3 Professionalising the police in the early nineteenth century
As you learned in Week 2, prior to the advent of the ‘New Police’ (starting with the Metropolitan Police in 1829), policing was ‘unprofessional’. This does not mean that policing was undertaken poorly or inefficiently. Rather, that it was rarely a profession in the way it is today.
Prior to the 1800s policing was usually highly localised, non-salaried, non-uniformed, often part-time and with little structured oversight or training. It was rarely a career. The ‘new’ police forces introduced in the early to mid-nineteenth century were intentionally constructed, from the outset, to be much more ‘professional’.
Figure 5: During the nineteenth-century, it was common for police officers to march to their beats in formation, having been read their daily orders. [Description: Black and white photograph showing a line of uniformed police officers marching along a city street pavement. Some officers are carrying waterproof capes over their arms] [Open University Archive]
The Metropolitan Police force which took to the streets in 1829 numbered c.3,000 officers – a ten-fold expansion on prior police numbers. It had a rigid and hierarchical structure, clear written orders and instructions, and uniformed personnel who were salaried (rather than being motivated by a system of fines and rewards, as had previously been the case).
Their primary focus was ‘the prevention of crime’, which was to be achieved by visibly walking regular beats. They were marked with letters so that they could ‘at all times be known to the public’. Other forces set up in subsequent decades generally followed the same model of clear written orders used tightly to direct uniformed and salaried officers.
Activity 2 Early police orders
In addition to the written instructions issued to all new constables, new directives were continually produced. The extract below gives a sense of some of the daily orders issued.
Read the police orders below and consider what they show about the direction of the new police.
1829–30
September 29. – The Police are not to pay attention to any ignorant or silly expressions of ridicule, that may be made use of towards them, all of which they must feel to be beneath their notice.
They are not to enter into any conversation with any person whatever, except on matters relating to Police Duty.
Police Constables on Duty are not to stop or talk together when they meet on their Beats, except on matters relating to Duty.
October 6. – The Police Serjeants [sic] are again cautioned, that the manner in which they make their patrol, and march their reliefs along the streets, is constantly observed by the Commissioner; and if the Duty is not done strictly according to Order, in silence and regularity, the Serjeant will not long retain his situation.
October 13. – The Constables are not to refuse to give their assistance for the protection of persons and property near their own Beat, if called for in any case requiring immediate attention, but the Constable is always to return as soon as possible to his own Beat.
October 17. – The Superintendents of Divisions are to take especial care that all Orders given out are carefully read and explained to the men who join the Police Force; and that all the Orders are read from time to time, when it may appear necessary, to impress on the minds of the men the several subjects to which the Orders relate.
December 21. – The Police are not, in any instance, to ask for a Christmas-box; if any money is offered to them as a Christmas-box they must report the circumstance to their Superintendent, who will ask permission from the Commissioner for them to receive it, as in other cases of gratuity.
January 12. – Every article taken from any person charged, or carried to a Police Station in a state of intoxication, is to be entered in a book. The articles should always be taken by one person and called out distinctly, and entered in the book by another; and when the person from who they are taken is discharged by the Magistrate, and the articles restored to him, he is to sign the book or a receipt for the whole.
Discussion
This selection of early orders shows the tight oversight and direction of the new police constables. They are directed to walk their beats, not to speak to the public unless necessary for the conduct of their role, not to respond to insults (of which there many, initially) and not to receive gratuities. Supervising officers are enjoined to make sure orders are well known and to keep a close watch on constables. The order from 12 January shows the processes already being developed to ensure a standardised and professional approach to custody management.
Even greater attention was paid to the management and oversight of the police as the nineteenth century wore on. An early shift towards centralised oversight was introduced by the County and Borough Police Act (1856). This specified that the efficiency of police forces would be ensured by a newly created Inspectorate of Constabulary. If deemed ‘efficient’ by the inspectors, the government undertook to pay a quarter of the annual cost of the force.
Thus, the early history of the new police forces of the nineteenth century shows a drive towards professionalisation – clear, written orders; disciplined and well-managed constables; early mechanisms of central inspection and oversight. But, as the following sections will show, this process was beset by significant challenges both in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.