History of law enforcement in the United Kingdom - wikipedia History of law enforcement in the United Kingdom Law enforcement in the United Kingdom Law Courts Prisons Topics Agencies police forces defunct Firearms use History Ranks Equipment Aviation Firearms Uniform and equipment Vehicles Types of agency Territorial police forces Special police forces Port police Park police Service police Non-police Other Types of agent Accredited Person Bailiff Civil enforcement officer Civilian Security Officer Special Constable War Reserve Constable Constable Chief Constable Court security officer Customs officer Traffic officer Immigration officer Police Community Support Officer Police Custody and Security Officer Tipstaff Traffic warden Water bailiff Wildlife inspector Concepts Chief police officer Police and crime commissioner Emergency Control Centre Home Office Neighbourhood Policing Teams Police area Police Authority Initial Police Learning and Development Programme Police Cadets Police Federation of England and Wales Police Federation for Northern Ireland Scottish Police Federation Police Information Point Police Oath Police powers in : England and Wales - Scotland Police Support Volunteer Scotland Yard Police 101 number Policing by consent Warrant Card Acts Highway Act 1835 Police Act 1964 Police ( Scotland ) Act 1967 The Functions of Traffic Wardens Order 1970 Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regulations 1986 Road Traffic Act 1988 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 Protection of Children Act 1989 Environmental Protection Act 1990 Police Act 1996 Terrorism Act 2000 Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 Police Reform Act 2002 Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 Licensing Act 2003 Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 Policing and Crime Act 2017 Statutory Instruments Police and Criminal Evidence ( Northern Ireland ) Order 1989 Crime Terrorism The history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom charts the development of law enforcement in the United Kingdom. Victorian Police Officer with itinerant circa 1900 - recreation. David Kirkwood being detained by police during the 1919 Battle of George Square. Eurocopter EC 135 T2 providing law enforcement and medical assistance in the Avon and Somerset Police, and Gloucestershire Police areas, based at Bristol Filton Airport. Contents 1 History 1.1 Watchmen and Constables 1.2 London 1.3 Boroughs and Counties 1.4 National Policing 1.5 Modern Policing 1.6 Height of officers 2 Timeline 3 See also 4 References 5 Further reading History Early policing in Britain was based on the process of hue and cry which relied on citizen volunteers, and later a conscription system known as posse comitatus. Watchmen and constables Law enforcement and policing during the 1700s, and earlier, were not administrated nationally, instead they were organised by local communities such as town authorities. Within local areas, a constable could be attested by two or more Justices of the Peace, a procedure that some sources say had its roots in an Act of the Parliament of England of 1673. From the 1730s, local improvement Acts made by town authorities often included provision for paid watchmen or constables to patrol towns at night, while rural areas had to rely on more informal arrangements. In 1737, an Act of Parliament was passed `` for better regulating the Night Watch '' of the City of London which specified the number of paid constables that should be on duty each night. Henry Fielding established the Bow Street Runners in 1749 ; between 1754 and 1780, Sir John Fielding reorganised Bow Street like a police station, with a team of efficient, paid constables. In 1800, some town authorities became more involved in improving local policing. An Act of Parliament in 1800 enabled Glasgow to establish the City of Glasgow Police, which is the first professional police force in Britain. As the population in industrial towns grew, more local Acts were passed to improve policing arrangements in those towns, such as Rochdale in Lancashire in 1825, and Oldham in 1827. In Ireland, the Belfast Borough Police ( 1800 ), Dublin Metropolitan Police ( 1836 ) and Londonderry Borough Police ( 1848 ) were founded. ( At this time, all of Ireland was part of the UK. ) In November 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway set up their own police establishment under legislation going back to 1673. They were to preserve law and order on the construction site and to control movement of railway traffic -- by hand signals. This practice spread with the development of railways, and small shelters were erected at these stations, becoming known as police stations. Where there was no police control they were just known as stations. To this day signalmen are known as ' bobbies '. Sir Robert Peel, appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1812, found local magistrates and the Baronial Police unable to maintain law and order. he set up a Peace Preservation Force in 1814 and a system of county constabularies under the Irish Constabulary Act 1822. London Further information : History of the Metropolitan Police Service and Peelian Principles London in the early 1800s had a population of nearly a million and a half people but was policed by only 450 constables and 4,500 night watchmen. The idea of professional