Charlies to Bobbies 149the functions of the parochial watch in each of the districts shall terminate
.... In the same way, as a little experience shall enable us to manage a
more numerous force of nightly police, I propose to signify to other
parishes from time to time that the police will take charge of them.^6
Once the Commissioners were ready to take over the policing of an area, a
notice was displayed on the parish church door, 'on 'Rvo Sundays previous to
the Day .. .' when the transition would take place.^7 On the day 'the Night
Watch and other Night Police appointed within any such Parish' were dis-
continued and all equipment belonging to the parish force given to the new
force.^8On 29 September 1829, the Metropolitan Police went on duty for the first
time in Westminster. Fittingly, StGeorge, Hanover Square, and StJames,
Piccadilly, where the eighteenth-century night watch had begun a century
earlier, were also where it came to an end. As shown on Map 9.1, the
expansion of the Metropolitan Police followed a pattern similar to that of
the spread of the night watch.^9 After Westminster, the Commissioners took
over the policing of the inner ring of parishes around the City of London,
including south of the river in January and February. In March, the outer
parishes, including several that are not shown here, completed the first
Metropolitan Police District.^10
The lack of specifics in the Metropolitan Police Act allowed Peel and
the Commissioners wide discretion to choose men, methods of organization,
and tactics to best accomplish their goal of preventing crinle. The Commis-
sioners articulated this goal in their 'General Instructions for the Police',
compiled for the use of the officers and men of the new force. The Instruc-
tions stated: 'It should be understood, at the outset, that the principal object
to be attained is 'the prevention of crime' .... The security of person and
property, the preservation of public tranquillity and all the other objects of
a Police Establishment will thus be better effected than by the detection
and punishment of the offender after he has succeeded in committing the
crime.'^11
The emphasis on prevention was evident in the hierarchy, the beat system,
and uniforms of the Metropolitan Police and reveal much drawn from the
experiences of parochial police. The Metropolitan Police district, like StMary-
lebone, was divided into divisions, eventually numbering 17. Each division
was marked into eight sections; each section contained eight beats. Each
division was staffed by a superintendent, four inspectors, 16 sergeants, and
144 constables. Eight constables walked the beats in a 12-hour shift while one
man was held in reserve at the station house.^12 The St Marylebone vestry