Detective Branch of the Metropolitan Police formed

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Domains

Policing and Surveillance

Dates

Date of occurrence 1842

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

The establishment of the Metropolitan Police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829 had proved successful, so in 1842 the first Detective Branch was created with the purpose of preventing crime rather than undertaking post factum investigations. Two detectives were attached to each division of the force and two inspectors and six sergeants were established at Scotland Yard. In the event, the detectives' success in tracking down murders, and especially in the Manning case in 1850, changed public perceptions and their mode became forensic.

Detectives soon began to appear in fiction, Dickens' Inspector Bucket in Bleak House (1852) and Wilkie Collins's Serjeant Cuff in The Moonstone (1868) being two famous examples. …

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170 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Detective Branch of the Metropolitan Police formed". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 December 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5480, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Detective Branch of the Metropolitan Police formed

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