I have, at long last, returned to my project of searching
early editions of Police Review & Parade Gossip for items relating to the Rail,
Dock and Canal (RDC) Policing. I have
run into a couple of years where the index (which was compiled at the end of
end calendar year) is missing which means I have had no choice but to go
through every page of every edition.
Police Review was a weekly publication that described itself as ‘The
Organ of the British Constabulary’. It provides
a valuable insight into the issues that concerned police officers and the
public.
So, what were the big questions of the early Edwardian period? Well, questions of law make a frequent appearance
together with operational demands. The
delay to the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902 (he was ill) led to a lot of
operational angst. Even today mutual aid
brings challenges but imagine what it was like when there were 243 forces (i)
covering England, Scotland and Wales.
Assaults on officers were at a very high rate. Police Review had a weekly item entitled ‘Brutal
Assaults’ - some of them were very
brutal indeed and the penalties imposed by the courts seem mild by today’s
standards. There are frequent references
to the suicide of officers and former officers.
Reading accounts of these tragedies reminds me that it is only now 120
years later, that this issue is being taken seriously and that we have a long
way to go before the problem receives the full attention it deserves. In the period under review unsuccessful
suicide attempts often resulted in an appearance in court and a consequent loss
of position. This is a whole area that
is worthy of research.
Police misconduct pops up in most issues (see my recent blog
on the railway policeman convicted of fraud) and there are lengthy debates
about the fairness, or otherwise of promotion to senior posts. In 1903 many column inches are devoted to the
dispute surrounding the pension owed to the Commissioner of the City of London from
his former force (Liverpool)(ii)
For the whole time of its publication Police Review included
hints about passing promotion exams. The
test questions on arithmetic and spelling are too hard for me and, I suspect,
that many of my contemporaries would struggle as well.
For front line officers (who ALWAYS used a pseudonym when
writing to the magazine) the biggest of issues were those connected with pay
and conditions. With so many forces
there were plenty of opportunities for comparisons of conditions with many a
vexed observation on the varying qualities of leadership. From 1903 onwards there was an increasing
demand for a day off a week but it was to be several years before this became
standard practice. At the start of the
Great War some forces (including many railway ones) revoked the weekly rest day
and officers were required to work a seven day week, of, mostly, 12 hour shifts.
In the Summer of 1903 two, very similar, letters appear in
Police Review from railway policemen of different forces (Midland and Great
Northern). Both complain about their
conditions of employment and rates of pay.
They point to a starting wage of 22 or 23 shillings (£1.10p) a week
before deductions for 7 days (no rest day) of 12 hours per day or longer (iii). They also point to the dangers they faced
including violence and the risk of being struck by moving trains. One of the correspondents makes reference to
the murders of Kidd in 1895 and Hibbs in 1901 and questions the commitment of senior
officers to provide them with any protection.
From these and other letters it is clear that some railway forces issued
officers with truncheons and that others had ceased to do so. The
officers speak of high numbers of resignations (an issue that attracts the
attention of BTP in the modern era), and the struggles they faced in a period
of rising crime. One of the officers
complains bitterly of bullying by supervisory and senior officers (“We are
bullied like beasts”) and the existence of favouritism. (iv)
The language of 1903 can seem a little formal to the modern
eye, conditioned as we are by the world of computer based applications. But many of the issues would be familiar to serving
and retired officers today.
I will post several short items relating to stories relevant
to RDC policing in this period, over the next few days.
Phil Trendall
October 2023
NOTES
(ii)
William Nott-Bower held senior positions in the
Royal Irish Constabulary and in Leeds before becoming Head Constable of
Liverpool. He was later appointed to be
Commissioner of Police for the City of London (1902-1925). His son, John Nott-Bower was Commissioner of
Police of the Metropolis in the 1950s.
(iii)
At this time the position of Chief of the Great
Northern Railway Police (GNR) was advertised at £600 per year – it attracted
400 applicants
(iv)
Police Review and Parade Gossip 24 Jul 1903 P353
and 07 Aug 1903 P382
October 2023
Comments
Post a Comment