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Organized policing dates back less than 200 years. Until the Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s brought thousands flocking into cities, most crime was combated by the local constabulary with the help of the occasional citizen patrol. As the cities became more crowded, individual companies organized police forces to protect their interests. In England, one of the most prominent was the Thames River Police, created by the powerful West India Trading Company in 1798 to deter thefts along the London wharves.


The Thames River Police, numbering about 80 full-time men, policed by establishing a patrol presence in the London port. The private police force was so effective that Parliament authorized money to add the men to the public payroll. But for the most part the public was suspicious of waves of permanent police roaming the streets. But the plagues of urban ills brought on by surging immigration and mounting poverty began to weigh on Londoners.


If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, here's the film report of the Climate Camp protest: