Parish constable

A parish constable, also known as a petty constable, was a law enforcement officer, usually unpaid and part-time, serving a parish. The position evolved from the ancient chief pledge of a tithing and takes its name from the office of constable with which it was originally unconnected.

It is distinct from the more senior position of the hundred-constable, also known as the High Constable (e.g. the High Constable of Holborn, who was one of the hundred-constables for Ossulstone; Ossulstone's hundred court was located at Red Lion Square, in Holborn).

In London (excluding the City of London), the position was superseded by the introduction of the Metropolitan Police Service in 1829, which created a full-time professional force. Elsewhere, professional county police forces took over, after the County Police Act 1839 was passed.

In 1995 the Home Office reintroduced Parish Constables in "The Parish Constable Scheme"(NCJ number 157623). The Parish Constable Scheme was announced in 1993 by the Home Secretary to establish foot patrols in rural areas. The job fell to the Special Constabulary who were asked to provide (if special constables were willing), officers who would be trained in the work and operate solely in their own parishes. Parish Constables did an amazing job in some areas as being local to their own community, they were more trusted than the regular officers who were seen passing through in cars on occasion. Several Parish Constable schemes were operating in various parts of the country for several years but despite its success, the scheme appears to have been shelved.

The office of parish constable originated from the tithing, a small unit of local administration. Each tithing was obliged, by frankpledge, to be responsible for the actions of its members. The heads of each household would often select one of their number to take charge of the tithing – an appointment usually known as "chief pledge", except in Kent, Sussex, and parts of Surrey, where the position was called "headborough".

View of frankpledge, a judicial process, obliged each tithing to attend the shire court at regular intervals, and hand over any person in their tithing who the court had summoned; if they did not, and could not swear on oath that they were not involved in helping that person evade justice, the remaining people in the tithing had to pay the damages incurred by the actions of that person. Since this created an incentive for each tithing to enforce standards of behaviour among its own members, the chief pledge of each tithing was effectively obliged to police behaviour in the tithing.

The term constable was originally unconnected with the chief pledge, and referred to officers in charge of the cavalry; it originates from the Latin comes stabuli, meaning count of the stable. By extension, constable referred to the officer in command of the army – one of the Great Officers of State. In times of relative peace, this officer was sometimes given a role in keeping order, on account of his command of military resources. Additional constables were sometimes appointed, if order needed to be kept in multiple places, or the main constable was busy in his main role.

The term constable consequently began to have a more general meaning related to enforcing order; in 1285 King Edward I of England "constituted two constables in every hundred to prevent defaults in towns and highways". In England and Scotland, the officer in command of the army then came to be called the Lord High Constable, to avoid ambiguity over his role. As the chief pledge were also involved in policing people's behaviour, though at a much smaller scale, and with much-lowered resources, they gradually came to be referred to as petty constables.