History of the Metropolitan Police Service by the end of the 19th century. During the 1860s, the flintlock pistols that had been purchased in 1829 were decommissioned from service, being superseded by 622 Beaumont–Adams revolvers firing the .450 cartridge which were loaned from the army stores at the Tower of London following the Clerkenwell bombing. In 1883, a ballot was carried out to gather information on officers' views on whether they wished to be armed, and 4,430 out of 6,325 officers serving on outer divisions requested to be issued with revolvers. The now obsolete Adams revolver was returned to stores for emergencies, and the Bulldog 'Metropolitan
Metropolitan Police Service policed by the Metropolitan Police Service is known as the Metropolitan Police District (MPD). In terms of geographic policing, the Met was divided into a number of 32 Borough Operational Command Units, which directly align with the 32 London boroughs covered. Since 2017 this situation has changed as the Met has attempted to save money due to cuts in funding. There is currently a period of transition which will result in the MPD being divided into 12 Basic Command Units made up of two or three boroughs. There is criticism of these changes. The City of London (which is not