Policing Then and Now
| Author | Douglas Grant |
| Date | 01 January 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8005300109 |
| Published date | 01 January 1980 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
DOUGLAS GRANT
Formerly Glasgow City Police.
POLICING THEN
AND
NOW
It
was in October, 1921, when I first made application to join the
City of Glasgow Police, only to be informed that there was a long
waiting list and I would be told when a vacancy occurred. About two
years later, in September, 1923, I was instructed to report at Police
Headquarters in Glasgow for examination. On the morning of my
arrival I found myself one of 50 aspiring applicants for the
job
of
constable and by the end of the day one of the 36 who had been
accepted. There was then still a waiting list of 500 applicants.
Police training then of a rather superficial nature, lasted for ten
weeks, at the end of which I was posted to the Northern Division of
the city.
For
three months I was on night duty, always in the
company of a senior constable. Such was my basic training. At the
end of three months my inspector decided that I be appointed to a
beat on day duty and that I could be trusted to cope on my own.
Glasgow was then a city of 1,100,000 inhabitants and had the
reputation of being a tough place in which to serve as a policeman.
The total strength of the force was 2,241 and consisted of II police
divisions, each under the charge of a superintendent. The Chief
Constable had two assistants, one in charge of the C.LD. and the
other the Uniform Branch. The C.LD. numbered 230 of various
ranks: The force possessed one motor car, a Finger Print and
Photographic Department had yet to be formed and, of course,
wireless communication was a thing of the future. Yet, despite the
lack of today's modern means of communication, the force
succeeded in keeping crime down to a minimum.
The question therefore is, how? In the first place, because Glasgow
was then a compact city with the vast majority of its million odd
inhabitants housed in tenements of three or four storeys. Secondly,
because the maximum number of police officers were employed on
beat patrol. Thirdly, most beat men knew personally a majority of
the residents on their respective beats, but more especially those most
likely to engage in crime. And, lastly, because criminals were not then
so mobile as they are today, most crimes were committed by
criminals who resided locally.
I well recall whileattached to the C.LD. on night duty and a case of
housebreaking was reported, going with a detective officer round
every known housebreaker's home in the district and turning-it over
without so much as by hisleave. There werethen two seasons of the
year when crime used to rise substantially. One was just prior to and
during the annual two weeks summer holiday in mid July and before
January /980 Police Journal 55
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