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Anthropometry is a system of recording body measurements for the purpose of confirming the identities of convicted criminals. Anthropometry was invented by Alphonse Bertillon in 1880 as Bertillonage and adopted by Scotland Yard in 1894 - under the name anthropometry - under the recommendation of the Troup Committee. Anthropometry was replaced by fingerprinting following the Belper Committee in 1900.
 Research Anthropometry
The ARCOS Raid was a three-day search of the All Russian Cooperative Society's premises in Moorgate, London by 200 police officers in 1927, forming the climax of an attempt by Assistant Commissioner Wyndham Child of Scotland Yard to outlaw the Communist Party of Great Britain. The raid was intended to prove the Trade Mission was involved in espionage by finding marked secret papers which were 'allowed' to go missing from the War Office. The search failed to find the missing War Office papers.
Research ARCOS Raid
The barra was an old unit of measurement used for cloth in Portugal and parts of Spain during the 18th century. Three different barras were employed: in Valencia, in Castile and in Aragon, all slightly different but roughly equivalent to the English yard, but all slightly shorter.
Research Barra
The Computer Crime Unit is a small but important section of the Fraud Squad of Scotland Yard. The Computer Crime Unit was formed in 1984 to develop and run training courses on a national basis to assist police officers deal with computer-based evidence and to deal with cases of computer crime such as hacking and malicious code (computer viruses and the like).
In 1994 the Computer Crime Unit joined with industry to improve computer crime prevention. The first major case was brought in 1988 when the Computer Crime Unit prosecuted Gold and Schifreen over hacking. However, this case was overturned by the House of Lords on the basis that simple hacking did not constitute either fraud nor forgery.
Research Computer Crime Unit
The Diplomatic Protection Group is a squad of about 500 armed police officers of Scotland Yard focused on responding to the needs of London's diplomatic community. The squad's duties include protecting embassies from terrorist attacks.
Research Diplomatic Protection Group
The load was a British measure which when applied to bricks was equal to 500 bricks; applied to earth and gravel equal to a cubic yard; applied to hay and straw equal to 36 trusses; applied to lime equal to 32 bushels.
The metric system is a system of measurement based on the decimal system. It was first formalised in France at the end of the 18th century and by the 1830s was being widely adopted in Europe. In Britain, bills for its compulsory adoption were defeated in 1871 and 1907 and Imperial units remained supreme until 1963, when the yard was redefined as 0.9144 metre and the pound as 0. 45359237 kilogram. The Metrication Board set up in 1969 failed to achieve its target of the metrication of British industry by 1975 and metrication now proceeds on a voluntary basis, in which it was correctly envisaged that pints of beer, miles per hour, yards, and feet would persist until the end of the century, they have and perhaps will continue for many years to come. However, the Weights and Measures Act (1985) lists certain units that may no longer be used for trade: these include the hundredweight, ton, bushel, square mile, cubic yard, and cubic foot. It is hoped that before the end of the century such units as the therm and British thermal unit will have been abandoned. For all scientific purposes and many trade and industrial purposes the form of the metric system known as SI units is now in use. In the USA metrication has been even slower than in the UK. The metre was intended to be equal to one ten-millionth part of the distance from the pole to the equator, but was found to have been made too short and so is now set upon a certain length of iridio-platinum.
Research Metric System
The Rota Club was a society who met at Miles' Coffee-house in New Palace yard, Westminster during the administration of Oliver Cromwell. Their plan was that all the great officers of state should be chosen by ballot, and that a certain number of members of parliament should be changed annually by rotation from whence they took their title.
Research Rota Club
SO13 is the codename for the 'Anti-Terrorist Branch' of Scotland Yard. The branch was formed in 1976 to combat IRA attacks.
Research SO13
SO16 is the designation of the Diplomatic Protection Group of Britain's Scotland Yard.
Research SO16
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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