At
the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign the area was policed mainly by
parish constables. None of these men
were paid or had any training. They had to do their duties as well as
their own jobs, so you can imagine that not many people were keen to be
a constable.
They served for one year without pay,
and often were not allowed to finish their duties by the courts unless
they found someone else to take over.
From 1839 the borough of Brecon employed
three constables to keep the peace
in the town. They wore uniform and were paid. Each of them had a beat
to patrol and they were supervised by town councillors.
At this time other counties like Montgomeryshire set up a proper county
police force or constabulary.
PUNCH magazine shows us
how Brecon's first constables
might have looked
