12. Victorian Cops Were Baited Into Cartoonish Ambushes
It was problematic for Victorian cops to even knock on doors to alert residents to security lapses, such as a door or window left open at night. Such good deeds were often met not with gratitude, but with abuse and violence from Victorians who assailed the cops for their temerity in disturbing their peace. The Bobbies were especially reluctant to get involved in instances of domestic violence. They often encountered the wrath of both parties, who often temporarily forgot their own squabble and united to attack the cops. Nowadays, we take it for granted that assaulting a police officer is a serious crime. That was not always the case.
In the Victorian era, violence against cops was not always instrumental, such as attempts to free somebody known to the assailants from the police. Instead, violence was often visited upon the Bobbies for the sheer fun of it. Many Londoners liked to lead policemen on merry chases, while others simply attacked them out of the blue. More creative were some gangs of working-class youths, whose police trolling went viral. They often collaborated to set up ambushes for police, and baited the cops to chase them down alleys and footpaths strung with trip wires. The wires’ release sprang Looney Tunes-type booby traps, and caused bricks to smash into the cops, or tipped buckets of refuse to fall upon their heads.