112 Before the BobbiesBy 1815, Home Secretary Lord Sidmouth commanded approximately 250
men for policing London, in five different services. Eighty-four men served
as constables at the police offices, 68 served in the Foot Patrol, 60 formed the
Thames River Police, 40 patrolled the outer highways as the Horse Patrol,
and six officers were retained at Bow Street. 51 Sidmouth was responsible for
the appointment of police magistrates and his correspondence contains
letters from many office-seekers.^52 Sidmouth's growing interest in profes-
sionalism was evident in the policy he established requiring that police
magistrates be knowledgeable of the law. In 1815, Sidmouth was writing to
hopeful applicants that he would only appoint as police magistrates 'those,
who have been bred up to the Profession of the Law, and called to the Bar'.^53
Sidmouth also turned his attention to the constables and other officers
under Home Office control to confront charges of inefficiency and corrup-
tion. The Gentleman's Magazine reported in 1816:
Long investigations have taken place at Bow-street, lately, to sift out a
conspiracy of a novel and most atrocious description. Vaughan, the Bow-
street patrole, is charged with employing four others to entice young
thieves to commit burglaries; and after arranging the plan, Vaughan lies
in wait to apprehend them, in order that they may be brought to trial and
convicted, and he and his accomplices share the 401. per man conviction
money.
Vaughan and two of his accomplices were convicted and sentenced to five
years' imprisonment each; Vaughan was also fined £80.^54 Sidmouth's
responses resemble those seen in the parishes and were likewise intended
to increase police efficiency by closer supervision of personnel, stricter hiring
standards, increased numbers, and improved pay. In 1818, a supervisory
officer was hired to oversee the Bow Street Foot Patrol. Minimum standards
for age and height were set-a man had to be under 35 years old and Sft Sin
or more and preference was given to military veterans. The Horse Patrol was
increased from a force of 40 to 72 by 1821.^55 In 1820, Lord Sidmouth
requested that the police magistrates send
such Observations & Suggestions, as may ... be calculated to give
encreased [sic] Efficiency to the Civil Authorities in putting a Stop to
those Depredations and Outrages which are now prevalent, to an un-
exampled degree in the Streets of the Metropolis. 56Like the 1818 Select Committee Report, the magistrates focused on property
crime, primarily theft. They too were conscious of budgetary constraints,
more than one commenting that their particular suggestions were offered
because they would not entail any substantial cost.
The most common suggestions were for an increase in the number of
police constables, better pay, discretionary rewards, and wider powers of