HOW DID THIS CHANGE POLICING? (E-D) DEVELOPMENT IN POLICE HOW DID THIS CHANGE POLICING? (E-D) HOW DID THIS HELP PREVENT CRIME? (C-B) ACTS OF 1835 ACT OF 1839 ACT OF 1856 CREATION OF CID (1878)

In 1839 the Rural Constabulary Act allowed county areas to establish police forces if they so wished; Wiltshire was the first county to do this, although there was much inconsistency between counties as to which did and how big the created forces were. Under the 1856 County Borough Police Act, it became compulsory for all towns and counties to set up their own police force to ensure that policing was, to some extent consistent across the country. This act saw the start of the Modern Police Service. 239 forces were set up, still with great variations in pay and conditions; only half of them were found to be efficient. Municipal Corporations Act was passed in 1835 that things really got moving outside London and heralded the dawn of a whole new era of policing. Up until this time, the towns had merely employed a few watchmen to patrol the streets and call out the time and weather. However, under this new Act, every borough had to form a watch committee and were allowed to set up a real police force. The response to the Act was patchy, not least because of the cost but despite the cost the Act initially brought policing to 178 towns, and the number grew steadily.

The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 was an Act of Parliament which enlarged the district of, and gave greatly increased powers to the Metropolitan Police established by the Metropolitan Police Act 1829. The Act gave the police force powers over shipping arriving in the Port of London and using the Thames. Among these powers were; the power to inspect vessels to prevent smuggling; power to seize unlawful quantities of gunpowder; powers to seize guns loaded with ball. It also allowed the Police to take people into custody for discharging firearms, setting fireworks or lighting bonfires and the use of threatening or abusive behavior or words. The Bow Street Runners and other forces in London became amalgamated with the Metropolitan Police. CID has become the normal term for plain clothes police detectives in the UK. It was founded on 8 April 1878 by Howard Vincent. Initially Vincent was directly responsible to the Home Secretary, but since 1888 the CID has come under the authority of the Commissioner. The 60 Divisional Detective patrols and 20 Special Patrols commanded by 159 sergeants and 15 Detective Inspectors would be an improvement on the occasional plain clothes or 'winter patrols' of two working on a monthly shift system in the Divisions. The CID were paid slightly more than uniformed police, and could also claim a number of allowances. In 1883 Vincent set up the Special Irish Branch, which, as Special Branch, would become the first of the specialized squads and units spun off from the CID.

The 1830s and '40s saw the rapid development of a range of photographic processes. By the 1850s and '60s, photography had developed rapidly and become widespread. As photography became more popular, its social uses became equally evident.  Thus it was that from the mid-1850s onward the notion that it might be an effective way of identifying criminals began to come into increasing focus. In Birmingham, as early as 1858, the police were arranging for photographs of those arrested to be taken in a private studio. The number of photographs rapidly increased and soon there was an archive of photographs, a rogues' gallery. With each photograph was listed comprehensive data including details of the supposed crime. and the sentence eventually handed down. As well as the identification of criminals the photograph also had the power to preserve a crime scene for those investigating it. In 1900 a committee was appointed by the Home Secretary to enquire into methods of the 'Identification of Criminals by Measurement and Fingerprints'. About this time, Mr. E.R. Henry, later to become Sir Edward Henry, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, published his book, 'The Classification and Use of Fingerprints'. This proposed a method of fingerprint classification and comparison to replace the inaccurate Bertillon system of identification, which focused more on bodily measurements. Following the recommendations made by this committee, the Fingerprint Branch at New Scotland Yard was created in July 1901 using the Henry System of Classification. The Fingerprint Branch at New Scotland Yard, which started with just three people, was able to take fingerprints from anyone arrested for a crime and compare them with any prints found at crime scenes and was amongst the first scientific evidence used.