Bobbies

Prior to the formation of professional police forces in the UK, law and order was dealt with at a local community level by a few trusted volunteers and some paid nightwatchmen. With the increase in the population during the Industrial Revolution, this became inadequate.

The City of Glasgow Police, established in 1800, was the first organised police body in the UK. Following this, Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), who was Home Secretary twice and Prime Minister twice, assisted with the setting up of the Irish Constabulary in 1816 and, most famously, the Metropolitan Police in London in 1829. This is the origin of the first slang terms for the police ~ ‘the Peelers’ or ‘Bobbies‘ ~ both derived from his name.

Peel ensured that the aim of the police was to reduce incidents of crime, rather than to reach a target number of arrests. By the middle of the 19th century, there were police forces all over the UK. Today, there are thirty-nine in England, four in Wales, one in Northern Ireland and one in Scotland, plus four specialist forces. There are also many other nicknames for the police, including: coppers, the cops, the fuzz, old Bill, the rozzers, the boys in blue and Mr. Plod.

(Image: Richard Croft at geograph.org.uk / CC BY-SA 2.0)