Preview

Police History

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1212 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Police History
Police History
Tracy Doubledee
CJS/241
July 13, 2015
Kenneth Jones
Police History
Law enforcement has come a long way since it was first started. Just like anything else it required a lot of trial and error. Many of the principles and practices that began the foundation of our law enforcement are still very much a part of law enforcement official’s everyday life. How did law enforcement come about and what ups and downs has it had? Law enforcement had to overcome many hurdles to get where they are today.
Police through the ages
Policing started in the Colonial America in the 1630 's; it was something that all people took part in, and there was no pay involved at all. People of the community handled watching everyone and their behaviors. Crime started to increase and at this time towns started to form and the southern colonies began developing a system of circuit sheriff. In the 1840 's in Metropolitan America, the focus shifted to crime prevention rather than detection and punishment. At this time, it was also determined that police officers should wear a uniform, and they also started paying police officers. There was a police officer available twenty-four hours a day. At this point in history, crime was out of hand and very difficult to control. The high influx of crimes made it essential to have more active and effective policing efforts. In the 1840 's in Frontier America violent crimes escalated and there was no law to fall back on. United States Marshalls in Frontier America only enforced federal laws, and they were publically appointed without pay. Professionalism in the 1920 's on the actual law enforcement and controlling the crime. At this point and time, the police started to be divided into specialized groups such as juvenile units and drug units. The police force started to utilize skills such as science to improve investigations. Vollmer was a key player in the 1920 's who helped my huge advance such as utilizing red lights on the vehicles,



References: A History of the Nine Principles of Policing. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.magnacartaplus.org/briefings/nine_police_principles.htm The American System of Policing. (2015). Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/1668/Police-Organization-Management-American-system-policing.html University of Phoenix. (2011). CJ Interactive Multimedia. Retrieved from http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pcp_94869_mutchnick_cj_uop/learning_modules/chapter5/5.1historyandprofessionalismofpolice/index.html

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    THE POLICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT •Describe the role of police in contemporary society. Issues in today’s police departments.  Hiring freeze for sworn  Laid off officers. & civilian.…

    • 580 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The history of the police agencies can be trace back to the 1630s, during this time the earliest colonists use the English style of policing. The civic duty for all citizens was “watch and ward” this offered no training or pay, it was the responsibility of the citizens to monitor the behavior of community members. Policing relied heavily on community consensus and the willingness of citizens to assist in capturing criminals (Wilbur, 2000). Sheriff’s Posses and constables were consisting of able-bodied men, because their service was liable. The collection of taxes and the supervision of election was the responsibility of the county sheriff. The night watchmen were in charge of looking out for suspicious activities and at times conducting weather reports (Wilbur, 2000).…

    • 1208 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Whitehall Police History

    • 1919 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Every story has a beginning! The story of the Whitehall Police Department would be incomplete without a little bit of background information first. The following is information recorded at the Council meetings of the Village of Whitehall. On September 24, 1947 a copy of the proceedings for the incorporation of the Village of Whitehall, Franklin County, Ohio was filed in the Office of the Secretary of State. As a result of such proceedings, in compliance with Ohio General Code, an election was held within the Village of Whitehall in February of 1948 for the purpose of electing Village Officials. As a result of the election, the following parties received Certificates of Election…

    • 1919 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    U.S. marshals enforced federal laws only; these were politicallyappointed positions with no training or pay.…

    • 507 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For Vollmer the most important police function was crime prevention, and in order to do this he first needed the officers to do it. (4) Up to the time he began his career law enforcement was strictly about punishing criminals, with little effort made in the prevention of crime by officers. Few, if any, officers had an education, but received their jobs through corrupt politicians, from knowing family and friends on the top. What Vollmer stressed most of potential officers was for them to be educated, and this led him to starting the nation’s first Police Academy. What he looked for most in his officers was a desire to learn and develop their own ideas. (2) To him, officers should be better educated than other professions, as they have a job that involves the lives of all in their community, in society. Only by understanding the law, and criminals can a police force prevent crime, as well as solve…

    • 2506 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Policing in the America is a working progress and evolving. There is a constant struggle between protecting the rights of the people as requested by law and really serving and protecting the people. There are three eras of policing, the political era (1840-1930), the reform era (1930-1980), the community era(1980-present). The political era was an era that was characterized by political influence, corruption and relationship building.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking briefly at the history of the American police, the police force is structure based off the English boobies in the 18th century. Drawing heavily on English practice, the United States police force had a rocky start. “Crime-particularly crimes like murder, robbery, rape, and burglary…was rare in the earliest colonies…this was largely due to the fact that they were settles by small and fairly homogeneous groups…”(Vila page 2). Not only did the police force have little to now power or structure in the early years, but also they were not needed in the colonies. The first city to create a police department was the New York City in the 19th century.…

