The establishment of a police force was still very new at the time of the novel Bleak House, but the officers still hold a part in the storyline in the form of Inspector Bucket. The police force and officers were still under development, and were stationed only to a small area in London that eventually grew. People in the area were not very excited about this increase in police presence, especially because many of these police officers were detectives, so they were more intrusive than they needed to be. This was clearly shown in the book, and we look at some things from the police force in the book and wonder why they would do that, but we need to understand that this was what they were trained and taught to do, and this was still very new.
Source:
“Policing & Punishment.” London: the Illustrated History, by Catherine Ross and John Clark, Penguin, 2011, p. 180–181.
Image:
Watchma, by Rowlandson, c.1795. Thomas Rowlandson's satirical portrait of a slow-witted 'charley'.