Night Watch to Police, 1811-28 123The magistrate is at present an officer intrusted [sic] on the one hand, with
the power of preserving the public peace, and enquiring into all matters
involving a breach of it, which may be called his inquisitorial duties; and, on
the other, with a summary power, not only of investigating, but of adjud-
icating, in a great variety of petty offenses ... and these may be called his
judicial duties. There seems to be no essential necessity, or even propriety,
in this union of functions.^104The Clerkenwelllegal opinion implied that the Acts empowering the commis-
sioners to police their jurisdiction gave them primary responsibility for admin-
istering the work of the constables and therefore law enforcement, leaving
judgement for the magistrates.^105 The full effect of the Clerkenwell legal
opinion was never tested because the Metropolitan Police watched Clerken-
well after 1830. It is, however, another illustration of the active role played by
local authorities in furthering the development of the theory and the practice
of policing. This case also highlights that reform at the local level did have its
limits. The problems of competing jurisdictions or the role of magistrates were
issues that could not be solved by local authorities. As police magistrates and
their officers came into increasing conflict with local authorities, this enhanced
the position of reformers like Robert Peel who argued for centralization as the
next logical step towards the goal of an effective police system.
Another change of language after 1815 gives evidence of the level of
professionalism that local law enforcement had reached - the night watch
was increasingly referred to as 'the Police'. A differentiation was made
between 'the general Police', which included the regulation of pubs and
prisons, and the police forces, intended to prevent and detect crime at
local and metropolitan Ievels.^106 But in December 1817, a Shoreditch parish
meeting was held to consider the watch and 'the Defective State of the Police
of the Parish'.^107 In 1828, the St Luke, Old Street, Lighting and Watchin§
'llustees used the phrase 'Police department' in reference to their watch.^10
In 1828, when Robert Peel called for his second Select Committee on the
Police of the Metropolis, the major focus on that Committee's inquiries was
on the parish forces. What had been the night watch in 1812 had become the
police of the metropolis by 1828.
The years from 1815 to 1828 saw the widespread acceptance of professional
policing in London. Rising crime rates and post-war disorder convinced
many that the accountability and impartiality of professional policing was
preferable to the uncertain, politically partisan efforts of amateurs, especially
conservatives, like Lord Sidmouth. As a police magistrate, echoing Adam
Smith, explained in 1821: