Metropolitan Police Act 1839
The Metropolitan Police Act 1839[1] (2 & 3 Vict. c. 47) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act enlarged the district of, and gave greatly increased powers to the Metropolitan Police established by the Metropolitan Police Act 1829. It is one of the Metropolitan Police Acts 1829 to 1895.[2]
Long title
An Act for further improving the Police in and near the Metropolis.
2 & 3 Vict. c. 47
17 August 1839
- Metropolitan Police Act 1839 (Amendment) Act 1958
An Act to amend section fifty-four of the Metropolitan Police Act, 1839, for the purpose of increasing the maximum penalty for threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour in any thoroughfare or public place.
6 & 7 Eliz. 2. c. 48
23 July 1958
Metropolitan Police Act 1839
Section 2 of the Act allowed for the enlargement of the Metropolitan Police District to include places in a radius of 15 miles from Charing Cross.
Section 5 gave constables of the Metropolitan Police all "powers and privileges of constabulary" in the counties of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire and on the River Thames within or adjoining Middlesex, Surrey, Berkshire, Essex, Kent and the City of London (the MPA 1829 had already given them constabulary powers within Middlesex, Surrey, Essex and Kent).
The Act gave the police force powers over shipping arriving in the Port of London and using the Thames. Among these powers were:
A number of activities were to regulated within the Metropolitan Police District:
Section 54 of the Act enumerated a long list of "Nuisances by Persons in Thoroughfares" that were now prohibited. Among the outlawed activities, for which the miscreant could be taken into custody and fined, were:
The Act also outlawed the use of dog carts, obliged street musicians to move on when asked and allowed the imprisonment of "drunkards guilty of riotous or indecent behaviour".