By Emilia Stratford, author of Any Particular Evil
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the people of England value their individual freedoms fiercely. As such, the English resisted the formation of an organised police force throughout much of their history. Instead, they relied on a dubious system of local watchmen, constables, magistrates, and harsh punishments to prevent crime, apprehend criminals, and retrieve stolen goods.
After all, they had heard how the police force in nearby France had become a militant, authoritarian regime that oppressed the people and amounted to little more than a tool for state control. Their own law enforcement personnel did not help the cause, either, as the people were constantly reminded of the rampant corruption among thief-takers and public officials. (Look up Jonathan Wild, who served as Thief-Taker General from 1718 to 1725, and you’ll see what I mean…but that’s worth a post of its own.)
Added to these concerns were questions of funding. Taxes were already rising year over year, and many citizens felt they simply could not afford to pay for a police force—especially one that might infringe upon personal liberties, enforce arbitrary laws, or be governed by unprincipled men.
A New Idea in Law Enforcement
Enter Henry Fielding, a magistrate serving at Bow Street Magistrate’s Court and a man noted for his impartiality, incorruptibility, and compassion—not to mention his eye for detail and enthusiasm for gathering and keeping organised records. His efforts to regulate, formalise, and legalise the activities of thief-takers led to the creation of the now-infamous Bow Street Runners.
Beginning in 1749, this group of a half-dozen upright men served the court by executing writs—what we might now call warrants, subpoenas, and other court orders—and traveling hither and yon to apprehend offenders on the authority of the magistrates. Fielding would then have suspects brought to Bow Street for examination and commitment to trial. This was a boon to ordinary citizens, especially victims, who were often reluctant to arrest criminals themselves due to the dangers of retaliation and the high costs of prosecution, which victims were responsible for paying.
As time went by, the Runners came under the leadership of Henry’s brother, Sir John Fielding. Known as the Blind Beak of Bow Street, Sir John was said to have such keen hearing that he could recognise three thousand criminals by their voices. Sir John staffed the Bow Street offices with clerks who took witness statements and compiled the masses of information gathered by the Runners. This became the first rudimentary criminal database, allowing investigators to track patterns, link suspects to multiple crimes, and build stronger cases for prosecution.
Investigative Ingenuity
The Runners were known for their innovative investigative techniques. They conducted extensive interviews with witnesses and victims, obtaining descriptions of stolen goods, and creating profiles of suspects. They would then disseminate this information to the public, primarily by means of The People’s Hue & Cry, the official newspaper of the Bow Street Magistrate’s Office. This was particularly successful due to the rewards offered to the public for information leading to conviction.
Not only were the Runners skilled in surveillance, including undercover activity, their sharp observation skills were also put to work at crime scenes, where the Runners conducted some of the earliest forensic investigations. They examined each site systematically, searching for clues such as items left behind, footprints, indications of weapons used, or patterns in the perpetrator’s behaviour.
Bow Street also collaborated with local magistrates, constables, and jailers across different jurisdictions, sharing information about crimes and criminals and engaging them to track fugitives or stolen goods in their territories. This cooperative approach allowed the Runners, whose numbers averaged only a dozen men at any given time, to effectively and efficiently foil villains throughout England.
Informants and the Criminal Underworld
The Runners cultivated relationships with informants, often members of the criminal underworld or those who frequented the taverns, docks, and marketplaces where illicit activity was common. These informants provided critical intelligence, such as the whereabouts of wanted persons, the locations of fencing operations, and even tips about upcoming crimes. These helpful folk didn’t provide such assistance out of the goodness of their hearts, of course. Rather, depending on the value of their information, they were given a monetary payment or leniency for their own larcenous behaviour.
Rewards, Bounties, Stipends, and Fees
As public funding for policing was scarce, the Runners relied on several small sources of revenue. Their pay was inconsistent at best. Most commonly, victims or petitioners paid fees to the magistrate’s court to engage a Runner for their case. When they captured a criminal who was successfully convicted, the government paid the Runner a reward. For certain crimes, such as highway robbery, forgery, or murder, the bounty could amount to several months’ wages for a common labourer. Rewards for recovered property were also expected, but these depended on the willingness of the victim to make recompense.
Critics claimed that this financial model led some Runners to prioritise lucrative cases over less profitable ones, thus depriving the less wealthy of the justice they sought. Bow Street Runners have been likened to freelance detectives, earning income based on their performance and the circumstances of each case. One upside to this system was that it incentivised skill improvement, as their livelihoods depended on solving crimes and securing convictions.
Even when Sir John eventually secured government funding for his Runners, the allowance only provided a small stipend, insufficient to cover their basic expenses. It would be many decades before government salaries became the norm, ensuring greater impartiality and financial stability for law enforcement officers.
An Eventual Decline
As crime networks grew more sophisticated and expanded beyond London, the Runners’ limited jurisdiction became a severe disadvantage. Their small, localised band of detectives struggled to address the surge of malfeasance spreading across England.
As the government’s reward system incentivised convictions, accusations began to crop up that the Runners sometimes framed suspects in order to benefit financially. As such rumours mounted, their reputation for integrity and moral rectitude took a blow, especially as there was quite literally another sheriff in town, and this one touted the ideals of fairness and impartiality.
The Rise of the Metropolitan Police
Founded in 1829, the Metropolitan Police provided a fully organised, centrally managed, uniformed police force for London and beyond. Funded by the government, officers no longer relied chiefly on income from thief-taking rewards. Though such rewards continued to exist in some form for several more years, they were no longer an essential source of income. Earning a living wage, modest though it was, ensured that officers were no longer tempted to pursue more lucrative cases to the detriment of the cause of justice.
While some Runners balked at the rigid chain of command and expectation of conformity required by the Metropolitan Police, many embraced the new structure. Their skills in criminal investigation, surveillance, and record-keeping aligned well with the needs of the new police force, and their intimate knowledge of London’s criminal underworld made former Runners particularly valuable during the new force’s early years.
The Metropolitan Police would eventually grow to employ thousands of officers patrolling every part of London. Its establishment marked the end of an era, but the techniques and innovations pioneered by the Bow Street Runners had a lasting legacy, laying the foundation for modern law enforcement.
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Image Sources:
Dandy PickPockets Diving: Scene Near St. James Palace, by Isaac Robert Cruikshank
Henry Fielding
Sir John Fielding, by Nathaniel Hone the Elder - National Portrait Gallery
Dr. Syntax stopped by Highwaymen, engraving by Thomas Rowlandson
The Red Animal Story Book plate
The Writings of Charles Dickens volume 4, Oliver Twist, titled 'Oliver wait on by Bow Street Runners'
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