Police

Police (Gr. politeia) is in modern times held to be synonymous with the whole body of men employed as constables, or with the system under which such constables perform their duties in connection with the maintenance of law and order and the prevention and detection of crime. Originally, however, the politeia of the Greeks had a much wider signification, and what we now term police formed but a part of the regulation of the affairs of a state or country, which was the meaning of the original word. The Greeks, by the adoption of this term, says an old writer on police administration, apparently intended to indicate that the 'execution of those laws which make up public rights, the maintenance of that civil society which is the essence of every city, were two things inseparable from each other.' The strictly executive character of police duties, however, as performed in Great Britain of the 19th century, was not always recognised in ancient times, and whether at Athens, under officers called archōn or nomophylax, or at Rome, under consuls, pretors, quaestors, censors, or aediles, the judicial functions of a police-magistrate, or the responsibilities of a public prosecutor, devolved to a greater or less extent upon those officials who were entrusted with police administration. It is difficult to refer to any country in which the separation of executive from judicial or magisterial functions has so strictly been carried out as would appear to be required under our modern interpretation of police duties in England. The French system of police, which is based on the old Roman administration, unites to a very considerable extent executive with judicial functions. The same remark applies to continental police administration generally; and even in the great dependency of British India, which is governed by English law, the district magistrate, who is ex officio head of the police within the limits of his jurisdiction, is also a judicial officer with extensive powers. In the capital of England itself, where the distinction between executive and magisterial functions is specially marked, the chief of the police is still, by virtue of his office, a justice of the peace, although the exercise of his powers in that capacity is restricted by certain conditions.

The existing system of police administration in the United Kingdom is of very recent origin; it arose within the 19th century, and in many instances was developed within the reign of Queen Victoria. In the early period of English history there was no such institution as a separate body of police. The responsibility for maintenance of the peace was imposed on each hundred or tithing, and the members of these divisions were held jointly liable for the consequences of any infractions of the laws which took place within their limits. Self-interest made every member of the association a constable; and although the collective responsibility of the tithing or hundred was for executive purposes represented by the headman of each, such transfer of liability was not recognised by the law when any penalty for breach of the peace was incurred. As time went on the place of the headman of the local division was taken by a constable or constables in the various villages or parishes of the country. In the larger towns the members of the various wards at first maintained order and kept watch within their various limits; gradually separate watchmen, very inadequately paid, were introduced; but the inefficiency with which watch and ward duties were performed, and the impunity with which crimes were committed, were conspicuous, and in no place more so than in the metropolis itself. During the 18th century spasmodic attempts were made to improve the administration in London, both as regards prevention and detection of crime. Horse patrols were introduced; a detective staff was organised; but the whole system was fragmentary and disjointed, and the results attained under it were pre-eminently unsatisfactory. The decrepitude of the old 'Charles,' as the watchmen were called, and their inability to afford protection to the inhabitants of London, were proverbial; and as to Edinburgh we may read in the pages of the Heart of Midlothian Sir Walter Scott's description of 'that black banditti,' the 'City Guard,' who were in his days the 'alternate terror and derision of the petulant brood of the High School,' and objects of scorn to the citizens generally. At last in 1829 Sir Robert Peel constituted the Metropolitan Police, abolishing local police administration in the metropolis outside of the narrow limits of the City of London itself, and placing the control of the new force in the hands of the Secretary of State. Counties and boroughs followed suit in remodelling their police on the administrative principles adopted—save with reference to local control—by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, and since then the present system of police administration throughout the country has been developed on the lines of the original statute, 10 Geo. IV. chap. 44, amplified by 2 and 3 Vict. chap. 47. 'The new guardians of the peace in the metropolis, retaining the comparatively ancient name of constable, were called police-constables, and were in a sense a development of the tithing-man of old; but they resembled him even less than a member for a metropolitan borough resembles the burgesses who appeared before the chief-justices at Westminster with a statement of accounts in the reign of John. Yet the stages of growth are sufficiently well marked—from the responsibility of the tithing to the responsibility of its head, from the functions of the head borough or tithing-man to the functions of the constable, from the election of a constable to the election of a plurality of constables, and finally from a plurality of constables, deputy constables, and watchmen, under parochial or other local authority, to a plurality of constables under the central authority of a Secretary of State' (Pike's History of Crime in England, ii. 460).

