Metropolitan Police District
| Metropolitan Police District | |
|---|---|
| police area | |
.svg) Metropolitan Police District and English police areas (City of London police area not shown) |
|
| Status | Police area |
| Established | 1829 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,578 km2 (609 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 8,000,000 |
| • Density | 5,100/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
| Police | Metropolitan Police Service |
The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the police area which is policed by the Metropolitan Police Service in London. It currently consists of the Greater London region, excluding the City of London. The Metropolitan Police District was created by the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 as an ad hoc area of administration because the built-up area of London spread at the time into many parishes and counties without an established boundary. The district expanded as the built up area grew and stretched some distance into rural land. When county police were set up in England the forces of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey did not include those parts of the counties within the MPD and Middlesex did not have a county force. Similarly, boroughs in the MPD that elsewhere would have been entitled to their own police force did not have them.
The MPD was originally defined in reference to civil parishes and in 1946 was altered to correspond to local government districts. The MPD has been used for other purposes during its existence, such as the boundary for coal tax and as a 'Greater London' statistical unit. When the ceremonial county of Greater London was officially created in 1965, the MPD was expanded and some areas that did not become part of Greater London continued to be within it. In 2000 the outer boundary of the MPD was retracted to coincide with the County of Greater London and the neighbouring county forces then became responsible for those areas outside Greater London. The MPD now consists of the 32 boroughs of the County of Greater London (including the City of Westminster), while the Greater London region's 33rd district – the City of London – is served by the City of London Police.
The Metropolitan Police District was defined in the schedule of the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 as an approximately circular area within a seven-mile (11-kilometre) radius of Charing Cross, which was divided into four districts and 17 police divisions.
It consisted of parts of:
There have been numerous changes to the boundaries of the MPD, and of the divisions therein. The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 recognised that the "boundary is... very irregular" and made it lawful to add any place in the Central Criminal Court District and also "any part of any parish, township, precinct or place" not more than 15 miles (24 km) from Charing Cross. The enlarged district encompassed the metropolitan area and some parts of Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica notes that it included "those civil parishes [...] of which any part is within twelve miles (19 km) of, or of which no part is more than fifteen miles (24 km) from, Charing Cross".
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