Name/Title
Booklet titled "County Borough of Brighton Police Centenary 1838 - 1938Entry/Object ID
1234Description
Blue card covered booklet, 155mm wide x 230mm high, titled "County Borough Of Brighton Police Centenary 1938 - 1938". This consists of 31 pages, giving a history of Brighton Police, including a number of photographs. These include images of all of the chief constables, as well as the senior officers in 1938, and there is a complete list of all officers then serving, complete with their ranks and collar numbers. This copy has heavy foxing marks on the cover. A scanned copy of one of these booklets is in the museum Drive files.Use
To celebrate the centenary of Brighton PoliceContext
In 1938 a number of events were held in Brighton to celebrate what was claimed to be the centenary of the Borough Police Force. These included formal dinners, parades, a football match with a German Police team and the publication of these "Police Centenary" booklets, which contain a reasonable history of the policing of Brighton. However most evidence, even that presented in this booklet, suggests that Brighton had a recognisable police force as early as 1830. It appears that having missed an opportunity to celebrate in 1930 and keen to promote its history, the Force and the Watch Committee (those responsible for running the police in Brighton) chose 1938 to do so. This was on the basis that in 1838 there was a reorganisation of the then Brighton Police to make it more effective and it was 100 years since that reorganisation. The use of 1838 as the formation date for Brighton Police, has since caused much confusion, as it is often repeated elsewhere, when in fact a more realistic date is 1830.
Despite the exaggerated emphasis on the 1838 changes to police, this booklet does contain an otherwise accurate history and a lot of interesting information, especially the list of all officers serving in 1938, complete with their collar numbers and rank.