A Forgotten Police Reformer
| Date | 01 October 1938 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3801100414 |
| Author | W. H. Gillespie |
| Published date | 01 October 1938 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
AForgotten Police Reformer
By W.
H.
GILLESPIE
THE writer recently came upon a slim volume of some sixty
pages entitled London Protected, published in 1756 by an
anonymous"
Member of the Hon. Artillery Company." As
far as he can discover no copy is in the British Museum, and
the publication was previously unknown to the Librarian
of the City of London and to the authorities of the H.A.C.
At the time of the book's publication the Police of the
City of London consisted of no fewer than six hundred watch-
men.
They
were, however, a " collection of feeble old men
not in any way able to earn their bread," who, if intimidation
or bribery failed, were deceived by the simplest stratagem on
the part of the many thieves who nightly committed serious
robberies and breakings in the city. Yet this collection of
aged paupers cost
£10,000
a year, a greater sum than was
spent on watching by any other capital city of Europe.
The
unsafe condition of the streets the author puts down
to two causes besides the characters of the watchmen. Firstly,
laziness on the part of the constables, who inevitably retired
to bed early in the evening without troubling about the watch,
and secondly, the hours of watching which in winter were
only from
10
p.m. to 6 a.m., and three hours less in summer.
Having, it appears, travelled extensively, the author is
able to speak of the police systems in vogue elsewhere.
In
Paris a guard of
250
men watched the city by night, and,
being empowered to " stop, search and detain " all suspicious
characters, the city was entirely free from robberies of every
sort.
Further
by means of a strict surveillance over taverns,
wine-shops and lodging houses, disorders and brawls of every
kind were quickly suppressed, and the landlords forced to
conduct their premises in a proper manner.
The
author found
the men smart, well-armed and courteous to strangers,
5°7
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