Jhe
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~eu~
~!m!m;j;I.I•• ~~~oc:css(and from 0
~ng I bobbies' el their name), estab-
Iisb. ed t!I! following nine principles a> a E
e ach individual ha the right
to l'eOrgamzing and refocusing the authority-to
London~erroPQ,r.IIl __ ~~~'-~~~~~~
P I' ,..
ee s Nine Principles of Policing:
I. The basic mission for which the
police exist is to prevent crime
and disorder.
2. The ability of the police to perfoem tU.bired vants who can focus on those
their duties is dependent upon pub-
lic approval of police actions.
3. Police must secure the willing-co,
operation of the public in vol un-
tary observance of the law to be
able to secure and maintain the
respect of the public.
4. The degree of co-operation of the
public that can be secured dirnin-
ishes proportionately to the neces-
sity of the use ofJlbysical force.
5. Police seek and p e ublic
favour not by catering to lic
opinion but by constantly de
strating absolute impartial ervice
to the la
6. Police use physical force to the
extent necessary to secure obser-
vance of the law or to restore
order only when the exercise of
persuasion, advice and warning is
found to be insufficient.
7. Police, at all times. should main-
tain a relationship with the public
that gives reality to the historic
tradition that the police are the
public and the public are the
police; the police being only
members of the public who are
paid to give full-time attention to
duties which are incumbent on
every citizen in the interests of
community welfare and existence.
8. Police should always direct their
action strictly towards their func-
tions and never appear to usurp
the powers of the judiciary.
9. The test of police efficiency is the
absence of crime and disorder, not
the visible evidence of police
action in dealing with it.
Take particular notice of principle
number 7. "[T]he police are the public
and the public-are the police." Too often
police are p aced on a pedestal of infal-
libility and privilege. Likewise "regular
citizens" are demoted to a lower rung on
the ladder where they are assumed to be
incapable of handling responsibility and
unworthy of trust. (Citizens in certain
neighborhoods are placed even lower.)
Frederick Bastiat, one of the most
influential philosophers of the Revolu-
tionary period, dedicated a substantial
treatise to the subject of the law, who the
police are, and wbat is the source of
their authority. His conclusion; they are
us, and they derive their authority from
us. Perhaps more importantly, Bastiat
ourselves
•••• J
The argument and logic is
defend his own, life an
and the responsibility. and
au • to defend a neighbor's life and
property. As society develops and popu-
lations grow, it becomes practical to
pool our individual authority and lend it
obligations . e we focus ou
other pursuits. Such servan
no mo e authority than is held by the
asters who hire them, and those mas-
ters have no less authority and obliga-
tion than they did before they hired the
servants.
The United Stares of America "as
founded on this philosophy. The Const-
itution was written a a framework for
executing this philosophy. The Bill of
Rights was added as a buJ.wark against
dilution of this philosophy. Any politi-
ian « p.ublic servant who show any
indication of not undermanding this phi-
down from any position of authority and
reminded that all authority of govern-
ment is drawn from the authority of the
governed.
Tragically, the British have complete-
ly forgotten this Ie son which they once
tenuou ly grasped. They now prosecute
citizens for resisting criminals, even for
defending themselves against physical
attack. Many in the States are forgetting,
too. A man in Massachusetts recently
found two aggre sive drug user in a
neighbor's shed. When they advanced
threateningly on him, he drew a gun and
held 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 permit
revoked for "taking the law into his own
hands." They have clearly forgotten that
his hands are where the law belongs,
where it comes from, and where it ulti-
mately resides. Every citizen has the
same au rit)' that any 'police officer
has. We have agreed, for the sake of
order, to place certain rules upon our
exercise of that authority, but we have
never abdicated it.
In the face of our police becoming
more militarized, it is more important
than ever that individual police officers,
police agencies, and their political over-
seers understand the source of their
powers and return to their roots-to
eel's Nine Principles.
Permission to reprint or post this article in its
entirety.fur non-commercial purposes is hereby
granted provided this credit is included. Text is
available at www.Ftrearrns'Coalinon.org. To
receive The Firearms Coalition's hi-monthly
newsletter, The Hard Corps Report, write to PO
8013313, Manassas, Va. 20J08.I!:>Copyright 2008
Neal Knox Associates