Policing in England and Wales, 1918-39

Policing in England and Wales was transformed rapidly during the inter-war years (1918-1939) as a result of the threat of police strikes, the dramatic expansion of motor transport, and developments in forensic and detective work. The police strikes of 1918 and 1919 forced the British government to pass legislation which led to the formation of the Police Federation of England and Wales and the development of a pressure group for police officers, even though they did not have the right to strike. In the early 1930s there were pressures to make policing more professional through the use of forensic science as part of the expansion of the size and scope of detective work. Above all, the expansion of motorized road transport, with the consequent 'road holocaust ' of the 1930s, campaigns for road safety and against the 'road hogs' began to transform policing in England and Wales, not least because of the implications for manpower. These developments had implications for the relationship between the police officer and the motorist in which the police were less subservient than is often supposed. As a result policing in England and Wales was transformed rapidly from the Victorian and Edwardian emphasis upon the policeman's beat into the modern world of the forensic science, the control room and Q Cars.