In 1897 the police force in England and Wales had a total strength of 42,140 officers and men; in Scotland, 4707; Ireland, 12,900. In 1891 the numbers were 37,957, 4194, and 13,977 in the three kingdoms respectively; the total cost being about £5,500,000 a year. The proportion of police engaged in ordinary duties, with reference (a) to population and (b) to £10,000 of rateable value in the following cities and large towns, is as follows:

The above figures show that in determining the number of the police the authorities of each city and town have taken into consideration the varying needs and circumstances of each place, rather than to have aimed at subordinating their requirements to a theoretical proportion of police to population.

The police force throughout the country is in all respects a civil body. In the metropolis and in the larger towns it is of course necessary that the constables should be more or less drilled, to enable them when called on to act together in bodies, but the force is in its essence, constitution, and performance of duty, civil and non-military. In exigencies the military forces of the crown can be called out by magistrates to supplement the police in the maintenance of law and order, but, thanks to the law-abiding character of the people, such occasions are of rare occurrence. The only branch of the force of which the constitution is more military than civil is the Royal Irish Constabulary, which will be noticed further on.

The control of the various police forces throughout the country rests with local authorities; the only exception to the rule being the Metropolitan Police, who remain, as they were originally designed to be by Sir Robert Peel, under the authority of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Home Department. On the continent of Europe the police forces still remain under the direct control of the state, and to a greater or less extent are frequently used for political purposes, as well as in the conservation of the public peace. In the United States (see below) the principle of local control is general, but in many of the larger cities police appointments are not altogether unconnected with services rendered to local politicians.

Metropolitan Police.—The total strength of the Metropolitan Police in 1898 exceeded 15,000 officers and men, costing more than 1½ million sterling per annum. The Metropolitan Police District (exclusive of the City of London, which has a separate police force), as established by 2 and 3 Vict. chap. 47, extends over a radius of 15 miles from Charing Cross, and embraces a radius of about 700 sq. m. The population of the district may be estimated at not less than 5½ millions; its acreage is about 441,000 acres; and the length of beats covered in the various streets, squares, and roads amounts to 8200 miles. Under 23 and 24 Vict. chap. 135, Metropolitan Police are also employed in Her Majesty's dockyards and in the principal stations of the War Department. The cost of police per inhabitant is about 4s. 8½d. Since 1868 the cost of the force has been limited to the proceeds of a 9d. rate on the rental assessed in the Metropolitan Police district, of which 4d., till 1889 contributed by the Treasury, is now paid by the county councils, out of the Exchequer Contribution Account, and 5d. by the parishes. In 1890 an annual sum of £150,000 was allotted out of the proceeds of the Local Taxation Act, to defray part of the expenses of police superannuation, so that the amount now available for police purposes in the metropolis may be put down as the total proceeds of the 9d. rate under the original statute, plus £150,000.

That the police of the metropolis is a costly body is apparent. Not only is the population which the force is called on to protect enormous, but it is also exceptionally congested in many localities. The locomotion of such enormous masses of people develops difficulties in dealing with traffic unknown elsewhere. The annual charge for buildings, rents, and taxes is, and must be, higher than in other cities of less magnitude. The necessity for providing a higher organisation to cope not merely with an exceptionally numerous and skilful class of criminals, but to secure the safety of the largest body of citizens in the world while engaged in their lawful occupations, creates sources of expense peculiar to London; indeed, so many circumstances, non-existent elsewhere, combine to render the administration of this force expensive that in many respects its cost can only be contrasted and not compared with that of even the largest cities and towns of the kingdom.

The system of administration is a development of the principle on which the force was first established by Sir Robert Peel—‘unity of design and responsibility of its agents.’ The chief officer is the commissioner, who, acting under the immediate authority of the Secretary of State, is responsible for the administration of the system throughout the Metropolitan Police District. The commissioner is vested with the power of a justice of the peace for Middlesex and the home counties, but is debarred from acting in this capacity at general or quarter sessions, or in any manner out of sessions except for the preservation of the peace, or for the prevention of crimes generally. Under the commissioner are three assistant-commissioners, also vested with powers of justices, two of whom deal with details of discipline and ordinary business, the third being specially entrusted with the control of the criminal department.

