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Chris Scott
Sergeant
Username: Chris
Post Number: 20
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 11:26 am: |       |
I have found this newspaper article which may be of interest to those of you who have a general interest in the London policing of 1888
The Atchison Daily Globe (Kansas) October 16 1888
THE POLICE OF LONDON
SCOTLAND YARD, THE ORGANIZATION'S HEADQUARTERS
Some facts to Regard Thereon and Considered Timely by the Terrible Murders in Whitechapel, One of the Lowest Slums in the Great Metropolis of the World.
London has been more stirred up by the Whitechapel murders than by any crime committed in many years. The fact that so many women could be slaughtered, evidently by the same hand, and the murderer for so long a time elude the London police is a surprise to Londoners, who believe that they have the best police force in the world.
However, it is the London detective force, rather than the police force, whose especial duty it is to seek out the authors of crime, though detectives are really but a higher grade of police. In 1877 the London detective force was reorganized, since when it has been regarded remarkably efficient. Previous to that time the force consisted of several detectives in each district, under the direction of the superintendent or captain of the district, and of thirty en at the central office at Scotland Yard. There were, therefore, a number of independent detachments.
On April 8, 1878, a reform went into operation, the object of which was to consolidate the force, and to centralize the authority under which it worked. As reformed, the control of the force is in the hands of a new department, that of criminal investigation, which is under the charge of the director of Scotland Yard. In each city division there is a local inspector, who has charge of the detectives of his division, and who is supposed to be a representative of the director, though really under the control of the superintendent. Whether the system is too cumbersome or too systematic for practical detective work, investigation is carried on pretty independently by divisions, but the idea of Scotland Yard being the center from which all detetctive work is guided is still kept alive among the people. The inspectors meet there from time to time; local superintendents send there reports of crimes which have been committed during the previous twenty four hours every morning, and the director is supposed to issue the instructions regarding them, but practically the inspectors are independent, for the matter of any crime is usually remanded to them.
The detective force of London consists of 400 men in summer and 700 in winter. They are chosen from the police for their ingenuity in tracking criminals, so far as that is apparent. The Scotland Yard force consists of eighty men, nearly all of whom rank as inspectors. This force has so long been the focus of observation in criminal investigation, it has been called upon so often to assist the novelist, especially one whose plot covers a crime, or one who writes detective stories, that its reputation has become worldwide from this source alone, without considering the many remarkable criminal cases with which it has had to do. Novelists, however, have often taken great liberties with Scotland Yard rules. The force is used for London alone, a London detective being scarcely ever sent anywhere else. Yet many a story teller has summoned a Scotland Yard detective to help him out with his plot, to go where his chief would not think of sending him. But with the novelist all things are possible; the inspector arrives, and if the ingenuity of the real detective and his luck were a tithe of what they are in the novel, no guilty man would ever escape.
The force is under the direct orders of the assistant commissioner. It investigates notable crimes like the Whitechapel murders, but its principal business is embezzlements, forgeries and other similar matters. It also does a great deal of government work, both for the British crown and for the governments of foreign countries. The force also is expected to investigate all applications for naturalization and attend popular gatherings, besides keeping an eye in all professional criminals who may be at large. Once a week a Scotland Yard detective goes to the city prisons to look at the prisoners awaiting trial and see if any are known to him. The foreign correspondence is an important item. Formerly this work was done by a force of civil service clerks. Now it is all done at Scotland Yard, and each letter received is replied to in the language in which it is written.
There is, doubtless, much variety and excitement in the work of a detective. He must take what clew he has, if any, and follow the dictates of his own ingenuity. Often he ingratiates himself into the confidences of the suspected criminal, and detectives have been known to live with a criminal for months before getting the proof required for conviction. Recently in Chicago at an anarchist trial one of the prisoners, who was being pressed too hard by the questions of a lawyer, stepped aside from among the criminals and began to chat familiarly with the prosecuting attorney. He proved to be a detective who had been so familiar with the accused as to be arrested and tried for the offense they had committed.
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Mick Brocking
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, May 03, 2003 - 2:07 pm: | |
Hi,
Thought you might find the following information interesting. I found it while researching Victorian London.
In 1878 the Detective Department was reorganised and the Criminal Intelligence Department (CID) was set up. This led to considerable improvements in solving crimes. In 1879 instructions for dealing with murder cases ordered investigating officers that 'the body must not be moved, nor anything about it or in the room or place interfered with, and the public must be excluded'.
Police constables throughout the country received very little training in the late nineteenth century. Before they went out on the beat, most time was spent learning military drill. Inspections were usually based on parades, rather than on police work. Great emphasis was put on personal appearance and good behaviour. Some forces insisted that the police wore their uniforms at all times, even when off duty. Others required officers to attend church on Sundays, or not to be seen out with women.
In most forces constables learnt their ‘trade on the job’, which was by no means easy. Hours of duty could be as long as fourteen a day, seven days a week. In London in the 1870s and 1880s, a beat during daytime was seven and a half miles on average. At night it was two miles.
Despite the improvements to police forces all over the country and the emphasis on proper behaviour on the part of officers, in the 1880s the reputation of the police forces in Britain was hit very hard by a number of serious incidents. Since 1868 there had been few major disturbances in Britain, but in the mid-1880s the picture changed. In 1884 the police baton-charged a parade of Orangemen in Cumberland and in 1885 the Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Birmingham police charged an election demonstration in Nottingham.
In February 1886 the Metropolitan Police had to deal with a mass demonstration of unemployed in Trafalgar Square, but the most serious incident was ‘Bloody Sunday’ on 13 November 1887. The Metropolitan Police charged a demonstration by the Metropolitan Radical Federation and were backed up by two squadrons of Life Guards and two companies of foot guards.
The main results of these police actions were demands in the House of Commons for inquiries into police actions and a general belief that the police were not acting impartially. They were now seen as favouring the middle and upper classes against the poor and working classes. This made the work of the police in poor and working class areas even more difficult. One of the most difficult areas of all was the East End of London.
Regards}
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