Interwar Law Enforcement Query

[Tacgnol]

Hey guys.

Bit of an odd request, and mods feel free to move this if it's in the wrong place!

I'm running a Call of Cthulhu game on Wednesday night (I did agonise a bit over which subforum this post would work better on) and I've got some questions about some nuts and bolts of British policing in the mid 1920s. Normally I'd do a ton of research but I'm running it on short notice with tons of other stuff to do in the meantime!

Getting to the point, here's my set of queries:

1. With the country having a lot more smaller police forces in smaller geographical areas (I think there were at least five or six forces in the area now covered by Northumbria police, for example) does anyone know what the set up would be with regards to detectives? Would you see DCs, DIs and so forth only in city forces (Newcastle City Police, for example)?

2. How would the limits of jurisdiction work? I notice, for instance, that major cities with rivers often had a seperate river police force. Was jurisdiction a lot foggier back then?

Cheers in advance for any help you guys can give me. I decided on the Interwar board since there seems to be a load of very specific knowledge on 1920s Britain in here. I won't be upset if this gets shifted to the CoC board!

[Arlequín]

There isn't a comprehensive answer to this, as each force had its own structure prior to 1964. There were 'county' police forces and individual boroughs had their own forces too. Jurisdiction was finite however... theoretically, however in practice relations between forces varied, depending on individuals within the structure and 'culture'.

As a rule forces worked together well, but information exchange was virtually non-existent, except when requested or as a courtesy, mainly due to the low-tech and 'paper' culture, rather than as policy. It was considered polite to inform another force when your investigations took you into their territory and often a local officer would be assigned to assist. Otherwise, requests from other forces for information/apprehension etc, were treated as promptly and efficiently as were their own (whatever that might be!).

The CID was effectively a parallel organisation in each force and was theoretically the 'elite'. While the uniformed branch dealt with the day to day stuff and serious crimes that were immediately detectable, the CID worked on the 'long game', or conducted the investigations following apprehension of criminal suspects by uniform. Each force had its own CID, which was headed from (but not necessarily based at) force headquarters. There was a general rivalry between uniform and CID, which was sometimes more intense the higher up the ranks you got.

Each Division had its own separate CID Division (i.e. 'A' Division CID etc) and teams were based within individual sub-divisions, or even stations in larger towns and cities. Specialist teams were 'force-wide', but other groups had their 'own turf' or 'manor' and could be quite territorial with regard to other CID divisions (or even stations). There was often a 'cult of personality' within each group or team too and top detectives were often rivals to their fellows in other areas/Divisions etc.  

A DCI was the effective 'line manager' and would head the CID of individual stations. He would have one or more DIs under him, who themselves would have one or more DSs under them, each with a number of DCs each. Within a sub-division, the CID would be headed by a Detective Superintendent and each Division by a Detective Chief Superintendent. There was no rhyme or reason to this, the rank went with the post, so you might get a DCSu in a city force having a few hundred men under him, while a rural one might have less than a hundred, with a similar structure down the line.

You could even have a DCI running one DI, who himself ran one DS and a DC, in the Divisions of one of the smaller forces. As a rule of thumb a DCI was likely to be the highest ranking officer to be working a case, but more usually it would be a DI reporting to a DCI.

If a CID was felt to be outside of its depth, specialists from other forces might be requested. In contemporary fiction, it would be someone from 'Scotland Yard', but it could be someone from anywhere in reality. Even more rarely the services of a civilian might be employed for their specialist knowledge.  

As for river forces and suchlike, I'm less clear on. The Thames River Police pre-date all other police forces in the UK, so could well be a special case. The usual arrangement is that a specific division within a force was created for something like that.
  
I hope that is helpful.  

[smokezombie]

Good god man that was a top reply to a fairly obscure question. Made for interesting reading.

[Mason]

Good god man that was a top reply to a fairly obscure question. Made for interesting reading.

Ditto!

Very useful.
 

[Arlequín]

I can't paint for toffee... so I have to make my contributions to the forum in other ways, or I get picked on by the other mods.   

[FramFramson]

Good god man that was a top reply to a fairly obscure question. Made for interesting reading.

Hear hear! That was a fascinating little slice!

[carlos marighela]

Great response indeed, very detailed and a damn sight better than 'ello, ello, ello, wots all this then?'  which, of course, is the short answer to any enquiry about British policing. 

He be a good mod too that Jim.

[Tacgnol]

Arlequín, you are a god among men! Thank you so much.

I never expected such a detailed response, and it's been an absolute boon! Your post instantly clarified a load of plot issues for me and you have my deepest thanks.

[Arlequín]

Thanks and you're welcome gents... but it's (mostly) how we roll here at LAF... be it swapping painting tips, 'how to make' stuff, obscure information or whatever.