Recently, British police raised an outcry over Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to name an American, William Bratton, as head of the Metropolitan Police Force. It’s not surprising that British police should desire one of their own to head the Met. Yet ample evidence exists that the current British policing strategy fails to maintain order in public spaces, has seriously alienated many groups in the population, and clearly did not contain the riots earlier this month. Consideration of American policing experiences might prove valuable.
Clearly, American policing has its roots in the Metropolitan Police and the principles laid down by then-Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel at its creation in 1829. Peel’s core principle (paraphrased here) is that police are the people, and people the police; in short, if people in a democracy can govern themselves, they can police themselves.
