Q How did policing work in London before the Metropolitan Police Act was passed in 1829?
A Before 1829, London’s policing was made up of a patchwork of different roles and organisations. Firstly, there were watchmen, who stood or patrolled all night. Some of the most efficient parish watches pioneered tactics and organisation later seen with the Met. Each of London’s parishes also appointed a number of constables – amateurs serving for a year at a time, but able to claim fees. They supervised the watchmen and responded to complaints of serious crime, helping victims to prosecute suspects.
Another part of the system were the horse and foot patrols used to suppress highway robbery, funded by the government for London outside the City (which had its own system) and controlled from Bow Street. This was also the headquarters of one of several ‘police offices’ – teams of professional constables under a magistrate, who dealt with serious crime. Meanwhile, the Thames River Police attempted to prevent theft from the docks.
Nowadays, all of this work is done by just two forces: the Met and the City Police. The old system didn’t work for new suburbs such as Hammersmith, or stop incidents of unrest like the Queen Caroline Riots of 1821. Nevertheless, some parishes, such as St Marylebone, opposed the founding of the Metropolitan Police because it was thought that it would be more costly and less efficient than the existing system.