The whole of the Metropolitan Police District is marked off into twenty-two divisions, each having a force of several hundred men under the charge of a superintendent, aided by a chief-inspector, inspectors, and sergeants. The superintendent is responsible for all the details of police administration within his division. For executive purposes the divisions are brigaded into four police districts, each district comprising several divisions, and being in charge of a superior officer termed chief-constable.

Attached to each of the exterior divisions is a force of mounted men, aggregating in all about 250. The services of this force for ordinary purposes are of more use in outlying places where the beats are long, and where a constable on foot must take a long time to cover his ground, than on the crowded and slippery streets of interior districts; but on occasions of processions, public meetings, and similar demonstrations the mounted force are brought in and perform valuable service. The Thames or River Police are recruited from sailors, and patrol the river in boats and steam-launches. Each principal station is in direct communication by telegraph with the headquarters office, which, since November 1890, has been situated on the Thames Embankment, and is known as New Scotland Yard; and between every divisional station and its subdivisions the same system of telegraphic communication is maintained. For the detection of crime a special staff of officers is located in each division. Local crime is dealt with by these officers; for the conduct of special cases a separate detective staff is maintained at headquarters, under the control of the superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the whole detective organisation is specially under the charge of the chief-constable of the Criminal Department and of one of the assistant-commissioners. The supervision of habitual criminals is specially looked after at headquarters by the Convict Supervision Office, under a chief-inspector. The strength of the detective department is above 300 men.

County and Borough Police.—The total number of county and borough police in Great Britain is :

All such police are under the control of local authorities. By the Local Government Acts of 1888 great changes were made as to the bodies entrusted with such control, and the county councils superseded in many instances the previous agencies for regulating police administration. With reference to counties, the control of the police is vested in a standing committee, consisting of an equal number of justices appointed by the quarter sessions and by the county council. In the case of cities and larger boroughs, which are termed county boroughs, the local councils retain the power which they formerly had, and smaller boroughs are treated as parts of the counties in which they are situated. The control of the Corporation of the City of London over the ‘City Police’ was in no way affected by the Local Government Acts of 1888. The cost of police, as before, is paid from rates levied in counties and boroughs, supplemented by a contribution from the ‘Exchequer Contribution Account’ of half the cost of pay and clothing of every force certified to be in an efficient condition. Such contribution was formerly made directly by the Treasury in aid of the local rate under the County and Borough Police Acts. Under the Local Government Acts of 1888, however, such sums, consisting of duties on local taxation, licenses, and the probate-duty grant, are now placed to the credit of the police account of the county fund in counties, and by the county councils disbursed to county police. In boroughs having a separate police force the amounts are paid to and expended by the local councils.

The chief executive officers of county and borough police forces, who are appointed by local authorities, are styled chief-constables; superintendents or head-constables; and for inspection purposes, connected with the grant of a certificate of efficiency, two officers for the whole of England and Wales, and one for Scotland, are appointed by the Secretary of State. The system of administration in cities and large towns is based, as far as circumstances admit, on that which prevails in the Metropolitan Police; in counties where concentration of police is not required the duties are arranged to suit the requirements of each locality. Some of the more important railway companies employ a special staff of railway police.

Police in Ireland.—There are only two police forces in Ireland: the Dublin Metropolitan Police, which has jurisdiction within the limits of the capital, and the Royal Irish Constabulary, which, as an imperial force, performs police duty for the whole of the rest of Ireland.

The Metropolitan Police in Dublin numbers 1214 men, under the command of a commissioner, and its administration is on the lines of the Metropolitan Police.

The Royal Irish Constabulary is the only force in the kingdom which is practically on a military footing, and the members of which are armed, drilled, and disciplined as soldiers. Ordinary civil police duties, both in towns and counties, are performed by this force, but it is unfortunately too often that they are called upon to act as soldiers in repressing organised disturbance. The force is directly under the Irish government. It consists of 12,763 members, officers and men, and is commanded by an inspector-general. Under this officer is a deputy inspector-general, who again is aided by three assistant inspectors-general at headquarters. Each county is supervised by a superior officer called county inspector, and counties again are subdivided into districts, over each of which a district inspector is placed. Below these officers come head-constables, sergeants, and constables, all trained to the use of arms, and disciplined as soldiers.

