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
History of the Metropolitan Police Service were physically assaulted, others impaled, blinded, and on one occasion held down while a vehicle was driven over them. One of the priorities of the Metropolitan Police from the beginning was "maintaining public order", which they were active in doing, against the major Chartist demonstrations (1839–48) and the Bloody Sunday demonstration of the unemployed in Trafalgar Square in 1887. In 1839, the Bow Street Runners, the Foot and Horse Patrol and the Thames River Police were amalgamated with the Metropolitan Police. However, the City of London Police, created in the same year was an independent force. In 1842 taking over