The Bow Street Runners have been called London's first professional police force. The force was founded in 1749 by the author Henry Fielding and originally numbered just six. Bow Street runners was the public's nickname for these officers, "although the officers never referred to themselves as runners, considering the term to be derogatory". The Bow Street group was disbanded in 1839.
Famous quotes containing the words bow, street and/or runners:
“The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“If you would learn to write, ‘t is in the street you must learn it. Both for the vehicle and for the aims of fine arts you must frequent the public square. The people, and not the college, is the writer’s home.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Why runners make lousy communists. In a word, individuality. It’s the one characteristic all runners, as different as they are, seem to share.... Stick with it. Push yourself. Keep running. And you’ll never lose that wonderful sense of individuality you now enjoy. Right, comrade?”
—quoted in Guardian (London, Dec. 29, 1984)