Important dates
The Met has a long and rich history to be proud of
1829: The Met was founded by Sir Robert Peel to serve and protect the people of London. The standard wage for a constable was one guinea (£1.05) a week for a 12 hour shift six days a week, with Sunday as a rest day.
1884: Police whistles introduced to replace the rattle.
1918: Introduction of the Flying Squad. With motor vehicles and a wagon hired from the Great Western Railway this became the first 'mobile force' of detectives and arrested 396 people in its first nine months.
1919: Women can join the Metropolitan Police for the first time. Duties for female officers included deterring prostitution, caring for juveniles and vulnerable people in custody and preventing deceitful practices such as fortune telling.
1923: Female police officers given the power of arrest.
1965: Special Patrol Group formed, the precursor to our Territorial Support Group.
1963: First computer used in the Met, set up in the Receiver's office for pay and crime statistics.
1965: First personal radios introduced.
1967: Norwell Roberts (pictured) became the first black post-war male officer to join the Met.
1990: W dropped from WPC.
1995: Introduction of the Crime Reporting Information System (CRiS), revolutionising the way we record crime.
1996: One Met website was designed and unveiled to the public.
2017: Cressida Dick appointed as the first female Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.
2020: The Met’s first fully electric response car (Jaguar i-PACE) was introduced onto the fleet, demonstrating that zero-emission vehicles are quickly catching up in performance too, and will soon be ready for use on the frontline.
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