The book first discusses the development of professional policing at the local level, from its beginnings in key West End parishes in 1735 to the establishment of the Metropolitan Police. Next it examines the way in which police reform was accomplished, not vertically, from the top down, but characterized by diffusion. The book also focuses on the motivations behind law enforcement reform. A growing concern about property crime was the primary motivating force behind police reform in metropolitan London, reform undertaken by a wide range of local officials. The key problem for many local officials was not lack of awareness of reform options or constitutional objections but money. It must be borne in mind that the book presents an "official" perspective; most data came from local government records and local officials' correspondence. It is evident from tracing the long-term development of professional policing at the local level that many of the methods and organizational structures of modern policing were developed in the parishes. Thus the Metropolitan Police was not a revolutionary creation except in the sense that it replaced many police forces with one centralized force, controlled by the Home Office. Figures, notes, bibliography, index