Police - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1789: The Birth of Policing in New South Wales

On 8 August 1789, Governor Arthur Phillip authorised the formation of a nightwatch at Sydney Cove, drawing eight of the best-behaved convicts from the colony’s population. The Royal Marines, originally tasked with policing duties, had proved unwilling to discipline their fellow convicts, forcing Phillip’s hand. A free settler named John Smith had earlier been appointed as the colony’s first constable, becoming the first recorded police officer in Australia.

The Night Watch was joined by a Row Boat Guard, also composed of selected convicts. The Night Watch was replaced by the Sydney Foot Police in 1790 and evolved into an organised force that endured until the amalgamation of all New South Wales colonial police forces in 1862.

NSW Police Force recruits training with horses revolvers drill and gear

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Australia Colonial History NSW Police Prison Sydney

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1991: Sir Terence Lewis, Queensland Police Commissioner, Convicted of Corruption

Sir Terence Lewis, Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service from 1976 to 1987, was found guilty on 5 August 1991 of 15 counts of corruption and one of forgery, following the explosive Fitzgerald Inquiry into police misconduct. A District Court jury determined that Lewis had accepted bribes totalling $700,000 to protect brothels, SP bookmakers, illegal casinos, and gaming machine operators. He had been handpicked for the commissioner’s role in 1976 by Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, bypassing 122 more senior officers.

Judge Healy sentenced Lewis to the maximum term available: 14 years for corruption and 10 years for forgery, to be served concurrently. Lewis was stripped of his knighthood and two other awards. He continued to protest his innocence and pursued appeals until the last one failed in August 2005.

Terence Murray Lewis, Queensland Police Commissioner. © State of Queensland (Queensland Police Service); original photographer unknown. Retouched by Georgfotoart. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

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Australia Brisbane Corruption Organised Crime Police Political Crime QLD Trial

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1910: Dr Crippen Captured at Sea, the First Fugitive Caught by Wireless Telegraph

American homeopath Hawley Harvey Crippen became one of history’s most notorious wife-murderers when his second wife, Cora, vanished after a dinner party at their home in Holloway, London, on the night of 31 January 1910. Crippen claimed she had returned to the United States and later died there, but Scotland Yard grew suspicious when his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, was seen openly wearing Cora’s jewellery. When police dug up the cellar at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, they found human remains.

Crippen and Le Neve fled aboard the SS Montrose bound for Canada. The ship’s captain, recognising the fugitives, used the newly available wireless telegraph to alert Scotland Yard. Chief Inspector Walter Dew boarded a faster ship, intercepted the Montrose, and arrested Crippen mid-Atlantic on 31 July 1910, making him the first criminal in history captured with the aid of wireless telegraphy. Crippen was returned to London, tried at the Old Bailey, convicted of murder, and hanged at Pentonville Prison on 23 November 1910.

Portrait of Dr Crippen early 1900s suspect in murder case

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Europe Execution Fugitive London Murder Police Trial UK USA

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