Policing in England and Wales, 1918–39: The Fed, Flying Squads and Forensics PDF
Preview Policing in England and Wales, 1918–39: The Fed, Flying Squads and Forensics
POLICING IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1918–39 THE FED, FLYING SQUADS AND FORENSICS KEITH LAYBOURN AND DAVID TAYLOR Policing in England and Wales, 1918–39 AlsobyKeithLaybourn BRITAINONTHEBREADLINE BRITAIN’SFIRSTLABOURGOVERNMENT(Co-authoredwithJohnShepherd) AlsobyDavidTaylor HOOLIGANS,HARLOTSANDHANGMEN POLICINGTHEVICTORIANTOWN ThedevelopmentofthepoliceinMiddlesbroughc.1840–1914 Policing in England and Wales, 1918–39 The Fed, Flying Squads and Forensics Keith Laybourn ProfessorofHistory,UniversityofHuddersfield,UK David Taylor EmeritusProfessorofHistory,UniversityofHuddersfield,UK Palgrave macmillan ©KeithLaybournandDavidTaylor2011 Softcoverreprintofthehardcover1stedition2011978-0-230-23245-7 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6-10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorshaveassertedtheirrightstobeidentified astheauthorsofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2011by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN978-1-349-31275-7 ISBN978-0-230-30598-4(eBook) DOI10.1057/9780230305984 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress. Dedicated to Julia and Thelma Contents ListofIllustrationsandTables viii Acknowledgements x Abbreviations xii 1 Introduction 1 Part 1 TheProblemofPublicOrderandthe ProfessionalisationofthePolice 2 PoliceTradeUnionismandtheFederation 13 3 PolicingPublicOrderintheInter-warYears 49 4 DetectiveandScientificWork:ANewVista 81 Part 2 TheProphecyofNahum:MotorVehicles,the PoliceandthePublicinInter-warBritain 5 ‘AMereTrafficSignallingDevice’?TheDebateonPolicing andTrafficControl 107 6 ThePoliceandthePracticalitiesofTrafficManagement 135 7 MotoringOffencesandtheEnforcementoftheLaw 151 8 Cars,CrimeandCoppers:Combatingthe‘Smashand Grab’Raider 186 9 Conclusion 208 Notes 211 Bibliography 243 Index 249 vii List of Illustrations and Tables Illustrations Front cover photograph is of the Lancashire Flying Squad in 1933. There are 14 MG Mag(n)ettes on display (Lancashire County Police, permissiongivenbytheLancashireCountyRecordsOffice,Preston). Tables 1.1 Selectedpolicestatistics:countyandboroughforcesin EnglandandWales(excludingLondon)1919–39 5 1.2 Distributionbysize(authorisedstrength)ofpolice forcesinEnglandandWales,1919,1929and1939 (excludingLondon) 8 2.1 Thewarrecordofthedismissedpolicemen:menwitha militaryornavalrecord 31 3.1 Removedandcautionedmagistratesasaresultofthe GeneralStrike 66 3.2 Totalnumberofmagistratesnamedasexaminedinthe HomeOfficefiles 68 3.3 ProsecutionsarisingfromtheGeneralStrike 73 3.4 ProsecutionsconnectedwiththeGeneralStrikeand coallock-out1May1926to19December1926 74 4.1 Returnsoncasesinvolvingforensicscienceand detectiveworkfor1939 102 P2.1 MotorvehiclesinuseinBritain,1919–38(000s) 105 5.1 Primecausesoffatalstreetaccidents 132 6.1 HomeOfficeExperimentalMotorPatrolScheme 148 7.1 Selectedoffences(permillionofpopulation) 152 7.2 Selectedtrafficoffences,1934–38(bycategoryofroad user) 152 7.3 Convictionsandpunishmentsfortrafficoffencesfor selectedgroups,1934–38 153 7.4 Numbersimprisonedfortrafficoffences,1934–38 154 7.5 Speedingoffences,1931–38 158 viii ListofIllustrationsandTables ix 7.6 Seriousmotoringoffences,1931–38 161 7.7 Manslaughter(motoring)outcomes,1930–38 163 7.8 Trafficoffences,Leeds,1937and1938 172 7.9 Prosecutionrates(per000,000population)forserious motoringoffencesinselectedtownsandcitiesin Lancashireinthe1930s 176 7.10 Prosecutionrates(per000,000population)forserious motoringoffencesinselectedtownsandcitiesinthe WestRidingofYorkshireinthe1930s 177 7.11 Failuretostopandinsuranceoffences,1931–38 180 7.12 Prosecutionsforneglectoftrafficdirections,1935–38 180 7.13 Mechanicaloffences,1931–38 181 8.1 Motorvehicletheftsreportedtothepolice,1921–27 198 8.2 MotorvehicletheftsandrecoveriesinLondon,1924–38 199 8.3 Takingmotorvehicleswithoutowner’sconsent, 1931–34 200 Acknowledgements Any academic journey inevitably entails great debts to others and it is impossibletopaytoofulsomeatributetothemanyindividuals,library staffandinstitutionswhohavecontributedtothisbook.Ourcolleagues, andformercolleagues,attheUniversityofHuddersfieldprovidedmuch academicadviceandfriendship,andweshouldparticularlyliketothank Paul Ward, Philip Woodfine, Bill Stafford, Tim Thornton, Barry Doyle andSarahBastowfortheimmensehelpthattheyhavegivenusduring the research and writing of this book. The University of Huddersfield also enabled us to more easily gather the records of police together in digital form through the work of Neil Pye, a PhD research student at Huddersfield. Clive Emsley, Chris A. Williams and various anonymous reviewers have also been invaluable guides as this book has evolved from ‘Citizens in Uniform’ into its present form and title. More gen- erallyweweresupportedbyMikeRuss,DeanoftheSchoolofMusicand Humanities,andProfessorJohnShepherdwhohasrecentlybecomean HonoraryProfessoratHuddersfield. We owe a particular gratitude to the various archivists and librari- ans who have provided us with help in our research. Above all, we mustthankDuncanBroady,MuseumCuratoroftheGreaterManchester PoliceMuseumandArchive,whoseimmenseknowledgeofthenuances of police history guided us to some significant developments in the process of measuring the professionalisation of policing in the inter- war years. In addition, we would like to thank the staff of the Birmingham Archives and Heritage section of Birmingham Central Library,LancashireRecordOfficeatPreston(particularlyBruceJackson and David Tilsley), the Liverpool Record Office and the West Yorkshire ArchivesService.Themajorityoftheprimarymaterialwasdrawnfrom the National Archives at Kew who gave us permission to quote from theirmanuscriptcollection.WewouldalsoliketothanktheIntellectual PropertysectionoftheMetropolitanPoliceforpermissiontousesome of the Metropolitan Police (MEPO) files. We also thank the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (Norwich) for permission to quote fromCrownCopyrightmaterial.Alsowewouldliketoacknowledgethe Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary for permission to use the x
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