The Early Days of Policing in Kent Pt 6.
by Roy Ingleton
The 'New Police'

In 1822, Sir Robert Peel, as the Tory Home Secretary, told Parliament that the country should have 'a vigorous system of police', and set up a Parliamentary Committee, whose Report formed the basis of Peel's 1829 'Bill for improving the Police in and near the Metropolis'. Once passed, the 1829 Metropolitan Police Act heralded the end of the old, fragmented and ineffectual system of parish constables and the dawn of a whole new era of policing. Firstly, policing was to be preventive, the primary means being conspicuous patrols by uniformed police officers. Secondly, command and control were to be maintained through a centralised, quasi-military organisational structure. Thirdly, the police were to be patient, impersonal and professional. Finally it made it clear that the authority of the English constable derived from three sources: the Crown (not the political party in power), the law and the consent and co-operation of the citizens.

Peel made it clear he was not looking for 'all the virtues under heaven.' He refused to enrol 'gentlemen' or commissioned officers as superintendents and inspectors because he was '… certain they would be above their work'. He felt 'a Sergeant of the Guards … is a better man for my purpose than a captain of high military reputation'.

The Police in the Provinces
But this new police force only covered the capital and outside London the old system continued as before. When depression and extreme poverty gave rise to what was known as the Last Labourers' Revolt in August 1830, there was no effective police force to deal with it. The uprising broke out at Hardres, near Canterbury where around 400 farm workers destroyed threshing machines and caused other damage. Further uprisings followed throughout September of that year when farm machinery was damaged and ricks were set on fire. By October, the revolt had spread to the Dover area and the unrest then spread to the Maidstone and Sittingbourne areas; the situation was becoming serious.

The problem was how to deal with it; an efficient police force would no doubt have been able to cope but no county force was to be formed for another three decades and it would be four or five years before the first of the small 'borough' forces would be created. In extreme cases where public order had broken down, the Justices of the Peace could call upon the military and this is precisely what the Maidstone magistrates did on 30 October 1830 when they went out with a troop of soldiers to meet a mob of some 400 people just outside the town.

The 1833 Lighting & Watching Act was the first attempt to establish a paid police throughout the country but it took the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835 to really get things moving. This required all the new incorporated boroughs to appoint town clerks and treasurers and, under Clause 76, to appoint a Watch Committee and set up a police force.

The response to the Act was patchy and, as late as 1837, less than 55% of the boroughs had formed a police force. In Kent, nine forces were established between 1835 and 1837; Tunbridge Wells (1835), Canterbury (1836), Deal (1836), Dover (1836), Folkestone (1836), Gravesend (1836), Maidstone (1836), Ramsgate (1836), Rochester (1837). There were also police forces of sorts in Ashford, Faversham, Hythe, Sandwich and Tenterden but these were usually little more than 'one-man bands'.

The man in charge (and it always was a man in those days) was known by a variety of titles but usually Inspector or Superintendent. Only later was the title of Chief Constable introduced. The non-statutory nature of the office meant that the chief officer in a borough was an employee of the Watch Committee who could be hired and fired at will - and many indeed were. The Committees generally looked for someone who would carry out their instructions faithfully rather than competence as a policeman. Indeed, even as late as 1919, one of the HMIs, giving evidence to the Desborough Committee, stated that he thought that chief constables were appointed, '… not on their merits as policemen, especially in the smaller boroughs'

Once local police forces had been formed, the rural Parish Constables were frequently issued with a uniform similar to that worn in the towns. This, in turn, was based on that worn by the Metropolitan Police. In the earliest days, the 'Peeler' wore a navy-blue swallow-tailed coat with a raised leather collar or stock (as a protection against garrotting), together with navy trousers in the winter and white ones in the summer. The white trousers proved impracticable and were soon dispensed with while the swallowtail coat was later replaced by a tunic that came almost to the knees. The ensemble was topped off with a stovepipe hat.

'No man is an Island, entire of itself' wrote John Donne 400 years ago, and this adage has always held good for the police. The police forces which were formed in the first half of the 19th century could call upon each other for aid on times of difficulty or, in extreme cases, call upon the military to lend a hand. There were also the Special Constables.

The origins of the Special Constabulary go back to 1673 when Charles II passed an Act which laid down that any citizen might be sworn in as a police officer for a year to deal with threats of great disorder. However, the Act was seldom invoked in the South as the incidence of major disorders was low. When the Metropolitan Police was formed in 1829, it was soon apparent that the force could not hope to deal with serious disorders on its own and the system was revised. A Special Constables Act was passed in 1831 under which the justices of the peace could swear in as many men as necessary to deal with 'tumult, riot and felony' and, although amended over the years, this Act still forms the basis of today's Special Constabulary. In addition, in the boroughs, lists were kept of special constables who were appointed annually under the Municipal Corporations Acts.