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Whitechapel, c1870–c1900: Crime, Policing and the Inner City

The Metropolitan Police and the national context

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

The founding of the Metropolitan Police, the Home Secretary, recruits and why many left, raising standards, the CID of 1878, distrust of detectives, Abberline, Matthews and the reward, Warren's resignation, and rich and poor attitudes.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Who and when

Who was the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police answerable to?

Key term

What sort of men were recruited as constables, and why did so many not last?

Key term

How was the quality of recruits raised in the later 1880s?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    When was the Metropolitan Police set up, and how was the force organised?

    Model answer

    It was created in 1829 by Robert Peel, and was split into divisions, each with a superintendent commanding inspectors, sergeants and constables.

  2. 2

    Who was the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police answerable to?

    Model answer

    The Home Secretary, a government minister, rather than to any elected body in London.

  3. 3

    What sort of men were recruited as constables, and why did so many not last?

    Model answer

    Mostly former labourers and soldiers with little schooling, who found the pay poor and the hours long, and large numbers resigned or were sacked for drunkenness.

  4. 4

    How was the quality of recruits raised in the later 1880s?

    Model answer

    Candidates had to reach a standard of reading and writing before joining, and new men were put through drill and instruction before going out on a beat.

  5. 5

    Why was the Criminal Investigation Department created in 1878?

    Model answer

    The old detective branch had been disgraced when senior detectives were convicted of taking bribes from criminals, so a new department was built to replace it.

  6. 6

    How did the work of a detective differ from that of a constable, and why were detectives distrusted?

    Model answer

    Detectives worked in plain clothes gathering information after a crime, which many people saw as spying on ordinary citizens.

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