This book provides a summary of the criminal offences which were commonplace in London in the late-eighteenth century, with suggestions as to remedy the situation. It was written by Patrick Colquhoun and first issued in 1798. Theft and other crimes were problematic for merchants and shopkeepers in London throughout the eighteenth century. Without an organised police force, crime was able to flourish in the city and vast sums of money were lost each year. Colquhoun and his associates, with support from the philosopher Jeremy Bentham, established a private "river police" to combat these problems. The success of the force persuaded the government to pass an act which made it a public organisation in 1800, one of the first such police forces to be established and which pre-dated Robert Peel's police force by almost 30 years. This is a copy of the 6th edition of Colquhoun's report, which was presented to George III in 1800.