Historical Development of Law Enforcement Essays

Police forces or Law enforcers have been used for centuries all around the world but America took particular interest in the English’s policing system. America’s policing ideas and process began

Policing today consists of three eras. These three eras have adapted and built off one another through history (Parr, 2014). The first era started around 1840 to 1930, and is known as the Political Era. The second Era is known as the Reform Era and lasted from 1930 to 1970. The last era is called the Community-Problem Solving Era and is still being adapted and used today. The Political Era emphasizes on meeting the needs of politicians. The police were given power through the local government and the community had very little say in what happened. The police and politicians worked together to control the city and neighborhoods (Palmiotto, 2000). This was often referred to as a ward. The ward politician controlled all the police in their neighborhood. The police officers tasks included not only crime prevention and order but a lot of social service activities that involved their neighborhoods. The officers resembled the ethnic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they lived and worked in and performed their patrols gaining trust from their community (Palmiotto, 2000). This allowed positive integration of police officers leading to more public service, and the trust of the officers to stop crime when is starts.

Starting In 1829, Sir Robert Peel began developing his theory of policing. These nine principles are as relevant today as they were in the 1800's. Peel established the Metropolitan Police when he served as Home Secretary of England. Since Sir Robert Peel introduced his principles of policing in the early 1800's, our country has continued to follow his ideas of effective policing. Community policing is based on Peel's concept of prevention.

Early American policing strategies were based on the British model. Law enforcement was not organized until 1200 A.D. offenders were pursued by an organized posse. If offenders were caught they

Introduction--London Metropolitan Police was the first police agency and was developed in 1829. The first police agencies in the United States were in Boston (1838), New York (1844); and Philadelphia (1854). Criminal justice system was first recognized in 1919, by the Chicago crime commission.

Policing in the United States copied closely to that of England’s in which they used volunteers as a “watch”. Boston was the first to adopt this method and in doing so other cities had followed, New York in 1658, and Philadelphia in the 1700’s. These volunteers were usually drinking or sleeping during their shifts so they were not very effective. These Volunteers that were a part of the watch only volunteered so they could attempt to evade military services. They were also made up of constables, which are, a peace officer that has limited police authority and they usually operate in a small town or city.

Police in America began as the night watch system that protected cities from crime, fire, and disorder. Of course early policing was influenced by the British, and so was American Law which derived from English common law. This would also form a correlation to American policing policies that diverged from the English’s Magna Carta and as well the French. The French established a centralized government that entailed men to take an oath of loyalty. The police in America started as night watch groups, then employment changed to police officers being political appointed which was very corrupted, but throughout the years things changed again to serve the public. Instead of a political selected police force that earns it’s pay through bribes and

Police officers have been a part of history for a long time, the earliest time is recorded back to the sixteen hundreds. When the first Europeans came over to the United States, they felt that it was necessary to protect themselves and their people from the inhabitants that were already here and had no interest in sharing their land with them. Any man and young boy that was physically able to protect their people was required to do so. There

In April of 1635, the City of Boston established the first system of law enforcement in the 13 colonies. They were called the “Night Watch”, the officers worked part-time with no pay. It was until 1712 when the City of Boston hired its first paid full time law enforcement officer in the 13 colonies. On September 24, 1789 “the United States Congress created the first Federal law enforcement officer, the United

Early policing in Colonial America had its beginnings in England. Police departments in America started to follow the trend. Actually, they were not police departments as we know them today. Policing in colonial America began as a night watch program of volunteers in the early 1600’s in the northern colonies, specifically in Boston. Early policing was not the same throughout the colonies. Southern colonies developed their own system of policing based on the needs of the community using watch groups and organized groups of white men known as slave patrols. The policing systems changed as the colonies grew in population, more small businesses, the development of large industries and more funding became available. “War and then revolution strained the Boston watch system…the French and Indian war 1756-1763…” (Wadman &Allison2004,p.10). The watch system in all of the colonies had similarities and differences, however none were very successful in reducing crime. New York, Boston, Charleston, Virginia, and Tennessee all suffered immense problems with their crime rate using the watch system. This was the first form of policing in colonial

Leading up to the establishment of the Chicago Police Department, the first rank of “constable” was created in 1830. Authorization of Chicago’s very own police force occurred on January 31, 1835. On August 15, 1835, the Chicago Police Department was born. The department’s mission reads, “The Chicago Police Department, as part of, and empowered by, the community, is committed to protect the lives, property, and rights of all people, to maintain order, and to enforce the law impartially. We will provide quality police service in partnership with other members of the community. To fulfill our mission, we will strive to attain the highest degree of ethical behavior and professional conduct at all times.” Orsemus Morrison was elected Chicago’s first constable; he was assisted by Constables Luther Nichols and John Shrigley. The three men served and protected a population of about 3,200. In the year 1837, the Municipal Court of Chicago was created. It had co-jurisdiction with the Cook County Court within corporate limits of the city of Chicago. Between the years 1838 and 1854, the Chicago P.D consisted of very few collection of officers, constables, and part-time night watchers to maintain the quickly-expanding city.

     The role of women in this era was restricted mainly to processing female prisoners and to positions as police matrons. Police department didn't see women as regular police officers until the turn of the century, and by the end of World War I, more than 220 cities employed police women. Women were actually welcomed into the police departments where they were assigned to handle cases involving children and women.

During this era citizens felt safer and had a better relationship with the police but as time went on and technology got better the relationship that was developed between police officers and citizens changed dramatically. By the mid-1900s new technology had a significant influence on policing, two-way radio, patrol cars and the telephones, revolutionized policing. “Police: History-Policing Twentieth Century America^ C” the Reform Era( n.d.)

The dictionary definition of the police is “the organized civil force of a state, concerned with maintenance of law and order, the detection and prevention of crime, etc,” (Collins English Dictionary, 2002). This definition states the minimum of what the police actually do. Providing support for families, protecting society from criminals and responding to calls 24 hours a day 7 days a week are just some of the other roles that police have to deal with. In this essay the evolution of the police will be discussed as well as how the police are facing challenges.

The earlier development of the law enforcement was developed by a man named Sir Robert Peel also known as the “Father of Modern Policing” (Bennett & Hess, 2007). He was born February 5, 1788 in Chamber Hall near Bury in Lancashire (Bloy, n.d.). He was the one who greatly influenced and set forth the fundamental principles of the police force. He developed an organized force called the London Metropolitan Police in 1829 that protected the people who were victimized due to high unemployment, poverty, and crime. An organization is “an artificial structure created to coordinate either people or groups and resources to achieve a mission or goal” (Bennett & Hess, 2007). The police’s goal is to protect and serve their community. Although the term of a police officer is mixed up with a peace officer “all police officers are peace officers, but all peace officers are not police officers” (Walker & Katz, 2011). The principles that Sir Robert Peel set for the police include: