The 18th and 19th century saw the beginning of a concentrated effort to create a proactive police force to replace unreliable and corrupt thief-takers. The newly professionalised police forces were paid by the local magistrate to fight crime - this was the first instance of somewhat formalised policing, directly funded by the central government. One such group was the Bow Street Runners.
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Sign up for freeWhy did the Bow Street Runners wear uniforms?
What year were the Bow Street Runners established?
Who were the Bow Street Runners formally associated with and receive payment from?
In what year did the Bow Street Runners merge with the Metropolitan Police?
Who established the Bow Street Runners?
Why did the Bow Street Runners patrol the streets?
How did the Bow Street Runners gain information?
How did the Bow Street Runners aim to remove corruption?
What was an issue with the thief-takers?
What is one way that the Bow Street Runners prevented crime?
Why did the Bow Street Runners wear uniforms?
What year were the Bow Street Runners established?
Who were the Bow Street Runners formally associated with and receive payment from?
In what year did the Bow Street Runners merge with the Metropolitan Police?
Who established the Bow Street Runners?
Why did the Bow Street Runners patrol the streets?
How did the Bow Street Runners gain information?
How did the Bow Street Runners aim to remove corruption?
What was an issue with the thief-takers?
What is one way that the Bow Street Runners prevented crime?
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Thief-taker
A private person hired to catch criminals
So, who were the Bow Street Runners, and how did they differ from the thief-takers that came before them?
The “runners” were founded in 1748 by magistrates (and brothers) Henry and Sir John Fielding, who saw thief-takers as unreliable, with them often making mistaken or malicious arrests. Considering this, the magistrates wanted officers who were professional, formalised, and acted within the scope of the law.
The name 'The Bow Street Runners' is the result of their operation centring out of Bow Streets’ magistrate's office. The name itself was informal, with many officers seeing it as undermining.
The differences between Bow Street Runners and existing thief-takers are outlined below.
| Bow Street Runners | Thief-Takers |
The Bow Street Runners wore standardised uniforms - this would make them recognisable and trusted. | Thief-takers didn't wear any specific uniform, nothing to distinguish them from other members of the public. |
They were formally attached to the Bow Street Magistrates and were paid directly by them. | Thief-takers had no formal attachment to anyone and were paid by whichever client gave the best price - essentially unregulated. |
It was difficult to promote corruption with a formal attachment to the magistrate. | The thief-takers could work for who they liked and weren't formally attached to anyone. |
Regular payments were designed to discourage corruption. | Thief-takers were paid irregularly due to working for different clients on bounties. |
Henry Fielding
Now we know who the Bow Street Runners were and why they were needed; let's find out how they operated!
Cigarette Card Depicting Highwaymen, 1920s, Wikimedia Commons.
A key aspect of the operation of the Bow Street Runners was its crime-fighting network. To detect and prevent crime, they heavily relied on accurate descriptions of criminals and crimes through efficient communication. This was done through both the media and based on the Bow Street Runners’ strong public presence.
Did you know? A newspaper known as the Hue and Cry and later the Police Gazette provided information about criminals, crimes, and stolen items. This helped communicate key details to groups such as the Bow Street Runners.
They also relied on a network of informants. To contact them, the runners used the media with pamphlets and advertisements detailing how the general public could provide details of crimes. This was appealing to members of the public who were negatively affected by crime or seeking reward and also allowed the runners to swiftly and efficiently apprehend criminals.
Initially, the public reaction to the professionalisation of law enforcement varied from suspicion to fear to annoyance. People in impoverished areas that were often tormented by crime were reluctant to trust new law enforcement offices, which is perhaps unsurprising based on the reputation of the thief-takers.
There was also the fact that some people resorted to crime simply to survive and saw those fighting crime as a nuisance.
The Bow Street Runners bridge the gap between the modern police forces we know today and the previous non-interventionist approach. The police became seen as a force to maintain order and actively pursue criminals, whereas previously, the forces provided by the state (the parish constables and watchmen) only served to arrest criminals once they were apprehended. As a result, these officials were part-time and unprofessional, and anyone could apprehend criminals.
The Bow Street Runners were certainly an advancement in policing, and this change coincided with the way in which crime was becoming a political issue.
The spike in highway robberies, in particular, saw large rewards from the government for the capture of known criminals. This led to a large number of thief-takers, who saw the opportunity of reward and were even known to stage crimes themselves, such as robberies, to gain large rewards from the return of stolen goods. This was unsatisfactory to the original purpose of the rewards: to decrease criminal activity.
Whilst the runners were more advanced than their predecessors, the modern police force is more advanced than the runners - let's look at some comparisons
| Area of Comparison | Explanation |
| Link to the state |
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| Scope of operations |
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Bow Street Magistrates and Police Station in the late 19th Century, Wikimedia Commons.
The Bow Street Runners were significant in the transition to modern, professional policing. However, they were only one step in the journey to the police force we know today and were absorbed into the Metropolitan Police in 1839.
The Metropolitan Police Force was set up in 1829 by Robert Peel.
As crime rates diminished and the Metropolitan Police came to the forefront of crime prevention, the Bow Street Runners were financially unsustainable. They were already in decline by the time they were absorbed into the Metropolitan Police, largely because these new police officers made their role redundant. Additionally, crime rates had reduced due to the actions of both the runners and the Metropolitan Police.
This perhaps demonstrates the ultimate success of the Bow Street Runners. The previous system was not only ineffective but, at times, even promoted crime. The Bow Street Runners’ role was to prevent crime, which it had succeeded in and provided a basis for the modern police forces that would rapidly be established across Britain.
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Who started the Bow Street Runners?
The Bow Street Runners were founded by magistrates Henry and Sir John Fielding
What did the Bow Street Runners do?
The Bow Street Runners worked for Bow Street magistrates to catch criminals, detect crime, investigate crimes and prevent future crimes through street presence and effect criminal investigation.
In what year was the Bow Street Runners group created?
The Bow Street Runners group was created in 1748.
How important were the Bow Street Runners?
As a predecessor to modern professional police forces, the Bow Street Runners were extremely important as they proved to lawmakers and the general public that a professional police force could be trusted to reduce crime.
Did the Bow Street Runners wear uniforms?
Yes, unlike the thief-takers that preceded them the Bow Street Runners allowed uniforms to allow them to be easily identified and accountable to the public.
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