    • 634 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    America is a country of laws, without laws it would be complete chaos. But with all of the people that live in America you can’t expect everyone to follow the laws, and not everyone does. Ever since the beginning of this great country people have committed criminal acts. Way back when America was still a British colony we didn’t have anyone that was hired to keep everything in order. The first form of American law enforcement was the Night Watch System. How the Night Watch System worked was people would volunteer to watch over their neighborhood and keep the piece all night long. Nobody was in charge of doing this, it was strictly whoever wanted to do it could. Soon American cities grew too large for this system, they had to find another way to patrol the cities. The colonies decided to use the same law enforcement style that their mother country, England, used. The government hired people to enforce laws. Whoever the government chose to hire would be easily recognized as police officers and they would wear uniforms and hats. In 1833, Philadelphia became the first city to employ both day and night watchmen. Five years later Boston formed the first organized police department, consisting of six full time officers. (“Criminal Justice” Gaines/Miller). It’s amazing how far law enforcement has come since then, now instead of six law enforcement officials we have several law enforcement agencies full of thousands of people. We even have state and federal law enforcement officials. Some of the most important state law enforcement officials are the police and the highway patrol. They have evolved drastically since 1833, and are now some of the most important people in their respected states. Some of the most important federal law agencies are the FBI, and the CIA. Even though these are newer than the state law enforcement…

    • 2173 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Eras of Policing

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages

    During the political era (1840s-1930s) the functions of law enforcement were controlled by the local politicians. This era was characterized by five points--authority was coming only from politicians and the law, it was a very broad social service function, the organizational design was decentralized, law enforcement had a very intimate relationship with the community, and there was an increased usage of foot patrol. Authority from politicians posed a problem during this time. Since most of the power was given to politicians the selection of good law enforcement was not a priority. During this era law enforcement wore no type of uniform which made it difficult for citizens to recognize an officer when one was needed.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Adopted from metCBB (2011, August 10). The role of a police officer is unique [Video file]. Retrieved…

    • 478 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police Force History

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Evolution of the police force has been interesting to study as it has become more organized and more complex over time. “In 1833, Philadelphia organized an independent, 24 hours a day, police force. In 1844, New York City had two police forces; daytime duty and the night watch” (Sabath). Over the next few years, police departments appointed police chiefs and accountable political bosses. A sheriff department was soon developed causing much havoc. Corruption became part of the Sheriff system. In most frontier towns, the Sheriff department became the chief law of enforcement. “Sheriff’s could be recruited from the local community, or more often a Sheriff was selected by his reputation, and not always a savory one. The Sheriff system still exists today, but, on a more formal and politicized basis.”…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police History Policing

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In conclusion, the history of policing has evolved in an interesting way to the law enforcement we have in place today. Sir Robert Peel led the way for law enforcement in England. His theory and practice naturally followed into the United States during…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Police Brutality History

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Police brutality is a phenomenon that has stood the test of time and it is the culprit to igniting many passionate debates across the United States. The term "police brutality" was in use in the United States as early as 1872, when the Chicago Tribune reported on the beating of a civilian under arrest at the Harrison Street Police Station (1872), and more recently when the CBS news reported that an officer was caught on video violently taking down a citizen (2017). The police have had an extensive history of abusing their powers. The topic of police brutality stays at the forefront of American public debate due to officers repeatedly using more force than necessary. However, with contemporary advancements in independent civilian review boards,…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Police Brutality History

    • 2264 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Studies has shown that police are more likely to abuse blacks rather than whites and this is caused by racial profiling. But through the history of police brutality, police brutality was first used after a police officer was described beating a civilian in 1633. Police brutality is the abuse of force and it is usually through physical. But there are other ways to abuse which are verbally and sometimes psychologically and this is done by a federal or state authorities which are the police officers. The history of police brutality has been a cycle and the phrases are actually violence, corruption and improve on what is wrong. These has been a cycle for many years through police brutality. Police brutality exists in many countries…

    • 2264 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    History Of The Police

    • 968 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In an article on the National Law Enforcement Museum Insider it states: “More than 350 years ago, America’s first known system of law enforcement was established in Boston. As soon as colonists had settled there in 1630, local ordinances had allowed for constables to be appointed. Soon after, in April 1631, the townspeople formed a “watch” made up of six watchmen, one constable, and several volunteers who patrolled at night, walking the rounds”. Historically, the duties of being a police officer were tough. Until the early 1900s, police officers were scarce and in some cities, no formally organized policing departments had been formed. This made keeping the peace very difficult for the few persons assigned with the task. Through the prohibition era, gun battles and Mob violence caused for alarm. In general, police had a tough job but they were just beginning. Until Sir Robert Peel established the “Peelian Principals” that forever changed policing.…

    • 968 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics