Briefly glimpsed onscreen in The Reichenbach Fall is a 1956
first edition of Henry Goddard's classic 'Memoirs of a Bow Street
Runner.' The book is currently out of print in the United
Kingdom.
Formed in 1749, the Bow Street Runners are frequently recognised
as the first professional police force in London. Unlike previous
groups who would investigate and fight crime for a fee, the Runners
were formally linked to the magistrates court in Bow Street, and
thus worked under a legal mandate to catch criminals and bring them
to trial. The Bow Street runners were disbanded in 1839, but are
often credited with being the guiding inspiration for the
development of organised policing in the United Kingdom.