Charlies to Bobbies 163of StJames, Piccadilly, members of Parliament such as Sir Charles Whit-
worth, and magistrates such as Patrick Colquhoun and John Rawlinson, ·
turnpike trustees, and paving commissioners. These and other residents of
London became increasingly articulate and vocal about what kind of policing
they expected, and contributed to both the theory and reality of police
reform. Effective reforms, including the Metropolitan Police Act, were
built upon experience and developed by a cooperative process involving
the knowledge and expertise of magistrates, vestries, and other local
authorities, sometimes utilizing Parliament and, later, the Home Office as
resources.
Understanding that police reform and its process of adoption and adapta-
tion point to a re-evaluation of the Benthamite character of policing in
London and the creation of the Metropolitan Police specifically. Peel cer-
tainly was in contact with Jeremy Bentham in the 1820s and Edwin Chadwick
prepared a report for the 1828 Select Committee but did not finish it in time
to present it.^88 Like Patrick Colquhoun, Chadwick envisioned a centralized,
hierarchical police with a tremendous range of duties: 'A good police would
be one well-organised body of men acting upon a system of precautions, to
prevent crime and public calamities; to preserve public peace and order; and
to perform whatever other useful functions might be comprehended in their
duties without hindering the performance of the most important nature in
the best manner.'^89 The night watch of London, as developed in parishes like
St Marylebone and St James, Piccadilly, met all but one of these criteria by
the late eighteenth century. It was not one body but the emphasis on policing
as prevention developed long before the writings of Jeremy Bentham and
Patrick Colquhoun appeared. The need for hierarchical organization, with
structures designed to enhance accountability and impartiality, was recog-
nized and implemented at the local level in the context of the debates
concerning 'economical reform' and good government. By the 1820s, how-
ever, it was clear that there were problems of jurisdiction and communica-
tion that could be best solved by having 'one well-organised body' of police.
The creation of the Metropolitan Police was administratively a Bentharnite
reform in that it standardized disparate organizations, applied uniform
practice across the metropolis, and centralized police authority in the
hands of Commissioners directly responsible to the Home Secretary.
Bentharnism was an important part of the debate but was not the only
model or inspiration for reform available in the 1820s.
Local government leaders established professional, publicly funded night
watch systems for a variety of reasons. In Westminster and Oerkenwell,
establishing a night watch was sometimes part of wider power struggles
within localities between upper and middling rank residents. In the East
End and Southwark, the establishment of professional night watches was
part of the response to a range of urban street problems, including the need