Quo Vadis? An Address to the Canadian Association of Chief Police Officers
| Author | David McNee |
| Published date | 01 January 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300103 |
| Date | 01 January 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
SIR DAVID McNEE, Q.P.M.
Commissioner
of
Police
of
the Metropolis
QUO
VADIS?
An address to the Canadian
Association of Chief Police
Officers
At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 29th September 1829 - 150years ago next
month - the first officers of the Metropolitan Police stepped out of
their station-houses onto the streets of London and gave birth to
policing as we know it now. London's new police were to become the
model, not just for the rest of Britain, but for the rest of the
democratic world.
Sir Robert Peel, Home Secretary of the day, had given the child
legislative life just five months before when he introduced to
Parliament a Bill entitled"An Act for Improving the Police in and
near the Metropolis." He ended his introductory speech with these
words -
"It
is'the duty of Parliament (he said) to afford to the inhabitants
of the Metropolis and its vicinity, the full and complete protection
of the
lawand
to take prompt and decisive measures to check the
increase of Crime which is now proceeding at a frightfully rapid
pace."
Nothing changes. Peel's words have a relevant poignancy to police
officers in Britain today, where currently a Royal Commission is
examining the powers and duties of police in the investigation of
crime. Canada is not alone in having a Commission or Committee of
Inquiry looking at aspects of its policing.
Peel may have been father to the idea but it was the two men he
chose to be the first joint Commissioners - Colonel Sir Charles
Rowan and Sir Richard Mayne: soldier and lawyer - who gave the
force substance and nurtured it to maturity.
Itis
a measure of their
excellence that the philosophy which formed the foundations on
which they built the Metropolitan Police is still as vibrant and
relevant in 1979as it was 150years ago.
At this point I think I ought to reassure you that I do not intend to
give a history lesson, but the philosophy and traditions which
underlie a police system are fundamental to its effectiveness. In order
to understand the modern British policing philosophy and tradition
it is necessary to take a brieflook back into the past. Therefore I hope
you will bear with me for a few minutes more whilst I develop my
January 1980 Police Journal 9
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