6.2: Sir Robert Peel
th century in England heavily influenced the history of policing in the United States. Not only did policing radically change for the first time in over six centuries, but the father of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel, set up the stage for what is known today as modern policing. Sir Robert Peel, the British Home Secretary, coined the term ‘bobbies’ as a nickname for cops and he believed policing needed to be restructured. In 1829 he passed the Metropolitan Police Act, which created the first British police force and what the 21 st century knows for today’s modern-day police. [1]