ABSTRACT
This chapter reassesses the work of Patrick Colquhoun by reconsidering his notion of prevention. It argues that Colquhoun has been badly served by having his notion of prevention understood in the light, of the emergence of the new police in 1829. The chapter discusses that although the general attention to Colquhoun's work is warranted, and specific attention to his notion of prevention especially so, his understanding of prevention has been misunderstood. Colquhoun's starting point is the insecurity of property, which he believes is a result of the combination of imperfections in the criminal law and the lack of an 'active principle' regarding the police of the metropolis. Since the labour of the class of poverty was clearly central to the wealth of the nation, and since this wealth was also understood as consisting in property, Colquhoun presents his vision of police as a contribution to political economy.
