Editing Police authority (section)

===Early history to 1964===
The introduction of police forces on a national scale in England and Wales began with the [[Municipal Corporations Act 1835]], which required each [[borough]] to establish a "[[watch committee]]" and thus appoint constables to "preserve the peace". Before the advent of police authorities, the regulatory bodies for police forces confined to a single borough were these watch committees, whilst those for counties from 1889 had been "standing joint committees" (after 1889 some control passed to the elected [[county council]]; the joint committee also had magistrates).