ABSTRACT
Contemporary statistics generally divided crime into two categories: crimes against property and crimes against persons. Birmingham suffered from a crime rate that alarmed its inhabitants. During periods of depression, such as Birmingham and the rest of the kingdom were undergoing during the three years Burgess's force operated, property crimes became even more prevalent, while cases of assault and drunkenness tended to fall. "This borough is full of crime," Burgess reported to the Home Office shortly after assuming his duties, "near 60 prisoners were brought before the magistrates today." Prior to the formation of the Birmingham police in 1839, a criminal in the town contended only with a decentralized system flawed in its component parts, and incapable of sustained coordinated activity. The informers did not disappear immediately with the appearance of Burgess's force in late 1839, but the new police made them redundant, and their demise was assured.
