The Bow Street Foot Patrols were an armed and salaried foot patrol set up in London, England, in the winter of 1782–83 by Sampson Wright[a] and supported by the new Home Department of the British government. The government provided funds to support 46 men who worked in eight groups of six; each of the groups was assigned to one of the major routes around the metropolis and went out every night of the week.[2]
Like its mounted equivalent, it was intended to deter highway robbery. It became an established element of London policing in the 1780s.[3] Like the Horse Patrols, they ran in tandem with the new Metropolitan Police from 1829 to 1839 before being absorbed into it.
Notes edit
- ^ John Fielding's successor as chief magistrate at Bow Street, he resided in Bow Street from 1782 to 1792.[1]
References edit
- ^ "Bow Street and Russell Street Area: Bow Street Pages 185-192 Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. LCC 1970. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ Beattie 2012, p. 145.
- ^ Beattie 2012, p. 140.
Bibliography edit
- Beattie, J. M. (2012). The First English Detectives. The Bow Street Runners and the Policing of London, 1750–1840. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-969516-4.
- Hetherington, Fitzgerald Percy (1888). "The Patroles". Chronicles of Bow Street Police-Office: With an Account of the Magistrates. London: Chapman and Hall. OCLC 25847300.
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