PC Plod's court attendances

[British Viking]

Sorry if the title is slightly misleading as I was'nt sure how to word it. However, two of my relatives were policemen and, I am sure, during their careers they must have attended court several times with the people they arrested for various offences.

Just wondering would there be archives anywhere of each police constable's court attendences I could look up? One was with the City of London then possibly Met afterwards and the other was in the Ross on Wye area.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Jan1954]

Hello British Viking - welcome to Brit-Gen

I am not sure if individual records are kept for each police officer, but the City of London Police have a contact on their website (cityoflondon.police.uk/CityPolice/About/services/History/britishpolice.htm - put www. in front) who may be able to help.

Also, the Friends of the Metropolitan Police Historical Collection (met.police.uk/history/friends.htm - put www. in front) may be of assistance for your London bobby.

[Peter Goodey]

Of the forces mentioned, only the records of the Metropolitan Police are designated public records and are described in this National Archives research guide

[Barnzzz]

Hi British Viking, I have my own PC Plod who pounded the beat in Bath. I found several references to him in the local newspapers of the time. These were mostly accounts of how he arrested people for burglary or whatever and a brief outline of the crime they had committed.
Sue

[Mutley]

I don't know what period you are looking for but try the Old Bailey Online, that is free and often mentions the officer involved in a case.
Also British Newspapers On line (newspapers.bl.uk) is a pay site but you can search for free and the Times was once a local London rag with lots of crime reports containing the names of the arresting officers.

[British Viking]

I have just tried Old Bailey Online. Whilst it is fascinating it seems to only apply to cases between 1674 and 1913. My PC Plod relative served with the City of London police from 1920 to 1946 so maybe the results won't be available just yet?

[Geoffers]

However, two of my relatives were policemen and, I am sure, during their careers they must have attended court several times with the people they arrested for various offences.

Just wondering would there be archives anywhere of each police constable's court attendences I could look up? One was with the City of London then possibly Met afterwards and the other was in the Ross on Wye area.

The way individual records are/were kept and what survives for each force varies tremendously.

However, a note is not made in an individual officer's record everytime he/she attends a criminal, civil or coroner's court.

The nearest thing I can think of, which is sort of similar, is where forces kept something called an Occurrence Book (OB). Each station within a force held one and it was a sort of daily diary - detail recorded varied between stations, but you might find sudden deaths, arrests, property, reported offenders, accidents, and incidents of note. An awful lot of these were completed in a year by a busy station and the very great majority have been destroyed; forces with an archive section or museum may have kept a sample and they can make interesting reading.