Bow Street Runners

Bow Street Runners

"Oliver waited on by Bow Street Runners", an engraving in The Writings of Charles Dickens, volume 4, Oliver Twist
Named after	Bow Street Magistrates' Court
Predecessor	Thief-takers
Successor	Metropolitan Police
Formation	1749
Founder	Henry Fielding, John Fielding
Founded at	Bow Street Magistrates' Court, Bow Street, Covent Garden, Westminster, London, England, Kingdom of Great Britain
Dissolved	1839
Headquarters	Bow Street Magistrates' Court, Bow Street, Covent Garden, Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom
Methods	Arrest, apprehension, conviction
Magistrate	Henry Fielding
Magistrate	Sir John Fielding
Parent organization	British Crown Court

The Bow Street Runners were the law enforcement officers of the Bow Street Magistrates' Court in the City of Westminster. They have been called London's first professional police force. The force originally numbered six men and was founded in 1749 by magistrate Henry Fielding, who was also well known as an author.^[1] His assistant, brother, and successor as magistrate, John Fielding, moulded the constables into a professional and effective force. Bow Street Runners was the public's nickname for the officers although the officers did not use the term themselves and considered it derogatory.^[2] The group was disbanded in 1839 and its personnel merged with the Metropolitan Police, which had been formed ten years earlier.