POLEMONIACEAE " 



Polemoniaceae. Natural order 

 of annual and perennial herbs 

 (a few shrubs), natives of cold 

 and temperate regions. They have 

 tubular, or bell-shaped, showy 

 flowers. The order includes the 

 genera polemoniutn (Jacob's-lad- 

 der), phlox, gilia, and colloniia. 



Polenta (Ital. ). Favourite food 

 in Italy. It is maize meal made 

 into porridge, and when served hot 

 eaten with milk and salt or sugar. 

 When cold, it is cut into slices, 

 powdered with grated cheese, and 

 fried. This dish is a favourite with 

 Americans as well as Italians. 



Pole Star OR POLARIS. Nearest 

 conspicuous star to the N. Pole in 

 the sky. It is a second magnitude 

 star forming alpha in the constella- 

 tion of Ursa Minor. It is easily 

 found by following up the lino 

 joining the stars alpha and beta, 

 or the pointers of the Great Bear. 

 The star is certainly double and 

 probably treble, two companions 

 being indicated by the irregularity 

 of its motion. It is 1A from the 

 true pole. See Precession. 



Poles worth. Village of War- 

 wickshire, England. It stands on 

 the Anker, 4 m. from Tamworth, 

 with a station on the L. & N.W. 

 Rly. There is a church dedicated 

 to S. Edifh, and the main industries 

 are quarrying, coal-mining, and 

 clay-working. Pop. 5,600. 



Police (Fr. from late "L&t.politia, 

 civil government ; Gr. poHs, city). 

 Civilian or semi-military force 

 appointed by the government or 

 other constituted authority to 

 preserve law and order. Not until 

 Peel's Act of 1829 " for improving 

 the police in and near the metro- 

 polis " were there any properly 

 organized police forces in the 

 United Kingdom. | Towards 1800 

 in rural districts and provincial 

 towns high constables and parish 

 constables, acting under the di- 

 rection of justices of the peace, 

 appointed what officers were neces- 

 sary to keep the king's peace. 

 Many were unpaid, and the ma- 

 jority received payment totally 

 inadequate to their duties and 

 responsibilities, resulting in a 

 scandalous state of inefficiency. 

 London had a number of police 

 organizations so badly managed 

 that twelve parishes were entirely 

 unprotected, while the watchmen 

 in many other parishes were no- 

 thing more than paid blackmailers. 



The Act of 1829 brought the 

 London police, with the exception 

 of the City police, under the home 

 secretary, defined the Metropolitan 

 police district, and appointed two 

 justices of the peace, afterwards 

 called commissioners, to frame the 

 necessary regulations, etc., for the 

 management of the new force. 



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Despite the great unpopularity of 

 the new police, as they were 

 called, in less than twelve months 

 from the passing of the Act practi- 

 cally the whole of London was 

 policed under one authority. 

 Public hostility against the police 

 culminated in a series of riots, but 

 gradually the force won recogni- 

 tion and respect by its vast superi- 

 ority over the old watchmen, Bow 

 Street runners, and the like, and 

 requests began to come in from the 

 provinces requesting the loan of 

 competent officers to reorganize 

 the existing forces. 



English Provincial Police 



Under the Municipal Corpora- 

 tions Act of 1835 watch com- 

 mittees came into existence in the 

 provinces, responsible for the 

 appointment of head and other 

 constables and for the regulation of 

 the police. These committees were 

 required to make a return of the 

 police under their jurisdiction to 

 the home secretary every quarter. 



In 1839 the passing of an Act 

 enabled a majority of the justices 



Police. Motor police van lor conveying prisoners 



at quarter sessions to raise and 

 equip a paid police for the pro- 

 tection of their county, thus 

 inaugurating the county police as 

 distinct from the borough police 

 under the 1835 Act. The actual 

 organizations of the police forces 

 of the provinces followed very 

 similar lines to that of the 

 Metropolitan police. Many Acts, 

 amending the powers of boroughs 

 and counties, have been passed 

 since those of 1835 and 1839, 

 with the result that all the police 

 forces in the United Kingdom are 

 now under control of local authori- 

 ties, with the exception of those 

 of Ireland and London. The City 

 of London police are controlled by 

 the corporation, its commissioner 

 being appointed by the court of 

 common council. 



In March, 1919, a committee on 

 the police service was appointed by 

 the home secretary. The inquiry 

 covered nearly 250 separate forces, 

 and recommended that the general 

 police system be maintained on its 

 present lines, but with a greater 

 degree of standardisation with 



regard to pay, allowances, pensions, 

 and conditions of service. The 

 committee recommended increases 

 of pay, and the establishment of a 

 police federation on a democratic 

 basis, embracing all members of all 

 the police forces below the rank of 

 superintendent. The latter was 

 to meet the objections that the 

 police were not allowed to form a 

 union, and the former to improve 

 the utterly inadequate remunera- 

 tion which had resulted in a police 

 strike in 1918. The recommenda- 

 tions were made law under the 

 Police Act of 1919. 



In Aug., 1920, the employment of 

 suitable women police was recom- 

 mended by a committee appointed 

 for the purpose. In 1921 police 

 motor cyclists were appointed in 

 London to exercise control over 

 traffic, and a " flying squad " 

 formed to enable the criminal 

 investigation department to meet 

 the changed conditions which 

 came about owing to the increased 

 use of motor-cars by criminals. 

 Under the Act of 1856 inspectors 

 of constabulary 

 make annual re- 

 ports to the home 

 secretary upon the 

 various police 

 forces. On these 

 reports depend the 

 granting of an 

 efficiency certifi- 

 cate and the conse- 

 quent contribution 

 of half the cost of 

 pay and clothing 

 of the force by the 

 treasury. The re- 



mainder of the cost is paid by a 

 special police rate. By the Act of 

 1888 no borough with less than 

 20,000 inhabitants can have a 

 borough police force. 



Scottish and Foreign Police 



In Scotland the police are 

 appointed under the Police (Scot- 

 land) Act, 1857, and the Burgh 

 Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, under 

 similar conditions to the English 

 police. In Edinburgh, Glasgow, 

 Aberdeen, Dundee, and Greenock 

 the police are appointed under 

 special Acts of Parliament. 



Foreign police are more of a 

 military or semi-military char- 

 acter than the British. Germany, 

 France, Austria, Hungary, etc., and 

 many British colonies have semi- 

 military organizations often with 

 far wider powers than those allowed 

 British police. See Constabulary, 

 Royal Irish ; Detective ; Metropoli- 

 tan Police ; Mexico ; New Scotland 

 Yard ; Special Constable ; consult 

 also A History of Police in England, 

 W. L. Melville Dee, 1901 ; ^Euro- 

 pean Police Systems, R. B. Fos- 

 dick, 1915. j. L. Pritchard 



