The disposition of this force of 158 men was as follows:—
| Name of Chokey | Number of Constables | Number of Peons | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washerman’s Tank (Dhobi Talao) | 2 | 12 | 14 |
| Back Bay | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Palo (Apollo i.e. Girgaum Road) | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| Girgen (Girgaum) | 2 | 12 | 14 |
| Gowdevy (Gamdevi) | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Pillajee Ramjee[29] | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Moomladevy (Mumbadevi) | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Calvadevy (Kalbadevi) | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Sheik Maymon’s Market (Sheik Memon Street?) | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Butchers (Market?) | 2 | 10 | 12 |
| Cadjees (Kazi’s market or post) | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Ebram Cowns (Ibrahim Khan’s market or post) | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Sat Tar (Sattad Street) | 2 | 12 | 14 |
| Portuguese Church (Cavel) | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| 28 | 130 | 158 |
The names of the police-stations or chaukis (chokeys) show that the area thus policed included roughly the modern Dhobi Talao section and the southern part of Girgaum, most of the present Market and Bhuleshwar sections and the western parts of the modern Dongri and Mandvi sections. In fact, the expression “Dongri and the Woods” represented the area which formed the nucleus of what were known in the middle of the nineteenth century as the “Old Town” and “New Town”. At the date of Mr. Halliday’s appointment, this part of the Island was almost entirely covered with oarts (hortas) and plantations, intersected by a few narrow roads; and if one may judge by the illustration “A Night in Dongri” in The Adventures of Qui-hi (1816),[30] a portion of this area was inhabited largely by disreputable persons.
Simultaneously with the introduction of the arrangements described above, an establishment of “rounds” hitherto maintained by the arrack-farmer, consisting of one clerk of militia, 4 havaldars and 86 sepoys, and costing Rs. 318 per month, was abolished. Mahim, which was still regarded as a suburb, had its own “Chief,” who performed general, magisterial and police duties in that area; while other outlying places like Sion and Sewri were furnished with a small body of native police under a native officer, subject to the general supervision and control of the Superintendent. In 1797 the condition of the public thoroughfares and roads was so bad that, on the death in that year of Mr. Lankhut, the Surveyor of Roads, his department was placed in charge of the Superintendent of Police; while in 1800 the office of Clerk of the Market was also annexed to that of the chief police officer, in pursuance of the recommendations of a special committee. In the following year, 1801, the old office of Chief of Mahim was finally abolished, and his magisterial and police duties were thereupon vested in the Superintendent of Police. To enable him to cope with this additional duty, an appointment of Deputy Superintendent, officiating in the Mahim district, was created, the holder of which was directly subordinate in all matters to the Superintendent of Police. The first Deputy Superintendent was Mr. James Fisher, who continued in office until the date (1808) of Mr. Halliday’s retirement when he was succeeded by Mr. James Morley.
CHAPTER II
The Rise of the Magistracy
1800-1855
As has been shown in the preceding chapter, the importance of the office of Superintendent of Police had been considerably enhanced by the year 1809. Excluding the control of markets and roads, which was taken from him in that year, the Superintendent had executive control of all police arrangements in the Island, exercised all the duties of a High Constable, an Alderman and a Justice of the Peace, was Secretary of the Committee of Buildings, a member of the Town Committee, and a member of the Buildings Committee of H.M.’s Naval Offices in Bombay. He had been appointed a Justice of the Peace at his own request, on the grounds that he would thereby be enabled to carry out his police work more effectively. His deputy at Mahim was also appointed a Justice of the Peace on the publication of Act XLVIII, Geo. III. of 1808.
The year 1809 marks another crisis in the history of Bombay’s police administration, to which several factors may be held to have contributed. In the first place crime was still rampant and defied all attempts to reduce it. Bodies of armed men continued to enter the Island, as for example in 1806 and 1807, and to terrify, molest and loot the residents; and though these gangs remained for some little time within the Superintendent’s jurisdiction, they were never apprehended by the police.[31] In his report of November 15, 1810, Warden refers also to an attack by “Cossids”, i.e. Kasids or letter-carriers, who must have been induced to leave for the moment their ordinary duties as postal-runners and messengers by the apparent immunity from arrest and punishment enjoyed by the bands of regular thieves and free-booters. In consequence of the general lawlessness traffic in stolen goods was at this date a most lucrative profession, and obliged the Justices in 1797 to nominate individual goldsmiths and shroffs as public pawnbrokers for a term of five years, on condition that they gave security for good conduct and furnished the police regularly with returns of valuable goods sold or purchased by them.[32] Another source of annoyance to the authorities was the constant desertion of sailors from the vessels of the Royal Navy and of the East India Company. These men were rarely arrested and the police appeared unable to discover their haunts. The peons, i.e. native constables were declared to be seldom on duty, except when they expected the Superintendent to pass, and to spend their time generally in gambling and other vices. In brief, the police force was so inefficient and crime was so widespread and uncontrolled that public opinion demanded urgent reform.
In the second place, the old system whereby the Governor and his Council constituted the Court of Oyer and Terminer and Gaol Delivery disappeared on the establishment in 1798 of a Recorder’s Court. The powers of the Justices, who were authorized to hold Sessions of the Peace, remained unimpaired, and nine of them, exclusive of the Members of Government, were nominated for the Town and Island. It was inevitable that the constitution of a competent judicial tribunal, presided over by a trained lawyer, should, apart from other causes, lead to a general stock-taking of the judicial administration of Bombay, and incidentally should direct increased attention to the subject of the powers vested in the Police and the source whence they drew their authority.