The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-06 00:00:00

CITY POLICE.
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE
CITY POLICE FORCE FOR THE YEAR 1843,
(Delivered OS the Court of Common Council Feb. 15,

1844.)
Read, and ordered" to be printed in the Minutes of
Proceedings, sent to every Member of the Court, and
the same is as follows :
" 26, Old Jewry, Jan. 24, 1844.
"My Lord Mayor,—l have the honour herewith
to inclose, for the information of yourself and the
Court of Common Council, the statistical returns of

the City Police Force for the year 1843, with a con-
trasted representation of the preceding year.

" As the present appears an appropiiite occasion so
to do, I beg to invite your Lordship's attention, not
only to the results which these returns afford, but
also to 'Some suggestions, the growth of experience
and observation, which I venture to think, with the
sanction of the Corporation, may render the City
Police still further contributory to the health and
comfort, as well as the security, of the persons and
their property confided to our care.
"I am the more anxious to engage your Lordship's
attention to these returns, as the most exaggerated
statements have gone forth of the number and mag-
nitude of the robberies committed within the City
during the past year. When we consider the vastness
and variety of the property which is placed in our ob-
sure warshouses and exposed in our public shops,—
the tens of thousands of persons, many of them
strangers, who daily traverse our streets, the careless-
ness of some, the vicious indiscretion of others ; when
we consider how many hundreds of persons of both
sexes repair hither daily and nightly, expressly, and
with the utmost practised dexterity, to seize what is
unguarded, and to trepan the unwary ; when we look
at the increasing evidence which these returns afford
of deserted houses crowded with portable and costly
property, to which may be added the censurable care-
lessness with which persons are taken into confi-
dence, respecting whom little or no inquiry.is made;
I own it does appear to me a matter of surprise as well
as of congratulation, that the total amount of property
actually lost during the past year, the value of which
is always appraised by the losers, for the most part
under the influence of excitement and alarm, is less
then 201. a day ! Of the 1,229 robberies of all descrip-
tions which occurred in the City during the year
1643, it will appear not one amounted to 3001. in
value, only six exceeded 100/.. ;-607 not exceeding
51., and 426 under ss. Of these petty robberies it
may be correctly remarked that the far greater num-
ber occur among persons and in neighbourhoods in
which small properties change possession with very
slight regard to rightful claims, and at hours and
under circumstances little calculated to awaken the
sympathy of the friends of morality and order.
"The number of persons brought to the station-
houses upon cherges and under circumstances too im-
material to call for magisterial interference is very
great, and largely upon the increase; which I think
in a considerable degree may be attributed to the in-
ducements held out to the idle and dissipated, who
flock from the remotest parts of the country to
London, under the impression that food and lodging
are easily and gratuitously to be obtained.
" That many persons se ooming are objects of
merited comm sseration, and entitled to less pre-
carious regard, is obvious to all who have attended to
their cases ; and I am induced to think that the
places now open for the relief of the houseless and
indigent are at once too lax and indiscriminate to-
wards imposition, and too transitory and indifferent to
the claims and circumstances of unobtrusive and patient
suffering. Let not even the semblance of want be
overlooked, once, twice, or even thrice, but there is
something obviously vicious in the system, and ex-
tremely hazardous to the security of persons and pro-
perty, which inundates our streets every morning
with hundreds of persons who prowl about in every
form of affected distress, seeking and seizing whatever
may come in their way.
" Crime ought not to be countenanced, nor suffer-
'TT so slarred over. Arrangements are required to
test the pretensions of applicants and for their legiti-
mate disposal.
" About two years since I attended a Board of
Guardians at the Western Union of the City, and
with a view to this subject suggested that every
arson who applied for relief a second time should be
detained and employed for a period sufficiently long
t, ascertain the truth of his narrative ; and that in-
feed of passing persons to a great distarce at a se-
rious cost, suitable places in the vicinity of the metro-
:Aim should be provided for their reception and occu-
pation at the charge of, and enforceable against the
parishes to which they belong, and when no local set-
tlement can be traced, which is the case in
many instances, the total expense of main-
taining such persons should be paid rateably
by all the parishes in England and Wales upon a
return to be made to Parliament for that purpose.
The principle of this rule might be advantageously
applied to Ireland. Unless something of this sort be
attempted, London, and especially the City, will be-
