Londonderry Borough Police
| Londonderry Borough Police | |
|---|---|
| Common name | Horney Dicks |
| Abbreviation | LBP |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1848 |
| Preceding agency |
|
| Dissolved | 1870 |
| Superseding agency | Royal Irish Constabulary |
| Employees | 38 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government-owned corporation |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Londonderry, UK |
| Legal jurisdiction | Borough of Londonderry |
| Primary governing body | British government |
| Secondary governing body | Londonderry Corporation |
| Constituting instrument |
|
| General nature | • Local civilian agency |
The Londonderry Borough Police was the police force in the city of Derry, County Londonderry, Ireland from 1848 to 1870, nicknamed the Horney Dicks after the bones used in their helmets. They replaced the earlier town watch and were in turn replaced by the Royal Irish Constabulary. The police force was established by the Londonderry Improvement Act 1848 and were governed by the Londonderry Corporation. Its abolition was recommended by a commission of inquiry into sectarian riots in the city in 1869. The commission felt the force, having the form of a town watch, was inadequate to policing serious crime; it also noted, but did not endorse, allegations that the police discriminated against Roman Catholics.
Historically, policing in Ireland had been carried out by a town watch. By the 1830s in County Londonderry, the watch was posted so irregularly that citizens resorted to manning the watch themselves or hiring their own night watchmen. In 1832, the Londonderry Corporation created a Policing Committee of thirteen constables, but this was later deemed inadequate as the city expanded beyond the Committee's capacity. In 1848, the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passed a private bill, the Londonderry Improvement Act 1848, which granted the Londonderry Corporation the power to raise its own police force. This initially consisted of one Inspector, one chief constable, one Corporal and thirteen constables. Gradually policing in Ireland was centralised under the Royal Irish Constabulary except for the Londonderry Borough Police, Belfast Borough Police and Dublin Metropolitan Police, which each retained their independence due to their statutory status.
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