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 During the 1860s, the flintlock pistols that had been purchased in 1829 were decommissioned from service, being superseded by 622 Beaumont–Adams revolvers firing the .450 cartridge which were loaned from the army stores at the Tower of London following the Clerkenwell bombing.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
History of the Metropolitan Police Service after 20 (formerly 22) years of duty. When a male police officer was asked in 1916 whether women would ever be police constables, he burst out laughing, replying: "No, not even if the war lasts 50 years." However, the Women’s Police Service, made up of volunteers, had been founded in 1914. Female police officers first joined the Metropolitan Police in 1919, although the then Commissioner, Sir Nevil Macready, insisted he did not want any “vinegary spinsters” or “blighted middle-aged fanatics” in its ranks. The female police officers were distinguished from their male counterparts, who had wider authority, by the prefix