come the universal emporium of misery and of
wretchedness, as well as of merchandise and of wealth.
" I am quite satisfied a plan might be devised by
which the maintenance of the poor would he less
costly to the rate-payer and less harassing and un-
kind towards the objects of relief, and in no place
could the experiment be so appropriately made as in
the City of London. The present system is bad, and
is becoming alarmingly worse.
" 'Two very material subjects have recently been
brought under my notice Ly the desire of your Lord-
ship, which had previously engaged my attention : I
allude to what is appropriately termed the Omnibus
Nuisance; and the state of our streets and thorough-
fares. Very shortly after my appointment to the
seffice of Commissioner, I established a line of men
from Temple-bar to Aldgate, for the especial purpose
of putting down the nuisance complained of; and
for a time the plan worked so admirably that acknow-
ledgments of its efficiency flowed into the chief office
from every quarter, and in a little time the evil would
have been abated.
" But I regret to say that the manceuvres and
.combinations of the masters and their men, who felt
the pressure of the plan, were regarded with so much
favour in quarters whence steady co-operation was
to be expected, and our zeal and toil were met with
so much coolness, approaching, indeed, in some in-
stances to censure, that the impunity of offenders
trampled over all our efforts, and the plan was aban-
doned. Under your Lordship's sanction we are par-
tially reviving the former system, which is greatly
aided by the more frequent adjudication of the cases,
and it would still further promote the object, if the
cases were disposed of day by day as they arise. Ac-
'cumulated charges disposed of at intervals, give rise
to singular stratagems which defeat the ends of jus-
tice, and divert the constables from their ordinary
duties.
"The importance of the other subject, the state of
our streets, it is scarcely possible to overrate, and I feel
assured it will be gratifying to your Lordship to hear
that it is at the present time engaging the attention
of BCerd of Health ' now sitting at Gwyd r
House. I have recently received and answered a
series of questions bearing upon this measure from
this Board, to which I subjoined an additional ques-
tion sent to the inspectors of the City Police, which,
with their unanimous reply, I transmitted to Gwydyr-
house.
"'The questions transmitted to this office were
eight in number, all having relation to the public
health and comfort, which were variously answered
by our officers ; but the ninth question which I added,
Do you consider the thoroughfares would be more
free from nuisances if the streets were under the in-
spection of the police ?' was at once and by all an-
swered, s Yes, most decidedly.' When I returned to
the Board of Health the answers to the inquiries I
had been requested to make, I observed, You will
perceive I have added a question (9th) which,
with the answer, will be found to bear materially
upon the objects of your inquiry. The state of our
streets generally, and especially the narrow and more
confined streets, alleys, and courts, is very unsatis-
factory, and calls for daily supervision, which none
could so efficiently give as the police. That it would
cast serious additional duties upon the police estab-
lishmont is obvious, but this ought to be no con-
siderati:qn when the public health is concerned, and
when great saving in the financial expenditure of the
City /nigh... be effected.'
" Should your Lordship and the Corporation en-
tertaineuggestion of placing the supervision
of the 1. pervision
of the public" streets under the police, I should
earnestly sti te for undivided responsibility.
la.
Many of the great inconveniences and nui-
sances which aro
to be found in the high-
ways fm e ab-
and byeways
WeCity, have surveyorros of th
pave-
sence of this control.
in abundance, and plenty
ments and street keep.
of occupation for them ;
b,at their duties are unde-
fined, and (heir responsibility too general, to be effec-
tual. 'Though I am fully
aware of the great accession
of toil and trouble it would cast upon this office, yet
if placed here, and suitable euoouragement given, I
sill engage to give the citizens far greater satisfac-
tion, at considerable irgtl cost, than does, or can arise,
from the present system.
"I beg to invite your Lordship's attention to the
return also herewith sent, setting forth the number
of officer.; and constables who have joined and left
the City Police rorce between the Ist of January,
1840. and the 31st of December, 1843, as it serves
to silence the inCnuations of that portion of the
weekly press which finds its profit in malignant mis-
representations. It has been asserted that nearly the
whole force ha; been changed by dismissals, and re-
vraiited by-their resto ration, whereas it will appear,
that of 1,068 men. not a few of whom I found in the
service, not placed there exactly for their qualifica-
tion,:, only 176 have been dismissed, while 272,
nea,ty all of whom have been appointed by me, re-
tired expressly to assume superior situations ; while
durinti- four years only 33 men have been re-ad-
mitted Dot one of whom hail been dismissed, but