The Sun.
London, England, 1828-06-30 00:00:00

POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.

STREET ROBBERIES.
The Select Committee of the House of Cdmmer
on the Police of the Metropolis, which has been
long engaged in inquiries of the greatest important:
to the safety of the community, has at length close
its labours, so far as hearing evidence is concerns'
The attention of the Committee during its he
sittings was particularly drawn to the prevalence
street robberies, the great facility with which the
are committed, and the inadequacy of the police
it at present exists to prevent or even to check they
depredations. This species of robbery, it was state
by persons competent to give correct information c'
the subject, is more successfully carried on, and tt
public suffer to a great extent by it, than any othc
The thieves who practice in this particular line at
remarkable for theirattention to external appearance!
and arc always seen fashionably dressed. They go;
parties of from four to ten, walking with beemiil
carelessness and at a lounging pace along the street,
in couples, arm in arm, until a " a chance" (as it
called) presents itself,when the victim is surrounde
in a moment, and if he has property about him,
instant transfer to the possession of the robbers is
perfect certainty, so dextrous are they in their opt
rations and so completely is the sufferer thrown c
his guard by the appearance and manners of the
who plunder him. It was observed to the Commit
tee, that these fellows are too cautious of the!
necks ever to resort to that degree of violence whit
would amount in law to the crime of highway rot
bery, except it be in dense crowds, where they ce
act in any way with perfect impunity. These nn
arc denominated in the slangphraseology swell but
men, and any thing less that a good watch, or
well-lined pocket-book, is perfectly beneath the
notice_ There is one gang. known as " the ove:
the-water people," or " I•3** L###-es mob," I
which the foregoing description was stated peel
liarly to apply, and the members of it are we
known (or ought to be) to every man in the polio
They are to he seen at almost any hour of. th
day in the great public thoroughfares, and the;
chief place of rendezvous is a well-known flas
house, in a street near Drury-lane, where the
are in arid out twenty times a day. When a rot
bery has been perpetrated, the gang separate in
instant, mid go by different routes to the hood
alluded to, where, doubtless, the division of the spot
takes place. This house is kept by the person alit!
ded to as B. L., and it was mentioned as an instruc
tine fact, that prize-fights are not unfrequently go
up in this house. After a public meeting or spec
tacle of any kind, or a crowded.night ut the theatre!
these men are to be seen making towards.the'r haus(
of-call, heated and dirty, and with all the appearane
of having been actively engaged in a crowd. It set
suggested that if these men were looked for, steppe
and searched, on such occasions, there could be Litt'
doubt that property very recently stolen would som
times be found upon them, and a convict;on
almost necessarily follow. This, however, is yet
rarely done. With an efficient police, it would sr
pear next to impossible that gangs of thieves, sue)
as were descri'hed, could exist for eight or ten yed
during which period, at least the same faces halt!
been seen about the streets by those who have givt4l
information upon the subject. With a better ore
sized system of police, these men might be so watch!
and harrassed, that to commit depredations to any see
ous extent would he almost impossible, and there coin
be little doubt that by. a clever, active, and respect
able body of men, this .species of annoyance. coal
he so successfully carried on as to render the cillir
of the thieves so irksome, so hazardous, and so•litt
profitable, that they would abandon it altogether, I
become desperate arid rash headlong into the fat4l
of the law. The thieves alluded to are very sum?'
ful at the theatres on crowded nights, as the ref
bery informations book" at our principal polio'
office would amply prove. It was true, that soli
officers were in attendance at the Theatres Bo'
every night, but the show of protection thus h€
out was worse than nothing. The officers select
were not remarkable either for experience or si4
city. On the contrary, they were chiefly youngl
trols, with a stmeramarated parish constable or t'
to make up the number. There never was a troy
ed night (it was stated) that the thieves did
contrive with ease to elude the observation of
police, arid mix with the dense mass going in,
:dander with impunity

It is quite eertainlnat the most serious latent
of the Committee will,be given to this subject, s
that no pains will be spared in viideavouring
remedy so crying air evil.—Times.

CAUTION TO •BREAD. EATERS.---At
str,et Police Office on Saturday, a chandler's shopleetwl
complained to Mr. HALLS of a certain baker, who suriplihcp,
him and other shops, of robbing the public, by seod'ihn)
him loaves which proles.sed to weigh :2lbs. each, hut whiqd
in reality, weighed but,llb. 10oz. Mr. HA !J.'S asked Pt
why he did not go to another baker ; and, on his repl)j,
that it was a general practice with all of them, the.Mak
trate dismissed the can:, regretting that the repeal of
Excisp Law left him no power to interfere.