The first Australian Police Force were originally Convicts

I was recently visiting Perth and whilst there playing cards with my sister and some other relations. The cards that we were using had a different fact on each card. One that interested me the most said that the first Australian Police Force was made up of the most well behaved convicts. I had recently visited Fremantle Prison where I learnt that the convicts that landed in Fremantle had to first build their own prison upon arrival, which I also found fascinating. So with my new found interest in convicts I decided to do a little Google research into the first Australian Police Force. It turns out that the New South Wales (NSW) Police Force was the first Australian Police Force and the cards didn't lie because the members of this force were actually recruited from the ranks of the best behaved convicts. The forces were named the Night Watch and the Row Boat Guard. These forces were created in 1789, however upon further reading, it turns out that although these convicts formed the first force of police in Australia, none of them were considered the first police officer in Australia.

Originally in 1788 the policing of the colony was performed by the Royal Navy Marines, however since this was not a job that they were particularly interested in doing, Governor Arthur Phillip appointed a free settler, John Smith, who performed the role of police constable. Although he performed the role for only a short while, his time as constable did earn him the record of being the first Australian Police Officer. It was after this appointment ended that the Night Watch and the Row Boat Guard were formed. In 1790 the Night Watch was replaced by the Sydney Foot Police (later simply known as the Sydney Police), who remained a separate force until all the NSW colonial police forces were amalgamated in 1862.  The Row Boat Guard were both a separate Water Police force and a part of the Sydney Police, and were the fore runners of what today is known as the Marine Area Command. The NSW Police Force is now one of the largest police organisations in the English Speaking world and it is interesting to know that the seed that they grew from was that of a few well behaved convicts!

Learn more about the NSW Police Force on their website.