The policeman's uniform was designed to show the civilian nature of his role. His dark trousers and blue coat with brass buttons resembled those of a servant, reminding the public that he was there to serve them. The top hat was a sign of respectability and authority. It also made the officer look taller, and helped people recognise a policeman when they needed one. The hat was strengthened with cane, so that a policeman could stand on it to peer over a wall.

Each policeman carried a wooden truncheon and a rattle, used to summon help, which he kept in his breast pocket - a protection against knife blows to the heart. Rattles were replaced by whistles in 1883, after tests showed that these could be heard over a much greater distance.

Discipline was strict. Policemen were sacked for being late on duty, keeping bad company, loitering on the beat, drinking alcohol, gossiping, being rude to the public or falling asleep at work. Wages were low - just one guinea (£1.05) a week, which was about the same as a farm labourer's. To earn this, a policeman had to do seven shifts a week, either day or night. During each shift, an officer walked an average of 20 miles, in all weathers, wearing uncomfortable boots. He walked at a steady pace of 2.5 miles an hour, and was forbidden to sit down or lean against anything.

For a man armed only with a truncheon, police work could be very dangerous. The first officer to die on duty was PC Joseph Grantham, who was kicked to death on June 28, 1830, after trying to stop a fight between two drunks near King's Cross. The jurymen at the inquest, suspicious of the new force, brought in a verdict of "justifiable homicide". They concluded that Grantham had caused his own death by "over exertion in the discharge of his duty".

Attitudes to the police

Despite initial suspicions, the middle classes quickly came to accept that the police were there to protect them. It was a different matter in London's East End, where policemen - nicknamed "crushers" - remained unpopular. Here constables often had to patrol in pairs for safety. Boys invented a new game, described by the journalist Henry Mayhew, in London Labour And The London Poor (1852): "The lads endeavour to take the unsupecting "crusher" by surprise, and often crouch at the entrance of a court until a policeman passes, when a stone or brick is hurled at him."

Not surprisingly, in the 1860s, the easily knocked-off top hat was replaced by the more practical helmet, secured by a tight strap under the chin.

Crime figures

Between 1830 and 1899, London's population soared from one-and-a-half to five million people, while Metropolitan police numbers rose from 3,000 to 16,000 officers. During the same period, recorded crime, measured against each 1,000 head of population, fell dramatically. Although rising prosperity played a role in lower crime rates, the presence of policemen on the beat must also have been a great deterrent.

In December 1899, Police Review And Parade Gossip magazine interviewed an officer coming off his beat at 6am. He described his working methods when going on night duty:

"I fasten a piece of black thread across the outer gates when I pass around 11 o'clock and if, when I pass again at 12 the thread is intact, I know that no one has been through. The same applies to back and side entrances. By this simple method many a crafty housebreaker has been caught red-handed. I suppose that no city in the world is so carefully guarded during the night as London."