A number of factors have prevented the use of the police accountability mechanisms employed in the rest of the country from being used in the Greater London area. One factor is that the Metropolitan Police have the dual role of policing London and performing important national functions. A second factor preventing local control of the Metropolitan Police has been the absence of a local authority whose boundaries correspond to those of the Metropolitan Police. A third factor is the existence of the City of London as a separate authority and separate police force. The Police Bill currently before Parliament does not address the issue of police accountability to the community served, thus postponing the creation of a democratically elected Police Authority for a future administration. Early in 1983, the Greater London Council will be initiating Londonwide consultation on the type of police force and the type of police authority Londoners desire. Once a structure has been agreed upon by the Council, draft legislation will be prepared. The task of creating a police authority for London composed of locally elected representatives, only the first step in establishing police accountability to the community, will become even more urgent if the police are given the massive extension in their powers provided under the Police Bill, which can only lead to greater confrontation with citizens in many areas of London.