The Evolution of the Ideal English Constable: Portrayals in Police Instruction Books from the 19th Century to the Present

Dr. Klein's paper is based on an in-depth study of English police instruction books and handbooks in order to explore the ideal images of law enforcement and police officers that were presented to recruits. With the founding of the London Metropolitan Police in 1829, these books first worked to create the image of the modern English constable as the neutral upholder of the law that mirrored England’s nineteenth-century vision of its national values. The books then worked hard to preserve this image, which became increasingly difficult as law enforcement became more frantic with modern traffic and telephones. After World War II, efforts to persuade recruits into a proper mentality lost ground in instructions books to helping them cope with complex legal codes, the growing importance of public relations, and new means of both crime and policing using modern technology. Nevertheless, the image of the neutral upholder of law and order remained, even if the Victorian prose was gone. This paper explores how instruction books reflected shifts in the ideal image of law enforcement from the founding of the first modern police force through the modern editions of instruction books.