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Law enforcement in the United Kingdom

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The British Police - Police services in the United Kingdom.

File:Police.heli.kemble.300pix.jpg
A law enforcement helicopter (Eurocopter EC135T), shared by the English police forces of Avon and Somerset, and Gloucestershire.
Larger version

History

While constables had existed since Saxon times the creation of a police force comparable to modern structures did not come about until the early 19th century, with the introduction of a nationwide system of local forces on a broadly common pattern (with some variation). However this had been foreshadowed in the late 18th century with the establishment of the Marine Police based in Wapping, although this was only a localised force with a limited remit.

In Britain in 1812, 1818 and 1822 a number of committees had examined the policing of London. Based on their findings the home secretary Robert Peel passed the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829, introducing a more rigorous and less discretionary approach to law enforcement. The new Metropolitan Police Service, founded on September 29, was depersonalized, bureaucratic and hierarchical with the new police constables instructed to prevent crime and pursue offenders. However in contrast to the more paramilitary police of continental Europe the British police were initially clearly civilian and their armament was limited to the truncheon, a fear of spy systems and political control also kept 'plain clothes' and even detective work to a minimum. The force was independent of the local government, through its commissioner it was responsible direct to the Home Office. The new constables were nicknamed 'peelers' or 'bobbies' after the home secretary.

Outside of the metropolitan area the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 and further legislation in 1839 and 1840 allowed counties to create their own constabulary, around thirty counties had done so before the County and Borough Police Act of 1856 made such forces mandatory and subject to central inspection. There were over 200 separate forces in England and Wales by 1860, while in Ireland a more centralized paramilitary force, the Royal Irish Constabulary, was created (see Royal Ulster Constabulary).

Within the Metropolitan Police a detective force was founded in 1842 and following the Turf Fraud scandal of 1877 it was reorganized into the C.I.D. in 1878. A pension was guaranteed by the Police Act of 1890, previously it had been discretionary. The police became unionized during WW I and the strikes of 1918 and 1919 resulted in the Police Act of 1919, prohibiting trade unions but creating the Police Federation. However the fragmented nature of the police resisted change, there were still over 200 separate police forces before WW II and 117 before the mass reorganization of the Police Act of 1964 which created 49 larger forces covering several counties or large urban areas. These new forces were distanced from the public and operated with limited accountability.

Recent Issues

Evidence of widespread corruption in the 1970s, serious urban riots and the police role in controlling industrial disorder in the 1980s, and the changing nature of police procedure made police accountability and control a major political football from the 1990s onwards.

Current Issues

Racism

Despite attempts to end Racism in the Police, there have been ongoing problems. On October 22 2003 5 police officers resigned and 3 were suspended after a BBC documentary revealed racism among recruits.

British Police Forces

England

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

See Also

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