Department details

The Metropolitan Police provides policing services in the Metropolitan Police District.1 This covers approximately 800 square miles of the London area, corresponding to all of the London boroughs as well as parts of adjacent counties. It does not include the City of London which is policed by a separate force maintained by the Corporation of London.

Unlike other police services in the UK, the Metropolitan Police historically was responsible not to a local police authority but directly to the Home Secretary and Parliament. In 1995 a non-statutory Metropolitan Police Committee consisting of members appointed by the Home Secretary was established to provide the Home Secretary with advice on matters relating to the Metropolitan Police. The Committee was assisted by a small secretariat. In 1998 the new Labour government published a White Paper, A Mayor and Assembly for London, which - among other proposals for reforming London government - proposed that oversight of the Metropolitan Police should be transferred from the Home Secretary and the Metropolitan Police Committee to a Metropolitan Police Authority with elected members. In May 1998 a referendum endorsed the reforms set out in the White Paper. Following on from the referendum and White Paper, the Greater London Authority Act 1999 stipulated that the Metropolitan Police Authority would consist of 23 members, 12 of whom would be members of the new London Assembly appointed by the Mayor of London, with the remainder being magistrates and independent members appointed by the Home Secretary. The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police would continue to be appointed by the Home Secretary, who would take account of recommendations made by the Authority. The Metropolitan Police Authority came into being - along with the Mayor of London and London Assembly - in July 2000, following elections held in May 2000.

The Metropolitan Police originated from the recognition, in the early 19th century, of the need to establish an organised and co-ordinated law enforcement system to replace the earlier structures which had governed policing in London. In the 17th and 18th centuries English policing was based on unpaid, annually appointed parish constables who served under the direction of Justices of the Peace. In towns a paid "watch" might also be established to guard the gates and patrol the streets at night. By the end of the 18th century these bodies had been joined, in London, by a network of police or public offices headed by magistrates and including a staff of police constables. The lead was taken by the magistrates' office at Bow Street in Covent Garden, which acquired its first policemen (four "thieftakers" and two horsemen) in 1750. By 1828 Bow Street had become the centre of a force of some 286 officers and men divided into four day and night patrols covering the London area outside the City, paid for and under the ultimate direction of the central government. In 1792 the Middlesex Justices Act supplemented the Bow Street office with seven additional police offices, each consisting of three stipendiary magistrates appointed by the Home Secretary and six salaried constables (increased to twelve in 1811). An eighth office, the Thames Police Office, was set up by West India merchants in 1798 to police the Thames river and dock areas, and was placed on a statutory footing in 1800. Nevertheless, until 1829 the majority of police personnel in London continued to be locally appointed parish constables and night-time watchmen, with the result that policing was patchy and of varying quality.

The uncoordinated and inadequate state of policing in London was examined by parliamentary committees in 1812, 1818 and 1822. In 1828 the Home Secretary, Sir Robert Peel, set up a fourth committee, the House of Commons Select Committee on the State of the Police in the Metropolis. It reported that existing police provisions were insufficient in the face of an increasing number of offences in the capital, and recommended that an Office of Police be created to control policing outside the City of London. The Committee’s recommendations formed the basis of the Metropolitan Police Act (10 GEO 4c.44), which received the royal assent on 19 June 1829.

The 1829 Act created a Metropolitan Police Office headed by two Justices of the Peace (known after 1839 as "Commissioners") and a Receiver appointed by the Home Secretary. The Office came into operation on 30 September 1829 and by May 1830 the force had about 3,300 personnel. It gradually absorbed men from the older police offices, a process which was completed in 1839 when the Metropolitan Police Act converted the police offices into purely judicial police courts. The 1839 Act also enlarged the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District from an area of approximately 120 square miles centred on Charing Cross to an area of around 700 square miles. A private bill in the same year established the City of London Police as an independent force outside the Metropolitan Police District. The District was next extended by the London Government Act 1964.

