First Accrington Motor Cycle Police Patrol, Accrington

This item is active and ready to use

iBase ID

297329

Reference identifier

HAC-H01-R32-487-1

Title

First Accrington Motor Cycle Police Patrol, Accrington

Place

Accrington

General notes

in 1929 the Chief constable of Accrington recommended that the time had come for the establishment of a motor patrol in the borough. Two members of the force, John Edgar Curson, left and Matthew Walling, right, were designated motor patrol constables, although only one of them was to be on duty at a time.

the following is newspaper report dated June 25 1929
"a well equipped motor transport section has now become an almost indispensable adjunct of any police force, and by the appointment of two motor patrol men the Accrington Borough Force has followed the lead given by many other up-to-date towns. Scotland Yard, of course, possesses the finest equipped motor department in the country, and rapid strides are being made in the direction of enabling this section to co -ordinate effectively with other branches of the service. It does not by any means follow that because certain constables are in the motor section their duties will simply be to detect highway offences. In many county districts the pedal cycle and the motor cycle are the only means of transit for policemen: indeed were these machines not employed it would be almost impossible for the country constable to cover the large area he is expected to patrol. Just in the same way the two patrol men attached to the Accrington force will find their machines of great value in patrolling the outer districts of the borough, and this work of covering a fairly wide area can be much expedited by the use of motor cycles. The patrolmen have a smart uniform of blue, with knee breeches and leggings and will, in turn, work eight hour shifts. The commenced duty last week and I gather that during the present spell of fine weather they are being somewhat envied by their comrades who have to carry out their duties on foot. When less favourable weather conditions arrive, however, one wonders which of the two sections will be the one to be envious."
The constables used their own motor cycles and were paid five shillings a week for the use and maintenance of the machines, plus the cost of petrol and oil. Later in the year this amount increased to ten shillings per week

This image was digitised and made available online by volunteers as part of the Keeping East Lancashire in the Picture project. If you want to tell us anything about it, or share it more widely, please use the Comment and Share buttons above.

Medium

Photographic print

Colour

Monochrome

Year of image

1929

Enter year in yyyy format

Subjects

Place Names > Accrington

This item includes these files

Image