A '''Royal Commission on the Police''' had been appointed in 1960 under the chairmanship of [[Henry Willink]] to ''"review the constitutional position of the police throughout Great Britain".''
The appointment of the commission followed two high-profile scandals involving borough police forces. These exposed problems in the relationship between the chief constable and [[Watch Committee]] of each borough, and disputes between central and local government over the control of local forces. In 1958, following a trial into police corruption in [[Brighton]], the presiding judge stated that the judiciary could have no faith in police evidence until the chief constable had been replaced.<ref>{{cite news |title=Police neadneed of "leader" - Judge's fear for Brighton force |work=The Times |date=7 March 1958}}</ref> Brighton Watch Committee complained that they could not properly supervise the force, as they had no access to the annual report of [[Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary]], which was sent to the Home Secretary.<ref>{{cite web |title=Britain's police forces: forever removed from democratic control? |url=http://www.historyandpolicy.org/archive/policy-paper-16.html |publisher=History & Policy |first=Chris A. |last=Williams}}</ref> In 1959 the watch committee of Nottingham suspended the city's chief constable, Aethalstan Popkess, when he refused to furnish a report on his investigations into alleged corruption of councillors.<ref>{{cite news |title=Suspension Of Police Chief |work=The Times |date=10 July 1959}}</ref> Details of the investigation were however leaked to the press on the eve of municipal elections. The committee were subsequently forced to reinstate Popkess when the Home Secretary, [[Rab Butler]], threatened to withdraw central government funding.<ref>{{cite news |title=Captain Popkess To Resume On Monday |work=The Times |date=8 August 1959}}</ref>
Among the particular subjects for investigation by the commission were:
