How Peel Street reminds of principles still relevant to policing in Hong Kong
Ethical guidelines for police forces inspired by 19th-century reformer more relevant than ever
Strolling down Peel Street in Central, you don't just find old shops and traces of colonial memories. You may also be inspired.
The street, one of the city's oldest, was built in the early 1840s and named after Robert Peel, who served twice as British prime minister.
Peel was a reformer. He introduced the Metropolitan Police Act, which the British parliament passed in 1829, marking the beginning of modern, civic policing.
Under the new law, the reformed police force became a full-time, salaried and uniformed constabulary, employed based on merit and carrying batons instead of invasive weapons to keep the public peace. It was accountable to the home secretary through salaried police commissioners.
The police contrasted sharply with the army, in which purchases of commissions by aristocrats and landowners were common, and the local parish watchmen, who were part-time and voluntary.
