Catalogue description Home Office: Police (POL Symbol Series) Files

The papers in this series are arranged by departmental file number. The inclusion of a date before or after a file number (as in POL (1960) 13/1/2 or 1045/10/8 (1959)) indicates the year in which the file is supposed to have been created, but often it only indicates the year in which the first subfile was raised on a particular subject.

The subjects covered formed part of the functions and responsibilities of the Police Department. The files relate to Home Office involvement in appointments of Chief Constables, representative machinery and advisory bodies, recruitment and establishment of forces, pay and allowances, conditions of service, disciplinary tribunals, appeals and inquiries into allegations against the Metropolitan Police, training and education, pensions, Special Constables and cadets, police buildings, honours, research establishments and forensic science laboratories, communications, equipment, vehicles, complaints, police powers, the promotion and passage of legislation, the prevention of terrorism and crime, protection of individuals, miscellaneous matters relating to the Metropolitan Police and County Borough Forces, and annual reports, preparation notes and establishment statistics of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.