William Allison was a Police Constable in the Berwick Police Force in the 1860s. Each policeman had their own duty book in which they recorded what they had done during their shift. The policemen spent most of their time walking around the town checking that everything was OK. On Tuesday 23rd July, William wrote an entry at 7am stating "been over at Tweedmouth all night with the other two officers, being the feast times there has been a great deal of fighting but no lives lost “. On the following Saturday 27th July, he also noted at 3pm that having received a complaint “by Miss Atkinson stating that two gold rings have been stolen from her bead room, been round all the Brokers and Watch Makers no trace of it".

Berwick continued to have its own Police Force separate from the County until 1920 when it became amalgamated into the Northumberland Force.