FROM the VAULT – Police Depot and Training

Before centrally organised police in Ireland, the night watchmen, also known as “Charlies”, patrolled the streets between the hours of sunset and sunrise. The men received no preliminary training or much guidance on the execution of their duties. In Dublin and Belfast, there was is hardly a story or an article where a watchman was not criticised or abused for his ineptness, or simply for his overpowering love of sleep and drink, to which he only too readily succumbed.

Drunken Watchman Lying on the Ground by William Sadler. National Photographic Archive, Dublin (NPA, PD 3176 TX 44)

Between the 1830s and 1840s, the night watch was completely superseded by the ‘Day Police’ in both capitals, which took over night and day duties. These organised forces were progenitors of the colonial police.  By the latter half of the nineteenth century, police recruitment and training procedures became more standardised and averaged from one to three months. Across most of the Irish and later the Australian police forces, supernumeraries received nominal pay.

DMP and a Boy, 1863. Garda Museum.

Throughout the duration of their training, the recruits were stationed at the Dublin Metropolitan Police training depot, in Kevin Street, close to the city centre. Each man, at the end of the first week after joining, was provided with a standard set of articles[1]:

1 trunk, 2 shirts, 1 set of shoe brushes, 2 pairs of stockings, 1 razor, 2 towels, 1 rack-comb.

In addition to the pay, every man was supplied with the following articles of clothing and equipment when sworn in:

None of the issued equipment was considered a policeman’s property. All men were required to own ‘a respectable suit of plain clothes, two pairs of strong boots, three good shirts, and four pairs of stockings.’ On Sunday and Thursday, men were expected to change into a clean shirt and clean pair of stockings.

The day of the Dublin supernumerary was extremely regulated. The hours of rising varied between seasons:

Day began at 7 am in winter, and summer at 6 am

First class at 8 am, followed by breakfast at 9am.

Drill from 10 to 11am

Second class 11:15-12:15

Drill 12:15-1pm

Dinner at 2pm.

Classes 4-6pm

Supper at 7pm

Classes 8-9pm

Roll call at 9:30pm

As the final step before getting appointed to a division, every supernumerary was expected to purchase one pair of boots. By the end of the first month from his appointment, a constable must have had in his possession ‘two serviceable pairs at 16 shillings each’, or more than a week’s pay of a constable. The first-year constables were then expected to put enough money aside to afford a watch. Constables who had served twelve months from the date of their first promotion to the third rate and failed to provide themselves with a watch were placed under stoppages of 2s 6d by their superintendents until a sufficient sum has been collected for the purchase of one.[2]

The Queensland Police supernumeraries also received drill and service training during the probation period at the police depot. Initially, in the ten years between 1875 and 1885 the police were housed at the Victoria Army Barracks, while recruitment and training took place in Brisbane at the Police Depot at Petrie Terrace. In 1880, Roma Street Police Barracks building was completed and cost of £5000 and located at Turbot and Roma Streets in Brisbane. The Venetian-Italian style building included three floors. The first floor had two cells, a kitchen, bathroom, and offices. The second floor included a large parade hall, dining room, day room, and offices. The third floor contained two large dormitories, one for men on night duty, and the other for those on day duty, as well as several individual bedrooms.

Roma Street Barracks, 1960 (8 years before it was demolished) PM0323

The regular constables were issued the following equipment:

In case any of the articles were lost or damaged, the amount was charged to the constable who possessed them.

Handcuffs, QPM Collection

In the 1890s, a weekly class of instruction in general knowledge and police duties was established and held on Wednesday nights. The classes were attended by all the members of the police stationed at the Depot, as well as the recruits.

All recruits received training in drill, including squad and company, physical and dumb-bell, such fatigue work as was necessary. Each afternoon they were made to read aloud and were instructed in the various duties that they, as constables, would be called upon to perform. Those men deemed suitable were taught to ride the bicycle and care for it.

From 1894 onwards, the Police Museum was used for the purpose of instructing recruits in the various methods employed by criminals. And finally, a course of ten ambulance lectures on ‘First Aid to the Injured’ was given to the city and Moreton police by a medical doctor.

[1] ‘Rules to be Observed by Supernumeraries in Kevin-Street Metropolitan Police Depot’, Instruction Book for the Dublin Metropolitan Police Revised by Inspector John Ward. (Dublin: Printed by Alex. Thom, 87&88, Abbey-Street, 1865), p. 3
[2] ‘Supernumeraries. Rules to be Observed by Supernumeraries in Kevin-Street Metropolitan Police Depot’ (1876), 17.

The article was researched and written by Dr Anastasia Dukova. The Queensland Police Museum hours of operation are 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month. QPM is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.

Contact by email: museum@police.qld.gov.au

‘FROM the VAULT – Police Depot and Training’ by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode