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UNORTHODOX POLICING METHODS IN LATE VICTORIAN LONDN

• Message 1.Β 

  Posted by HARRYFLIC (U14657807) on Friday, 22nd October 2010

  Policing and the use of Private Detectives, (or Detective-Officers, as they might have been euphemistically known,) in late Victorian London???
  
  I am looking for any information re: the above. Was there such an incarnation as the Private Investigator, Detective Officer, or a Privateer of sorts who might have operated as a sort of adjunct, under license, to the legitimate police force of the time?...
  
  We know for instance that Thief-Takers operated in seventeenth and early eighteenth century London and that they were, by in large, former criminals and profiteers.
  
  Any information would be greatly appreciated.
  
  H.F.

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by an ex-nordmann - it has ceased to exist (U3472955) on Friday, 22nd October 2010

  Hi H.F.
  
  Clive Emsley's the recognised authority on the subject. His books and articles are as well researched a treatise on the topic as one can find. This bibliography is worth investigating, and with reference to your specific question, especially the one listed last.
  
  Crime and Society in England, 1750-1900, 1987, 1996, 2004
  
  The English Police: A Political and Social History, 1991, 1996
  
  Hard Men: Violence in England since 1750, 2005
  
  Crime, Police and Penal Policy: European Experiences, 1750-1940, 2007
  
  Police Detectives in History, 1750-1950 (Aldershot, 2006)
  
  Detective work in Victorian London was regarded as little higher in status than street sweeping, though it gradually rose in stature as time progressed. The first organisation to make a concerted attempt at rehabilitating the image were the Bow Street Runners though even as late as 1909 the head of the Metropolitan Police was discouraging recruitment into police detective departments and censuring any detectives who in any way publicised their achievements or collaborated with the press. "Private" detectives in the modern sense existed (though not under that name). No licence was needed but they were obliged from the 1850s to assist and inform the regular police in cases where a prosecution was sought, so they effectively ended up frequently both privately and publicly employed on what might be called short-term contracts. This situation encouraged the initial development of "proper" police detective departments, though for a long time only in the biggest cities.
  
  Detective work was 99% the paying of informers, so unless one had wealth enough or reason enough to employ a detective then he was reduced to two main jobs - those in which a reward provided incentive for personal outlay and those in which he was hired in an auxiliary capacity by the police.
  
  But as I said - check out Emsley's books. You'll get absolutely everything you need there, I think.

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• Message 3

  , in reply to message 2.

  Posted by HARRYFLIC (U14657807) on Tuesday, 15th February 2011

  Hi there, Nordmann
  
  Thank you so much for such a succinct response. I fully intend to
  track down Emsley's book and indeed all the other invaluable titles
  mentioned below. Once again, thank you so much for your
  generosity on the subject.
  
  Cheers
  
  H.F.

  Link to this forum: UNORTHODOX POLICING METHODS IN LATE VICTORIAN LONDN

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