The Metropolitan Police was thus the first of the reformed police services to be established, in the 19th century, and became the model for many of the regional police forces which were set up in the wake of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, the Rural Constabulary Act 1839 and the County and Borough Police Act 1856. Since 1829 the policing functions of the Metropolitan Police within London have progressively expanded, and at various times it has taken on functions appropriate to a national police force, such as the protection of the royal family and the provision of advice and assistance to local police forces. Major developments in the functions of the force include the establishment of the first detective department in 1842 (reorganised in 1878 as the Criminal Investigation Department), the introduction of a satisfactory system for classifying fingerprints in 1901, and the appointment of the first temporary women officers in 1919. In the 19th century the force acquired various non-criminal responsibilities through statute or by delegation from the Home Secretary, including the licensing of hackney cabs, taxis and public service vehicles; the regulation of traffic, obstructions and street trading; and the registration and supervision of aliens. From its origins the administration of the force was divided between an Office of the Commissioner which was responsible for operational policing and associated matters, and an Office of the Receiver which was responsible for the finances, buildings, properties and supplies of the Metropolitan Police and (from 1839 until 1964) the metropolitan police courts. In 1855 the number of Commissioners was reduced from two to one. In 1968 the establishments of the two offices were merged, with the Receiver becoming the chief administrative officer responsible for all of the service's administrative staff. Further reorganisation occurred after 1989 with the launch of the Plus Programme to improve the corporate image and quality of service of the Metropolitan Police.

The Metropolitan Police consisted (in 1998) of about 28,000 police officers and 14,000 civilian staff headed by a Commissioner and a Deputy Commissioner. Police stations and operational police units are organised into five geographical areas headed by Assistant Commissioners. There is also a Specialist Operations Department with its own Assistant Commissioner, dealing with international and organised crime; terrorism (including Special Branch); protection duties connected with the Royal Family, diplomats and the Palace of Westminster; and forensic science support. The Metropolitan Police is also responsible for the National Identification Service (including the National Fingerprint Office and the National Criminal Record Office), and the Aliens Registration Office. The administration of the force is headed by a Receiver and by Directors of Personnel, Performance Review and Management Services, Finance, Technology, Property Services, and Public Affairs and Internal Communications.

G10 Branch (Statistics) and predecessors/successors

The production of statistics for inclusion in the Commissioner's annual reports, for answers to parliamentary questions, and for general planning and administration has been a function of the Metropolitan Police since the 19th century. In 1919 a reorganisation of the Commissioner's Office led to statistical functions being assigned to S4 Branch within the newly created "S" Department. These functions appear to have later passed to S2 Branch. "S" Department continued to deal with statistical matters until a further reorganisation of the force, which accompanied the merger of the Commissioner's and Receiver's Offices in 1968. "G" (General) Department (later known as Supplies and Services Department) was created to deal with the general administration of supplies and services, and with other administrative tasks not assigned to the newly created "E" (Establishments) and "F" (Finance) Departments. Within "G" Department, G10 Branch (Statistics) became responsible for the gathering of statistical information for the Home Office, and for the gathering, interpretation and circulation of statistics for internal use within the Metropolitan Police. One of the Branch's primary functions was the production of crime statistics based on crime reports submitted by the Metropolitan Police's divisions. G10 worked closely with the Joint Automatic Data Processing Unit (JADPU) and its successor, the Department of Computing Services (DCS), in the computerisation of crime statistics (for information on JADPU and DCS, see 'Joint Automatic Data Processing Unit (JADPU) and successors', below). This included the development of the Crime Statistics System and its successor, the Crime Report Information System (CRIS) (see Records in NDAD). G10 had a complement of 80 staff in 1990 and was headed by a Statistical Adviser. G10 was merged into a newly-created Performance Information Bureau (PIB) within the Metropolitan Police's Inspection and Review Department (formerly known as Management Support and Strategy Department), effective from 1 January 1992. PIB was given the functions of producing and distributing performance indicators and statistical data within the Metropolitan Police. As well as G10, PIB also absorbed Management Support and Strategy Department's MS19 branch (dealing with central monitoring and research), and a small team which had been working on the development of core performance indicators under the Plus Programme.

