Police and the Law
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8305600103 |
| Author | R. S. Bunyard |
| Published date | 01 January 1983 |
| Date | 01 January 1983 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
R. S. BUNYARD
Chief Constable
of
Essex.
POLICE
AND
THE LAW
When police forces were first created, in the early 19th Century, their
task was clear. They provided mobile sentries who patrolled the
streets of towns and cities to deter crime and deal with any
lawbreakers they found. Police could also be organized into a
disciplined "civilian" force to cope with serious public disorder.
Since those times, the police service has evolved into a wide ranging
public service but still with an important law enforcement role. The
1960 Royal Commission put it like this: "The Police in this country
are the instrument for enforcing the rule oflaw; they are the means by
which civilised society maintains order,
that
people may live safelyin
their houses and go freely
about
their lawful business. Basically their
task is the maintenance of the Queen's Peace - that is, the
preservation of law and order. Without this there would be anarchy"
(Royal Commission on the Police, Final Report 1962, p. 21). Such a
statement outlines the principal role of police in a civilised country,
but it omits to point out that police alone cannot enforce the rule of
law. The police service is merely one of a number of sub-systems
which must be properly integrated so as to produce an effective
criminal justice system.
It
makes little sense to evaluate the police in
isolation because no police service can be more effective than the rest
of the criminal justice system will permit.
For
any criminal justice system to be effective, it must command
the respect and support of the public. There must be a general
acceptance on the part of the population that the laws are necessary,
that they should be obeyed, and that sanctions should be applied
against people who break them. Such acceptance can only be
achieved by a responsive government that makes practicable laws,
abides by those laws and endorses the need for acceptance of them by
all sections of the community.
It
must also provide for adequate
sanctions which can be applied by the courts.
The courts must apply the laws in such a way that respect for the
law is maintained and people are induced to obey. Finally, the police
must enforce the law to an acceptable degree, relative to the nature of
the offence.
When crime appears to be ever increasing, it is natural for people
to assume
that
this is due to some new and unprecedented feature of
life. Yet a glance at English social history suggests that we are not as
law abiding a society as we would like to pretend. This description of
January /983 7
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