The Metropolitan Police Force

What was the Metropolitan Police Force?

In 1829, the first government run, professional police force was set up in London. It was known as the Metropolitan Police.

How was the Metropolitan Police Force set up at first?

The Metropolitan Police Force was set up in the following 4 ways:

• ❖ It was set up to combat crime in London.
• ❖ London was divided into 17 police districts.
• ❖ The Metropolitan Police Force initially had 3,200 men.
• ❖ Each district was supposed to have 4 inspectors and 144 constables.

What was the Metropolitan Police Force Act?

The London Metropolitan Police Force was introduced by Home Secretary Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Act of 1829.

What did the Metropolitan Police do when it first started?

When it first started, the Metropolitan Police had 4 main purposes:

• ❖ The focus of the new Metropolitan Police Force was to prevent, rather than solve crime.
• ❖ The emphasis for the new Metropolitan Police Force was on deterring criminals by having a public presence on the street.
• ❖ Constables patrolled their beats to counter crime.
• ❖ They also apprehended any criminals that were 'caught in the act'.

How did the Metropolitan Police develop in the 19th century?

The Metropolitan Police continued to develop in 5 key ways over the 19th century:

• ❖ In 1842 it set up the first detective force to gather evidence, investigate, and solve crimes after they had been committed.
• ❖ In 1870 police helmets were introduced.
• ❖ In 1878 the Metropolitan Police detective force was reorganised into the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). This employed 200 detectives.
• ❖ A further 600 detectives were added to the CID in 1883. Over the next few years, this model was rolled out across the rest of the country.
• ❖ In 1883 a 'Special Irish Branch' was set up to monitor the activity of Irish terrorists called Fenians. This later became known simply as Special Branch.

Who joined the Metropolitan Police?

Recruits to the London Metropolitan police had the following 3 main characteristics.

• ❖ Recruits were between 18 and 35 years old.
• ❖ Recruits were literate.
• ❖ Recruits were fit and healthy.

What problems did the Metropolitan Police have?

In the early days, the Metropolitan Police Force encountered some problems.

• ❖ The new police force was not well-respected or popular.
• ❖ 2,200 police officers were sacked for unprofessional behaviour in the first few years.
• ❖ Police recruits were poorly paid, at one guinea for a seven-day week.
• ❖ It was considered a low-status job.

What was the purpose of the Metropolitan Police?

The Metropolitan Police had 4 important purposes:

• ❖ The role of the Metropolitan policeman was mainly to act as a deterrent.
• ❖ Constables patrolled the streets on a beat system to put people off committing crime.
• ❖ They wore a blue coat, to distinguish and disassociate them from the army, which wore red.
• ❖ They wore a tall, hard hat. This was partly to protect their head from attack, but also to stand on in order to look over high walls.

What was the London Metropolitan Police Force like in Victorian times?

The London Metropolitan Police in the late 19th century functioned in 5 ways.

• ❖ This was the first police force set up by Robert Peel in 1829 and operated differently to other forces.
• ❖ The London Metropolitan Police policed the capital, including Whitechapel.
• ❖ Unlike other police forces at the time, the London Met was directly answerable to the Home Secretary in Westminster.
• ❖ In 1888, it had 13,319 police officers for a population of about five million.
• ❖ This was about one police officer for every 390 people, which wasn't seen as enough at the time.

What were the duties of the Metropolitan Police after 1870?

Officers had 8 key different duties:

• ❖ Dealing with accidents.
• ❖ Dealing with vagrants.
• ❖ Helping lost or homeless children.
• ❖ Dealing with lunatics.
• ❖ Dealing with problems in pubs.
• ❖ Dealing with problems with sewage.
• ❖ Dealing with traffic.
• ❖ Overall there were 82 laws relating to their role in the 1870s.

Who were the detectives in the years 1870 - 1900 in the London Metropolitan Police?

The detectives formed CID, about which there are 6 key points to note:

• ❖ CID stands for Criminal Investigation Department.
• ❖ It was first set up as a very small force in 1842.
• ❖ It was controversial. It wasn't clear whether it existed to prevent or solve crime, and people didn't like feeling they were being spied on.
• ❖ There was a corruption scandal in 1877, in which many detectives were found to have been taking bribes.
• ❖ Sir Howard Vincent was put in charge of setting up a new CID in 1878, which began as a force of 216 officers.
• ❖ Even after this, the CID was seen as quite corrupt. Its failure in the Jack the Ripper case did not improve its image.

Who was in charge of the London Metropolitan Police during the Ripper case?

The Metropolitan Police was run by 5 key individuals during the Ripper case.

• ❖ The Metropolitan Police was answerable to the Home Secretary - in 1886, this was Henry Matthews.
• ❖ Edmund Henderson was Commissioner from 1869 to 1886.
• ❖ Charles Warren was Commissioner from 1886 to 1888.
• ❖ James Munro was Assistant Commissioner of the Met from 1884 to 1888, and then became Commissioner from 1888 to 1890.
• ❖ Howard Vincent was an influential Head of CID from 1878 to 1884.