Joint Automatic Data Processing Unit (JADPU) and successors

JADPU came into being in 1963 to provide computing services to the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police, and was staffed by personnel from the Home Office, the Commissioner's Office and the Receiver's Office. It originally had a single ICT 1301 mainframe which was joined by another ICT 1301 in 1967 and an ICL 1905E mainframe in 1968. The computerisation of police payroll and criminal statistics started in 1963 and was followed by the computerisation of criminal records, accident statistics, budgetary control and other systems. In 1981 the joint arrangement with the Home Office was terminated, and from 1 April 1981 computing services within the Metropolitan Police became the responsibility of a Department of Computing Services (DCS). DCS dealt with IT strategy and services throughout the force, including the running of day-to-day computer operations and data preparation services (such as payroll, pensions, accounting, personnel, statistics, traffic tickets, stores and fingerprint systems), the provision of application support (e.g. manning help desks) and technical support for the architecture of existing systems, and special projects relating to the development of new systems. The Department had a complement of 457 staff in 1990. In 1992, as part of a general restructuring of the force's administration, DCS was abolished and its functions were transferred to a new Department of Technology which came into being on 1 August 1992. This Department also absorbed functions previously performed by the Chief Engineer's Department, excluding those of the Mechanical and Electrical Group. It thus became responsible not only for computing services, but also for radio and telecommunications, information networks, and police vehicles (including helicopters and boats). The Department had an establishment of 2,200 staff on 1 January 1993.

JADPU and its successors worked closely with the statisticians in the Metropolitan Police's G10 Branch and its successor, PIB, in the computerisation of the Metropolitan Police's crime statistics (see 'G10 Branch (Statistics) and predecessors/successors', above). Datasets derived from one of the systems which arose from this have been transferred to NDAD: see Records in NDAD.

Crime Statistics System (ME): reference CRDA/1

NDAD holds nine datasets relating to the Metropolitan Police's Crime Statistics System (known within the Metropolitan Police by the code "ME"), together with related documentation. The datasets contain data on crimes reported within the Metropolitan Police District between 1989 and 1996, which were input to the ME System between 1990 and 1996. The ME System was developed and maintained by the Metropolitan Police's Department of Computing Services and its successor, the Department of Technology, and was used by G10 Branch and its successor, the Performance Information Bureau (see Subdivisions). See the Series Catalogue for further information on these datasets.

Records of the Metropolitan Police have been deposited at the National Archives in MEPO classes.

Further information on the Metropolitan Police may be found via the Metropolitan Police web site or by writing to the Public Enquiries Desk, Directorate of Public Affairs and Internal Communications (DPA), New Scotland Yard, 8 - 10 Broadway, London SW1H 0BG.

1. The following sources were used in the preparation of this Administrative History: T.A. Crichley, A History of Police in England and Wales, 2nd ed. (London, 1978), pp. 37-38, 42-57; Department of the Environment, Transport and the Region's "London Governance" web site, "A Brief History of London Governance" page (http://www.detr.gov.uk/london/history.htm), consulted on 19 January 2000; Clive Emsley, The English Police: A Political and Social History (Hemel Hempstead, 1991), pp. 18-21, 23-30, 36, 38, 51; Norman Fairfax, From Quills to Computers: History of the Metropolitan Police Civil Staff 1829-1979 (London, n.d.: internally published within the Metropolitan Police), pp. 55-56, 83, 86-87, 90; Robert Fleming and Hugh Miller, Scotland Yard (London, 1994), pp. 359-363; Greater London Authority Act 1999, on-line copy (http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/19990029.htm#aofs), consulted on 19 January 2000; R. Hazell and Company, Police and Constabulary Almanac 1996 (Henley-on-Thames, 1996), pp. 23-41; Metropolitan Police web site (http://www.met.police.uk/), consulted on 14 July 1998; Metropolitan Police Orders for 20 March 1981 and 14 December 1990; Metropolitan Police Administration Reference Document of 8 January 1992; Metropolitan Police Notices for 1 July 1992 (26/92); Metropolitan Police, Receiver's Departments, Annual Reports for 1988-1990 and Business Plans for 1991-1993; Ian Oliver, Police, Government and Accountability, 2nd ed. (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997), pp. 85-93; Stanley H. Palmer, Police and Protest in England and Ireland 1780-1850 (Cambridge, 1988), pp. 76-78, 117-118, 143-147, 165, 292; Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide (Kew, 1996), Part 1: Administrative Histories, section 405.