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Law and Order in Enlightenment Edinburgh |
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Lawnmarket
© Scran |
Glasgow had led the way in policing, with their regimented, uniformed and well-paid police force - who were also employed to clean the streets! Edinburgh's civic leaders decided to free up funds to rid the town of the old Guardsmen and provide more professional law enforcement.
Thus the Edinburgh Police Act was passed in early 1805, and on the 15th July of that year, the new Edinburgh Police Force was born. With a far greater budget, properly organised regiments and a basic wage of 9 shillings per week, better-prepared officers took to the streets from the new Police Court in the Lawnmarket.
This new force, governed by the General and Residential Commissions - a body elected into office by the public - led the way in municipal policing, providing many of the methods pioneered on a wider basis by Robert Peel later that century. A far greater bond formed between the police and the public, and the new force quickly won the trust of most private citizens, something the Town Guard sorely lacked.
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