Metropolitan Police 185 years of service to Londoners

The Metropolitan police has provided 185 years of service to Londoners along with New Scotland Yard is iconic throughout the world  it has been mentioned in novels, TV and movies. I have enjoyed working  at the ‘Yard’ as we call it, and in the Metropolitan Police – not for  all 185 years of it’s existence  but nearly 37 years. 😉  A mostly enjoyable and interesting career.

Here are the worthy words from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) on this day.

“The Met police has provided 185 years of service to Londoners and there  was a time, more than a century ago, when London boroughs (or parishes as they were back then) were policed by small numbers of unpaid, part-time parish constables. Some boroughs had no police presence at all and relied on ‘local watch’ teams to keep the peace. This all changed on this day, 185 years ago when Sir Robert Peel was Home Secretary. The first Metropolitan Police Act was passed by Parliament and the Met established.

We’ve come a long way since then. Policing 620 square miles, we’re now the UK’s police service, we’ve earned an international reputation for crime fighting, and we’re still transforming today.

So on this proud day, we look back at some of the notable investigations and events that have shaped the Met over time.

How it all began…

The inception of the Met couldn’t have come at a more crucial time. Activity to uphold the law during the 18th and 19th century lacked focus and organisation. And it became considerably challenging as the population of London ballooned during the Industrial Revolution. Parish constables and local ‘watchmen’ had a tough time keeping the peace and struggled to detect and prevent crime. A different solution was needed.

The first police patrols walked the beat on 29 September 1829, adorned in blue uniforms, armed with only a wooden truncheon and a hand rattle to alert colleagues for assistance. The first police whistles weren’t blown until 1884, when the Home Secretary invited companies to invent the police whistle to replace the rattle.

Ever wondered why officers wore blue uniforms? Sir Robert Peel asked for them to be blue instead of the traditional red worn by the military so they’d be seen as non-threatening. The standard wage for a constable was one guinea (£1.05) a week for a 12 hour shift six days a week, with Sunday as a rest day.

Historic moments

Margaret Damer Dawson, an anti-white slavery campaigner, and Nina Boyle, a militant suffragette journalist founded the Women Police Service in 1914. The first female officer in the Met was Sofia Stanley in 1919. She also went on to design the first women’s police uniform, known as the ‘Stanley uniform’. Duties for female officers included deterring prostitution, caring for juveniles and vulnerable people in custody and preventing deceitful practices such as fortune telling. They weren’t allowed to carry handcuffs and make arrests until 1923. The first female police officers to receive George Medals for courage were Sergeant Ethel Bush and Kathleen Parrott in 1955.

During the First World War, officers from the Met’s Special Branch Unit were among the first soldiers in action when war was declared.

1918 saw the introduction of the Flying Squad. Originally put together by Detective Chief Inspector Wensley, it was called the ‘Mobile Patrol Experiment’. It was given motor vehicles and a wagon hired from the Great Western Railway to become the first ‘mobile force’ of detectives. The squad arrested 396 people in its first nine months. They achieved impressive results and at the end of the trial year were kept on board as a permanent section of the Met.

During the 1950s and 60s, protests were common on the streets of London. Public order trained officers were needed and, in 1965, the Special Patrol Group was formed, the precursor to our Territorial Support Group.

1963 saw the first computer used in the Met, set up in the Receiver’s office for pay and crime statistics. In 1965 the first personal radios were introduced to officers.

In 1967, Norwell Roberts was the first black male officer to join the Met. He retired after 30 years’ service with the rank of detective sergeant. Sislin Fay Allen was the first black female officer to join in 1969. In 1971 Karpal Kaur Sandhu, of Indian heritage, became the Met’s first female Asian officer.

The Crime Reporting Information System (CRiS) was introduced in 1995, revolutionising the way we record crime. One year later our Met website was designed and unveiled to the public.

Some famous cases

1888 – 1891 – Whitechapel murders – suspected to have been carried out by Jack the Ripper who killed at least five prostitutes. No suspect was ever charged with the murders.

1911 – The Siege of Sidney Street – popularly known as the ‘Battle of Stepney’. A notorious gunfight in London’s East End, it ended with the deaths of two members of a politically motivated gang of burglars.

1950s – 1960s – The Krays – gangster twins, Ronald “Ronnie” Kray and Reginald “Reggie” Kray were perpetrators of organised crime in London’s East End during the 1950s and 60s. They were finally arrested and convicted by the efforts of a special squad of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard Read.

1963 – The Great Train Robbery – this saw the Flying Squad investigate the infamous robbery of a Royal Mail train heading between Glasgow and London.

We have a rich history to be proud of and we now serve more than eight million people in one of the world’s most dynamic and diverse cities. Despite the challenges, we tackle an amazing range of things and with the support of Londoners continue to build on our successes every day.”