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Civilian Detective Doctrine in the 1930s and its Transmission to the Military Police in 1940-42

Moore, Colin R., Rubin, Gerry (2014) Civilian Detective Doctrine in the 1930s and its Transmission to the Military Police in 1940-42. Law, Crime and History, 4 (3). ISSN 2045-9238. (doi:10.2139/ssrn.2447166) (KAR id:41318)

Abstract

The Special Investigation Branch (SIB) of the Royal Military Police (RMP) was formed in 1940, after the military authorities became concerned at the widespread theft of military stores by members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and following a report on the matter by Chief Inspector George Hatherill of Scotland Yard. As a result 19 volunteer detectives from Scotland Yard joined the BEF to form the initial intake of the SIB.

This article seeks to show that the creation of the SIB in early 1940, also entailed the transmission of civilian detective practices to the Royal Military Police, following the creation of a corpus of civilian detective doctrine during the 1930s. The development of standardised civilian detective doctrine can largely be attributed to the work of the Home Office Departmental Committee on Detective Work which was established in 1933. This body did much to disseminate best training practices by providing a training syllabus for initial police recruits in relevant investigative techniques, and more relevantly offered a syllabus for the training of detectives. It was this doctrine that SIB training courses from 1942 onwards duly embraced.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.2139/ssrn.2447166
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General)
D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D731 World War II (1939-1945)
K Law > K Law (General)
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > Kent Law School
Depositing User: Colin Moore
Date Deposited: 07 Jun 2014 10:01 UTC
Last Modified: 09 Mar 2023 11:33 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/41318 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Moore, Colin R..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2767-2109
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Rubin, Gerry.

Creator's ORCID:
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