Policing South Wales Docks- An Illustrated History

Alongside the emergence of the railways in the 19th century came a huge expansion of docks and shipping. Worldwide demand for Welsh steaming coal also saw a population explosion in the towns of Newport, Cardiff, Penarth and Barry. It resulted in hard-living overcrowded communities where drunkenness, prostitution, thieving, violence and murder flourished. Embryo Borough police forces were stretched to the limit and beyond to deal with it. Each of these coal ports formed their own police forces to deal with the mayhem. The Bute Dock Police went out on patrol armed with cutlasses; and two of its officers drowned on duty on separate occasions, one in particularly suspicious circumstances. In 1923, the railway amalgamations meant that for the next 25 years it was the GWR Police who kept a grip on the docks, followed, in 1948, by the British Transport Police. Until, in 1985 after 125 years of continuous police service, the last dock copper took off his helmet, locked the police station door and went on his way.