The formation, disbanding, and replacement of the Natal Mounted Police highlighted the continued complexity of Natal’s police institutions. This complicated and convoluted process of recruiting and retaining white men for the maintenance of law and order within the colony followed the consistent belief that Europeans were the best option available for the task of policing. Yet, again and again, African police forces continued to be a consistent and often reliable component of the policing systems within the colony. Following the reformation of the Natal Mounted Police and the turmoil of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, the government of Natal appeared to agree, as they began discussions on the establishment of a Native Police Force whose jurisdiction stretched across the full extent of the colony. The force was by far one of the most ambitious and extensive within the history of the colony to that point. According to the outline presented by Commandant George Dartnell in 1882, the force would consist of twenty station houses of ten men, each commanded by a white constable. The 200 men represented a new vision of policing in the colony, one that acknowledged the need for African involvement while retaining the essential character of an institution commanded by white Europeans. But the question remained: who would be a part of this new police unit?