Shanghai Municipal Police
Shanghai Municipal Police | |
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Latin : Omnia Juncta In UnoAll joined as one | |
Agency overview | |
Formed | September 1854 |
Dissolved | 31 July 1943 |
Employees |
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Jurisdictional structure | |
Operations jurisdiction | Shanghai Municipal Council |
General nature | |
Operational structure | |
Headquarters | Central Police Station, Foochow Road, Shanghai |
Child agencies |
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Facilities | |
Stations | 14 |
Shanghai Municipal Police | |
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Hanyu Pinyin | Shànghǎi Gōnggòng Zūjiè Gōng Bù Jú Jǐng Wù Chù |
Wade–Giles | Shang-hai Kung-kung Tsu-chieh Kung Pu Chü Ching Wu Ch'u |
The Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP;
Initially composed of Europeans, most of them Britons, the force included Chinese after 1864, and was expanded over the next 90 years to include a
History
Origins
The first detachment of 31 Europeans, effectively borrowed from the
In 1936, the last year of near-normal peacetime policing, the force totaled 4,739, men with 3,466 in the Chinese Branch, 457 serving in the Foreign Branch (predominantly British), 558 in the Sikh Branch and 258 in the Japanese Branch.[4]
Though the force was mostly occupied in the routine business of crime prevention, detection, and traffic control, it was also seen as the Settlement's first line of defense against Chinese nationalist activity. After the failure of the 1913 Second Revolution against the autocratic presidency of Yuan Shikai, the settlement was increasingly troubled by armed crime. In the build-up to, and aftermath of, the 1926–27 Nationalist Revolution, the force also struggled to contain a wave of armed robberies and politically motivated kidnappings. Throughout the 1930s, it faced challenges from the Nationalist Government and the police force of the (Nationalist Chinese) City Government of Shanghai, particularly over rights to operate outside the historical bounds of the Concession and in cases of extraterritoriality.
World War II and disbandment
Between the
Interned officers of the SMP had expected to return to their duties at the end of the war but the conclusion of the 1943
Legacy
The SMP retains the legacy as a pioneer in the field of police work, and many of its past members remain internationally renowned due to their contributions in the fields of policing and self-defence. Particularly well documented is the SMP's response to a staggering rise in armed crime, whereby serving officers such as William E. Fairbairn and Dermot 'Pat' O'Neil, working with volunteer "Special" personnel such as Eric A. Sykes, developed innovative combat pistol shooting, hand-to-hand combat skills and knife fight training.
As a result of the catastrophic policing failure of 30 May 1925, when Sikh and Chinese members of the SMP were ordered to open fire on Chinese demonstrators and thereby precipitated the nationwide anti-imperialist May Thirtieth Movement (五卅运动), the SMP developed myriad riot control measures. These techniques led to the introduction of Shanghai's "Reserve Unit" by Assistant Commissioner Fairbairn—the first modern SWAT team.[7] The skills developed in Shanghai have been adopted and adapted by both international police forces and clandestine warfare units. William Fairbairn was again the central figure, not only leading the Reserve Unit but teaching his new methods to law enforcement agencies in the United States, Cyprus, and Singapore.[citation needed]
Special Branch
A political policing unit had existed within the SMP from 1898, the so-called Intelligence Office, but this was renamed Special Branch in 1925 aligning with the form used throughout the British Commonwealth.[citation needed]
The office's greatest coup was the arrest of
Shanghai police ranks
The Shanghai Municipal Police used police ranks based along British lines, and owed much to the Victorian rank-structure of the
- Constable (post-1929, Probationary Sergeant)
- Sergeant
- Sub-Inspector
- Inspector
- Chief Inspector
- Superintendent
- Assistant Commissioner
- Deputy Commissioner
- Commissioner of Police (pre-1919, Captain-Superintendent)
Police stations
Between 1854 and the police's effective end in 1943, some 14 police stations were in use at various times.
- Central Station (1854-1943): Foochow Road
- Louza Station (1860-1943): Nanking Road, scene of the May 30 Movementon May 30, 1925
- Bubbling Well Road Station (1884-1943)
- Sinza Road Station (1899-1943)
- Gordon Road Station (1909–43)
- Chungdu Road Station (1933–43)
- Pootoo Road Station (1929–43)
- Hongkew Station (1861-1943)
- West Hongkew Station (1898-1943)
- Yangtszepoo Station (1891-1943)
- Wayside Station (1903–43)
- Arnold Road Station (1907–43)
- Yulin Road Station (1925–43)
- Dixwell Road Station (1912–43)
The 1930s Longchang apartments building, a former dormitory complex for Chinese constables and their families, is now a government-protected building.
Force commanders
- Samuel Clifton (Superintendent 1854–60), resigned after charges of embezzlement were "not proved" in court (North China Herald, 24 November 1860).
