Call the police

This is a bust of Sir Robert Peel who, as the then Home Secretary, founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829.  He also held office as Prime Minister twice but it is as the founder of the first organised police force that he is probably best known. So much so that police officers are still known as 'bobbies' or 'peelers'. Peel also established the principles of a civilian force that polices by consent. Integral to that was the fact that force was, and remains,  unarmed albeit armed officers are more visible these days because of security concerns. The Metropolitan Police  became a model for the rest of the country and by 1857 all cities were obliged to set up their own forces. The bust of Peel is displayed at the entrance to New Scotland Yard, the home of the 'Met' on the embankment. I was walking back to Waterloo when I took the photo having attended a meeting at the Supreme Court.