A History of Police in England

England's arrangements for keeping the peace provide the subject of W. L. Melville Lee's historical study, published in 1901. Its chapters trace police institutions from Anglo-Saxon and Norman times through watch and ward, parish constables, Bow Street and the reforms that produced the New Police. Lee treats policing as a broad public responsibility, linking the constabulary with local government, public security and the everyday exercise of legal authority.

Lee describes failures of nineteenth-century policing and prison administration, then introduces John Howard and Jeremy Bentham as figures who helped make reform possible. Corruption, poor sanitation and the treatment of young prisoners sit alongside debates about prevention and punishment. Readers interested in institutional history will find an account of how older practices came under criticism. Later chapters address public opposition to the New Police, borough and county reform, statistics, detective work and public meetings.