Description
There was no effective police force in Rome, but the Emperor’s guard
protected the Emperor and stopped riots. The army acted as a police force in
the provinces of the Empire.
Laws were made by the Emperor and the Senate. They were written down in
detail, often updated and covered all aspects of crime.
Victims of crime had to collect evidence themselves and bring the accused to
court. They could hire trained lawyers if they could afford them. Juries decided
serious cases, judges less serious ones.
Punishments were harsh and often violent. Executions were common,
although noblemen were allowed to go into exile to escape execution. Prisons
were only used for debtors.
In the early Saxon period a wergild (blood price) was paid to the victim of
crime. Serious crimes were punished by death and frequent re-offenders were
mutilated or even executed. Under the Normans punishments became
harsher to emphasis the power of the king. Capital punishment was used for
many offences, including theft. The stocks, pillory and whipping were used for
minor crimes.
Trial by ordeal was introduced to establish a person’s guilt. For example the
accused had to plunge their hand into boiling oil to retrieve an object. If the
wound healed he was innocent, if it festered he was guilty!
Saxon Kings made laws on many issues which the Normans kept, but added
new laws such as forest laws
In the absence of a police force, the ‘hue and cry’ was issued, when victims of
crime called for assistance if a crime had been committed and the criminal had
fled the scene.
Many towns built Houses of Correction to punish and reform offenders. For
example in the late 1500s Bridewell was set up in London, where vagrants,
unmarried mothers and runaway apprentices were sent. They were whipped
and set to hard work.
Transportation was introduced. From the 1660s criminals were sent to the
American colonies
Laws were still made by the King or Queen, but increasingly they had to do so
with the involvement of parliament. Under the Tudors new laws were
introduced which included heavy fines for not attending church. Catholic
priests were accused of treason for trying to convert people to their faith.
There was still no regular police force in the country, so the Hue and cry was
still used to catch criminals. Thief catchers appear in the 1700s, who earned
their living from the rewards they received for bringing criminals to justice.
Vagrancy was thought to be a growing problem and punishments grew more
severe. Vagrants were frequently whipped and sent home.
The Bloody Code was gradually introduced over this period, and the number
of offences punishable by execution rose considerably due to a perception
that crime was on the increase. Horse-thieves and counterfeiters were just as
likely to go to the gallows as cold-blooded murderers.
There were a variety of courts. Royal judges visited countries to hear serious
cases at assizes. Justices of the Peace help sessions every 3 months and manor
courts dealt with local or minor crimes
The Habeas Corpus Act (meaning ‘you have the body’) was passed by
Parliament, stopping authorities from keeping people in prison without being
charged.
There was an increasingly wide range of laws. As governments became more
involved in every aspect of society, they made new criminal offences which
had not existed before, e.g. in 1870 it became compulsory to send children to
school. Parents were fined for not doing so.
The old system of unpaid constables was replaced by professional police
forces. By 1860 forces had been set up throughout the country. Detective
forces followed.
The system of trials was little changed from early modern times
The Bloody Code was abolished. Capital punishment was little used by 1900.
The only crimes punished by execution were murder and treason. The main
purpose of punishment was to punish and reform the criminal, not to warn
others away from crime. Therefore, punishments no longer took place in
public. Physical punishments such as whipping were abolished except in
prisons. Fines were a common punishment. Prison became the main form of
punishment with 90% of serious offenders sent to prison. Transportation was
seen as a middle punishment between execution and fines until prisons took
over. Transportation ended in 1868.
Sir Robert Peel set up the first police force in 1929. It served London but by
1856 forces had been set up nationwide
Capital punishment was abolished in 1965
Reforms of prisons were introduced. In 1907 probation was introduced.
Offenders had to report to a police officer regularly to avoid a prison sentence.
In 1967 parole was introduced, where prisoners could be let out early for good
behaviour. In the 1990s electronic tagging of offenders was introduced.
In 1908 an age of criminal responsibility was introduced, when a child could be
held responsible for his/her crime for the first time. It was set at seven then
raised until by 1969 it stood at fourteen
In the 1990s the government introduced a new measure for dealing with antisocial behaviour called ASBOs. These are now to be replaced with communitybased control measures nicknamed ‘CRIMBOs’ placing more power into the
hands of local residents in dealing with anti-social behaviour.
In 1901 the existence of blood groups was discovered and the first national
register of finger prints was set up. Methods of crime detection have
improved significantly with the development of forensics and DNA analysis.
Specialist crime squads have been formed to tackle new forms of criminal
activity. In 1919 the Flying Squad was formed to tackle serious armed crime.
1971 the Anti-Terrorist Squad was formed. In 2008 the Police National E-Crime
Unit was formed with powers to investigate computer-based criminal activity.
Community service introduced for minor offences
Recent statistics show that over 70% of criminals reoffend once they leave
prison. 636 murders committed in 2012, compared with 312 in 1900.