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As an ex-police officer myself (13 years with the London Met) I can tell you that the first police force recognised as a fully trained and organised, full time salaried public police force was in fact the Met police in London fromed in 1829. Other "forces" before that, including the London River Police and the Bow Street Runners, were either partially privately run and financed e.g. the London River Police was financed by ship owners and shipping companies and was by today's standards a security firm rather than a police force, AND/OR they were untrained part-timers operating often only at night and in a specific area e.g. Bow Street Runners, who were in fact the Court's officers not police officers as such.
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