- William Ramsbottom (still titled Inspector in February 1862, though Superintendent from 19 April 1861). Late Sgt.-Major, 2nd Queen's. Resignation submitted due to ill health, 9 October 1863.
- Charles E. Penfold (Superintendent, 19 April 1864-85).
- James Painter McEuen (Captain Superintendent, 6 March 1885 to 25 July 1896), previously a Royal Navy captain and Hong Kong Harbour Master, invalided, died on way home, Yokohama.
- Donald Mackenzie (Deputy Superintendent, also acting Captain Superintendent 16 September 1896-98).
- Pierre B. Pattison (Captain Superintendent, 12 Feb 1898[9]-30 September 1900), on secondment from Royal Irish Constabulary, but denied extension for apparent political reasons.
- G. Howard (Chief Inspector, Acting i/c 1 October 1900 – 8 March 1901).
- Benin Expedition.
- Kenneth John McEuen (acting i/c Sept 1906-August 1907).
- Col. Clarence Dalrymple Bruce (Captain Superintendent, 7 August 1907-13), forced to resign after being Second Revolution.
- Alan Hilton-Johnson (acting Captain Superintendent 1914), resigned to serve in British Army during Great War.
- Kenneth John McEuen (Captain Superintendent, 1914–25), forced to retire after May 30 incident (son of J.P. McEuen).
- Edward Ivo Medhurst Barrett (Commissioner of Police, 1925–29), forced to resign.
- Reginald Meyrick Jullion Martin (Extra Commissioner, 1929–31, until F.W. Gerrard appointed permanently to post).
- Frederick Wernham Gerrard (Commissioner of Police, 7 October 1929-38), retired.
- Kenneth Morrison Bourne (Commissioner of Police, 29 March 1938 – August 1941). With the support of Deputy Commissioner Henry Malcolm Smyth, Bourne departed on furlough to take his sons to school in North America and shifted towards a position in MI6. For much of the war Bourne worked for the British Security Executive in New York. In February 1945 he was appointed to take charge of the Chinese Intelligence section of the Government of India’s intelligence bureau.[10]
- Henry Malcolm Smyth, OBE[11] (Deputy Commissioner of Police, 1938–42; acting Commissioner, August 1941-February 42). Resigned due to Japanese Occupation; Advisor to (Japanese) Commissioner of Police Watari 21 February 1942 – 10 August 1942. Then as a result of a special arrangement made with the Japanese, Smyth and over 100 senior Shanghai Municipality Civil Servants and Police Officers were repatriated to the neutral Portuguese colonial port of Lorenco Marques.[12]
- Masami Watari 渡正監 (Commissioner of Police from 19 February 1942) - 1 August 1943. International Settlement retroceded, and with SMP absorbed into Greater Shanghai Municipality.
Uniforms
For most of their existence, the SMP wore uniforms that were British or British colonial in style. These included custodian helmets for European police until the early 1900s. Uniforms were dark blue serge in winter with khaki drill (including shorts or slacks) in summer. Sikh personnel wore red turbans while Chinese members of the force were distinguished by the conical Asian hat shown in the 1908 group photo above, until about 1919. After this date, Chinese and European police wore the same dark blue peaked cap with the coat of arms of the International Settlement as a badge. Pith helmets were often worn in hot weather. Sam Browne belts were worn by officers carrying sidearms.[13]
Awards
Members of the SMP were made eligible for several medals for service by the Municipal Council during its history. In addition to being eligible for awards from members' own native countries, these awards held official status and could be worn with other medals with the status of a foreign award. These medals included:
- Shanghai Municipal Police Distinguished Conduct Medal, created in 1900, was presented in Class I and Class II, and was awarded for gallantry and conspicuous service whilst serving the SMP. Citations for recipients often referred to their "courage and devotion to duty". The medal was roughly equivalent to its British counterpart of the same name and its medal ribbon was the same as the Distinguished Service Order.
- Shanghai Jubilee Medal, created in 1893, it was distributed as part of the 50th Jubilee celebrations on 17 November 1893, being the anniversary of the arrival of the first British Consul after the Treaty of Nanking. Cast in silver, the medal consists of the municipal seal and the text "17 November 1843" on the obverse with a stylised shield engraved with the recipient's name and the text "Shanghai Jubilee. November 17, 1893." name between a steamship and two Chinese dragons on the reverse.
- Shanghai Municipal Police Long Service Medal, created in 1910, was awarded for long service. Bars for additional periods of service were also awarded. Cast in silver, the medal consists of the SMP seal on the obverse and the recipient's name and the text "For Long Service" on the reverse. The Ribbon consisted of a gold inner stripe with two inner white stripes and two black outer stripes.
