Historical Origins of Police What good is history? Why do we pay attention to history? An appreciation of history is important to understand social change.

Historical Origins of Police• What good is history? Why do we pay attention to history?• An appreciation of history is important to understand social

change.• It helps us better understand why the Police function as

they do today.• What are the forms police have taken over the years? To

what extent have police improved; to what extent does residue of the past persist?

• What social forces have been paramount?

Historical Origins of Police• The history of police is about change and “police

reform” which reflects:– Functional changes in American society– The interests of the powerful in defining and enforcing a

legal system that reproduces a status quo– These 2 interpretations are contradictory (but not

necessarily incompatible)

• Why is the history of police a story of reform? To answer this question you need to know something about the origin of the police institution

• English system: Roots of US police• Limited authority (feature of democracy)• Local control (feature of democracy)• Fragmentation

Origins of Modern PolicePolicing: the family, clan, or tribe enforced informal notions of policing

Kin Policing, Nightwatch & Pledge System (everyone responsible for public safety) First paid police officer: praefectus urbi, in Rome 27 BC. By 6 AD, Rome had a large public police force.

12th century England: sheriffs appointed by the king to collect fines and enforce the frankpledge system.

–Frankpledge system was based on tithings (10 families) and hundreds (10 tithings)–Tithings - collectives of ten families responsible for policing their own minor problems–Hundred - collective of ten tithings who reported to a Constable (appointed by local nobleman)–Shires -geographic areas similar to counties were controlled by the Shire Reeve (sheriff) appointed by the local landlord or the Crown–Posse Comitatus – Men responsible for pursuing fleeing felons

–Police reflect community needs for security & elite (royal) interest in maintaining order and collecting revenue

The Birth of Modern Police -13th Cent. England• 1285 Statute of Westminster:

– Every hundred appoint 2 Constables to assist Sheriff. – The Constable issued summons, supervised the nightwatch,

and conducted investigations.In theory, the Watchmen patrolled at night to deter and report robberies,

disturbances, fires, etc. and reported these to the area Constable (who became the primary metropolitan law enforcement agent).

1326, Justice of the Peace was created to help the Shire Reeve control the county. Ultimately the Justices began to take on judicial functions (besides their primary role as peacekeeper.) Local Constable became the assistant to the Justice (by supervising night watchmen, investigations, serving summonses, executing warrants, securing prisoners).

The relationship between the Justice of the Peace, the Constable, the Shire Reeve, and the Watchman formed the basis of a criminal justice system that has endured for almost 700 years since then.

Industrialization & Policing• Constable-Nightwatch System• End of 1700s, the beginning of the industrial revolution: Urbanization

(people moved to cities). • Unprecedented social disorder.

– Unemployment– Poverty– Inadequate informal social controls– Formal social control mechanisms become more important: Police

• Monied Police (private police hired by individuals for specific cases) aka: thief takers

• Key issue of Corruption– Taking money from those who hired them to catch and inform on criminals, also

took money, stolen property, hush money, money for false testimony, blackmail, etc. from criminals

– Violent enforcement of their private deals (court bailiffs among the most notorious)

– No system of accountability

– 1829: Metropolitan police act. First organized British metropolitan police force. – Founder of British Policing: Sir Robert Peele. Advocated a civilian police based

upon a military model. Established the first English police.

Historical Origins• Father of Modern Police: Sir Robert Peele

• Metropolitan Police Act established 1st modern police force in London in 1829

• Structured as a military, known as bobbies (after Robert Peele), wore a uniform, led by two magistrates ultimately given the title of commissioner

• Mission: crime prevention• Strategy: preventive patrol• Problems, but overall improvement• By 1856, it was required that every town have a local

police force in England.

Peelian Reforms to Policing• The police must be stable, efficient, and organized along military

lines. • The police must be under government control.• The absence of crime will best prove the efficiency of police.• The distribution of crime news is essential.• The deployment of police strength both by time and area is

essential.• No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect

command of temper; a quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action.

• Good appearance commands respect.• The securing and training of proper persons is at the root of

efficiency.• Public security demands that every police officer be given a number.• Police headquarters should be centrally located and easily

accessible to the people.• Policemen should be hired on a probationary basis.• Police records are necessary to provide the best distribution of

police strength (Germann et al., 1973).

Origins of Police in the US• Traced to British social, cultural and political roots•Colonial Era 1700s

–Sheriff•kept the peace along with other duties:

–tax collector

–election supervisor, etc.

–Sheriffs responded to citizen calls (rather than active patrolling).

