The first English detectives : the Bow Street Runners and the policing of London, 1750-1840 /

Although widely known and often characterized as a corrupt precursor to the modern police, the Bow Street Runners lacked serious scholarly attention prior to David Cox's A Certain Share of Low Cunning (2010). Beattie (emer., Univ. of Toronto), author of previous studies of English crime and policing, strengthens Cox's revisionist interpretation by extending it backward into the 18th century. He argues that as detectives, the Runners deservedly earned a reputation (if not respectability or popularity) for their skill as investigators and for their effectiveness as prosecution witnesses. After 1792, changes in the nature of crime and official concerns about national security resulted in a shift in the Runners' responsibilities. Yet, Beattie contends, the Bow Street officers remained a key part of the London police and a prime consideration in proposed reforms, even as these reforms increasingly focused on preventative rather than detective policing. The near-complete loss of the Bow Street Magistracy's records prior to 1780 hampers parts of Beattie's investigation. Fortunately, like his subjects, he is a shrewd detective, piecing together a compelling, if not entirely airtight, case from a wide variety of official and unofficial sources. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. P. C. Kennedy York College of Pennsylvania