[simonturvey]

I disremember exactly where but I recall once reading that Robert Peel, founder of the London Metropolitan Police, asserted that police should be considered as members of the public who were paid to perform full-time the duties that every citizen should consider their obligation anyway.

One can easily make the self-evident case that we "live in different times" or that the world is more violent now (tell that to the Londoners of 1829) but I think there's a beautiful ideal in the original concept that's since been lost.

As a Brit living in the US the difference in policing as public servant vs. public master is quite striking. Not to say that policing challenges and situational contexts don't differ enormously; I'd hate to get into an "our police is better than your police" 'debate'!