policing was taken up by Sir Robert Peel when he became Home Secretary in 1822. Peel 's Metropolitan Police Act 1829 established a full - time, professional and centrally - organised police force for the greater London area known as the Metropolitan Police. The new Metropolitan Police were responsible for an area of 7 miles in radius from the centre of the city ( excluding the City of London ), which was later extended to 15 miles. The government intentionally tried to avoid creating any likeness between the police and a military force ; in particular the officers of the new police force were not armed and a blue uniform was chosen, dissimilar to that of the army. During this period, the Metropolitan Police was accountable directly to the Home Secretary ( whereas today it accountable to the Mayor of London and the Metropolitan Police Authority ). The City of London was not included within the remit of the Metropolitan Police because the Mayor and Corporation of the City of London refused to be part of a London - wide force because the City of London had certain liberties dating back to Magna Carta. The London City Police was formed in 1832, later renamed in 1839 to the City of London Police. Boroughs and counties In the early 1800s, Newcastle had a police force that was accountable to the mayor and council. Liverpool, which was at the time a city of around 250,000 people, had only watchmen and parish constables for policing, with a small police force for the dock area. The establishment of more formal policing in cities started to gain more support among the public as cities grew and society became more prosperous and better organised through understanding of legal rights, education and better informed through the press. In 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act was passed by Parliament which required 178 Royal Boroughs to set up paid police forces. In 1839 the Rural Constabulary Act allowed county areas to establish police forces if they chose to at a local level ; Wiltshire was the first county to do this. a further eight county police forces were formed in 1839, twelve in 1840, four in 1841 and another four by 1851. By 1851 there were around 13,000 policemen in England and Wales, although existing law still did not require local authorities to establish local police forces. National policing The UK 's first national police force was the Irish Constabulary, established in 1837. It received the appellation Royal Irish Constabulary in 1867 after its success in suppressing the Fenian Rising. In 1847 two pieces of national legislation were enacted - the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and the Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847. Parliament continued to discuss the idea of national policing and, by the early 1850s, the Government was thinking about implementing policing across the nation. After the County and Borough Police Act in 1856, policing became a requirement throughout England and Wales paid for by central government Treasury department funds distributed to local government. In addition, the Act formed a `` central inspectorate of constabulary '' that would assess the effectiveness of each constabulary and report regularly to the Home Secretary. Parliament passed a similar Act for Scotland in 1857. By 1900, England, Wales and Scotland had 46,800 policemen and 243 constabularies. The Police Act of 1946 led to the merger of a number of smaller town forces and surrounding county forces, leaving 117 constabularies. Further mergers took place following the 1964 Police Act which cut the number of police forces in England and Wales to 47, and Scotland to 20. Modern policing Since the 1960s, police forces in the United Kingdom have been merged and modernised by several Acts of Parliament. Height of officers In the 19th and early 20th centuries most forces required that recruits be at least 5 feet 10 inches ( 178 cm ) in height. By 1960 many forces had reduced this to 5 feet 8 inches ( 173 cm ), and 5 feet 4 inches ( 163 cm ) for women. Many senior officers argued that height was a vital requirement for a uniformed constable. Some forces retained the height standard at 5 feet 10 inches ( 178 cm ) or 5 feet 9 inches ( 175 cm ) until the early 1990s. In May 1990, the minimum height requirement was dropped by the Metropolitan Police, and other police forces had followed suit by September 1990. No British force now requires its recruits to be of any minimum height. The MacPherson report of 1999 recommended against height restrictions, arguing that they may discriminate against those of ethnic backgrounds who are genetically predisposed to be shorter than average. The shortest officer in the UK, PC Sue Day of Wiltshire Police, is 4 feet 10 inches ( 147 cm ) tall. The tallest is PC Anthony Wallyn of the Metropolitan Police who is 7 feet 2 inches ( 218 cm ) tall. Both officers had to have their uniforms specially made for them due to their size. Timeline England and Wales Scotland Ireland / Northern Ireland 1707 At the time of the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain, only Edinburgh had any sort of police force - the Edinburgh Town Guard that had been formed in 1682 to police the city and enforce an initiated curfew. 1726 Edinburgh Town Guard gained notoriety when its Captain Porteous became the trigger for the Porteous Riots. 