– Received a fee for each arrest made - more lucrative to collect taxes, not very focused on addressing crime

–Vigilantes - groups of private citizens who were organized for some law enforcement purpose

•Slave patrols in south were based upon the “need” to apprehend runaway African slaves & to prevent slave revolts. •Population dynamics of colonial south. Vigilantes served as police, judge, jury and “executioner” of justice.

Origins of Police in the US• Traced to British social, cultural and political roots•Modern Police Departments

–Emerged from mob violence in urban industrializing cities in the 19th century; perceived threat/conflict among immigrant groups –Charleston (1837); Boston (1838); New York (1844); Phila (1834)–High paying relative to other blue-collar types of jobs in 19th century (about double a factory workers salary)–Patronage System:

•Very political in terms of who controlled the police, who was hired, and who was promoted•Machine politics and immigrant groups (having officers hired from your group was a symbol of status in the U.S.)

Theories (explanations) of Police Development.Disorder-control theory

Need to suppress mob violence. Boston had 3 major riots in the years before the founding of the police.

Crime-control theoryThreats to public order create a climate of fear. Government responds

by creating police.

Class-control theory Police reinforce class-based economic exploitation. Exploited labor

provided the fuel for capitalism, yet were always perceived as potentially dangerous. Police were needed to ensure control of dangerous classes.

Urban dispersion theory They were seen as a legitimate part of municipal governance. They

underwent a process of dispersion from major metropolitan centers to smaller ones. At the end of the civil war there were still very few. By the late 1800's, virtually all cities had one.

Origins of Police in the US•Lack of training, unprofessional organization, no standards•Police/Public conflict has its roots in these origins: police responded swiftly and brutally against the public when order was perceived as threatened (labor disputes, crowds, etc.)•Not crime fighters, but charged with Maintaining Order•Average officer

–Had little training, –No education in the law, –Little supervision, –Huge power in judging law in the streets and act with unlimited discretion, lack of technology limited oversight/accountability of street patrol

Police generally regarded as incompetent and corrupt in 19th century: main concern was protecting private property and keeping control over immigrants: protecting the interests of those in power

Policing History: The Political Model• Mid 1850s—Dramatic increase in need for municipal services.

– New arrivals—immigrants— often competed with established groups for these services.

– Provided the grist for political bosses—leaders who aided the groups in exchange for help being elected.

• Patronage system: jobs rewarded for political service. – Police job required little skill. Police in turn provided assistance for

controlling voting. – Policing represented the largest number of jobs available from most

cities. Cincinnati, 1880, 219 of 295 officers dismissed because of change in elected leadership.

• The Role of Politics—often divided into two camps: middle and upper class whites.– Law was used to establish/impose morality. – Control drinking, gambling, and prostitution. – Immigrants, when police officers, laxly enforced these laws. – Most arrests were for drunk and disorderly conduct. A wheelbarrow to

transport “tipsy prisoners.”– Late 1800s: Call box and horse-drawn carriage introduced for

transporting prisoners.

Progressives & the Call for Reform• All the problems associated with large cities emerged

during this period. – Health problems– inadequate housing– crime– congestion

• Mid-1890s to mid-1920s: the Progressive Era. • Three elements relevant to Police:

– Honesty and efficiency in government.– More authority for police officers (and less for politicians).– Experts responding to specific problems.

Reform Era seeds Professional/Legalistic Era

• Reform Era• Part of a larger Progressive Movement

– Focused on a variety of social problems, child welfare– Increasing Oversight:

» citizen review panels, » legislative control (NYC)

• 1893 IACP (International Assoc of Chiefs of Police) – leading voice in the reform movement towards professionalism:

civil service police (detached from political changes), centralized organizational structure of forces, record keeping to curb precinct captain power, advocated specialized units (to address special problems such as juvenile delinquency)

• Less corruption, highly trained, rule-orientation – August Vollmer @ Berkeley emphasized an educated police– Vollmer’s principles mark the beginning of the professional

movement in US police history

The Police Reform MovementEmergence of commission approach to reform.

1919 Chicago Crime Commission was the first permanent commission. External and expert committees created to study police organization, behavior and the crime problem.

Wickersham Commission in 1929, by Hoover, “National Commission on Law Observance.” August Vollmer—the principal police consultant and author of the major report on the police.

