This talk looks at a number of notorious crimes that have, over time, beset the Chichester area. They range from the murderous drunken assault upon a soldier recruited into the army of George III to the discovery, in the 1950s, of an unknown and decapitated body in the waters of Chichester Harbour. Through these crimes – each a cause celebre in its day – the talk provides a fascinating survey of early policing methods within this particular corner of West Sussex. From this emerges a story of laxity, inefficiency and crude blundering. In other words, the policing of Chichester in earlier years lacked both credibility and reliability. The talk is not just a glib attack upon past failed policing as it provides an understanding of how detection of crime has developed.