Quarterly Commentary
| Date | 01 April 1960 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6003300201 |
| Published date | 01 April 1960 |
| Subject Matter | Quarterly Commentary |
THE
POLICE
JOURNAL
VOL.
XXXIII,
No.2
APRIL-JUNE,
1960
Quarterly
(jommentary
THE
ROYAL
COMMISSION
THE APPOINTMENT of the Royal Commission on the constitution
and functions of police authorities and police forces in Great
Britain is an event of unusual importance. With the exception of
the Royal Commission on Police Powers and Procedure (1929)
and one in 1908 whose terms of reference were limited to the
Metropolitan Police, no Royal Commission has been set up on the
subject of Britain's police since one in 1836-38 made recommenda-
tions for extending to rural areas in England and Wales the idea of
Peel's Metropolitan Police Force for London (established in 1829)
which proved to be acceptable neither to Parliament nor to
Melbourne's administration.
The
Metropolitan Police was left, and
still is, the only force in Great Britain to come directly under the
authority of the Home Secretary. Reduction in the number of
small forces, and measures for combining or pooling resources to
meet changing needs, have been progressive since 1839, when
county police forces were "permitted" to be established, and made
compulsory in 1856.
The
system continues unchanged in principle,
with separate police forces under local administration and control,
subject to guidance and oversight by the Home Secretary, accom-
panied by financial aid. Other Royal Commissions, like those on
Local Government (1923), Fire Brigades and Fire Prevention
(923),
Transport (1930), Licensing (1931), Lotteries and Betting (1933),
Justices of the Peace (1948),
The
Press (1949), Capital Punishment
(1953), Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (1951), and the Civil Service
(1955), were of police interest and had their impact on the Service.
The reflection that only a limited amount of new law followed
the consideration by Parliament and the Government of the day of
the more contentious recommendations in some of these reports
may lull some readers into thinking that aRoyal Commission on
the Police is unlikely to result in more than publication of a mass
of memoranda and evidence of witnesses which will have its uses
for writers on police subjects in the future or for students engaged
on research into various social problems. Such readers might re-
mind us that after much weighty testimony tendered to the Royal
Commission on Police Powers and Procedure in 1928-29 little new
law reached the Statute Book, although recommendations generally
April-June
1960
B
73
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