- Shanghai Municipal Police Long Service Medal (Specials), created in 1929, was awarded for long service in the voluntary branch of the SMP. Bars for additional periods of service were also awarded. While the medal was the same as the regular long service medal, the Ribbon consisted of three combined small versions of the regular long service ribbon.
- Japanese invasion of Shanghaiin late 1937. An eight-pointed Brunswick star in bronze, the medal consists of the municipal seal on the obverse and the text "For Service Rendered August 12th to November 12th, 1937" on the reverse.
- Japanese/SMC Volunteer Police Medal, created in 1943 while the Shanghai International Settlement was controlled by Japanese occupation forces, recognised the service of Japanese police officers prior to the disbandment of the Shanghai Municipal Police on 31 July 1943. An eight-pointed Brunswick star, the medal consisted of the SMP badge on the obverse and five rows of raised Japanese characters honoring the bravery of the SMP on the reverse. The medal featured a maroon ribbon.
Bibliography
- Robert Bickers, ISBN 0-231-13132-1).
- Robert Bickers, 'Who were the Shanghai Municipal Police, and why where they there? The British Recruits of 1919', in Robert Bickers and Christian Henriot (eds), New Frontiers: Imperialism's new Communities in East Asia 1842-1953 (2000), pp. 170–191
- Guide to the Scholarly Resources Microfilm Edition of the Shanghai Municipal Police Files, 1894–1949, with an introduction by Marcia R. Ristaino. (Wilmington, Delaware: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1984?)
- Peter Robins, The Legend of W. E. Fairbairn: Gentleman and Warrior, The Shanghai Years, Research by Robins, Peter and Tyler, Nicholas; Compiled and Edited by Child, Paul R. (Harlow, 2005).
- Frederic Wakeman Jr., Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937 (Berkeley, 1995).
- Frederic Wakeman Jr., The Shanghai Badlands: Wartime Terrorism and Urban Crime, 1937-1941 (Cambridge, 1996).
- Frederic Wakeman Jr., ‘Policing Modern Shanghai’, China Quarterly 115 (1988), 408–440.
- Bernard Wasserstein, Secret War in Shanghai (London, 1999)
Memoirs
- E.W. Peters, Shanghai Policeman (London: Rich & Cowan, 1937). Peters was dismissed from the force after being found not guilty (with a colleague) of the killing of an indigent Chinese man. The volume is part policing memoir, part apologia.
- Ted Quigley, A Spirit of Adventure: The Memoirs of Ted Quigley (Lewes: The Book Guild Ltd., 1994). Quigley served in the SMP from 1938 to 1942.
- John Sanbrook, In My Father's Time: A Biography (New York: Vantage Press, 2008). A memoir of John (Jack) Sanbrook, who served in the force 1930–42, and then after internment in War Crimes investigation.
- Maurice Springfield, Hunting Opium and Other Scents (Halesworth: Norfolk and Suffolk Publicity, 1966). Springfield was a senior officer in the force and led its anti-opium squad. Most of the book is concerned with hunting.
See also
- Empire Made Me: An Englishman Adrift in Shanghai is a 2003 biography of the Shanghai policeman Richard Maurice Tinkler by British historian Robert Bickers.
- Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau (now)
References
- ^ Pages 229 & 231, "Red Turbans on the Bund: Sikh Migrants, Policemen and Revolutionaries in Shanghai 1886-1945", Cao Yin, National University of Singapore 2016
- ^ North China Herald, 2 September 1854, p. 8.
- ^ Robert Bickers, Empire Made Me, pp. 31-32
- ^ Shanghai Municipal Council, "Annual Report 1936"
- ^ Robert Bickers, Empire Made Me, pp. 312-322
- ^ Robert Bickers, Empire Made Me, p. 15
- ISBN 978-1-78303-437-6.
- ^ Records of the Shanghai Municipal Police, "Foreign Agents of the Third International, D4718" May 18, 1933, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 263, Entry A1-02, 190/24/30/06, Box 37
- ^ "Meetings: The Shanghai Municipal Council", North China Herald, Shanghai, 14 March 1898, p.24
- S2CID 151482769.
- Dix Noonan Webb Ltd. March 25, 2013. Retrieved Jan 6, 2021.
- ^ "Dix Noonan Webb Ltd Auction Archive".
- ^ Harriet Sergeant, Shanghai, p. 146
External links
- Shanghai Municipal Police Database of staff, with dates of service where known, searchable on China Families platform.
- Records Of The Shanghai Municipal Police 1894-1949 collection of files on the Internet Archive from NARA RG 263.
- Wallace Kinloch obituary
- Historical Photographs of China Resource includes several hundred digitised images of Shanghai Municipal Police, or taken or formerly owned by policemen.
- Shanghai Municipal Police Archive Wiki - Collecting metadata and citations related to individual police files.