Name/Title
Metropolitan Police officer's whistle c1920Entry/Object ID
2020Description
Nickel silver police whistle. Marked "The Metropolitan Patent Metropolitan Police J. Hudson & Co. 244 Barr Street Birmingham 28876" and "Patent 5727 - 08". It is attached via a key ring to a short whistle chain and button hook.Use
For police officers to raise the alarm and summon the assistance of other officers.Context
The use of the whistle by police to replace the rattle as a means of raising the alarm only became widespread after 1884 when whistles were adopted by the Metropolitan Police in London. Joesph Hudson and Co. supplied these whistles to the Met and the "Metropolitan" trademark was registered to reflect this, the connection being used heavily in the company's marketing. To begin with a number of Birmingham based companies produced whistles for the police but Hudsons soon became the largest manufacturer. The company was formed in 1870 and is still in existence as The Acme Whistle Company. Whilst most famous for producing whistles, Hudson and Co. also manufactured other items of police equipment until the 1950's.
This particular whistle was made for the Metropolitan Police and demonstrates what a genuine Met. Police issued example looks like. Because of the use of the "Metropolitan" trade mark many whistles are wrongly identified as coming from the London force. However until approximately 1939 all whistles made for the Metropolitan Police were marked as such, and until the late 1930s they were also individually numbered. After 1939 the Met. continued to buy and issue new whistles but they were no longer stamped "Metropolitan Police", being the same as those made for the general public. They did though, continue to re issue older marked whistles for many years to come.
Metropolitan Police whistles have been classified into 24 different types and this example is either an MP16 or MP17 and probably dates from 1918 to 1922. At some stage the chain has been broken, as it would originally have been longer and attached directly to the top loop of the whistle.
Though not issued within Sussex, Metropolitan Police marked whistles have been carried by officers in the region, that transferred from the London force. Even as late as the 1980s and 1990s, some transferees from the Met. brought with them whistles they had been issued with in London, that by virtue of their markings must have been manufactured before 1939. This is another example of how long police whistles stayed in circulation and how often they were re-issued. Whilst many police forces stopped issuing officers with whistles in the 1970s and 1980s, the Metropolitan Police did not and continue to issue the modern equivalent of a "Metropolitan" whistle on a chain to be worn with a uniform tunic.