Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/357

Rh POLICE 341 police establishment, subject, however, to the power by the queen in council to require the justices to form separate police districts, as provided for in the earlier Acts. The privy council might arrange terms of consolidation of a borough police with the county. In 1869 provision was made for the abolition of the old office of high constable (the High Constables Act, 1869); and, the establishment of an efficient police having also rendered the general appointment of parish constables unnecessary, the appointment ceased, subject to the appointment by vestries of paid constables who are subject to the chief constable of the county (the Parish Constables Act, 1872). Thus under combined provisions the police system was established and has since continued through out England. Stland. I 1 Scotland legislation for a system of police began early in the century by local Acts for Edinburgh and Glasgow, some con taining provisions of great importance. The police of towns and populous places is now regulated chiefly by the General Police and Improvement (Scotland) Act, 1862, and the county police by an Act of 1857 (20 & 21 Viet. c. 72), under which counties are formed into police districts. Some details of the government, numbers, and cost have been already given. inncl. The police in Ireland comprises two forces, the Dublin metro politan police and the royal Irish constabulary. Dublin was in 1808 formed into a district called &quot;the police district of Dublin metropolis &quot; (-18 Geo. III. c. 140). After intermediate amendments in 1836, concurrently with the consolidation of police law for Ireland generally, the Dublin system was placed on the lines of Sir Robert Peel s Act of 1829 for the metropolis of London, the chief secretary of the lord lieutenant standing in the place of the secretary of state for the home department (6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 29); and six years later the systems were further assimilated (5 & 6 Viet. c. 22). Several alterations were made subsequently, and police courts regulated. The Dublin police is under the imme diate direction of one commissioner and an assistant commis sioner and the offices of receiver and secretary are consolidated. The royal Irish constabulary dates from 1836, when the laws re lating to the constabulary force in Ireland were consolidated and a number of older Acts repealed (6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 13). This Act, although often amended, is the foundation of the existing police system in counties, towns, and baronies throughout Ireland except in the Dublin metropolitan district. An inspector general, resident in Dublin and having an oflice there, and appointed by the lord lieutenant, has the general direction of the constabulary, and with the approbation of the lord lieutenant frames rules for their general government, classification, and distribution. In this way a uniform administration of police law prevails throughout Ireland without interfering with the Dublin metropolitan police. Under the inspector general there are a deputy inspector general and assistant inspectors general. The Irish constabulary is regarded as a semi-military force. Every man lives in barracks. It does not interfere with the Dublin metropolitan police, but a reserve force is established at a depot in Dublin. The strength and pay of the force have been already noticed. &amp;gt;rHh Police forces have been formed in all the British colonies, includ- W ies. ing the Dominion of Canada, mainly on the lines established in the mother country, having for their basis of action the common law existing there. The early legislation for Sydney followed very closely the metropolitan police Acts, and some of the existing Acts of the Australian colonies exhibit great skill. Colonial forces generally are sworn to serve the queen, and an Act of the colonial legis lature of New South Wales in 1853 made provision for the engage ment in Great Britain of persons to serve in the police force of New South Wales. The general features of the Australian police comprise a chief commissioner or other head for each colony or district, appointed by the governor in council, with various grades of officers as at homo, some appointed by the governor and the rest by the head of the police. The expense of the police establish ments is borne by the colonial revenue (5 & 6 Viet. c. 76, 46 ; 13 & 14 Viet. c. 59, 23). I riih Nearly the whole of British India is divided into police districts, I Q &quot;. the general arrangements of the system of the regular police re sembling in most respects those of the English police, but differing in details in the different presidencies. All are in uniform, trained to the use of firearms, and drilled, and may be called upon to perform military duties. The superior officers are nearly all Europeans, and many of them are military officers. The rest are natives, in Bombay chiefly Mohammedans. The organization of the police was not dealt with by the criminal code whicl- came into force in 1883, but the code is full of provisions tending to make the force efficient. By that code as well as by the former code the police have a legal sanction for doing what by practice they do in England: they take evidence for their own information and guidance in the investigation of cases, and