Limitations of Police Legitimacy, according to Vollmer:• political influence, • inadequate management/ leadership, • ineffective recruitment/training, • need to use accepted advances in science/technology

The Police Reform MovementBy the 1930s reform themes are established:

– Centralization (bureaucracy) – standardization of policy and practice, – merit selection/promotion, – commitment to crime fighting, – use of science and technology– Unintended consequence: paramilitarization of police agencies

By the 1960s, these were all being questioned.– Urban Riots– Civil rights movement– Perceptions about increasing crime– Kerner Commission also looked at aspects of civil disorders. Found lack

of police responsiveness to the community. The most professional departments were the most unresponsive.

– Community policing movement (late 1970s) emerges as an effort to address the problems associated with the professional model of policing.

Modern Policing: The Emergence of the Professionalism• Professionalism: Improving policing by adopting a code of ethics and improving

selection, training, and management.

• Legalistic model: police-community relations should be based on the law and department policy – contra-politics – emphasis on “objective” law enforcement. Crime fighting is the primary purpose of the police.

• The Professional Period: 1920-1970• Three characteristics of this period:

– European developments. This was the application of science to police work. • Bertillon system

– Precise physical measurements, – Description of distinguishing features, and later, fingerprinting. – Enabled a record-keeping system about criminals. Provided a body of knowledge that could be used in

training.

– Changes in the United States• Extensive demographic changes. • Immigration to inner cities. • Need for social services. • High Crime in Economically depressed & racially segregated neighborhoods. • Major riots in the 1910s, 1920s, and 1960s, in which the police were implicated.

– Commission Approach

Professionalization in American Policing

• Vollmer’s goals for professional police– Define policing as a profession– Eliminate political influences (corruption)– Appoint qualified Chiefs– Raise standards for hiring/promotion– Introduce principles of scientific management– Develop specialized units

• First Female officers during this era (Lola Baldwin)

– Assigned to juvenile units– No regular patrol duty– Assignments reflect stereotypes about gender roles– Is policing a masculine domain? Should it be? Why?

More on the Rise of Professionalization

• Technology• New York 1853 uniform• Telegraph allowed for police to report their whereabouts

to headquarters through a police box in the neighborhood• Detroit 1897: Bicycles; Akron 1910 : police car• Increasing technological saturation of society

– Telephone throughout the 1900s– 2-way radio, especially after WW II– Radical changes in the way policing gets done: patrol becomes

reactive to momentary citizen demands– How does this shift who the police comes into contact with?

Consequences of this?

Impacts of Professionalization

• Positives:–Some real change–Increased military ethos of PDs

• Problems:–Conflict in racial minority communities–Riots in urban areas–Increased military ethos of PDs–Police aggression to quell unrest–Few African-Americans hired as officers–Goes un-discussed until the 1960s

Modern Era: “Police in Crisis”1960s

• Earl Warren Supreme Court:– Mapp v. Ohio 1961 (illegal search and seizure is unlawful)– Miranda v. Arizona 1966 (police required to advise suspects of rights before interrogation)– A shift in the balance of power police had possessed

• Civil Rights movement:» Challenged racial discrimination» constitutional changes have big impact on how police conduct business; » urban protests/riots challenged police to handle new tasks in a brighter spotlight» Kerner Commission (1967) found deep fractures between police and racial minority

communities

Crime rate (violence) saw a sharp increase: changes police focus?

Kerner Commission Recommendations

• Change operation in the inner city to ensure proper officer conduct & eliminate abrasive practices

• Provide adequate police protection to inner city residents - eliminate high levels of crime & fear

• Create ways for citizens to obtain effective responses to grievances

• Produce policy guidelines that provide police officers with skills to avoid actions that create tension

• Develop community support for law enforcement• Anticipates many of the values and goals of COPS

movement

Modern Era1970s:• New funding for police training (partly in response to 1960s). A lot of the funding went to train officers and

support educ. Programs

• Computers became a part of policing (record keeping, investigations, communications, etc.)

• Still tumultuous relationship between police and racial minorities

• More women and minorities became officers through Affirmative Action policies

1980s:• Police role is expanding to include community orientation: community policing.

• Police Union power created conflict between chiefs and force. Budget cuts eroded some effectiveness

• Police/Public relations still a problem

1990s:• New styles of policing that stress community cooperation and input.

• Many technological improvements.

