Running Through History: Police Force evolution

Establishing police force

Police Report

The urban to rural change and industrialization in America increased the population incredibly. With more people in American cities, more crimes were being committed and there was no one to stop it. Before policing there was a "Watch System" the system was composed of community volunteers whose primary duty was to warn impending danger. Boston installed this in 1631, New York followed in 1647, and Philadelphia in 1700.

The first police force was established in 1838 in Boston, according to plsonline.eku, by the 1880s all US major cities had a municipal police force. The policing in the north and south varied from one another. In the South the policing was Slave Patrol. Slave Patrol had 3 jobs; chase down and return slaves, provide organized terror, and maintain a form of discipline. In the Northern US policing was a system of elected constables and sheriffs. In the north police had the ability to now arrest anyone they saw as a threat and in the south they enforced white supremacy.

As northern cities grew and filled with immigrants, wealthy elite that ran the municipal government hired hundred and thousands of armed men to impose order on the new working class neighborhoods according to lawcha.org. American cities experienced major strikes, and riots in 1877, 1886, 1894. Talked about on lawcha.org is that police were created to control the working class and poor people. They were created to protect new form of wage-labor capitalism. The patrol wagon system was instituted so that large numbers of people could be transported all at once. Police started carrying firearm, this sparked a widespread of fear that the police had to much power. Early American police departments shared two primary characteristic, notoriously corrupt and brutal. At the time there was no national policing policy. The myth "tough street cop" was formed by policeman who handled all problems on his beat through the application of physical punishment. Some police systematically took payoffs to allow drinking, gambling, and prostitution. Most policeman even drink while on patrol.

In 1905 Pennsylvania established the first modern State police department, that was used to primarily to monitor the corrupt inefficient local police forces. State police were known as the professional police department. The FBI was the created in 1908, president Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order to create the bureau. The FBI started off investigating antitrust cases, fraud and crime committed on government property or by government officials. The 20th century strategy involved new techniques, integrated sources of authority, and narrowed down the definition of police work. Administrators adopted an insular view of professionalism that emphasized crime fighting as the primary function of police work.

The early 20^th century was the peek for police evolution in America. The first use of police dogs was in Belgium in 1900. This tactic soon was adopted by American police departments. In 1906 motorcycles came into use in Philadelphia, this gave forces advantage in speed and getting through traffic. Specialize police squads were also established in the 20^th century. This creation moved police from specific communities to combat city wide problems. State police created state highway patrol force to deal with the increasing motorist on highways. Forensic science began because criminal behavior became more prevalent and difficult to catch. Forensic science is the use of science for criminal and civil laws. Communication also improved, agencies exchanged information about crimes and defenders. The new technologies of photography helped identify offenders, prints could be made from negatives, this made the posting of offenders in stations possible. These pictures became known as “mug shots” because it was a picture of the suspects face. The 20^th century also brought new crimes such as bootlegging. Bootlegging came into play because the 18^th Amendment made it illegal to sale, transport, or produce liquor. Women in the police force was also a major advancement. Men thought women would be too sympathetic to be officers. Lucy Gray was the first police matron, by the 1880s she set up a police department to aid women and children, victims and offenders, that weren’t getting proper care. In 1924 the first black policewoman was hired.

American policing was a necessity as the American population grew. It's hard for us to imagine modern life with law enforcement. American policing changed the way authority was enforced in this country. Today the system is not perfect but it is much better than before. In the years of 1870- 1915 the evolution of policing was tremendous and shaped the world's law enforcement today.