Submitted by Guest Contributor on September 4, 2005 - 9:15pm.
"The idea expressed by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 that police are not merely tools of government but rather are the people's police endures in Australia today, as does the theory of constabulary independence. The idea that police exercise a degree of independence in operational matters rests on the belief by judicial authorities that police in democratic societies should not be subject to arbitrary and capricious interference by the executive. While the theory is contested, the common and statute law has bestowed a degree of discretion and operational independence on police." Colleen Lewis
