Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"Finally, in 1829, Robert Peel's Metropolitan Police Improvement Bill was passed, leading to the creation of the Metropolitan Police Force for Greater London, the first professional, uniform, disciplined police force in Britain.… Peel's reforms as home secretary were momentous. He removed obsolete laws from the statute books and abolished the death penalty for nearly 100 crimes. But-the 'Met'-was his major monument." [1001 Days]