The Myth of Policing By Consent By Kevin Blowe
The belief that the police are now our servants and their independence from the state guarantees their impartiality and accountability is an enduring one. It is summed up in the most often quoted maxim of Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the Metropolitan Police, that ‘the police are the public and the public are the police’ and persists in popular support for the idea of ‘policing by public consent’. However, there is little in the recent history of policing in Britain to suggest this is anything other than a comforting fiction.
Tagged ACPO, anti-social behaviour orders, anti-terrorism laws, ASBOs, G20, IPCC, Metropolitan Police, Police Complaints Authority

























