<P> Early policing in Britain was based on the process of hue and cry which relied on citizen volunteers, and later a conscription system known as posse comitatus . </P> <P> Law enforcement and policing during the 1700s, and earlier, were not administrated nationally, instead they were organised by local communities such as town authorities . Within local areas, a constable could be attested by two or more Justices of the Peace, a procedure that some sources say had its roots in an Act of the Parliament of England of 1673 . From the 1730s, local improvement Acts made by town authorities often included provision for paid watchmen or constables to patrol towns at night, while rural areas had to rely on more informal arrangements . </P> <P> In 1737, an Act of Parliament was passed "for better regulating the Night Watch" of the City of London which specified the number of paid constables that should be on duty each night . Henry Fielding established the Bow Street Runners in 1749; between 1754 and 1780, Sir John Fielding reorganised Bow Street like a police station, with a team of efficient, paid constables . </P> <P> In 1800, some town authorities became more involved in improving local policing . An Act of Parliament in 1800 enabled Glasgow to establish the City of Glasgow Police, which is the first professional police force in Britain . As the population in industrial towns grew, more local Acts were passed to improve policing arrangements in those towns, such as Rochdale in Lancashire in 1825, and Oldham in 1827 . In Ireland, the Belfast Borough Police (1800), Dublin Metropolitan Police (1836) and Londonderry Borough Police (1848) were founded . (At this time, all of Ireland was part of the UK .) </P>

The earliest police in england worked only at night and were known as