Community Policing in Britain
01 January 1991
Community Policing in Britain
bacdoc November=1995
"Community Policing in Britain: Context and Critique"
Phil Scraton
Historical Context
On 9 July 1829 the Metropolitan Police Act became law and the
first regular, professional and uniformed police force in England
was established. This ended years of controversy over the
introduction of civilian policing and provided the foundations
for the development of police forces throughout Britain. The
first official instructions issued to the police placed emphasis
on the "prevention of crime" rather than reactive law
enforcement. To this end police officers were instructed to work
closely with the communities they policed. One of the two
Metropolitan Police Commissioners, Charles Rowan, stated:
"... the power of the police to fulfil their function and duties
is dependent upon public approval of their existence, actions and
behaviour, and their ability to serve and maintain public
respect." [1]
While there was a stated commitment to policing communities
fairly, with each individual being "equal before the law", the
police were introduced into a politically and economically
divided society. Gaining "public respect" for their
interventions and I community consensus" for their policies
proved difficult objectives given the class relations of early
capitalism, the denial of parliamentary democracy and the
implicit authoritarianism of policing protest.
Mainstream police biographers reflect the 19th century as a
period in which the "new police" won the hearts and minds of the
people, regardless of their class or status. Critchley, for
example, argues that the Metropolitan Police represented a non-
political, state-sponsored force which upheld the common good and
neutrality of state intervention. He concludes that within 10
years of their introduction, "their courage, good humour and
sense of fair play won first the admiration of Londoners and then
their affection" [2]. Sir Leon Radzinowicz, while noting
antagonism from all classes against the police, argues that
within five years they had, "ceased to be regarded, except in the
most radical circles, as a threatening innovation" [3].
Clearly the 19th century was a period in which the police
extended their formal presence throughout Britain and
consolidated their powers as a civil force, but they did not
receive universal co-operation from the communities they served.
Although their expansion assumed the principle of crime
prevention, it was the control and regulation of public order,
civil unrest and industrial conflict which formed police
priorities as the population struggled for the right to vote, the
right to organise and the right to protest. Inevitably, as the
police presence extended throughout British cities and towns,
resistance was profound with anti-police protest dominating
police-community relations. In attempting to secure an "ordered
society" of "disciplined subjects" the police targeted public
gatherings, recreational pursuits, demonstrations by the poor and
workers' meetings. From the outset they discriminated against
particular individuals and communities based on shared
assumptions of criminality or militancy.
The initial objective, of establishing a national police force
was never realised. By 1881 there were 185 county and provincial
forces each operating with its own codes of practice and
discipline. By this time the political function of the police
had consolidated. While operational policies and priorities were
influenced by central government directives and legislation,
police officers possessed broad discretion in the interpretation
and selective enforcement of the law.
Within working-class communities the police gained neither
consent nor legitimacy. The poor, the unemployed, the striking
workers and the street protestors represented a potent threat to
the established order. Working-class resistance to poverty,
unemp