As of , there were 39 territorial police forces in England, 4 in Wales, one in Scotland , and one in Northern Ireland. Police constables have certain powers that enable them to execute their duties. Their primary duties are the protection of life and property, preservation of the peace, and prevention and detection of criminal offences.
It expresses that the legitimacy of policing in the eyes of the public is based upon a general consensus of support that follows from transparency about their powers, their integrity in exercising those powers and their accountability for doing so.
Most police constables in England, Scotland and Wales do not carry firearms. As of , there were , police officers in England and Wales, 6, of which were firearms authorised. In the 18th century, law enforcement and policing were organised by local communities based on watchmen and constables; the government was not directly involved in policing.
The City of Glasgow Police , the first professional police, was established following an Act of Parliament in London had a population of nearly one and a half million people in the early 19th century but was policed by only constables and 4, night watchmen. Peel's Metropolitan Police Act established a full-time, professional and centrally-organised police force for the greater London area known as the Metropolitan Police. This report was to evaluate how the burgeoning police force would work with "poor law" as well as to make the case to establish a national force based on the Metropolitan Police.
Much of his argument was based around the necessity for protection of the developing capitalism that was growing in England at the time. Chadwick also addressed the concern that building out a powerful police state could lead to a reduction in civil and personal liberties, but argued that the fear of crime made English citizens slaves, and so were less free without aggressive policing. The Peelian principles describe the philosophy that Sir Robert Peel developed to define an ethical police force.
