Peel’s Principles? It’s time to move on

19th March 2026Tom Andrews, Lecturer in Policing, University of Derby 4 Comments

The recently published Government White Paper on police reform once again highlights the importance of the ‘Peelian Principles’ for modern UK policing, while the same Principles have been regularly referenced over the years by inspectorates, inquiries and reviews; but University of Derby Policing Lecturer Tom Andrews argues that not only are the Principles unlikely to have been written by Peel and don’t bear up to scrutiny, but there are better models for underpinning the British policing model.

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Peel’s Principles? It’s time to move on

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