1749 London 's Bow Street Runners established - considered the foundation to all modern police forces. 1779 Glasgow Magistrates appoint James Buchanan as the first Inspector of the Glasgow Police, with an establishment of eight police officers, though it was disbanded in 1781 due to a lack of money. 1788 The Glasgow Police re-established, but failure to succeed in getting a Bill before Parliament meant that the force again failed, in 1790. 1798 The Marine Police was established, based in Wapping - a localised force with a limited remit. 1800 The Glasgow Police Act, the first such Act in Britain, was finally passed through the persistence of Glasgow city authorities. This allowed the formation of the City of Glasgow Police, funded by taxation of local citizens, to prevent crime. This was quickly followed by the establishment of similar police forces in other towns. Belfast Borough Police founded 1812 A committee examined the policing of London, and made several suggestions on their findings to help evolve the existing state of affairs. 1814 The Peace Preservation Act creates the first organised police force in Ireland, becoming the Irish Constabulary in 1822, and was awarded the Royal prefix after putting down the Fenian Rising of 1867. 1817 Edinburgh Town Guard disbanded. 1818, 1821 Further committees examined the policing of London. 1829 Based on the committees ' findings, Home Secretary Robert Peel introduced the Metropolitan Police Act 1829, prompting a rigorous and less discretionary approach to law enforcement. The Metropolitan Police was founded on 29 September 1829. The new constables were nicknamed ' peelers ' or ' bobbies ' after the Home Secretary, Robert Peel, the latter nickname continuing to this day. 1831 : Special Constables Act 1831 passed. 1835 : Municipal Corporations Act 1835 passed. Among other matters this required each borough in England and Wales to establish a Watch Committee, who had the duty of appointing constables `` for the preserving of the peace ''. The jurisdiction of the borough constables extended to any place within seven miles of the borough. 1836 : Irish Constabulary reorganised under the Constabulary ( Ireland ) Act ; Dublin Metropolitan Police founded. 1839 : County Police Act 1839 passed. 1839 : First county police force created, in Wiltshire. 1840 : County Police Act 1840 passed. 1842 : Within the Metropolitan Police a detective department was founded. 1856 : County and Borough Police Act 1856 made county and borough police forces compulsory in England and Wales and subject to central inspection. By then around thirty counties had voluntarily created police forces. 1857 : The General Police Act ( Scotland ) 1857 required each Scottish county and burgh to establish a police force, either its own or by uniting with a neighbouring county, the latter was usually the case if the area in question was small and had little means of acquiring such manpower. 1860 : By this year there were over 200 separate forces in England and Wales. 1867 : Irish Constabulary renamed Royal Irish Constabulary. 1873 : Thomas Hartley Montgomery is hanged for murder, the only policeman in Ireland to receive that punishment. 1878 : As a result of the 1877 Turf Fraud scandal, the Metropolitan Police 's Detective Department was reorganised and renamed the Criminal Investigation Department ( CID ) in 1878. 1914 : Special Constables Act 1914. Allowed for the appointment of Special Constables during wartime, due to the fall in numbers of regular officers. 1914 -- 18, World War I : the police became unionised. 1918 and 1919 : The police went on strike over pay and working conditions, because of this the polices ' right to strike and form a union was revoked. 1919 : Police Act of 1919 passed in response to the police striking. It criminalised the police union, replacing it with the Police Federation of England and Wales. The act also guaranteed a pension for police ; previously it had been discretionary. The fragmented nature of the police was resistant to change, and there were still over 200 separate police forces before World War II. During the War, resignations were not permitted except on grounds of ill - health. 1919 -- 21 : Irish War of Independence. 410 policemen ( RIC, DMP and Harbour Police ) are killed during the conflict. 1920 : Ulster Special Constabulary founded as a quasi-military reserve special constable police force. 1922 : Following partition, the Royal Irish Constabulary is replaced by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland and the Civic Guard ( later renamed Garda Síochána ) in the Irish Free State. 1923 : Special Constables Act 1923 throughout the UK is passed. 1946 : Police Act 1946 passed. This abolished nearly all non-county borough police forces in England and Wales. This left 117 police forces. Ministry of Civil Aviation Constabulary founded. 1964 : Police Act 1964. This created 49 larger forces in England and Wales, some covering two or more counties or large urban areas. 1970 : Ulster Special Constabulary disbanded. 1974 : Local Government Act ( 1972 ) reduced the number of forces in England & Wales to 43. 1975 : Amalgamation of Scotland 's 17 police forces into 8 new forces, as a result of the Local Government ( Scotland ) Act 1973. 1984 : Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 ( PACE ). Regulated the actions of the police in England and Wales, particularly in relations to arrest and searches / powers of entry. Also instituted the PACE Codes of Practice. PACE did not extend these matters to Scotland but dealt with other subjects there. 