ABSTRACT
Nostalgia is a fun thing. When one thinks of the past, especially a past too far away to have experienced rsthand, all the mistakes of the time are forgotten, the details neatly smoothed over, and all the answers to modern predicaments lay apparent. So this seems to be the case when politicians and policymakers think of 1829, Sir Robert Peel, and his Bobbies. “Policing by consent,” it was. Friendly constables, never distracted by squawking radios, never speeding by in police cars, would wander amiably around their patch. ey would get to know everyone in their area, have access to all pertinent “intelligence” (in modern terms), and could probably see o a good deal of trouble before it began. ey were trusted and respected, a perfect model of community engagement.
