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 …show more content…
Charlemagne merged power into a centralized government and entailed men to take an oath(Frankpledge). The Frankpledge is made of social control reinforced by oath to obey the law of the land. Today, in Law Enforcement agencies are officers are required to take an oath, and the Federal government unites law enforcement agencies. The Magna Carter was in introduced in England in 1215. The document limited the king’s power and gave the citizens of England certain rights. This document would be similar to the Constitution that officers swear to uphold of each citizen.(Conser, J., Paynich, R., & Gingerich, T. 2013 pages 34, …show more content…
After the civil war, local politicians rewarded their supporters with jobs as police officers. The officer were not trained and there was not a standard to become an officer. The are were event when entire departments were involved in misconduct and corruption. There was not much hope in this era because there was a lack of supervision that allowed officers to behave the way that they pleased. (Walker, Samuel, and Richards, M. 1996) During the twentieth century there was a serious change with the police. These changes came due to investigative commissions, political reform, civil rights movement, modern technologies, and reform by police
There are many factors that contribute to today’s American policing. Once such factor that contribute tremendously to today’s policing came in 1829 when Sir Robert Peel’s concept of policing came into effect. This would change the way policing would be performed in not only England, but the United States (U.S) and around the world. Another huge factor that impacts policing is the relationship the U.S. Government has with policing. These factors affect every policing organization in the U.S.
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.
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.
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.
Reforming recruit training is the most common response among police agencies attempting to deal with corruption. There is, in this regard, a straightforward link between training, competence and malpractice/corruption. Straightforwardly, the better officers are at using legitimate means, the less they will need to have recourse to illegitimate ones. Police agencies that train their officers, and provide them with the resources they require to achieve the goals of the job legitimately should find that its officers are less likely to fall into corruption or misconduct.
Police corruption can also be explained by the lack of protection and security police feel they have. They also feel like they are being disrespected by individuals in society, which is why they rely on the subculture for protection and support (Skolnick, 1966). The police subculture has created a lot of secrecy within the organization, which contributes to police misconduct. Police officers will often ignore another police officer’s corrupt actions in order to maintain a good reputation within the subculture (Tator & Henry, 2006). For example, 84% of police officers have directly witnessed another officer using more force than necessary out on the streets (US Department of Justice, 2017). However, instead of reporting the acts of others, 52%
Since the dawn of human kind, there has been some form of policing; whether that policing is based on taking revenge or the maintenance of public order and upholding the laws of the land. Although 200 years have passed, policing policies fundamentally has not changed. In this essay, I will be writing on early policing before the 19th century, policing in the 19th century, how policing evolved in America, policing now, and then compare the similarities and differences between today’s policing policies and those of the 19th century.
75). However, it should be noted that these new eras of policing did not immediately emerge due to specific actions or events (Henry, 2003); these policing eras came about with time “as law enforcement philosophies and practices of one period became anachronistic, as shortcomings became more and more apparent, as new ideas emerged, or as public dissatisfaction with police performance increased to critical proportions” (Henry, 2003, p. 75). The Reform/Professional Era had its most impact in American policing from the 1920s through the 1960s due to the formation of new policies, theories, leadership, and the overall professionalization of (Roberg et al., 2015). Professionalization, in this case, is defined as the “attempt to improve police behavior and performance by adopting a code of ethics and improving selection, training, and management of police departments” (Roberg et al., 2015, p. 41); in other words, it is the emphasis on implementing a single approach to an issue instead of handling an issue in a plethora of ways ” (Roberg et al.,
Corruption within the New York Police Department is a quickly growing phenomenon; to an extent, this is largely due to the cop culture that encourages silence and draws the line at honesty. The good, honest officers are afraid to speak up against co-workers and in the process become corrupt themselves. When police departments were first established in the mid-nineteenth century, corruption quickly followed suit. It began with minor acts of misconduct and today deals with serious criminal activities. Scholars have noted that there is a strong correlation between the officers taking part in corrupt acts and officers wanting to fit in with the culture. In this paper, I argue that the deeper an officer in the New York police department gets into the police culture, the more likely it is that they become involved in narcotic corruption
The three eras discussed in this week’s reading are the Political, Reform, and Community-based eras (The fourth era detailing policing in the 21st Century hasn’t been covered yet). The Political Era - 1840-1930 - was characterized by the appointment of police chiefs by local politicians and so were beholden to those that appointed them, often times adjusting the justice they exercised to the benefit of their patron, or rather the politician or party that appointed them. Due to this essentially powerless policing, chiefs tended to be no more than political strong-arms with very little authority over the officers under them. This lack of oversight and control tended towards corrupt or incompetent officers. Because there was virtually no hierarchy or accountability, most officers lacked adequate training which caused poor decisions and unlawful arrests and searches.
“The History of Policing in the United States” by Dr. Gray Potter raises an important question of how the idea of policies roll has changed over time. In the late 18th century the watch system was created to enforce 24/7 surveillance on the neighborhood and warn the community of incoming danger. However, the selective few were not the most reliable at the job; because many were found drunk on the job, or sleeping during the shift. Not much watching was actually taking place because the conditions of the position were all voluntary, many took the job lightly. Over time the United States organized this ‘modern police’ organization group who was supported publicly by a bureaucratic style of government administration. This set police office apart
Police corruption has been an issue that has left a lasting blemish on communities and society. Police corruption usually derives a lack of respect officer(s) feel that either the city does not care about them or they are not paid enough for their duties. Throughout this essay I will give you a better understanding on the issue that is police corruption by using terminology from the book such as the “rotten apple theory”, “blue wall of silence” and “deviant subculture”. With corruption this affects the view we have on police and it is up to us not fall into the trap of negativity and create a better society for the future.
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 History of police can help us as citizens to understand why they are rules on todays ,American polices has made a big transformation over the years ,with that being said Historically policing in the 1800’s officers have not received any type of training what soever ,they patrolled on foot and had no type of radios of anything to receive any type of communication with the dispatcher , they carry no weapon in addition the officer had a little bit of education but not enough and some knowledge on policing and procedure .