretion in carrying out their duties.  Police discretion must be carried out in a way that does not compromise the impartiality of the officer. 

Police discretion means that officers are given some leeway as to how they enforce the law, who is given a citation, searched, and even arrested in some cases. [iii]  Obviously, the more minor the issue, the more discretion an officer can exercise, and the more severe issue places limits on that discretion. 

For example, if someone kills another person, an officer cannot use their discretion to let the person go.  Officers must be prepared to provide a thorough answer for their use of discretion when questioned.

A more common example of a police officer applying discretion might be an encounter with someone publicly intoxicated.  In some cases, justice might be better served if the person is sent home in a taxi or picked up by a friend instead of being arrested.

In 1999, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) produced a research report titled, “Broken Windows and Police Discretion.” [iv]  The NIJ document is an exhaustive report on the subject and worth reading.

Policy Considerations

To prevent officers from exercising improper or even illegal discretion, agencies should develop standard operating procedures to prohibit certain behaviors.  These policies should include banning racial profiling, bias-based policing, enacting procedural justice tenets, and even having a policy on police discretion.

In 2013, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) conducted an Executive Session on Police Leadership.  They assembled a multi-discipline panel to discuss many important issues.  One of the topics addressed was police discretion. [v]

There were eight videos in this series.  For our discussion here, I will focus on video #2, Rethinking Peel’s Principle #5: The Case for Discretion in Modern Policing.

Professor Michael Scott, a former police chief, shared a story about when he was appointed police chief.  He wanted a policy about police discretion, but he couldn’t find one when he checked with multiple other agencies.  Instead of being discouraged, Chief Scott wrote a policy. 

In this critical video, the panelists discussed the importance of using discretion appropriately, being held accountable for that use of discretion. They even discussed how police discretion diminishes as the issue becomes more serious.  Click here to see the full video.

Good Humor

Peel goes on to describe the three ways we should demonstrate our absolute impartial service to the law.  The first way is to offer friendship and individual service to all members of the public.  Again, showing no favor to anyone based on their wealth or social standing. 

The second way is to treat people courteously and with friendly good humor.  As I read this passage about friendly good humor, I couldn’t help but marvel at Peel’s insight into including humor as an essential part of a good police officer’s personality. 

We have a serious job, but if we take ourselves too seriously, we risk ignoring a big part of our personality that makes us more human in the sight of those we serve. 

The third way is by our willingness to sacrifice ourselves in our service to others.  Therefore, this sacrifice applies to everyone we serve regardless of race, gender, social standing, or any other factor.  In some ways, this willingness to sacrifice is at the very foundation of the police officer’s commitment to service. 

Conclusion

The importance of impartially enforcing the law is as vital today as when Peel penned this principle.  In some ways, it is even more critical today.  We don’t have to look far to come to that conclusion.

The widespread legitimate protests after the death of George Floyd, combined with calls for police reform, sent a message to law enforcement that something needs to change.  The latest Gallup Poll related to police trust shows the number declining, especially for minorities. [vi]

As law enforcement moves forward, we have to work even harder to build positive relationships with those we serve, especially those in our minority communities.  We also have to be willing to institute police reform where it makes sense.

Sir Robert Peel’s principles can serve as a guide for us even today if we are willing to follow them.

Sir Robert Peel’s 9 Principles of Policing are so important for law enforcement today that I had two different posters displaying the principles designed. One poster is retro and the other is a modern one.

Both posters, of various sizes, can be purchased by clicking the link here. These posters, when displayed, are great reminders of our responsibility today as we serve our communities.

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Justice#:~:text=Lady%20Justice%20(Latin%3A%20Iustitia),a%20mirror%20and%20a%20snake.

[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_legitimacy

[iii] https://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/police-discretion-definition/#:~:text=Discretion%20means%20the%20power%20and,the%20people%20they%20are%20policing.

[iv] https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/178259.pdf

[v] http://bjaleader.org/pdfs/010.2RethinkingPeel5.pdf

[vi] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/12/americans-confidence-police-falls-new-low-gallup-poll-shows/3352910001/

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