Bow Street Runners

The first police force in the United Kingdom was established at 4 Bow Street, London, at the beginning of the 18th century. The "Bow Street Runners" were under the control of a magistrate.

The Bow Street Runners were a security body regulated by decree and disciplined by strict rules drawn up by the magistrate of Bow Street, whose jurisdiction included much of the capital and some surrounding rural areas. The magistrate had a tremendous influence on the English judiciary and was dealing with all sorts of cases, from the street ladder to the homicide of a peer of the realm.

The actual body of the Bow Street Runners was composed of a few male members employed to patrol the streets of London and in tasks such as catch criminals, thieves and murderers. Their duties were similar to those of non-thief-takers official but as these were paid by the citizens, the Bow Street Runners were salaried by the Bow Street court and had jurisdiction over the entire territory of the judiciary as well as having a uniform and specific equipment.

Even the criminals, however, argued that the Runners did not adapt very different manners and then shelter themselves behind the facade of men of justice. The methods used to find criminals or to extract the information, in fact, were unorthodox but in order to solve the open cases had no qualms.

Though the founder of the body was Sir Henry Fielding, is his brother John, who succeeded him as a magistrate, who was responsible for the real promotion of the services rendered by these people, the staff expansion, improvement of the disciplinary code and many other initiatives to promote the body created by the brother.

At the time of John Fielding, when the organic had already been expanded by a few units, the best brains were also used to solve complicated enigmas related to murder or other serious crimes, smuggling and prostitution.

After the death of Fielding, the body suffered erratic administrations and little wrist for a few decades, but it never succeeded in halting the development of this group of people who, for the next eighty years were a manifestation of the push forward towards a professionalization of road state control, starting with those in London.

In 1792, the Middlesex Justices Act disposed to expand the body of the Bow Street Runner and set up another seven new offices on the Bow Street model. Each was composed of 3 magistrates and 6 policemen.

The Runners also got the opportunity to travel the country in solving crimes that had roots or branches, even outside of London. In short, they were investigators with legal and judicial authority.

The Marine Police was established in 1798 in Wapping to control the alarming increase in thefts from the docks and warehouses along the north side of the Thames, between London Bridge and the Tower. It counted three judges and 100 police.

In 1805 Richard Ford, successor to Sir John Fielding at Bow Street, created patrols on horseback known as "Robin Redbreasts" as his men wore a red waistcoat under the typical blue jacket of the Bow Street men's uniform.

All these police forces thus created all came together in 1829 in the Metropolitan Police Force (MET) of Sir Robert Peel.

Thus were born the Bobbies that still today make the streets of London and the whole UK safer. These were the foundations that led to the creation of modern Scotland Yard.