8/8/2019 9 Principles of Policing 0001

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UI.~\MAII: '''~~;\he~:';-~~~O~f~~~~~~~!eo~n~O~I~U~d~eS~t;h;,a~l~i~n~g~iV~i~n:g~PO:iI1ce::~th~euJ~ !m !m ; j;I .I ~~~oc:css(and from 0 ourselves~ng I bobbies' el their name), estab- The argument and logic isIisb . ed t!I! following nine principles a> a Ee ach individual ha the rightto l'eOrgamzing and refocusing the authority-to defend his own, life anLondon~erroPQ,r.IIl __ ~~~'-~~~~~~P I' ,.. and the responsibility. andee s Nine Principles of Policing: au to defend a neighbor's life andI.The basic mission for which thepolice exist is to prevent crime property. As society develops and popu-lations grow, it becomes practical toand disorder. pool our individual authority and lend it2. The ability of the police to perfoem tU.bired vants who can focus on thosetheir duties is dependent upon pub- obligations . e we focus ou

lic approval of police actions. other pursuits. Such servan3. Police must secure the willing-co, no mo e authority than is held by theoperation of the public in volun- asters who hire them, and those mas-tary observance of the law to be ters have no less authority and obliga-able to secure and maintain the tion than they did before they hired therespect of the public. servants.

4. The degree of co-operation of the The United Stares of America "aspublic that can be secured dirnin- founded on this philosophy. The Const-ishes proportionately to the neces- itution was written a a framework forsity of the us e ofJlbysical force. executing this philosophy. The Bill of

5. Police seek and p e ublic Rights was added as a buJ.wark againstfavour not by catering to lic dilution of this philosophy. Any politi-opinion but by constantly de ian.ublic servant who show anystrating absolute impartial ervice indication of not undermanding this phi-to the la

6. Police use physical force to theextent necessary to secure obser-vance of the law or to restoreorder only when the exercise ofpersuasion, advice and warning isfound to be insufficient.

7. Police, at all times. should main-tain a relationship with the publicthat gives reality to the historictradition that the police are thepublic and the public are thepolice; the police being onlymembers of the public who arepaid to give full-time attention toduties which are incumbent onevery citizen in the interests ofcommunity welfare and existence.

8. Police should always direct theiraction strictly towards their func-tions and never appear to usurpthe powers of the judiciary.

9. The test of police efficiency is theabsence of crime and disorder, notthe visible evidence of policeaction in dealing with it.

Take particular notice of principlenumber 7. "[T]he police are the publicand the public-are the police." Too oftenpolice are p aced on a pedestal of infal-libility and privilege. Likewise "regularcitizens" are demoted to a lower rung onthe ladder where they are assumed to beincapable of handling responsibility andunworthy of trust. (Citizens in certainneighborhoods are placed even lower.)Frederick Bastiat, one of the mostinfluential philosophers of the Revolu-tionary period, dedicated a substantialtreatise to the subject of the law, who thepolice are, and wbat is the source oftheir authority. His conclusion; they areus, and they derive their authority fromus. Perhaps more importantly, Bastiat

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down from any position of authority andreminded that all authority of govern-ment is drawn from the authority of thegoverned.Tragically, the British have complete-

ly forgotten this Ie son which they oncetenuou ly grasped. They now prosecutecitizens for resisting criminals, even fordefending themselves against physicalattack. Many in the States are forgetting,too. A man in Massachusetts recentlyfound two aggre sive drug user in aneighbor's shed. When they advancedthreateningly on him, he drew a gun andheld them until tbe police arrived.The police then took the good neigh-

bor into custody and higher-ups attempt-ed to get his concealed carry permitrevoked for "taking the law into his ownhands." They have clearly forgotten thathis hands are where the law belongs,where it comes from, and where it ulti-mately resides. Every citizen has thesame au rit)' that any 'police officerhas. We have agreed, for the sake oforder, to place certain rules upon ourexercise of that authority, but we havenever abdicated it.In the face of our police becoming

more militarized, it is more importantthan ever that individual police officers,police agencies, and their political over-seers understand the source of theirpowers and return to their roots-toeel's Nine Principles.

Permission to reprint or post this article in itsentirety.fur non-commercial purposes is herebygranted provided this credit is included. Text isavailable at www.Ftrearrns'Coalinon.org. Toreceive The Firearms Coalition's hi-monthlynewsletter, The Hard Corps Report, write to PO8013313, Manassas, Va. 20J08.I!:>Copyright 2008Neal Knox Ass ociates