Metropolitan Police Act 1829
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| Citation | 44 |
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| Introduced by | Robert Peel |
| Territorial extent | London |
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Status: Unknown
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The Metropolitan Police Act 1829 (10 Geo.4, C.44) was an Act of Parliament introduced by Sir Robert Peel. The Act established the Metropolitan Police of London (with the exception of the City), replacing the previously disorganized system of parish constables and watchmen. The Act was the enabling legislation for what is often considered to be the first modern police force, the "bobbies" or "peelers" (after Peel), which served as the model for modern urban police departments throughout England. Until the 1829 Act, the Statute of Winchester of 1285 was cited as the primary legislation regulating the policing of the country since the Norman Conquest.
It is one of the Metropolitan Police Acts 1829 to 1895.
Section 1 of the Act established a Police Office for the Metropolis, to be under two commissioners who were to be Justices of the Peace.
Section 4, constituted the Metropolitan Police District (MPD) from the Liberty of Westminster and parts of the counties of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent, and stated that "a sufficient number of fit and able men shall from time to time, by the direction of His Majesty's Secretaries of State, be appointed as a Police Force for the whole of such district ..." The constables were to have power not only within the MPD, but also throughout Middlesex, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Essex and Kent.
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