Law and order in London in the late nineteenth century.

 The role of the Metropolitan police force was to patrol the streets, and by doing this order was kept and there was a deterrence to commit crime for the likelihood of being caught. Major disturbances, such as riots and demonstrations were originally intended to be prohibited but ultimately their main obligations were to deal with drunkenness, beggars, vagrants and prostitutes. Law and order in London improved from this because the metropolitan police force were able to police most areas of crime, along with being easily accessible to the public with just one headquarters, Scotland yard

The police did not wish for their uniform to be associated with the army, as traditionally the public didn’t like to see the ‘redcoats’ of the army on the streets. The navy, however were much more accepted and respected by the public, therefore the metropolitan police acquired a blue uniform, similar to that of the navy’s. This consisted of tailcoat, top hat (both blue) and as few badges and decorations as possible. The new ‘Bobbies’ were also only armed with a truncheon, until the 1840’s and 1850’s when inspectors began to carry revolvers at times. Law and order was improved because the police officers were now more clearly seen and noticeable to deter crimes.    

The next aspect is crime solving. The metropolitan police had had no main obligation to solve crime. This then meant London’s streets became more orderly but the popularity of burglaries increased, as did the number of that took place. This improved the order in London but did nothing to reinforce the law.    

The public’s view of the police varied depending on which social class you were in. The upper class saw them as the friendly bobby, ‘defenders of order’. The working class however, saw the police as heavy-handed and were disliked as they went on patrol with cutlasses.  Murders of policemen were commonplace. This was no benefit to law and order in the working classes as the police were disliked and disrespected.

Detective work was introduced in 1842, in the form of 2 inspectors and 6 sergeants. In 1869 the detective department was created, with detectives assigned for each division. By 1877, not all had gone well and one out of four inspectors were discover to be corrupt. In 1978 it was reorganised and the criminal intelligence department (CID) was created

Detective work was gradually enhanced as they learnt the value of forensics and fingerprints. This was to be the basis of today’s detective work. This was to improve law and order in London for the better and crimes such as murders could now be solved and the law became more stringent upon these offences.

To summarise, law and order in London took a substantial turn for the better in the late nineteenth century, although some areas had not seen the familiar decline in crowd disturbances, such as riots. The officers on the beat were still mainly a deterrent like the watchmen and parish constables. The detective work improved dramatically and murders could increasingly be solved.