Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) 1836 - 1925
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Dublin Metropolitan Police DMP
The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force for the city of Dublin, from 1836 to 1925, when it amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána.
Rural policing in Ireland began when Robert Peel, then Chief Secretary for Ireland, created the Peace Preservation Force in 1816. This rudimentary paramilitary police force was designed to provide policing in rural Ireland, replacing the 18th century system of watchmen, baronial constables, revenue officers and British military forces. Peel went on to found the London Metropolitan Police.
The Last DMP training Class at Kevin Street, Dublin before amalgamation with the Garda Siochana in 1925.
In 1822, a new Act created four improved "County" Constabularies, whose organisation was based around the traditional provinces of Ireland.
These were merged into a new centralised Constabulary of Ireland, in 1836 and the Peace Preservation Force ceased to exist. At the same time separate non-paramilitary forces were set up in the larger towns: Dublin, Belfast, and Derry. Discipline problems saw the Belfast and Derry forces absorbed by the national force, and only Dublin maintained its separate force.
The DMP was modelled closely on London's Metropolitan Police. Not only were the uniforms of the two forces almost indistinguishable, especially after the helmet and Bath Star were adopted, but the two forces also had a similar organisational structure; rather than a Chief Constable, they were commanded by a Commissioner, who was not a police officer, but a magistrate holding a Commission of the Peace. This was descended from the 18th century system of controlling parish constables, and was a sop to the public's fears about the danger of a standing police force under government control.
In common with police forces on the island of Great Britain, the DMP was an unarmed force. In this, it provided the inspiration for the first Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, who declared that the new force should also be unarmed.
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