History of the Metropolitan Police
Birthday celebrations as Met turns 175
Wednesday 29th September was an historic day as the Met celebrated 175 years of policing London. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens marked the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Service with a walkabout from the Met's original home, Great Scotland Yard, to its modern headquarters at New Scotland Yard.
Sir John was joined
by Mayor Ken Livingstone and Metropolitan police Authority Deputy
Chair Cindy Butts and the group was accompanied along the route
by two police officers, one in historic uniform, and a Police
Community Support Officer – illustrating the extended police
family.
The walk included a visit to the statute of Sir Robert Peel,
founder of the MPS, in Parliament Square, where Sir John, Ken
Livingstone
and Cindy Butts released 2,000 commemorative balloons - 175 of
which give entry to a competition for young people.
The winner's
prize will include a visit to New Scotland Yard and a trip on
the River Thames with the Met's Marine Support Unit. From Parliament
Square, the group then walked to New Scotland Yard where Sir
John,
the Mayor and the MPA's Deputy Chair cut a celebration birthday
cake.
Sir John Stevens said there is a strength of history within the Metropolitan Police Service that is unlike almost any other organisation: "The Service has changed and grown immensely since the first officers stepped out onto the streets of London in 1829. I am proud to have been Commissioner during the Met's 175th anniversary and I hope history will record a worthwhile and positive contribution by the Service and its officers to the people of London.
"Neither policing nor crime stands still and the challenges of the 21st century are more than equal to any the Met has faced throughout its history. I am confident that the Met is in good shape for whatever the future may hold."
Mayor Ken Livingstone said: "The men and women of the Met have served the people of London with dedication. London is one of the safest cities in the world and that, in a large part, is thanks to the MPS."
Deputy Chair of the MPA, Cindy Butts , said: "The MPA would like to congratulate the Met on its 175th birthday and thank them for the service they have given Londoners over the years. Like our vibrant and diverse capital, the Met has changed dramatically over the years and is now becoming more representative of, and accountable to, the people it serves."