The police

• Philosophy


  Was set out by Sir Robert Peel, who founded the Met Police in 1829.

  1. The basic mission of the police is prevent crime and disorder.

  2. The police's ability to perform their duties depends on public's consent.

  3. The use of physical force is a last resort.

  4. The police's duty is to impartially serve the law.

  5. The police are the public and the public are the police. The police are just citizens in uniform paid to uphold the law.
• Aims and objectives


  According to the Association of Chief Police Officers:

  1. Keep the peace and maintain order.

  2. Protect life and property.

  3. Prevent, detect and investigate crime.

  4. Bring offenders to justice.

  To achieve this, police are given power by the PACE Act 1984.
• Funding


  In 2018/19 the budget was £12.3b. This comes from:

  1. Aprx 2/3 - central government.

  2. Local council tax.

  3. A small fraction from charging for services such as policing football matches.

  The police's funding fell by 19% between 2010 and 2019. This led to a fall of 20k police officers. By 2019 there were 122k police officers in England and Wales. In March 2023 this was 147k.
• Working practices (national and local reach)

  1. 39 regional police forces in England and Wales + for Scotland + 1 for NI.

  There also specialist institutions with nationwide reach, such as the NCA.
• Working practices (types of criminality and offender)

  The police, virtually deal with all types of offenders, but for some that are dealt with by specialist institutions. Such as tax evaders and HVRC.
• Working practices (police duties)

  Patrolling, working with local communities, responsding to calls, securing crime scenes, gather evidence from witnesses and apprehending offenders.
• Working practices (specialist policing)

  There are specialist departments within the police with specialist duties. For example, the CID, K-9, the Special Branch, surveillance etc.

  There are also agenices that act nationally as part of the NCA, such as child explitation or as part of the Met, such as the Flying Squad.
• Working practices (unarmed policing)


  The majority of the police is unarmed apart for some specialist units. This links back to the philosophy.
• Working practices (special constables)


  The same as normal constables but are unpaid volunteers.
• Working practices (PCSOs)


  Have limited powers and often address anti-social behaviour on the streets such as issuing fixed-penalty notices for littering.
• Working practices (PCCs)


  Elected representatives of the pople into a police force. They give the population a voice in the police and are directly accountable to the electorate. Their aim is to cut crime and budget, and they hold the Chief Constable accountable and can dissmiss them.