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4.1: Early History of Policing

Criminal Justice | Section 4.1: Early History of Policing

Section 4.1: Early History of Policing

The legal system of the United States traces its roots back to the common law of

England. The enforcement of those ancient laws was the responsibility of a criminal

justice system that grew and evolved over a protracted period. The protections

against the abuse of police power that Americans enjoy today have their roots in

English constitutional documents such as the Magna Carta. Legally limited police

authority and a decentralized organizational structure are two of the most

important features of modern American policing attributable to its English colonial

past.

Ancient Policing

Historians and anthropologists regard the earliest system of law enforcement

as kin policing. In this primitive system, members of a clan or tribe banded

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together to enforce the rules of the group on rogue members. The essence of kin

policing was the idea that an attack on one member of the group was tantamount to

an attack on the entire group. Note that this method was extremely informal: there

were no courts or written system of laws. Behavioral expectations were derived

from group norms and customs.

When formal, written laws emerged, the need to enforce those laws emerged

concurrently. King Hammurabi of Babylon is credited with the �rst written criminal

code. The Code of Hammurabi was carved in large stones in the tenth century B.C.

The codes of ancient Greece and Rome have had an in�uence on Western law, as has

the Mosaic Code.

Among the earliest documented Western systems of law and law enforcement was

the mutual pledge system. The mutual pledge system consisted of groups of ten

families bound to uphold the law, bring violators to court, and keep the peace.

These groups of ten families were known as tithings. Each tithing was governed by

a tithingman. All men over the age of twelve were required to raise the hue and

cry when a crime was detected, and pursue the criminal with all of the men of the

tithing. A group of ten tithings was called the hundred, and the o�ce of constable

developed out of this organizational unit. If a criminal could not be produced in

court, then the Crown could �ne the entire hundred. In other words, every man was

responsible for the conduct of every other man.

Hundreds were combined into administrative units known as Shires (or Counties),

under the jurisdiction of the shire-reeve. The shire-reeve, whose job it was to

maintain the King’s peace in the Shire, was later shortened to the modern

term sheri�. The sheri� has the power to raise all able-bodied men in the county to

pursue a criminal. This power was known by the Latin phrase posse comitatus.

In 1066, the Normans invaded England and seized the throne. The Norman King,

William the Conqueror, quickly modi�ed the mutual pledge system to aid in the

consolidation of his power. The modi�ed system-known as the frankpledge

system-was a tightening of the system then Normans found in place.

By the end of the thirteenth century, the constable system had developed into the

system of rural law enforcement common to all of England. The o�ce of constable

was �lled by yearly elections within each parish (a religious division similar to a

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County). The constable had the same responsibility as the tithingman, with the

additional duties of being a royal o�cer. In urban areas, the watch and ward system

developed along similar lines. O�cers of the watch would guard the town gates at

night, conduct patrols to prevent burglary, arrest strangers appearing at night, and

put out �res. By 1361 A.D., the old system had given way to constables working

under justices of the peace. This system would remain in place until the industrial

revolution.

Colonial America

When the early colonists set up a system of laws and law enforcement in America,

they brought the common law system of England with them. In this early system,

the county sheri� was the most important law enforcement o�cial. The duties of

the sheri� in those times were far more expansive than they are today. Then the

sheri� collected taxes, supervised elections, and so forth. As far as law enforcement

goes, the role of the sheri� in colonial America was completely reactive. If a citizen

complained, the sheri� would investigate the matter. If evidence could be collected,

an arrest would be made. There were no preventive e�orts, and preventive patrol

was not conducted.

The Rise of Modern Policing

The United States has followed a di�erent path than many other countries. Whereas

many western nations have national police forces, the United States is still very

fragmented. Policing is done mostly on the local level. One term for

this decentralized. While there are some rather abstract political advantages to a

decentralized system of law enforcement, it is not without cost. Many critics call for

the amalgamation and centralization of police forces, citing a wide variety of

reasons such as preventing wasted e�ort and wasted resources. The decentralized

nature of modern American policing stems from its roots in the English past.

