Robert Peel must be turning in his grave as his brainchild of a modern, liberal metropolitan police force of 1829 has been slated as a racist, women-hating and gay-bashing ‘boys club.’ This is only the latest inquiry to issue a set of trenchant criticisms of London’s police force and who knows whether it will have any more impact than the previous ones.
Sir Robert Peel, 5 February 1788, was a lifelong politician, twice prime minister and Home Secretary, and regarded as one of the founders of the modern Conservative Party as well. He played a central role in making free trade a reality and set up a modern banking system. He supported Catholic Emancipation, the Reform Act and the repeal of the Corn Laws.
Intriguingly his chart with its Aquarius Sun conjunct Pluto is being rattled up exactly at the moment by the tr Uranus square – so he may be waving a bony finger from the crypt. He had four planets in Aquarius, Jupiter in Gemini and Neptune in Libra – a thinker and a communicator.
The London Met founded 29 September 1829 was the largest and first of the police forces with others following in different locations by circa 1850.
The Met chart has been extraordinarily accurate with the Solar Arc Mars opposing the Sun over large year’s scandals and now moving to conjunct the Pluto next year. With a nerve-stretched SA Neptune opposition the Uranus now. All of which reflects a devastating phase, that could spell the end of the entity altogether or at least grind it to a frustrating and aggravating halt as reforms are put in place.
With a natal Sun opposition Pluto it is a control-freak organisation but it also has the capacity to be inspirational with a Fire Grand Trine. Tr Pluto is exactly square the Mercury at zero degrees Scorpio as bitter discussions and divisive arguments gets under way running into and through 2024 and beyond as tr Pluto is then conjunct the Uranus for a period of upheaval in 2024/25. Tr Neptune and Saturn in Aries will create more setbacks and lower morale from 2026 onwards for two or three years – so it won’t be an instant transformation into a new Met.
Mark Rowley, the new commissioner, started on 12 September last year a Sun opposition Neptune which does not exactly inspire confidence.
Jonathan Portes, thanks for your comment. You are probably right but there have been cases where houses have been completely stripped of their contents. Also I will Google Jonathan Wild, as he sounds most interesting. Thanks again!
‘Wedge’ was the Cant (thieves slang) for the desired silver plate Jonathan mentions. The Newgate prison escapee, Jack Sheppard who was known to Wild (Wild was responsible for eventually dobbing him in) and his story is equally fascinating.
It was not the first, as stated here. Peel modelled it on The City of Glasgow Police, founded in 1800 – twenty-nine years earlier. The Met have agreed to stop saying they were the first some time ago. Scotland had detective departments, police boxes, and an expertise in forensics due to Scottish Universities having historic European links England lacked before The Met. Joseph Bell did not arrive from a vacuum.
The last series of scandals to rock the Met. were the so-called ‘Porn Trials’ of the mid 1970s in which Soho pornographers were paying of huge bribed to senior Metropolitan Police ‘Porn Squad’, (obscene publications squad), officers in order to turn a blind eye to their highly lucrative trade.
This prompted the legendary Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Robert Mark to say “The definition of a successful police force is one which has fewer criminals inside it than outside it”.
Lord, it just goes on and on…
One of the things that Robert Peel was determined to change was to stop burglars robbing houses and holding the family silver and furniture for ransom.
Bizarre as that sounds, it actually happened quite often. Nowadays it is the insurance companies that fleece you for a second time by not coughing up the required amount and then putting up the premiums. Such is life!
That was Jonathan Wild’s specialism.
‘Thief-Taker General of Great Britain and Ireland’.
A truly fascinating character and insight into the mores of Georgian England.
It was more like small, portable valuable items which could be pawned – a very big feature of 18th/19th century life – or fenced, rather than actual big bulky furniture.
Silver plate, literally the hallmark of middle class 18th century English, was the preferred plunder.
Thanks Marjorie. I like the idea of Sir Robert Peel waving a bony finger from the crypt! He’s just had a Saturn Return as well. I do think individual charts seem to live on, and often have something to tell us today.
The timing of the astrology makes perfect sense, even though it would be great to think things improved more rapidly – hard to see how that could actually happen, and there will be massive resistance. Possibly Mark Rowley isn’t the right person for the job. I will be interested to see if the nudges of Pluto square the Met Mercury bring initial changes. The police are often nowhere to be seen, and when they do turn up it is often disappointing. Recently, they have told two people I know that they hadn’t had enough stolen to justify an investigation! One was a private home, the other a small business. Both burglaries were, according to police, ‘professional’…..robbers must be delighted. Keep it fairly low key – in these cases £2,000 worth of goods or under – and carry on.
The May 21st Fixed T-square you mentioned in the previous thread on Boris Johnson will be affecting the Met’s Mercury too. I wonder if there will be a sea change, or will the Met just dig its heels in even more stubbornly, given the fixed nature of the Met’s astrology.
Well they managed to fudge around the Macpherson Report (24 February 1999) somehow….what’s interesting about that is the BML at 18 Scorpio, and the Saturn 29 Aries opposing Met Mercury. The 29 Aries April Solar eclipse may stir something further? An added sign along with Pluto anyway, plus the May t-square.
They really do have to change, and reorganise themselves in some way. It’s the toxic hatred culture, the stone-walling and denial, plus the way they appear to ignore or dismiss so many crimes. I don’t think the CPS is helpful either, and wonder whether a review of their performance might be helpful. To be fair, the stone-walling and denial is part of many a large organisation – look at all the NHS cases. Refusal to listen to whistle-blowers is another common failing, as is refusing to change a point of view – the awful Post Office scandal comes to mind there. Too much ‘us and them’ mentality all round I suppose. Perhaps Pluto in Aquarius may be a helpful influence when it is trine Uranus in Gemini. Other forces/services will need to change too, far beyond just doing some social and cultural ‘awareness’ courses! A veritable forest of apple trees with rotten apples needs clearing up. And yes, I do know one or two very kind and decent police officers, and feel very sorry for all those who are doing their absolute best.
To be boring, the Thames River Police was the first policing body ever to be set up in 1798 (to collect customs duties amongst other things, so a revenue earner) and was absorbed into the Met in 1839. The City of Glasgow Police comes in at number 2 being founded on 29 September 1800. A formal enforcement action by the Advertising Standards Authority forced the Met to stop telling fibs!
Will – there’s actually a small museum at Wapping that’s all about the ‘Marine Police’! But they were set up privately at first, with the West India Planters Committee, owing to all the thefts of cargo etc. The date is 2 July 1798 – a descriptive grand trine in water with Sun, Neptune, and Mars. Plus, of interest to us today – Jupiter 18 Taurus, and Pluto 1 Pisces. The East and West India company also set up their own private police force to monitor the docks. You can just imagine the chaos in those days.