Often they were inefficient, did not join efforts with others for maintaining the peace, or were corrupt themselves. Night watchmen patrolling the streets at night were not a guarantee of security. Streets in the metropolis were dark at night, and poorly lit, which allowed the proliferation of criminal activities, since lawbreakers were difficult to spot in the dark. A major cause was immigration: an impressive number of different cultural groups migrated to the big city in search of fortune and social mobility, contributing to saturate jobs availability and making cohabitation a difficult matter. In fact London was expanding at a fast pace, so that there were no precise division between wealthy and poor areas, the rich living next to the poor. This was particularly evident in the capital and its neighbourhoods, where the population almost corresponded to that of England and Wales together. Historical and political context Įngland in the seventeenth and eighteenth century suffered a great deal of political and economic disorders that brought violence into its streets. Government-funded rewards for the capture of criminals were a corrupting influence, leading directly to the Macdaniel scandal. However, they were often corrupt themselves, for example extorting protection money from the crooks they were supposed to catch. Sometimes, thief-takers would act as go-betweens, negotiating the return of stolen goods for a fee. ![]() Both types also collected bounties offered by the authorities. ![]() However, thief-takers were usually hired by crime victims, while bounty hunters were paid by bail bondsmen to catch fugitives who skipped their court appearances and hence forfeited their bail. These were private individuals much like bounty hunters. With the rising crime rate and newspapers to bring this to the attention of the public, thief-takers arose to partially fill the void in bringing criminals to justice. The widespread establishment of professional police in England did not occur until the 19th century. In English legal history, a thief-taker was a private individual hired to capture criminals. ![]() Watchman, bounty hunter, bail bondsman, slave catcher, private policeman, police officer
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