are clothed with the power to compel the attendance of witnesses and question them. The smallness of the number of the European magistrates and other circumstances make the police more important and relatively far more powerful in India than in England (Stephen). The difficulties in the way of ascertaining the truth, and investigating false statements and suppressed cases, are very great. As regards the rural police of India every village headman, and the village watchman as well as the village police officer, are required by the code to communicate to the nearest magistrate or the officer in charge of the nearest police station, whichever is nearest, any information respecting offenders. Ueports indicating an increase in the number of dacoities and crimes of violence since 1880, especially in Rajputana, Central India, and Hyderabad, are cited as proving the necessity for a system of detective police embracing the whole of India. A scheme for that purpose has been matured and will probably be carried out. Taking Lower Bengal as an illustration of the existing system throughout India, the superior ranks of the police comprise an inspector general, deputies, district superintendents of different grades, assistant superintendents, and probationers. The subor dinate officers consist of inspectors of four grades, sub-inspectors (who are in charge of police stations), head constables, and con stables. The total budget grant for the year 1881-82 (the last examined) for the police department was 3,695,572 rupees, on a sanctioned strength of 78 superior officers, 3081 subordinate officers, and 14,588 constables, excluding the municipal police but including the civil police and frontier police of the Chittagong hill tracts and the railway police. The strength of the municipal police was 371 officers and 5702 constables. The cost of the force employed on purely police work was 2,154,600 rupees, the cost per head of the total population being 6 2 pice. The proportion of police to popu lation was in Bengal proper 1 to 3933. The number of offences reported during the year was 104,153. The percentage of reported cases not inquired into is under four. In India generally, including Assam and British Burmah, the total regular police of all kinds in 1881 was 147,200. The cost was 2,324,786, of which 2,075,525 was payable from imperial or provincial revenues, and the remainder from other sources. The rural police are not paid by the state, but by village cesses. In Bengal and the Punjab there are 14 policemen to every 100 square miles, and in the North-Western Provinces and Oudh 27. The ratio of these figures is explained partly by the greater density of population and partly by the frequency of crijne. The police force of the British empire, metropolitan, municipal, Total and rural together, is about 210,000. Of this total, 51,000 are in force of the United Kingdom and 147,000 in India, the remainder being British in the colonies and dependencies. If to this total be added the empire, number of village police in India who are legally recognized, whose number is not less than 350,000, the grand &quot;total of the police for the empire is 560,000. Thus we have for the whole empire an average of one policeman to every 571 of the people and to every 16 square miles (Sir Richard Temple). The United States of America have a system of police closely United resembling that of England, and founded similarly on Acts of the States, legislature combined with the common law applicable to peace officers. Congress as well as the States separately may establish police regulations, and it is to be observed that the criminal law of England has been reproduced in various shapes in nearly all the States. The source of revenue for the maintenance of the police is taxation of real and personal property. Every State and every city in a State has its separate special administration. For the pur poses of this article New York must suffice. The regulations of the police of Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and other cities present the same general features. The police department of the city of New York consists of a &quot;board of police&quot; composed of four &quot;commissioners&quot; (appointed by the mayor with the consent of the board of aldermen) and the &quot; police force&quot; and officers appointed by the board. The board, consisting of the commissioners, is the head of the police depart ment, and governs and controls its business ; it is invested with and exercises all the powers conferred by law upon the police department, makes appointments, and by rules and regulations through a superintendent prescribes the general discipline of the department. The orders cannot, however, conflict with the consti tution of the United States nor with the constitution or laws of the State of New York. The police force of the city comprises officers ranking as follows : superintendent of the whole force, four inspectors (the whole area of the city being divided into four inspection districts, subdivided into precincts, with an inspector to each), sergeants, and roundsmen, who are visiting officers, the body of the force being termed &quot;patrol men,&quot; with &quot; overmen &quot; at stations and prisons. The force (clothed in uniform) is divided into as many companies as there are precincts, and such other companies and &quot;squads&quot; as