Arthur Ernest Bassom OBE KPM (14 June 1865 – 17 January 1926) was a British police officer and one of the main pioneers of traffic policing with the London Metropolitan Police. Bassom joined the Royal Marine Artillery as a Gunner at the age of 17 and gained the highest possible marks in his gunnery examinations and therefore the right to almost certain promotion. In 1886, however, just before he reached 21, the minimum age at which he could be promoted, he left to join the Metropolitan Police as a Constable. He was posted to "D" Division (Marylebone), but the following year was transferred to the Public Carriage Office at Scotland Yard, where he was to spend the rest of his life.