The historic environment - the metropolitan police Flashcards
What was the metropolitan police ?
Government directed police force policing the whole of London except the city of London. There needed to be cooperation between the met and the city of London force when crimes occurred on the borders.
Police recruits for the met
- Most were from outside of London and were attracted by the relatively good pay
- some had been soldiers but most had background in labouring or farm work
- There were some problems with absenteeism and drinking on the job
- By 1885, the met totalled just 13 319 to police population of over 5 million people. Only 1383 were on duty at a time.
Unlike other police forces, The met was directly under the control of ..
the home sectary. He appointed a commissioner to run the met . The government wanted direct control of London’s police force as it was worried about socialists and anarchists in some areas of London, such as Whitechapel
The ‘beat’ constable
A major aim of the Met was to prevent crime. It’s main way of doing this was to deploy constables on the ‘beat’ - patrolling a set route of streets to deter criminals from committing crime, asking people what they were doing and to break up fights and arrest suspects.
development of the CID
The CID of Met was set up in 1878. There had been a department to detect crime before this but it was quite ineffective . Those in the CID were therefore separate from the rest of the force, which clarifies the roles of each. Initially the CID had little success, as shown by the investigation into the murders committed by Jack the Ripper in Whitechapel .
Commissioner Sir Charles Warren
- Warren a former army general was appointment met Commissioner in 1886
- Warren banned a planned unemployment protest in Trafalgar square on 13 Nov 1887. When the protesters ignored the banned, he deployed thousands of police, supported by about 1000 men from the army. Violent crashes followed, many people were injured and one protester later died. Warren directed the operation from horseback.
- When jack the ripper struck in the Autumn of 1888, In Whitechapel, Warren ordered an increase in patrol. Failure to catch the murderer cost him his job.
Attitudes towards the police
Attitudes varied widely. The police still had people’s trust in some area but events such as the Trafalgar Square riot of 1887, contributed to the feeling held by many working-class people that the police were ‘against’ them and only worked for the middle and upper class. The economic depression and ensuing poverty of the period contributed to the hatred on police.
