Police uniforms made the public susceptible to mistaking constables for parts of a monolithic entity. In reality policemen acted out contradictory patterns of internal hostilities and loyalties, both within ranks and up and down the police hierarchy. Constables working street beats and traffic points united in their resentment of policemen who worked as office staff and of the detective branch over the distribution of privileges and recognition. Yet the same men belonged to rival groups organized around patronage networks, regional backgrounds, and religion. Both older and newer constables grumbled about the growing burden of duties but quarrelled with each other over police practices and the importance of education, particularly after the implementation of the Desborough recommendations in the 1919 Police Act. Men passed over for promotion or harshly punished resented men perceived as unfairly gaining higher rank or being let off lightly for breaches of regulations.