It was formed following the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which reformed all UK boroughs, and stipulated that each appoint a Watch Committee to oversee a police force.
The police force formed part of the commonality of the town's government, led by an elected Mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors.
Justices of the Peace were also unpaid members of the local gentry deemed to be "good and lawful," and were able to hold courts of Petty Sessions to deal with minor misdemeanours.
[3] Serious matters of theft, criminal damage, trespass and infringement were dealt with by the Justice at Quarter Sessions, held four times a year.
In light of the cost of the new build, and the outbreak of World War 2, these plans were dropped and St John's Hall remained the headquarters of the Penzance Borough Police until 1947.
Punishment in the early nineteenth century normally involved imprisonment, fines, public humiliation and hard labour, and for this vagrant it would be eight hours on the "treadwheel" at Penzance Prison.
[9] Penzance, like many other towns of the era, had problems of infanticide amongst its poorer residents, with many recorded examples of parents murdering their newborns through stress, diminished responsibility and criminal intentions.
An example can be evidenced from a report in the West Briton newspaper on 9 August 1839, when police arrested work-house employee Charlotte Galloway for the murder of her three-week-old child.
[12] On the morning of the 18th, a group of 40 fishermen bolstered by a mob of roughly a thousand supporters, boarded a number of non-Cornish fishing boats moored in the harbour and destroyed their catches.
Police were alerted and arrived on the scene within a few hours, although they numbered only eight, supported by Cornwall County officers Superintendent Richard Nicholas and Inspector Matthews.
The following morning, police clashed with rioters around Newlyn Harbour, with Inspector Matthews severely injured by a fish box which was thrown at him, cutting his head and breaking his finger.
At 6pm 400 soldiers from the Royal Berkshire Regiment under Major Massard arrived by train at Penzance and took temporary billets in the town, remaining on standby until the police required them.
The police and army joined and were met with stone-throwing as they crossed the Newlyn Bridge, but were able to occupy the piers long enough to see in the arrival of HMS Ferret.
In 1938 the helmet plate was changed to the Penzance Borough crest, one of many forces to do so in an attempt to adopt and reflect unique coats of arms.
In 1941 Chief Constable Jenkins paid tribute to the Special Constabulary, and he in turn was presented with the gift on an inscribed silver plate and the promise of a group photograph.
Messrs Olds, Nicholas and Kenyon had the dual role of Inspectors of Weights and Measures, an arrangement which ended when RCM Jenkins was sworn in.
Kenyon continued on as Inspector of Weights & Measures into his retirement, although with the swearing in of Frederick Beale, the role defaulted back to the incumbent Chief Constable.
In July 1915 the police court saw numerous cases of military men drunk whilst off duty (which was prohibited under the Act) and sailors absent without leave.
The interwar years were ones of growth and organisation for the force, with the incumbent Chief Constable Harry Kenyon becoming a well-respected member in society and a keen socialite.
The Home Guard also had a strong presence in Penzance, although frequently found themselves at odds with the police and the ARP, with many of them failing to take their responsibilities seriously.
[27] Penzance Borough was absorbed into the Cornwall Constabulary on 1 April 1943 as part of a temporary countrywide measure to reduce the number of police forces the military had to deal with during the war.
Neighbouring St Ives Borough Police was deemed, following an inspection by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, to be "too small an inefficient to be worthy of keeping.