Editing Wimbledon Common (section)

==Keepers==

[[File:The Plain on the East of Wimbledon Common (North Facing View - 01).jpg|thumb|The Plain, an open area on the east side of Wimbledon Common]]

The Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act 1871 contains a provision to allow the Conservators to have Officers attested as constables<ref>Section 90 http://www.ledr.com/acts/wpca/1871024.htm#90</ref> for the purposes of enforcing the provisions of the Act and all bylaws made there under.

There was resistance at the time to a similar provision in the draft Bill that preceded the Act, whereby an article in ''The Spectator'' in January 1865 objected to the creation of 'Spencerian Police'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/7th-january-1865/14/the-proposed-wimbledon-park-act-a-careful-consider|title=THE PROPOSED|work=The Spectator Archive}}</ref> The article refers to draft Bill as it was published in draft in 1864, whereby the article suggests that the Bill contained a provision for the appointment of Special Constables with full police powers. It would seem that this provision was removed in favour of the provision that allowed the attestation of constables just for the purposes of enforcing the Act itself and the byelaws made there under.

In addition to the ability to swear in constables, the Act creates a power of arrest for any officer of the Conservators or a constable when the details of a person suspected of committing a byelaws offences cannot be obtained (e.g. details refused or suspected of being false).<ref>Section 93- Arrest of Transient Offenders "Any constable or any officer of the Conservators, and all persons called by such constable or officer to his assistance, may without any other warrant than this Act, seize and detain any person offending or having offended against this Act, or any byelaw of the Conservators, whose name or address is unknown to such constable or officer, and convey him with all convenient despatch before a justice, to be dealt with according to law." http://www.ledr.com/acts/wpca/1871024.htm#93</ref> Whilst it is unlikely that this power would be used by anyone other than a Keeper in modern times, a theoretical power of arrest exists for any staff and for any member or the public that they call upon for assistance.

The historic role of the Keeper was captured in a 1959 [[British Pathé]] film, which showed them dressed in bowler hats and tweeds being inspected by the Warden (a former Lieutenant Colonel) before going about their daily routine of tackling summer fires and challenging golfers who were not in appropriate attire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/park-rangers|title=Park Rangers|author=British Pathé|work=britishpathe.com}}</ref>