“I enjoy helping people,” said Ivan, a British police officer. “I was attracted by the variety of work. It isn’t commonly realized that crime accounts for only 20 to 30 percent of police work. It’s very much a community and social service. On a typical day on patrol, I could attend to a sudden death, a traffic accident, a crime, and a confused elderly person in need of help. It can be especially satisfying to return a lost child or to help a crime victim cope with his or her emotional trauma.”

Police Protection​—Hopes and Fears

MANY people in early 19th-century England resisted proposals for a professional, uniformed police force. They feared that an armed force in the hands of the central government might threaten their freedom. Some were afraid that they would end up with a system of police spies similar to the French under Joseph Fouché. Nevertheless, they were forced to ask themselves, ‘What will we do without a police force?’

London had become the biggest and richest city in the world; crime was rising and threatening business. Neither the volunteer night watchmen nor the professional thieftakers, the privately funded Bow Street Runners, were up to the task of protecting people and their property. Says Clive Emsley in his book The English Police: A Political and Social History: “More and more, crime and disorder were regarded as things which should not exist in civilised society.” So Londoners hoped for the best and decided on a professional police force under the direction of Sir Robert Peel.a In September 1829, uniformed constables of the Metropolitan Police began patrolling their beats.