Metropolitan Police Act 1829 Metropolitan Police Act 1829 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
Metropolitan Police role in the news media phone hacking scandal to misleading statements to the public and government oversight bodies to cover-up wrongdoing, and/or led to attempts to stifle the voices of whistle-blowers. Metropolitan Police spokespersons have maintained that investigations were pursued appropriately in light of information and guidance available to them and in light of competing priorities for their resources. While Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1993 to 2000, Paul Condon established the Met's anti-corruption unit, acknowledging that police corruption was not an occasional threat, but a permanent, ongoing one. Condon's initiatives all but closed down communication between Met police and the news media. Condon's successor, John Stevens