The Laws of William the Conqueror (1066 - 1087)

 

Here is set down what William, Norman king of England, established in consultation with his magnates after the conquest of England:

 

1. First that above all things he wishes one God to be revered throughout his whole realm, one faith in Christ to be kept ever inviolate, and peace and security to be preserved between English and Normans.

 

2. We decree also that every freeman shall affirm by oath and compact that he will be loyal to king William both within and outside England, that he will preserve with him his lands and honor with all fidelity and defend him against his enemies.

 

3.1 will, moreover, that all the men I have brought with me, or who have come after me, shall be protected by my peace and shall dwell in quiet. And if any one of them shall be slain, let the lord of his murderer seize him within five days, if he can; but if he cannot, let him pay me 46 marks of silver so long as his substance avails [...]

 

5. We forbid also that any live cattle shall be bought or sold for money except within cities, and this shall be done before three faithful witnesses [...]

 

6. It was decreed there that if a Frenchman shall charge an Englishman with perjury or murder or theft, or homicide, the Englishman may defend himself, as he shall prefer, either by the ordeal of hot iron or by wager of battle. But if the Englishman be infirm, let him find another who will take his place. If one of them shall be vanquished, he shall pay a fine of 40 shillings to the king. If an Englishman shall charge a Frenchman and be unwilling to prove his accusation either by ordeal or by wager of battle, the Frenchman shall acquit himself by a valid oath.

 

 

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7. All shall have and hold the law of the king Edward in respect of their lands and all their possessions, with the addition of those decrees I have ordained for the welfare of the English people. [...]

 

9. I prohibit the sale of any man by another outside the country on pain of a fine to be paid in full to me.

 

10. I also forbid that anyone shall be slain or hanged for any fault, but let his eyes be put out and let him be castrated. And this command shall not be violated under pain of a fine in full to me.

 

Scotland Yard

 

Scotland Yard is located south of St. James’s Park in Westminster. The original headquarters of Scotland Yard were in Whitehall (the street in London where many of the government departments are). Scotland Yard was so named because it was part of a medieval palace (Whitehall Palace) that had housed Scottish royalty when the latter were in London on visits. The London police force was created in 1829 by an act introduced in Parliament by the home secretary, Sir Robert Peel (hence the nicknames “bobbis” and “peelers” for policemen). The Metropolitan Police’s duties are the detection and prevention of crime, the preservation of public order, the supervision of road traffic, and the licensing of public vehicles. The administrative head of Scotland Yard is the commissioner, who is appointed by the crown on the recommendation of the home secretary. Beneath the commissioner are various assistant commissioners overseeing such operations as administration, traffic and transport, criminal investigation and police recruitment and training. Scotland Yard set up its Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in 1878. The CID initially was a small force of plain-clothed detectives who gathered information on criminal activities. Criminal Investigation Department deals with all aspects of criminal investigation and includes the fingerprint and photography sections, the Fraud Squad (the department in the British police force that examines fraud in business), the Flying Squad (a special group of police officers in Britain whose job is to travel quickly to the place where has been a serious crime), the metropolitan police laboratory and the detective-training school. Scotland Yard keeps extensive files on all known criminals in the United Kingdom. It also has a special branch of police who guard visiting dignitaries, royalty and statesmen. Finally, Scotland Yard is responsible for maintaining links between British law-enforcement agencies and Interpol.

 

Sherlock Holmes

 

The famous fictional detective of Victorian times was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) who based the brilliant deductive method and personality of his character on Dr. Joseph Bell, under whom he had worked as a surgeon. Holmes with his incredible powers of deduction, his mastery of disguise and his scientific brilliance, first appeared in The Strand Magazine in 1882 in a story called ‘Study in Scarlet’ together with his faithful chronicler Dr. John Watson. Longer novels, collections of short stories continued to appear up until ‘The Case of Sherlock Holmes’ (1927). But Conan Doyle had already been tired of his creation and had once tried to

 

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kill him off with his rival Professor Moriarty, but public pressure had secured his return. The stories remain hugely popular and have provided material for countless films and TV series. But the phrase “Elementary, my dear Watson” was never uttered by Holmes and is a later invention.

 

Inspector Jules Maigret

 

Inspector Maigret was created by novelist Georges Simenon in 1931 and has become one of the most popular fictional policeman in the world. He is the central figure in more than 500 novels and short stories written by Simenon. He is a calm, thoughtful and very painstaking detective, who never makes any spectacular arrests and does most of his work by talking to people. Through the stories the reader can form a very vivid picture of the seamy side of French life. A television series, starring Rupert Davies as Maigret, was made by the BBC in the 1960s.

 

The British Police

 

The British police officer is a well-known figure to anyone who has visited Britain or who has seen British films. Policemen are to be seen in towns and cities keeping law and order, either walking in pairs down the streets (“walking the beat”) or driving specially marked police cars. Once known as ‘panda cars’ because of their distinctive markings, these are now often jokingly referred to as ‘jam sandwiches’ because of the pink fluorescent stripe running horizontally around the bodywork. In the past, policemen were often known as ‘bobbies’ after Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the police force. Nowadays, common nicknames include ‘the cops’, ‘the pigs’, and ‘the Old Bill’ (particularly in London).

 

Few people realize, however, that the police in Britain are organized very differently from many other countries. Most countries, for example, have a national police force which is controlled by central Government. Britain has no national police force, although police policy is governed by the central Government’s Home Office. Instead, there is a separate police force for each of 52 areas into which the country is divided. Each has a police authority ‒ a committee of local county councilors and magistrates. The forces co-operate with each other, but it is unusual for members of one force to operate in another’s area unless they are asked to give assistance. This sometimes happens when there has been a very serious crime. A Chief Constable (the most senior police officer of a force) may sometimes ask for the assistance of London’s police force, based at New Scotland Yard ‒ known simply as “the Yard”.

 

In most countries the police carry guns. In Britain, however, this is extremely unusual. Policemen do not, as a rule, carry firearms in their day-to-day work, though certain specialist units are trained to do so and can be called upon to help the regular police force in situations where firearms are involved, e.g. terrorist incidents, armed robberies, etc. The only policemen who routinely carry weapons are those assigned to guard politicians and diplomats, or special officers who patrol airports. In certain circumstances, specially trained police officers can be armed, but only with the signed permission of a magistrate.

 

 

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All members of the police must have gained a certain level of academic qualifications at school and undergone a period of intensive training. Like in the army, there are a number of ranks: after the Chief Constable comes the Assistant Chief Constable, Chief Superintendent, Chief Inspector, Sergeant and Constable. Women make up about 10 per cent or the police force. The police are helped by a number of Special Constables ‒ members of the public who work for the police voluntarily for a few hours a week. Each police force has its own Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Members of CIDs are detectives, and they do not wear uniforms. The other uniformed people you see in British towns are traffic wardens. Their job is to make sure that drivers obey the parking regulations. They have no other powers ‒ it is the police who are responsible for controlling offences like speeding, careless driving and drunken driving. The duties of the police are varied, ranging from assisting at accidents to safeguarding public order and dealing with lost property. One of their main functions is, of course, apprehending criminals and would-be criminals.