| AdminHistory | The Watch Committee was appointed in August 1842 to co-ordinate the police force in Birmingham. There was no formal police force before this date. In 1838 there were just a few watchmen under the administration of the Street Commissioners. Their function was to patrol at night with the arrest of criminals being left to the parish constable.
The Chartist riots that followed Incorporation exposed the fragility of the situation. In 1842 control of the police force was given to the borough once the unrest had died down. Three divisions were created in the town, with one centred on New Street, another at Sand Pitts and a third at Staniforth Street, giving a combined strength of one chief Superintendent, one Sub-Intendant, five Inspectors, five Sub-Inspectors, 20 Sergeants and 300 Constables. The decision was also made to retain the police stations, section house and offices in Waterloo Street (headquarters), Sand Pitts, Bath Row, Staniforth Street, New Street, Cardigan Street and Crooked Lane. There was also a lock-up and offices in Moor Street, as the Police acted as the borough gaolers.
The later 1840s saw increasing government legislation which impacted on the police, either directly, or as a support to the Inspector of Nuisances. In 1845, it was decided to build a new prison at Winson Green, as Moor Street was incapable of being any more than a holding gaol for assize cases. In 1847, the Town Police Clauses Act brought in powers not only on internal issues, but regulating hackney carriages, animals, temporary road closures, obstructions and nuisances, fire control, shops and other premises. This was followed by the Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Act, 1848. In 1851, the Improvement Act now meant the police now had enhanced powers to inspect meat, foodstuffs and slaughterhouses.
The County and Borough Police Act, 1856, made it compulsory for police forces to be set up in counties and boroughs, and established a national inspectorate for all police forces. Further, it enabled the Treasury, on certification by the inspectorate, to pay half of the costs of running a local police force. New police stations were opened in Ladywood Lane, Kenyon Street, Bradford Street and Duke Street, and the headquarters had moved to Moor Street. By 1870, the force had some 400 constables.
By 1873, on the recommendation of the Fire Brigade Committee, its management was transferred to the Council. The Council leased a property in Cannon Street for a fire house and also stationed a fire engine at each police station, with its own staff of attendants. After the Prisons Act, 1877, the tenure of the Watch Committee as the prison authority ended, as the prisons were transferred to the Secretary of State and the Prison Commissioners. In 1879 the Fire Brigade was separated from the Police, though still controlled overall by the Watch Committee.
By 1883, the police force had been enlarged again and new stations were built at Nechells Place, Coventry Road, Moseley Street and Dudley Road. The Central Fire Station had also been moved to Upper Priory. In 1891, there was a reorganisation of the new five police districts and an increase of officers and the Extension Bill brought Saltley, Harborne, Balsall Heath and Little Bromwich under jurisdiction of Birmingham Council's Watch Committee.
The police's increasing workload due to national and local legislation was evident when in March 1886, new bye-laws were brought in regarding trams and omnibuses, and by 1900, gaming licenses and pawnbrokers could be added to this. In 1913, a Police School was opened at Digbeth, and by June 1917, the first women officers were enrolled.
After an Act in 1916, the Police also became responsible for licensing charities, societies and other bodies making street collections. In 1918, the Committee opened a Receiving Home for girls and young women in Dale End. In 1919 police officers were holding protest marches in Birmingham and all over the country over pay and conditions, and there was a police strike. This led to the Police Act, 1919, which enhanced the status of the police, with conditions standardised throughout the country. However, despite forming the Police Federation, a union and striking were prohibited. In 1923, the Special Constabulary Reserve established in 1919 was formalised as a permanent force by the Special Constabularies Act, 1923.
By 1928 the force numbered over 1,586 officers and there were around 40 police stations in operation in the city. In 1927, the Watch Committee, Tramways Committee (BCC/1/BE) and Public Works Committee (BCC/1/AO) formed the Traffic Control Advisory Committee (see BCC/1/CC) due to the increase of road traffic. Automatic traffic lights were introduced in 1929, and in 1930, the first one-way systems were introduced by the Chief Constable. In 1933, the new Central Police Station was opened in Steelhouse Lane and in 1938 a new Police School was opened in Digbeth.
After the war the structure of the city's police force was revised, with six divisions operational instead of five. In 1953 the committee established school crossing patrols. By 1955 the police had more officers, with an authorised strength of 2,060, with 60 female officers. The 1960s saw the committee increasingly dealing with road signage and the minutes carry many maps and plans for this, although the police were supported by the newly established Traffic Warden Section in 1962. The committee took an active role in awarding public bravery, and the minutes again carry many citations.
In 1964, a new Police Training Centre was opened in Pershore Road, and the new Police Act saw the Birmingham force become a part of the West Midlands Police Force in June 1965, along with Walsall, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell and Solihull. Many of the public safety functions and licensing of taxis were then transferred to the Public Safety Committee (see BCC/1/DF). From 1 April 1974, the newly created West Midlands County Council took over responsibility for service policy and the operational side was taken over by the West Midlands Police Force. In 1986, the West Midlands County Council was disbanded, responsibility for the police being transferred to the West Midlands Police Authority. |