ABSTRACT
Many people realised that though Town Councils had been required since 1835 to set up Watch Committees to see to the policing of their boroughs, little or sometimes nothing had been done to this end in many of the smaller towns, and that even in the larger ones the police often left much to be desired. The staff of the Home Office engaged on police work remained small, and this no doubt limited its capacities for interference. Those who had hoped for some popular control of the County police were disappointed, for they often found that the meetings of Standing Joint Committees were infrequent, brief, formal and private. Other spheres in which both police and public might have gained by a little more pressure or control from the centre were the arrangements for mutual aid between the forces in times of crisis, and the exchange of information.