In 1829, Home Secretary Robert Peel convinced the Parliament in England to pass

the Metropolitan Police Act. The primary purpose of the Act was to do away with the

ine�ectual patchwork of policing measures then practiced in London, and establish

an around-the-clock, uniformed police force charged with preventing disorder and

crime. Peel is credited with many innovations that became standard police practice

around the world. A major shift was an e�ort at crime prevention rather than

“raising the hue and cry” after a crime was committed. In other words, the focus of

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policing e�orts shifted from reactive to proactive. This shift meant that the new

police force was tasked with preventing crime before it occurred rather than

responding to it after the fact. A key element of this proactive strategy

was preventive patrol. Police constables became known as “Bobbies” after Robert

Peel. The city of London was divided up into beats, and the Bobbies were ordered to

patrol their beats on foot. The idea was that the presence of these uniformed

o�cers on the streets would deter crime.

The militaristic nature of most modern police forces was also one of Peel’s

innovations. He used a military-style organizational structure, complete with ranks

like sergeant, lieutenant, and captain. While commonplace now, military-style

uniforms were an innovation. Command and discipline were also conducted along

military lines.

It was not long before the value of such police forces was noted by America’s largest

cities and the idea was selectively imported. The main element of the British model

that Americans rejected was the nationalization of police services. Americans at the

time were still fearful of strong central authority and elected to establish police

forces on a local level. While arguably more democratic, decentralized police forces

organized on the local level were not nearly as well insulated from local politics as

their British counterparts. Political leaders were able to exert a large amount of

in�uence over police hiring, policymaking, and �eld practices.

There is some debate amongst the concerned departments as to whether Boston or

New York City was the �rst modern police force in the United States. Boston’s day

watch was established in 1838, and many credit this as the �rst modern police force.

New York City formed its police force in 1844. Most other large cities soon followed

suit, and full-time, salaried o�cers became the norm.

Early Problems with Police

As previously mentioned, early police forces were highly political. Graft and

corruption were rampant. Police ranks were �lled with o�cers of particular ethnic

groups to garner votes for particular politicians. Criminals paying o� the police to

ignore vice crimes was also common. Policing was more about political advantage

than protecting public safety in many neighborhoods. E�orts to eliminate

corruption were doomed from the start because the very politicians that had the

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power to end it bene�ted from it. This period from approximately 1940 to 1920 has

become known as the political era of policing due to these political ties.

The Reform Era

The end of the 19  century saw progressive thinkers attempt to reform the police.

Progressivism was a broadly focused political and social movement of the day, and

the police were swept up in this wave of progress, improvement, and reform. The

status quo of policing would not withstand its momentum. A primary objective of

the police reformers of this era was to reduce substantially the power of local

politicians over the police.

An important reform was the institution of civil service. The aim of civil service was

to make selection and promotion decisions based on merit and testing rather than

by the corrupt system of political patronage of the previous era. Within police

circles, the progressive movement spawned an interest in the professionalization of

policing. Model professional police departments would be highly e�cient,

separated from political in�uence, and sta�ed by experts.

One of the most notable police reformers and champions of police professionalism

was the Chief of police in Berkeley, California from 1909 to 1932. August Vollmer

de�ned police professionalism in terms of e�ective crime control, educated

o�cers, and nonpolitical public service. Like Peel a generation before, Vollmer is

known for many �rsts in policing. He was the �rst to develop an academic degree

program in law enforcement in an era long before the establishment of criminal

justice as a �eld of study in American universities. His agency was among the �rst

to use forensic science to aid investigations, and among the �rst to use

automobiles. His agency was among the �rst to establish a code of ethics, which

prohibited the acceptance of gratuities and favors by o�cers.

One of Vollmer’s students, O. W. Wilson is known for introducing the concepts of

scienti�c management into policing and increasing e�ciency. Wilson was one of

the �rst police administrators to advocate single-o�cer patrols. Later in his career,

he became a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and was known as

America’s foremost expert on police administration.

Key Terms

th

7/14/2021 Criminal Justice | Section 4.1: Early History of Policing | Professor McKee's Things and Stuff

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Amalgamation, August Vollmer, Beat, Civil Service, Code of Hammurabi,

Decentralized, Frankpledge System, Hue and Cry, Hundred, Kin Policing, Magna

Carta, Mosaic Code, Mutual Pledge System, Nationalization, O. W. Wilson, Parish,

Political Era, Posse Comitatus, Preventive Patrol, Proactive, Reactive, Reform Era,

Sheri�, Shire, Shire-reeve, Tithing, Tithingman, Watch and Ward

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Last Updated:  6/04/2021

 

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