1999 : Most police powers and functions in Scotland are devolved to the Scottish Parliament as a result of the Scotland Act 1998. 1999 : MacPherson report describes the Metropolitan Police Service as `` institutionally racist. '' 2001 : Royal Ulster Constabulary disbanded and replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. 2002 : Police Reform Act 2002. Introduced Community Support Officers, commonly referred to as Police Community Support Officers ( PCSOs ) notwithstanding that this term does not appear in any legislation, as well as investigating officers and detention escort officers - all in England and Wales only. None of these are Police Constables although they have certain specific powers of a constable, e.g. in relation to lawful detention. 2006 : Major provisions of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 come into effect including the overhaul of powers of arrest, institution of the Serious Organised Crime Agency and extension of powers available to PCSOs ; these ( other than SOCA ) applying in England and Wales. The majority of the Act applies only to England and Wales with only a few sections applying to Scotland or Northern Ireland. In Scotland, the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice ( Scotland ) Act 2006 comes into force. 2013 : Amalgamation of 8 Scottish territorial police forces into one, Police Scotland. See also History of criminal justice § Modern police Law enforcement References Jump up ^ Terrill, Richard J. ( 2015 ). World Criminal Justice Systems : A Comparative Survey ( revised ed. ). Routledge. pp. 30 -- 53. ISBN 1317228820. Jump up ^ Dempsey, John S. ; Forst, Linda S. ( 2015 ). An Introduction to Policing ( 8 ed. ). Cengage Learning. pp. 6 -- 8. ISBN 1305544684. ^ Jump up to : `` Watchmen and constables ''. UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Independent Port Constabularies - History '' ( PDF ). Independent Port Constabularies. Retrieved 29 December 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` British Police Service ''. City of London Police. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Sir John Fielding ''. The National Archives. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ https://www.psni.police.uk/inside-psni/our-history/a-history-of-policing-in-ireland/ ^ Jump up to : `` Sir Robert Peel and the new Metropolitan Police ''. The National Archives. Retrieved 29 December 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Metropolitan Police ''. UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` History of City of London Police Key dates ''. City of London Police. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Provincial Police Forces ''. The National Archives. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Creating the nation 's police force ''. UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 December 2013. Jump up ^ Royal Commission on the Police, Interim Report, 1960 Jump up ^ `` Britain 's smallest police officer nicknamed laptop ''. 2010 - 01 - 16. Retrieved 2017 - 09 - 05. Jump up ^ `` People look up to Britain 's shortest cop ''. Swindon Advertiser. 2010 - 01 - 17. Retrieved 2010 - 03 - 30. Jump up ^ Cooper, Charlie ( 4 March 2013 ). `` High and low security : Britain 's tallest policeman Anthony Wallyn stood guard with Met 's shortest officer outside hospital where Queen was treated for gastroenteritis ''. The Independent. London. Jump up ^ `` The Glasgow Police Museum ''. Retrieved 3 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` History ''. Metropolitan Police Service. Retrieved 3 January 2015. Further reading Churchill, David. Crime control and everyday life in the Victorian city : the police and the public ( 2017 ). Churchill, David C. `` Rethinking the state monopolisation thesis : the historiography of policing and criminal justice in nineteenth - century England. '' Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History & Societies 18.1 ( 2014 ) : 131 - 152. online Emsley, Clive. `` Police '' in James Eli Adams, ed., Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era ( 2004 ) 3 : 221 - 24. Emsley, Clive. Crime and Society in England, 1750 -- 1900 ( 5th ed. 2018 ) Emsley, Clive. The English police : A political and social history ( 2014 ). Lyman, J.L. `` The Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 : An Analysis of Certain Events Influencing the Passage and Character of the Metropolitan Police Act in England, '' Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science ( 1964 ) 55 # 1 pp. 141 - 154 online Taylor, James. `` White - collar crime and the law in nineteenth - century Britain. '' Business History 60.3 ( 2018 ) : 343 - 360. Wilson, David. Pain and Retribution : a short history of British Prisons 1066 to the present ( Reaktion Books, 2014 ). Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_law_enforcement_in_the_United_Kingdom&oldid=843561574 '' Categories : History of law enforcement in the United Kingdom Legal history of the United Kingdom Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 29 May 2018, at 23 : 27. 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Question: the earliest police in england worked only at night and were known as
Answer: Night Watch