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New Police in Nineteenth-Century England: Crime, Conflict and Control

NCJ Number
170207
Author(s)
D Taylor
Date Published
1997
Length
190 pages
Annotation
Focusing on the evolution of a policed society in 19th century England and examining arguments associated with police reform and the development of police forces and police work, this book applies historical perspectives to the emergence of modern policing in the wider social and economic context of an urbanizing and industrializing society.
Abstract
Three main themes are developed in the book. The first theme is concerned with changing attitudes toward policing and motives of various police reformers who were responsible for key legislative changes between 1829 and 1856. The second theme focuses on the creation of county and borough police forces and the transformation from lack of discipline and high turnover among mid-19th century police forces to the greater discipline and stability of police forces in the early 20th century. The third theme deals with the question of popular response and explores the change from widespread hostility in the 1840's and 1850's to greater acceptance of the police in Edwardian England. The study of popular response highlights ambivalence toward the police and the continuing opposition to the police in many parts of urban and rural England. References, notes, and tables