History Of Police. The United States’ Early Policing Was

The four eras of policing are political era, reform era, community era, and homeland security era. The political era was between 1840s and 1919 where police agencies were underdeveloped, decentralized, and disorganized in their mission, role, and function. Police organizations nationwide were exposed for their inability to maintain order, to control crime, or to fairly provide appropriate services. The reform era occurred between 1920s and 1970s where police was removed from the political arena and established them more as members of a centralized, professional organization formed for the public good. The primary role of police in this era had contributed to the problems crating negative police-community relations. The community era was between

Policing is a very difficult, complex and dynamic field of endeavor that is always evolves as hard lessons teach us what we need to know about what works and what don’t work. There are three different Era’s in America’s policing: The Political Era, The Reform Era, and The Community Problem Solving Era. A lot has changed in the way that policing works over the years in the United States.

In the United States, there are city, county, state, and national police forces. They have very difficult and dangerous responsibilities. These public servants are required to perform many different jobs. They enforce laws and maintain order. They teach people how to help prevent crime and to protect themselves ( Mittleman, 2000). They offer assistance and take charge of many different situations such as car accidents, flooding, and hurricanes. Police

Sir Robert Peel, known as the ‘father’ of modern policing, set the foundation for organization and structure in modern day policing in London. The United States followed behind shortly thereafter to enlist a police force for order, organization, and service. Peel set up “Peel’s Nine Principals” which the United States still abides by to this day. The ‘father’ of policing has helped our government to overcome harsh judgment, corruption, and harsh actions, and has made it possible for citizens of this society to bond with local law enforcement. This has allowed our law enforcement to handle situations appropriately and incorporate bigger agencies to handle more diverse problems throughout the

Historically, policing in America mimicked that of the English. American ideas expanded on the English way of policing, to start an era of ever evolving police agencies. In the beginning policing was considered the civic duty of members of a community. These “drafted” officers were not paid or trained. Appointed Sheriff’s were motivated by money, and lost focus on enforcing the law. Policing was considered reactive in nature. This began to change as did society, industrialism and urbanization, brought with it a rise in crime, causing police to shift towards a more proactive approach to law enforcement. In the 1800’s new technologies began another change

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.

By this, he employed his first principle that the “basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.” In this, Sir Robert Peel instituted a force that served as uniformed police called “Bobbies” or “Beats.” This form of policing is well-known today and has had a significant impact on American policing. Law enforcement agencies still practice the use of “Bobbies” and “Beats” but now refer to this method as police patrolling with the goal of preventing crime, getting to know the community, and establishing the trust and safety of the public (Siegel, 4th Ed). This brought about the next two principles, established by Peel, which stated (2) “the ability of the police to perform their duties was dependent upon the public approval of police actions. (3) Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observation of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.” This laid a serious impact on American policing and its history; society today, as in the past, dealt with the importance of diversity and the need for police to comprehend the different cultures, races, and religions that scattered the communities in which they patrolled. Police were expected to participate a multicultural training and education that prepared them for these situations. Peel believed that if the police could understand

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.

Police Agencies in modern society are a part of the American fabric to serve and protect the American public. The United States currently have more than 15,000 police agencies, (Walker & Katz, 2011). Police Departments across the United States face similar critical issues policing. All police officers face dangers in the job of policing the dangers can emanate from internal and external origins. Police officers have continued to evolve to serve communities by finding better less than lethal alternatives to weapons used. In addition, police departments have continued to keep up with

Gaines, L. K., & Kappeler, V. E. (2014). Policing in america (8th ed.). (S. Decker-Lucke, Ed.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America: Anderson Publishing. Retrieved January 2017

Many people know of the police officers of today’s world and that it is their job to enforce the laws set by their government, but not many people know the history of your typical everyday United States police officer or how they came about. The idea for neither your everyday police officer nor his or her department they work for or how a police department operates, originated in the United States. Over the years though America has made changes and adapted its system over the years to make it more suitable for its countries beliefs and practices.

Since the founding of this country, to the wild west, and up to the present, the agenda of the policing bodies have been clear: to uphold and enforce the laws of our society. Of course the way they do this today had undergone changes from the first police forces of early America, law enforcement has seen trends come and go.

Each jurisdiction can overlap with one another, differ in priorities, incompatible technologies, and turf issues can come into conflict (Schmalleger, 2009). State jurisdiction aids local and federal agencies in crime fighting, emergency responses, and investigation activities. State agencies include highway patrol or state police. Local levels of law enforcement patrol the local areas within towns and cities to maintain order and investigate crimes. Local law enforcement includes campus police, constables, sheriff departments, etc. The federal jurisdiction is in charge of the entire nation. Federal level focuses more on drug and human trafficking, immigration, gun and drug smuggling, safety of transportation, or any issues that crosses state lines and boarders. Then we have Homeland Security that protects America from terrorist attacks. Federal agencies include the FBI, Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and other federal agencies. “The FBI has primary jurisdiction for all domestic counterterrorism investigations and intelligence operations, but the USA PATRIOT Act and other post-9/11 homeland security measures emphasize the need for sharing national security intelligence information among agencies at all levels as full partners (Schertzing, 2007, p.190)”.

The role of police officers is very significant to American history. Police work toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America become the land of the free. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights and police play a major role in making sure American rights are met. Evolution has changed many of American history for the better; policing is part of those changes. As new issues in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public.

Throughout history the role of policing has changed greatly. Currently speaking one might say the role of a police officer in the modern society is to protect and service which includes getting criminals off the street and creates or provides a safe environment for citizens. Citizens has a very expectation of police officers, they expect officers to be heroes in any situations. One thing that remains the same throughout the history of policing is the basic principle of protecting people. Understanding the history of policing is very important because then one will be able to understand the policies in modern society. Policing in the United States evolved from Great Britain policing. This evolution of policing started form the twenty-first century.