POLICE 



285 



peculiar to London ; indeed, so many circumstances, 

 non-existent elsewhere, combine to render the 

 administration of this force expensive that in 

 many respects its cost can only be contrasted and 

 not compared with that of even the largest cities 

 and towns of the kingdom. 



The system of administration is a development 

 of the principle on which the force was first estab- 

 lished by Sir Robert Peel' unity of design and 

 responsibility of its agents.' The chief officer is 

 the commissioner, who, acting under the immediate 

 authority of the Secretary of State, is responsible 

 for the administration of the system throughout 

 the Metropolitan Police District. The commis- 

 sioner is vested with the power of a justice of the 

 peace for Middlesex and the home counties, but is 

 debarred from acting in this capacity at general or 

 quarter sessions, or in any manner out of sessions 

 except for the preservation of the peace, or for the 

 prevention of crimes generally. Under the com- 

 missioner are three assistant-commissioners, also 

 vested with powers of justices, two of whom deal 

 with details of discipline and ordinary business, 

 the third being specially entrusted with the control 

 of the criminal department. 



The whole of the Metropolitan Police District is 

 marked off into twenty-two divisions, each having 

 a force of several hundred men under the charge 

 of a superintendent, aided by a chief-inspector, 

 inspectors, and sergeants. The superintendent is 

 responsible for all the details of police administra- 

 tion within his division. For executive purposes 

 the divisions are brigaded into four police districts, 

 ach district comprising several divisions, and l>eing 

 in charge of a superior officer termed chief-con- 

 stable. 



Attached to each of the exterior divisions is a 

 force of mounted men, aggregating in all about 

 250. The services of this force for ordinary pur- 

 poses are of more use in outlying places where the 

 beats are long, and where a constable on foot must 

 take a long time to cover his ground, than on the 

 crowded and slippery streets of interior districts ; 

 but on occasions of processions, public meetings, 

 and similar demonstrations the mounted force are 

 brought in and perform valuable service. The 

 Thames or River Police are recruited from sailors, 

 and patrol the river in boats and steam-launches. 

 Bach principal station is in direct communication 

 by telegraph with the headquarters' office, which, 

 since November 1890, has been situated on the 

 Thames Embankment, and is known as New 

 Scotland Yard ; and between every divisional 

 station and its subdivisions the same system of 

 telegraphic communication is maintained. For 

 the detection of crime a special staff of officers is 

 located in each division. Local crime is dealt with 

 by these officers ; for the conduct of special cases 

 a separate detective staff is maintained at head- 

 quarters, under the control of the superintendent 

 of the Criminal Investigation Department, and the 

 whole detective organisation is specially under the 

 charge of the chief -constable of the Criminal Depart- 

 ment and of one of the assistant-commissioners. 

 The supervision of habitual criminals is specially 

 looked after at headquarter by the Convict Super- 

 vision Office, under a chief inspector. The strength 

 of the detective department is above 300 men. 



County and Borough Police. The total number 

 of county and borougn police in Great Britain is : 



Counties. Boroughi. 



England and Wale 12,102 10.6fl 



Scotland 1,607 2,675 



All such police are under the control of local 

 authorities. By the Local Government Acts of 

 ISMS great changes were made as to the bodies 

 entrusted with such control, and the county 

 councils superseded in many instances the previous 



agencies for regulating police administration. With 

 reference to counties, the control of the police is 

 vested in a standing committee, consisting of an 

 equal number of justices appointed by the quarter 

 sessions and by the county council. In the case of 

 cities and larger boroughs, which are termed county 

 boroughs, the local councils retain the power which 

 they formerly had, and smaller boroughs are treated 

 as parts of the counties in which they are situated. 

 The control of the Corporation of the City of Lon- 

 don over the ' City Police ' was in no way affected 

 by the Local Government Acts of 1888. The cost 

 of police, as before, is paid from rates levied in 

 counties and boroughs, supplemented by a contri- 

 bution from the ' Exchequer Contribution Account ' 

 of half the cost of pay and clothing of every force 

 certified to be in an efficient condition. Such 

 contribution was formerly made directly by the 

 Treasury in aid of the local rate under the County 

 and Borough Police Acts. Under the Local Govern- 

 ment Acts of 1888, however, such sums, consisting 

 of duties on local taxation, licenses, and the pro- 

 bate-duty grant, are now placed to the credit of 

 the police account of the county fund in counties, 

 and by the county councils disbursed to county 

 police. In boroughs having a separate police force 

 the amounts are paid to and expended by the 

 local councils. 



The chief executive officers of county and borough 

 police forces, who are appointed by local author- 

 ities, are styled chief-constables ; superintendents 

 or head-constables ; and for inspection purposes, 

 connected with the grant of a certificate of effi- 

 ciency, two officers for the whole of England and 

 Wales, and one for Scotland, are appointed by the 

 Secretary of State. The system of administration 

 in cities and large towns is based, as far as circum- 

 stances admit, on that which prevails in the Metro- 

 politan Police ; in counties where concentration of 

 police is not required the duties are arranged to 

 suit the requirements of each locality. Some of 

 the more important railway companies employ a 

 special staff' of railway police. 



Police in Ireland. There are only two police 

 forces in Ireland : the Dublin Metropolitan Police, 

 which has jurisdiction within the limits of the 

 capital, and the Royal Irish Constabulary, which, 

 as an imperial force, performs police duty for the 

 whole of the rest of Ireland. 



The Metropolitan Police in Dublin numbers 1214 

 men, under the command of a commissioner, and 

 its administration is on the lines of the Metro- 

 politan Police. 



The Royal Irish Constabulary is the only force 

 in the kingdom which is practically on a military 

 footing, and the members of which are armed, 

 drilled, and disciplined as soldiers. Ordinary civil 

 police duties, both in towns and counties, are per- 

 formed by this force, but it is unfortunately too 

 often that they are called upon to act as soldiers 

 in repressing organised disturbance. The force is 

 directly under the Irish government. It consists 

 of 12,^03 members, officers and men, and is com- 

 manded by an inspector-general. Under this officer 

 is a deputy inspector-general, who again is aided 

 by three assistant inspectors-general at head- 

 quarters. Each county is supervised by a superior 

 officer called county inspector, and counties again 

 are subdivided into districts, over each of which a 

 district inspector is placed. Below these officers 

 come head-constables, sergeants, and constables, 

 all trained to the use of arms, and disciplined as 

 soldiers. 



Police-courts. These may be termed courts of 

 first instance for hearing criminal cases. In coun- 

 ties such courts are hela by justices of the peace, 

 sitting at either petty or special sessions ; in 

 boroughs by stipendiary magistrates, or by mem- 



