The History Of Modern Policing

More than three hundred and fifty years ago, America 's first known system of law enforcement was established in Boston. Although, very different from America 's first watch, today 's modern policing system is a story of evolution. The process progressed from an idea of reacting to crime once it had already occurred, to a more preventative police force designed to deter crime from happening.

The history of policing has changed drastically through the four eras. From the police basically being criminals themselves in the beginning to becoming trained and skilled officers says a lot about our law

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.

I spent my third and fourth session of my practicum with Constable Dwayne Harrison and Constable Paul Davis. Both members of the Lethbridge Regional Police Service (LRPS) are in the patrol unit; responding to calls and investigating. Patrol work is broad, responding to calls that mostly consist of theft, mischief, and domestic. It defines the police as a public service and making the public happy to have someone to solve their problems.

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

The United States Police model traces back to the British Model of Policing. Originating in the 1200s, British law enforcement started as organized posses. At the time if a man heard a victim cry out he joined the posse and helped track the criminal. Typically, leaders called shire reeve (county leaders) or comes stabuli (mounted officers) led the efforts. The world sheriff traces back to shire reeve and constable back to comes stabuli. Small numbers of mounted officers were employed which meant that there were not numerous enough to handle everything handled by today’s law enforcement. This system created many feuds among competing posses. Public executions, often including torture, were common, but trials were rare.

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

Policing has definably evolved over the last thousand years. Not only to progress crime fighting methods, but also show our community and greater service. The old way of policing which was primarily based on random patrol, hoping for the chance to accidently walk up on a crime in progress, police agency started focusing on social problem, and even more effective, statistics. Community policing has been enhanced through a management accountably process called (CompStat).

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.

Assess the significance of developments in policing in influencing the effectiveness of law and order in the period 1830 – 1965.

Are we headed backwards with our policing today? A question I have asked myself frequently while preparing this paper. Of the three eras of policing I will discuss the Community Era and the Political Era. The political era lasted about 90 years, starting from 1840 going through 1930. The purpose during this era was to protect and serve the public in the safest, and most productive way known, kind of like today, but a different style. Let us look at this style resembling todays era. Officers familiarize themselves with the community by the way they patrolled, they did a style by foot, called a beat. While patrolling by foot they did things to give back to the community like taking out garbage, helping to keep the community nice and clean and getting to know the local business owners.

     Law enforcement is divided into three major eras throughout history. These eras are the political era, the reform era and the community era. The political era that took place between 1840-1930 was characterized by five points, which was the authority was coming from politicians and the law, a broad social service function, decentralized organization, an intimate relationship with the

Our police started out as a part of the British law enforcement system, which was used to control convicts. Police used to operate under British law, however as our country evolved and through events such as the gold rush, the police force had to change to accommodate for the changed in the country. Since the Queensland Police Force began operating under its own legislation on January 1, 1864, with only 143 employees, much has changed to bring us the police force we have now. Not only have the advances in technology increased the ability that police officers have to keep us safe, but also the many changes in the views of our society have created a diverse police force. The police play an integral role

The origins of policing within the U.S. trace back to its English heritage. Concepts concerning police and also the community, crime hindrance, the posse, constables, and sheriffs developed from English enforcement. Starting at 900 c.E., the role of enforcement was placed within the hands of the common, everyday subject. Every subject was accountable for aiding neighbors who could be victims of outlaws and thieves. As a result of no cops, people used state-sanctioned force to keep control of the areas.

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.