Q 01/05

Which British Home Secretary founded London's Metropolitan Police in 1829?

A) Henry Fielding

B) Robert Peel

C) William Gladstone

D) Benjamin Disraeli

Answer · why

B) Robert Peel

Its first constables walked out on 29 September 1829, and officers are still nicknamed 'bobbies' and 'peelers' after him.

Q 02/05

How did the Metropolitan Police headquarters get its famous nickname?

A) From its Scottish first commissioner

B) From the street its public entrance faced

C) From a former Scottish embassy on the site

D) From the King of Scotland's old guardhouse

Answer · why

B) From the street its public entrance faced

The original HQ was at 4 Whitehall Place; over time the name became shorthand for the whole force and its detectives.

Q 03/05

Which magistrate and novelist founded the Bow Street Runners, London's first professional police, in 1749?

A) Samuel Johnson

B) Henry Fielding

C) Daniel Defoe

D) Charles Dickens

Answer · why

B) Henry Fielding

The author of Tom Jones started with just six men.

Q 04/05

Which of Peel's principles is the most often quoted?

A) 'Prevention is better than cure'

B) 'The police are the public and the public are the police'

C) 'Force must always be the last resort of a constable'

D) 'Justice must be seen to be done by every citizen'

Answer · why

B) 'The police are the public and the public are the police'

Charles Reith distilled the force's General Instructions into nine principles in his 1948 history.

Q 05/05

The British police custodian helmet was adopted in 1863 to replace what?

A) A tricorne

B) A stovepipe top hat

C) A bearskin

D) A leather cap

Answer · why

B) A stovepipe top hat

Some sources say it was modelled on the spiked Prussian pickelhaube.