3.5 How Effective Was Law Enforcement In C1500-1700 and 3.6 the bloody code

Question 1

How effective was policing (hue and cry, parish Constable’s, town watchmen, citizens, rewards, JPs)

Answer 1

Policing still mainly relied on the local community

The hue and cry:

• citizens had to look for the criminal.
• This was lead by the Constable

Parish Constable’s:

• they have no weapons or uniforms
• they dealt with everyday matters
• they did not go on patrol
• they were responsible for charging suspects and making sure they were in prison until their trial

Town watchmen :

• employed in larger towns to patrol the streets
• poorly paid, not effective
• made sure people were following the rules and arrested vagabonds

Sergeants:
Employed in towns to enforce market regulation

Citizens:

• expected to deal with crimes themselves
• had to get an arrest warrant, track down the criminals and deliver them to the Constable

Rewards:
- they were offered as an incentive to track down more serious criminals

JPs ( Justices of the peace)

• they judged manor court cases
• they could fine people, send them to the stocks/pillory and order them to be whipped

Question 2

How effective were trials in c1500-1700? (Courts, benefit of the clergy, habeas corpus)

Answer 2

Courts:

• manor courts dealt with local, minor crimes
• JPs dealt with minor crimes but four times a year they would meet at quarter sessions with other JPs to judge more serious cases
• royal judges visited each country twice a year to deal with the most serious offences

Benefit of the clergy:

• church courts dealt with crimes committed by churchmen and anyone who claimed the benefit of the clergy
• by the 1600s more ordinary people were able to read the neck verse so the law changed to prevent people who were accused of serious crimes from claiming the benefit of the clergy

Habeas corpus:

• this prevented the authorities from locking a person up without charging them with a crime
• they had to appear in court within a certain time or be released
• not effective as governments made up evidence to lock up their critics

Question 3

What was the bloody code

Answer 3

In 1688, the law changed and the number of crimes carrying the death penalty increased
- even minor crimes (e.g poaching) was punishable by death

Question 4

Why was the bloody code introduced?

Answer 4

• the punishment became harsher, however the crime rate was falling
• towns grew in number and size. This made it harder to enforce the law using traditional methods such as hue and cry. Towns and streets were more crowded, making it easier to get away with crimes
• when the bloody code was introduced, better roads and cheaper horses, meant that more people were able to travel
• the MPs who passed the laws for the bloody code were all wealthy landowners who wanted to protect their land and privileges. They felt that they had the most to lose from crimes against property so made the punishments for these types of crimes harsher
• traditional views on punishment meant that the trend in punishment had to be to make it harsher. People felt that severe punishments were the most effective way of controlling crime by acting as a deterrent. It was the only method that was tried so people felt it was the most effective.