During that period, violent crime was common; between 1780 and 1795 there were 390 homicides reported in the city and county of Dublin. Repetitive crime was rampant, and major property theft was a daily occurrence. To cope with the dramatically rising crime rate, the city of Dublin built a new prison and the Irish Parliament passed numerous laws designed to punish, prevent, and deter crime. In 1786, the Parliament passed the Police Act which created the first centralized police force in the country; political opposition brought down the police in 1795. Nonetheless, thousands of criminals were arrested and sentenced to whipping, incarceration, deportation to North America and Australia, and hangings. By the mid-1790's, levels of violent crime in Dublin has receded significantly, due to the willingness of Parliament to impose harsh sentences, as well as the beginnings of the French Wars in 1793. Chapter references