ABSTRACT
The policing of vagrancy and begging was a continuing problem for many police forces in England during the nineteenth century. There was a perception among the public, legislators and the magistracy (and some police officers) that vagrants and beggars were at best idle scroungers and, at worst, synonymous with petty criminality. The selection was generated by the Metropolitan Police in 1887 and is primarily concerned with rough sleeping and begging in and around Trafalgar Square and the Royal Parks in the later 1880s. Neither the Metropolitan Police nor the Board of Works felt responsible for the problem of rough sleepers but both became increasingly involved as the issue was taken up in the press. The police were clearly very aware of the power of this dynamic, and cuttings of key reports were in the file, with commentary in places.
