Early modern policing

A. The first centrally organized police force was created by the government of King Louis XIV in 1667 to police the city of Paris, then the largest city in Europe. The task of the police was defined as "ensuring the peace and quiet of the public and of private individuals, purging the city of what may cause disturbances, procuring abundance, and having each and everyone live according to their station and their duties”. The word "police" was borrowed from French into the English language in the 18th century.

B. In 1797, Patrick Colquhoun, a Scottish merchant, was able to persuade the West Indies merchants who operated at the Pool of London on the River Thames, to establish a police force at the docks to prevent rampant theft that was causing annual estimated losses of £500,000 worth of cargo. The idea of a police, as it then existed in France, was considered as a potentially undesirable foreign import. However, Colquhoun used economic indicators to show that a police dedicated to crime prevention was "perfectly congenial to the principle of the British constitution”.

C. With an initial investment of £4,200, the new trial force of the Thames River Police began with about 50 men charged with policing 33,000 workers in the river trades. The force was a success after its first year, and Colquhoun’s men had "established their worth by saving £122,000 worth of cargo and by the rescuing of several lives”. Word of this success spread quickly, and the government passed the Marine Police Bill on 28 July 1800, transforming it from a private to public police agency; now the oldest police force in the world.

(Adapted from wikipedia.com)

Questions 1-3

Which paragraph contains the following information?

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1. positive news that led to a new government policy

2. the origin of an English word

3. people’s reluctance to accept a foreign idea

4. a specific problem that needed to be solved

1.

2.

3.

4.