| Thames River Police | |
|---|---|
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1800 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 1839 |
| Superseding agency | Metropolitan Police Service |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | River Thames and in its vicinity, England |
| General nature | |
The Thames River Police was formed in 1800 to tackle theft and looting from ships anchored in the Pool of London and in the lower reaches and docks of the Thames.[1] It replaced the Marine Police, a police force established in 1798 by magistrate Patrick Colquhoun and justice of the peace John Harriott that had been part funded by the West India Committee to protect trade between the West Indies and London.[2] It is claimed [by whom?] that the Marine Police was England's first ever police force.
The Thames River Police merged with the Metropolitan Police Service in 1839 with that nascent force instigated by Robert Peel. Its base was (and remains) in Wapping High Street. It has gradually evolved into the Marine Policing Unit.
- ^ David Wells; West India Committee (2017). The Thames River Police: Forefathers of Modern Policing (PDF). p. 22. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ David Wells & West India Committee 2017, p. 18,22.
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