William Johnson’s photograph titled Bombay Police and dated between 1855-1862, shows four posing policemen. Three of the men have similar clothing, and one of them—the one in the middle—wears distinct garments. The different clothing could be a sign of rank; perhaps, the man wearing white pants and white stripes is the chief of police. He does also have significantly more facial hair than the others—is that a distinguishing factor, too? The image shows the policemen carrying arms which look like batons. The policemen do look menacing; we can deduce that they took their jobs seriously and served well, though under British command. We can also assume that William Johnson, the photographer, was not very threatening (or he offered some sort of reward). Otherwise, the policemen would have probably refused to take the time to pose for the picture.  The photograph still raises questions: Why exactly does the man in the middle have different clothing? What kind of weapons are they carrying? Are policemen, in this time and place, highly respected?

http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/eaa/id/677