MEMORIAL FOR ADDITIONAL POLICE-CONSTABLES AT PETERSFIELD.
To the Worshipful Her Majesty'd Justices of the Peace, acting in and for the County of Southampton, in Quarter Sessions assembled.
We, the principal inhabitants and ratepayers of the town of Petersfield and its immediate vicinity, respectfully but earnestly invite your attention to the present inadequate police supervision of our town. Burglaries have been rife amongst us, as well as petty larcenies, and a more than inordinate supply of mendicants.
Whilst we would cheerfully see all really deserving relieved, we think the sturdy and professional beggar should meet with condign punishment.
We, a short time since, addressed the chief constable on the foregoing subject. He could only afford us temporary assistance from, as we were given to understand, the numerically insufficient numbers of the force under his command. We therefore earnestly, as aforesaid, invite your attention on to these facts, trusting that you may afford us the protection which the urgency of the case requires.
June, 1863, (Signed by upwards of seventy residents.)
The reading of the memorial, which was ordered to lie on the table, closed the business for the day, and the court was adjourned til 10 o'clock next day.