Until the 1800s, England had no official policing system.

Law enforcement was in the hands of private citizens with little intervention from the state.

Crime-fighting was limited to setting rewards to encourage citizens to arrest and prosecute offenders. The first such reward was established in 1692, when £40 was offered for the conviction of a highwayman.

Before Sir Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police, the Bow Street Runners, founded in 1749 by author Henry Fielding, were responsible for dealing with crime in London.

The Bow Street Runners were different to crime fighting organisations that had gone before, as they were formally attached to the Bow Street magistrates’ office and were paid with funds from central government.

Their involvement with a case began when a victim or messenger would arrive to report a crime. Most victims were expected to pay the expenses of the investigation and also to offer a reward for information. In addition, they would have to face the expense of a trial if the criminal was caught.

The Bow Street Runners gained more recognition from the government and their methods served as the prototype for policing during the following years.

When Sir Robert Peel became Home Secretary in 1822, he championed the idea of professional policing. Peel’s Metropolitan Police Act of 1829 established a full-time, professional and centrally-organised police force for the greater London area, and incorporated The Bow Street Runners into the new force. The new Metropolitan Police wore blue uniforms to avoid any similarities with the Army, who wore red.

In 1835, the Municipal Corporations Act required 178 Royal Boroughs to set up paid police forces. Four years later, the Rural Constabulary Act allowed county areas to establish local police forces.

Early police officers worked seven days a week, with only five days unpaid holiday a year. Their lives were strictly controlled; they were not allowed to vote in elections and required permission to get married and even to share a meal with a civilian.

Hertfordshire gained its own constabulary in 1841. The first police station was in a house in 193 High Street, which had a basement that could be used for holding criminals. Up until then, criminals had been put in the stocks that stood in the marketplace, or in The Cage, a lock-up that stood nearby.

The first officer in Watford was Captain Kelly, who had only one constable to help him patrol the town.

In the 1870s, the town gained its first purpose-built police station, now 5 Estcourt Road. As the service expanded, the police moved to a much larger building on the corner of King Street and Smith Street. Built in 1888, it remained the town’s central police station until World War II.

Though Watford was mostly known for rural crimes, in 1902 it became the scene of a riot when the highly-anticipated Coronation Day celebrations were cancelled because the King fell ill.

62 men and women were arrested and an estimated £2,000 worth of damage was caused.

The police had already applied for additional men and this was finally agreed to after the riot.

In 1914, Margaret Damer Dawson, an anti-slavery campaigner, and Nina Boyle, a militant suffragette journalist, founded the Women Police Service.

A year later, Edith Smith was the first policewoman sworn in with full powers of arrest.

Female officers were allowed to go into brothels, nightclubs and betting houses to observe and gather evidence, but at the first sign of crime being committed they had to call in male colleagues.

Female police officers did not get equal pay with male police officers until 1974.

At the outbreak of World War I, the mounted section of the Hertfordshire Police had an establishment of 13 horses and riders. However, these horses were requisitioned into the Army after the outbreak of hostilities.

When the war ended, the mounted section of the Hertfordshire Police was restarted on a smaller scale. They continued to work until 1928, when the mounted section was disbanded.

Hertfordshire Constabulary’s police force area currently covers an area of 634 square miles. Watford’s police station is today located on Shady Lane.