19th Century policing

Question 1

When was Robert Peel appointed as Home Secretary?

Answer 1

1822

Question 2

What year was the Metropolitan Police Act and what did it do?

Answer 2

1829- Set up the Metropolitan Police force in central London. It operated within a 7 mile radius from the centre of the city

Question 3

How many commissioners of police were appointed to set up the new police force?

Answer 3

2

Question 4

How many men were recruited, paid and trained to be policemen for the Metropolitan Police Act?

Answer 4

3,000

Question 5

What weapons, if any, did the Metropolitan Police carry?

Answer 5

A truncheon

Question 6

What was the uniform of the Metropolitan Police?

Answer 6

Black hats, blue tail coats and white trousers

Question 7

What date was the Metropolitan Police Act extended and what did it do?

Answer 7

1839- Extended the area operated in from a 7 mile radius to a 15 mile radius. It also got rid of other forms of policing in London such as the BSR, watchmen and the river police

Question 8

Why did the middle class quickly change their attitude towards the Metropolitan Police?

Answer 8

They realised they were there to protect them

Question 9

Who did it take the longest to accept that the Met Police were a good thing?

Answer 9

The working class

Question 10

What were the arguments in favour of a police force?

Answer 10

• Crime rate was rising
• Previous methods eg JP’s were ineffective
• The BSR proved that it could be successful
• There were many riots in the early 1800’s that were dealt with by the army, who used violence. A trained police force could effectively handle riots

Question 11

Who set up the Metropolitan Police?

Answer 11

Sir Robert Peel

Question 12

What were the arguments against a police force?

Answer 12

• People thought the police would pry into their business
• It would be very expensive. People were reluctant to pay more tax
• People thought a full time police force would threaten freedom. They thought the government would use it to force people to do as they wanted. This happened in Europe
• In many parts of the country crime rate was much lower than in the main industrial cities. People in these areas thought that a police force was not needed

Question 13

What date was the Municipal Corporations Act and what did it do?

Answer 13

1835- Gave towns outside of London to set up their own police force

Question 14

What date was the County Police Act and what did it do?

Answer 14

1839- Gave each county the power to set up a police force

Question 15

Why did few towns and counties set up a police force?

Answer 15

It was expensive and so meant that people had to be taxed

Question 16

What date was the County and Borough Police Act and what did it do?

Answer 16

1856- Made it compulsory for all towns and counties to set up a full time, paid police force.

Question 17

How did the Home Secretary make sure that the County and Borough Act was obeyed?

Answer 17

The Home Secretary appointed Inspectors of the Constabulary to make sure it was obeyed. When a town or county set up a police force that was deemed satisfactory by the Inspectors, the government paid some of the costs of the police force

Question 18

What did the Met Police set up in 1842?

Answer 18

A plain clothed detective department

Question 19

What did the Met police set up in 1878?

Answer 19

The CID (Criminal Investigation Department)

Question 20

By 1883, how many men were a part of CID?

Answer 20

800

Question 21

What was set up by the Met Police in 1884?

Answer 21

The Special Investigation Branch

Question 22

When was the telegraph first used by Scotland Yard?

Answer 22

1867

Question 23

What two types of specialisation occurred in the late 19th Century?

Answer 23

Fingerprinting and photography