Town constables and night watch

• Law enforcement was still not nationally organised, and was left to local initiative. This meant standards varied across regions.
• In some richer areas, householders joined together to hire armed guards to protect them and their property.
• In this period, town authorities started to employ town constables: a. they were expected to stop suspected criminals and round up ‘sturdy beggars’ b. they helped with local administrative issues like collecting payments for road cleaning. c. they were appointed by local people with good standing in the community, including merchants whose business benefited from better law enforcement.
• These town constables oversaw the work of night watchmen: a. all householders were expected to serve as night watchmen b. they took turn to patrol the local area between 10pm and dawn c. they rang a bell to warn people to go home d. they were unpaid volunteers.