Police-courts.—These may be termed courts of first instance for hearing criminal cases. In counties such courts are held by justices of the peace, sitting at either petty or special sessions; in boroughs by stipendiary magistrates, or by mem- bers of the local councils in their magisterial capacity. For the city of London there is one police-court held at the Mansion House, and presided over by the Lord Mayor or one of the aldermen. In the Metropolitan Police District there are fourteen police-courts, the chief of which is held at Bow Street by the chief-magistrate, assisted by two magistrates. To each of the other Metropolitan police-courts two stipendiary magistrates are attached. In Scotland sheriff-courts, both in towns and counties, dispose of a large number of criminal cases remitted to them. The number of criminal offenders convicted in 1890-98 was between 9000 and 8000 a year in England and Wales, between 1900 and 1700 a year in Scotland, and between 1500 and 1000 in Ireland.

France.—In France the police are divided into two great branches—(1) The Police Judiciaire, whose business is to discover offenders, gather evidence against them, and hand them over to the proper tribunal (see FRANCE, Vol. IV. p. 776); (2) the Police Administrative, whose functions correspond more closely to those of the English police forces in maintaining order. They have, however (as police générale and police municipale), wider powers and more varied duties, having to superintend public meetings, inspect public food-supplies, administer the laws as to the publication of printed matter, the watching of foreigners, the examination of passports, and regulate the sale of firearms. There is a special department of police politique. The armed police, with military organisation, on foot or mounted, known as gendarmerie (21,000 men), together with gardes forestiers (8000) and gardes champêtres (31,000), the commissaires de police (1100), and the agents de police (14,000), belong to the judicial police. The nearest equivalents to English constables are the gardiens de la paix, formerly called sergents de ville, of whom Paris has some 6000. The Service de Sûreté is the detective department.

United States.—In the United States, where each state and each city has its own separate administration, the police system closely resembles that of England. The organisation of a uniformed municipal police is comparatively recent, even in the large cities; in New York it was not substituted for the inefficient night-watch until 1845. The police organisation of that city may be taken as representative of the American system generally. The department of police of the city of New York consists of a 'board of police,' comprising commissioners appointed by the mayor, and the 'police force' and officers appointed by the board. The city (with an area of about 42 square miles before the year 1897, and 318 square miles since) is divided into inspection districts, which are subdivided into precincts. At the head of the force is a superintendent, under whom there are inspectors, a captain over each precinct, sergeants, roundsmen (visiting officers), patrolmen (the body of the force), and doormen at the stations. There are also about a score of police surgeons. The general administration of the force is vested in the board of police, who make appointments, transfers, &c., hear charges against members of the force, and make rules and regulations for the discipline of the department. The orders, however, must not conflict with the constitution of the Union or of the state. The superintendent is the chief executive officer, and is appointed by the board, to whom he makes written quarterly reports; and he receives similar quarterly reports in writing from each of the inspectors. The captains report every morning to the central office. The roundsmen must see that the patrolmen are properly performing their duty, and the sergeants again are responsible for both roundsmen and patrolmen. Besides the general force, there are several 'squads' organised for special duties. These include the 'sanitary police company,' whose members inspect buildings, premises, employments, ventilation, sewerage, &c. which are supposed to be dangerous to life or detrimental to health, report nuisances, and seize food unfit for consumption; officers of this company also act as school-board officers, and others, qualified as engineers, inspect steamboats and stationary steam-boilers used for motive power in the city. The detective force is also a separate 'squad,' and others are the mounted squad for duty near Central Park, the mounted patrol for rural precincts, the harbour police, the 'ordinance squad' (for enforcing city ordinances), the Broadway squad (for aiding pedestrians in crossing during the day), special service squads, and others. On the board of police falls the duty of seeing that the streets are kept clean, and a bureau of street cleaning is appointed by the board to supervise this department. Another duty imposed upon the New York police relates to elections: all elections within the city are held under their direction; election officers are appointed by the board, to whom the returns are transmitted. In 1897 the police force of New York was 3500 men, and of Brooklyn 12,000; and since the creation of 'Greater New York' in that year, the number of police has been proportionately increased.

Australasian Colonies.—In New South Wales the number of the police force is 1900; in Victoria, about as many; in South Australia, 500; in Queensland, 900; in Western Australia, 500; in Tasmania, 270; in New Zealand, 530.

See PRISONS, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE; F. W. Maitland, Justice and Police (1882); Tiedemann, Police Power in the United States (1887); G. W. Hale, Police and Prison Cyclopædia (1894).