Without Money there is no Order! The Urban Police of Concepcion and its difficulties for the maintenance of the Social Order (1860-1896)

Abstract

The present work analyzes the difficulties that the Urban Police of Concepcion had to assure the social order that the dominant groups of the city tried to impose, during the second half of the 19th century. These difficulties were coming from its financing, which was depending principally on Serenía's Tax and System of illumination. Nevertheless, this contribution was not paid by the whole population, due to the economic conditions in which great part were living. This caused that Concepcion possesed an irregular undisciplined police and with a minimum attachement to the laws and procedures that were imposed, contributing to the proliferation of criminal activities in the city.