• Simultaneously, corruption, misconduct, abuse of power (NYC, Cinci, LAPD)

Modern EraPolice in Crisis Redux (since 1960s)

• Developments?– Changes in Police Officer profile– Control of discretion

• Reforms– Deadly Force– Domestic Disputes

• Power of Police Unions– Professional strength of Police workers

• Citizen Oversight of Police– Accountability; civil liability; customer satisfaction model

• Resurgence of Community Policing, Problem-oriented Policing and other police models in efforts to curb crime

Contemporary Law Enforcement Industry

What is meant by the term “Industry”?–Police produce a variety of services

•Helps us to see Policing as a broad activity beyond controlling crime through law enforcement

–Industry perspective assumes that Police have “customers” they serve (citizens)

•Increases accountability of police to the public

Contemporary Law Enforcement Industry

Law Enforcement in the US

•Sprawling–18,000 Agencies–Compared to England (43 PDs with about ¼ pop)

•Complex–Fragmented without centralization

•Compared to England – all PDs administered by a central body

–Federal, State, Local–A variety of police services and functions

Contemporary Law Enforcement Industry

What do US Police Agencies look like?

• Local police

• Sheriffs

• State police

• Special police

• Feds

•Typical Department?–Small (less than 10 sworn officers)–84 largest PDs employ 40% of all full-time police in US

Employment by State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies

in the United States

531,495

263,427

82,261 61,022

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

LocalPolice

Sheriffs StatePolice

SpecialPolice

Employees

Contemporary Law Enforcement Industry

1994 Violent Crime Control Act (Response to spike in violence in 1980s & 90s)

–Provided for hiring 100,000 additional police•Resulted in fewer hired than provided for

Sworn vs. Unsworn Officers

Police:Population Ratio (1.5:1000)Varies widely – no connection to crime

Policing is expensive to communities: most costs are in personnel

Municipal Police

• 72% of all Agencies (employ about 60% of all personnel)

• Big 6: NYC, LA, Chicago, Houston, Philly, Detroit– 7.5% pop but 23% of violent crime– 13% of all sworn officers

• More complex Role– Cities are complex environments– Serious crime production– Diversity of services

Sheriffs

• More than 3,000 departments

• Unique and varied Role– Full service model: police, court and

corrections (Andy Griffin)– Very powerful in rural areas– Elected office in most states

• Political

State Police3 Models:1. State police (traffic and crime investigation)2. Highway Patrols (traffic mostly)3. State Investigative Agencies (SBI)Functions:• Patrol• Traffic Enforcement• Crime Lab services in about 1/2 of states• Training Academies (almost 80%)

Federal Law Enforcement

• 1996 Estimate: 75,000 agents

• Confusion over regulatory vs. enforcement powers of Federal Agencies and their officers

• Roles are more constrained, better defined

FederalLaw Enforcement Agencies

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms

• Internal Revenue Service• U.S. Customs Service*• U.S. Secret Service

• Federal Bureau of Investigation

• Drug Enforcement Administration

• U.S. Marshal Service• Immigration &

Naturalization Service*

Treasury

Department

Justice

Department

The Evolving Strategy of PolicingB&B Ch. 2 Kelling & Moore:

Dimensions of the Police Enterprise:

1. Legitimacy & Authorization (Political – Law/prof – Comm support, law, prof)

2. Function (Crime, order, service – Crime – Crime, prevention, prob-solving)

3. Organizational Design (Decentral, geographic – Central – Decentral, special)

4. External Relationships to Environment (Close/personal – Prof/Remote –

5. Demand Management (Face-to-face/political – Central/Dispatch – Analysis)

6. Strategies & Tactics (Foot patrol – Prev. patrol/response – Foot Patrol; Probs)

7. Evaluation - Outcome Measure (Satis w/social order– Crime –Qual. Life; Satis.)

3 Eras:

1. Political

2. Reform

3. Community (Contemporary)

The Evolving Strategy of PolicingB&B Ch. 3: A Minority View (Williams & Murphy)

Accounts of Police History reflect a view from the perspective of police

Shaped by the Historical & Political Realities of Society

How have institutions, norms, attitudes dealt with racial minorities in the 3 Eras?

1. Political; 2. Reform; 3. Community (Contemporary)

1. The origins of police are rooted in historically less democratic times2. Organizational focus continues to reflect certain characteristics of earlier eras3. Police reform was not experienced similarly across racial groups3. Tracing the origin of policing in the US to Political Era ignores the reality of legal

race-based slavery and the police role in maintaining this system of control4. Professional era promises only realized after civil rights movement5. Community policing borne of civil rights movements & political change in cities6. Hazards are embedded in community era. Like what?

Vigilance committees: Slave patrol activities range from carrying out due process to acts of blatant revengeSouth, 1882-1951, Jim Crow Era—about 4,700 lynchings, mostly of Blacks.14th Amendment (1865) equal protection doctrine Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – establishes separate but equal doctrine