Metropolitan Police District
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The Metropolitan Police District (MPD) is the area policed by London's Metropolitan Police Service. It currently consists of Greater London, excluding the City of London.
[edit] History
The Metropolitan Police District was defined in the schedule of the Metropolitan Police Act 1829 as an approximately circular area within a seven-mile (11-kilometre) radius of Charing Cross, which was divided into four districts and 17 police divisions.
It consisted of parts of:
| Middlesex | The Liberty of Westminster, The Holborn division, the inner parishes of the Finsbury division, the Tower division, the Kensington division, the township of New Brentford, the Inns of Court and the liberty of Ely Place |
| Kent | The parishes of St Paul and St Nicholas, Deptford, and the parish of Greenwich |
| Surrey | The parishes of Bermondsey, Camberwell, Clapham, Lambeth, Newington, Putney, Rotherhithe, Streatham, Tooting, Wandsworth, and Christchurch, Southwark, The Liberty of the Clink, The hamlet of Hatcham, and the Borough of Southwark |
There have been numerous changes to the boundaries of the MPD, and of the divisions therein. The Metropolitan Police Act 1839 recognised that the "boundary is... very irregular" and made it lawful to add any place in the Central Criminal Court District and also "any part of any parish, township, precinct or place" not more than 15 miles (24 km) from Charing Cross. The enlarged district encompassed the metropolitan area and some parts of Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire and Surrey. The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica notes that it included "those civil parishes [...] of which any part is within twelve miles of, or of which no part is more than fifteen miles from, Charing Cross".
| Metropolitan Police District 1840 - 1946 | |
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The map shows the MPD boundary in red. At the centre is the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works 1855–1889, which became the County of London in 1889. The other dashed lines show the boundaries of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey. |
The enlargement under the 1839 Act was carried out by order in council issued on January 3, 1840, which listed the following "parishes, townships, precincts, and places" ... "should be added to, and form part of, the metropolitan police district":[1]
In 1946 the Metropolitan Police District was somewhat redrawn by the Police Act 1946, to match the then local government boundaries. The boroughs of Dartford and Watford, the urban district of Caterham and Warlingham and the parish of St. Peter Rural were wholly excluded from the District; whilst the borough of Epsom and Ewell, the urban districts of Banstead, Cheshunt, Coulsdon and Purley, Crayford, Esher and Orpington were brought wholly within the district.[2] The definition, in the Fourth Schedule is as follows:[3]
In 1965 the boundaries of London were extended. After 1965 they more closely matched the MPD, and the MPD was defined again by section 76 of the London Government Act 1963. The former area of the Municipal Borough of Romford and Hornchurch Urban District, which had not previously been covered by the MPD but were in Greater London, were added. However, a number of anomalies continued to exist,mainly because the Government failed to take the logical step of matching the police boundaries exactly with the administrative ones.
In 1974 it was again restated, by S.I. 1974/482:[4][5]
- Greater London, excluding the City of London and the Temples
- Essex: Epping Forest : former Chigwell Urban District and parish of Waltham Holy Cross
- Hertfordshire: Broxbourne : former Cheshunt urban district
- Hertfordshire: Hertsmere
- Hertfordshire: Welwyn Hatfield: parish of Northaw (Northaw and Cuffley)
- Surrey: Elmbridge: former Esher urban district
- Surrey: Epsom and Ewell
- Surrey: Spelthorne
- Surrey: Reigate and Banstead: former Banstead urban district
The anomaly of having the Metropolitan Police responsible for areas outside the Greater London boundary thus continued. In 1998 the Government 'Green Paper' on the Greater London Authority[6] proposed to create a Police Authority for the Metropolitan Police, who had previously been under the control of the Home Secretary. Initially, the government proposed to retain the areas outside the local government boundary, with a representative appointed to the Police Authority from the councils outside the Greater London Authority boundary.
However the government changed its mind and in the Greater London Authority Act 1999 the boundaries of the Metropolitan Police District were redefined to match Greater London. The excised county areas were reassigned to Essex Police, Hertfordshire Constabulary and Surrey Police.[7]
[edit] Exceptions
Not all parts of London, although within the boundaries of the MPD, are policed by the Metropolitan Police. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 defines the Metropolitan Police District as consisting of "Greater London, excluding the City of London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple." The City of London has its own police force, the City of London Police, which also covers the Inner and Middle Temples.
The London Underground, overground railway network and railway stations are primarily policed by the British Transport Police, although they form part of the Metropolitan Police District.
The Royal Parks of London used to be policed by a separate force called the Royal Parks Constabulary (RPC). The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 abolished the RPC and placed the parks under the responsibilty of the Metropolitan Police.
[edit] References
- ^ Order in Council enlarging the Metropolitan Police District (SI 1840 5001)
- ^ Home Office Circular 100/1946
- ^ Police Act 1946, 9 & 10 Geo. 6 ch. 46
- ^ Hansard 4 May 1999 : Column 782
- ^ National Archives: Explanatory note describing Metropolitan Police District in 1991. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
- ^ "A Mayor and Assembly for London", HMSO, 1998, pages 62-67.
- ^ HMSO, Greater London Authority Act 1999. 1999 c. 29
