The Origins and History of Jersey’s Honorary Police

This paper is based on research carried out in
Jersey between 2002 and 2005 to evaluate the
effectiveness of the unique system of Parish Hall
Enquiries still in regular use there. The research
was sponsored by Jersey’s ‘Building a Safer
Society’ Strategy and the Jersey Probation and
After-Care Service (JPACS), and a report entitled
‘Conduct and Effectiveness of Parish Hall
Enquiries’ (available on the JPACS website) was
produced in 2005. Work on the project has
continued, and a book entitled ‘Reintegrative
Justice in Practice’ is being published by Ashgate.
The project also required some historical research
on the origins of the system, and here we
summarise some of the material likely to be of
interest to readers of Channel Island history. The
paper describes the origins and history of the
honorary system and the development and role of
the Parishes. In particular, the continuing strength
of the Parishes as social and administrative units
represents an unusual survival of a traditional form
of social organisation, and forms the basis of the
honorary policing system of which the Parish Hall
Enquiry is a part