The following year the Metropolitan Police Act was passed and by September the 'Bobbies' or 'Peelers' were in the streets. They weren't always successful and certainly weren't popular, but they proved to be the foundation of modern policing in Britain. » The Metropolitan Police Act set the standards that constitute today's English police force. To begin with, the essential method of maintaining order was the visible presence of uniformed police officers. Furthermore, order and control had to be maintained through a centralized, pseudo-military authority structure. Today, the nine principles formulated by Sir Robert Peel are visible throughout the world, within law enforcement.