The Most Important Role of the Police is to Prevent Crime

The Most Important Role of the Police is to Prevent Crime As Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the modern Police Force, stated in 1829: " The police are the public and the public are the police. The police are only members of the public that are paid to give full time attention to duties that are incumbent upon every citizen in the interest of community welfare and existence." The Scottish police motto is 'semper vigilo' meaning …

…police but they have other important roles and it could be argued that since crime is a social problem, crime prevention is the concern of every person living in society. I believe that society employs full-time professional police to assist in preventing crime and to deter it, and when that fails, to apprehend those who violate the law. However the primary responsibility for upholding the law lies not with the police but with the people.