Peel's Police

In 1829 Peel as the Home Secretary founded the Metropolitan Police Force which was the first of it's kind, in his Metropolitan Police Act 1829. This was made to stop the upwards trend of the crime rates going up in London. This was also in line with his earlier Penal Code reform which was the removal of many capital offences. His theory that of there was a fully supported police force then it would create a crime deterrent but some saw it as a tool of the Tory government. The idea was not a success straight away but it improved on the system of just using parish constables and watchmen which were often corrupt and had no clear centralised maintenance of law and order. He the police started off with 1,000 constables in London. Some of the nicknames they were given were bobbies and Peelers and started off being very unpopular. This provided the foundations for the nationwide police force that would be found in all cities years later.  By 1857 all cities have to have their own police force.
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