Bow Street runners
Bow Street runners were constables attached to the Bow Street Police Office. Professional thief-takers had been established there by the magistrate Sir John Fielding in the mid-18th cent., but were too few to cope with escalating crime. Seven police offices were established in London in 1792 on the Bow Street pattern, though for defined districts; the unlimited jurisdiction of Bow Street enabled its six ‘runners’ to range widely and gain prestige for their vigilance and detective skills. Valuable public servants but poorly paid, hence increasingly corrupt, they were superseded by the Metropolitan Police Act (1829).
A. S. Hargreaves
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Bow Street runners