Robert Peel: Case Study (Edexcel GCSE History)

Robert Peel: Case Study - Timeline

Robert Peel: Case Study - Summary

Who was Robert Peel?

• Sir Robert Peel was a 19th-century politician

  • He was initially home secretary (for two separate terms)

  • He later became prime minister (also for two separate terms)

• The illustration below shows the actions Peel took to achieve his aims of reducing crime and reforming the penal code

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An illustration showing the actions Peel took to achieve his aims of reducing crime and reforming the penal code

Robert Peel and the Reform of the Penal Code

• The expansion of the ‘Bloody Code’ led to an unprecedented number of capital offences

• It meant that the death penalty could legally be used for minor crimes

• In practice, judges rarely sentenced petty criminals to death:

  • They thought it was unfair

  • They preferred alternative punishments, especially

    • Transportation 

    • Imprisonment

• Because the penal code made little sense, Peel reformed it

  • He reduced the number of capital offences by 100

  • This is because he wanted petty criminals to be

    • Punished in proportion to their crimes

    • Reformed, so that they were less likely to reoffend

The 1823 Gaols Act and Prison Reform

• Reformers like Elizabeth Fry influenced Peel to campaign for better prison conditions

• He therefore persuaded Parliament to pass the 1823 Gaols Act

• The illustration below highlights the key requirements of the 1823 Gaols Act

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An illustration highlighting the key requirements of the 1823 Gaols Act

• The Act’s impact was limited because

  • There were no inspectors to enforce it

  • It only applied to 130 of the biggest prisons

  • Small prisons ignored it altogether

The Creation of the Metropolitan Police, 1829

Peel’s recommendations for a police force

• Peel wanted an ethical police force

• His Peelian principles still provide the foundation for modern policing in Britain today:

  • Centralisation

    • Similar policing standards across London:

      • An impartial and objective approach

      • Lawful behaviour

      • A positive relationship and cooperation with the public

      • To only use physical force as a last resort

  • Differentiation from the army

    • Non-military uniform

    • No firearms

Opposition to a police force

• Many were opposed to Peel’s idea of a centralised police force

• The table below highlights the political and economic reasons for this opposition

The 1829 Metropolitan Police Act

• Despite opposition, the government passed the Metropolitan Police Act

A diagram featuring reasons why Peel succeeded in getting MPs to pass the Metropolitan Police Act

• The Met was initially made up of

  • two commissioners 

  • 3,200 full-time, carefully selected, well-trained, paid men policing central London

Criticisms and issues

• In its early days, many people criticised the Met:

  • They doubted that the police force would achieve its aim of deterring crime

  • They used derogatory nicknames for officers:

    • ‘Raw lobsters’ (due to their blue coats) 

    • ‘Crushers’ (because they were seen to be interfering with liberty)

  • They still feared that the police would become like the army

    • This was made worse by the fact that many new Constables were ex-soldiers

  • They thought that officers were spying on the general public

    • This belief became more widespread when plain clothes officers first appeared

• The Met also had other issues:

  • Many officers had major drink problems

    • This accounted for 80% of dismissals

  • Retention was poor

    • Out of 2,800 Constables in 1830, only 562 remained in 1834

Success

• Despite a difficult start, the Met eventually became successful

  • It focused on patrolling areas with high crime

    • This contributed to steadily falling crime rates between 1850 and 1900

  • The public came to recognise that officers were honest and trustworthy

    • By the 1850s, they began to refer to officers as 'Peelers'