The Admiralty Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 formed as a result of the Special Constables Act 1923. The Constabulary can trace its history back to 1686 when the Royal Navy needed an organisation to prevent dockyard crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

. So the Secretary to the Admiralty - Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...

, the diarist - formed a force of 'porters, rounders, warders and watchmen' to guard the Naval Yards. Porters identified and escorted visitors, rounders patrolled the yard, warders were responsible for the keys and backed up the porters at the gates, and the part-time watchmen guarded buildings and areas by night.

In 1834 this force became the first dockyard police, with full police powers within the dockyards, and acting as policemen over offences committed by employees and Naval personnel within a radius of five miles of the yard. Rewards for obtaining convictions quickly led to corruption, so the force was 'cleaned up' and then abolished. The Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

 took over, and senior Naval officers became magistrates. A Royal Marine Police Force was formed 1934 and subsequent changes led in 1949 to the Admiralty Constabulary being created.

The Ministry of Defence Police

Ministry of Defence Police

The Ministry of Defence Police is a civilian police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. The force is part of the larger government agency, the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency , together with the Ministry of Defence Guard Service...

 absorbed the AC in 1971, along with the Army Department Constabulary

Army Department Constabulary

The Army Department Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom formed as a result of the Special Constables Act 1923. Originally, the Army used serving soldiers to guard its establishments and the only call for police was at places like the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich...

 and the Air Force Department Constabulary

Air Force Department Constabulary

The Air Force Department Constabulary was a police force in the United Kingdom, responsible for policing the airfields and aerodromes under the control of the Air Ministry, later the Air Force Department....

.

See also

• Law enforcement in the United Kingdom
• List of defunct law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom
• Department of Defense Police
  Department of Defense Police
  Department of Defense Police, not to be confused with Pentagon Police, are the uniformed civilian police officers of the United States Department of Defense various branches of the United States Armed Forces . They are also referred to as DoD Police...