In 1761, these duties were
again raised. In 1768, officers were authorized to seize all
horses, cattle, and carriages used to transport foreign spirituous
liquors for which duties had been evaded. In 1773, the penalty for
selling without a license was raised to 50 pounds, which could not
be mitigated below 5 pounds. Half the forfeiture was to go to the
suer.
The informer system for enforcing laws had its drawbacks.
Informers were not trained and were sometimes retaliated against
for informing. Sometimes this meant being tortured to death.
Sometimes there were schemes in which a leader of thieves, would
take a profit in the stolen goods by posing as a good citizen who
tracked down and returned them to the owners for a fee. Also he
might inform on his companions to get the reward for informing or
to punish a troublesome one. Sometimes the owner of goods was
involved in a fake robbery. An effort in 1749 to turn the whole
haphazard system of informers, into a specialized organization for
the detection and apprehension of criminals had caused a mob to
form and make threats; Englishmen associated a police force with
French tyranny. Nevertheless, about 1750, Sir John Fielding, a Bow
Street magistrate, and his half-brother picked men to police the
street under the direct control of the Bow Street magistrates.
This first police district made an impact on the increasing
violence of the times.
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