The Oxford University Police, or Oxford University Constables (popularly known as

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

s or Bullers), was the private

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

force of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

between 1829 and 2003. They carried warrant cards and were empowered to act as police officers within the university precincts and within areas of Oxford within four miles of any university building.p194-5, Bruce, Alastair and Calder, Julian, ''Keepers of the Kingdom'' (Cassell, 2002), University police branded 'too powerful'
, ''Oxford Times'', 22 May 2002 As of 2001, the force existed as a private constabulary (a non-

Home Office The Home Office (HO), also known (especially in official papers and when referred to in Parliament) as the Home Department, is the United Kingdom's interior ministry. It is responsible for public safety and policing, border security, immigr ...

police force) with 40 sworn

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

s. They were widely recognised for the

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

s which formed part of their uniform, and formerly had the duty of patrolling outside the

Examination Schools The Examination Schools of the University of Oxford are located at 75–81 High Street, Oxford, High Street, Oxford, England. The building was designed by Thomas Graham Jackson, Sir Thomas Jackson (1835–1924), who also designed several other U ...

alongside the university

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

s, the officials responsible for discipline in the university. They were abolished by the University Council in 2003.Oration by the Senior Proctor
, Oxford University Gazette, 27 March 2003

History

The power of the university to attest constables was granted by the

Universities Act 1825 The Universities Act 1825The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation ...

.Universities Act 1825
/ref> In 1829, the same year that the Metropolitan Police Service was established by then-

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

, the

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of Oxford University signed the "Plan for the Establishment of an Efficient University Police", formalising the powers and duties of the university constables. They were supervised by the university

s, and had disciplinary powers over students. Until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the constables were considered to be ''

in loco parentis The term ''in loco parentis'', Contemporary Latin, Latin for "in the place of a parent", refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. Originally derived from ...

'' with regard to students of the university, giving them broad disciplinary powers to enforce university rules and regulations. In 2002, a group of local traders in Oxford wrote to

Evan Harris Evan Leslie Harris (born 21 October 1965) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon from 1997 to 2010, losing his seat in the 2010 general election by 176 votes to Conservati ...

, a local Member of Parliament, requesting the removal of the police powers of the constables over citizens who were not members of the university. They argued that the constables were "not accountable to any public authority" and described their role as an "anachronism". After a policy review by the University Council in 2003, the University Police was disbanded when it was decided that it would be too expensive to bring the force up to the required standard of training and implement a multi-tiered complaints procedure. The circa 40 members of the force were re-designated "Proctors' Officers". In recognition of the force's "extraordinary role over almost 180 years" (according to the senior proctor), the constables were not merged with the university's Department of Security Services, but remained under the control of the proctors. According to the Chancellor's 2003 annual report, these members can still carry out 95% of the duties without constabulary powers.

Thames Valley Police Thames Valley Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley region, covering the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in South East England. It is the largest non-metropolitan police force ...

are the

territorial police force A territorial police force is a police service that is responsible for an area defined by sub-national boundaries, distinguished from other police services which deal with the entire country or a type of crime. In countries organized as federation ...

responsible for providing policing to Oxford, including the university.

References

External links

Images of Oxford University Police on Flickr
* {{UK private and military police forces 1829 establishments in England 2003 disestablishments in England Organizations established in 1829 Organizations disestablished in 2003 Defunct police forces of England

Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

History of the University of Oxford University police forces of the United Kingdom

History

See also

References

External links