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Police headquarters — lost children waiting for parents

Police in urban America 1 8 6 0 - 1 9 2 0

E R I C H. M O N K K O N E N

Department of History University of California, Los Angeles

C A M B R I D G E U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

Cambridge London New York New Rochelle Melbourne Sydney

P u b l i s h e d by the P r e s s S y n d i c a t e of the U n i v e r s i t y o f C a m b r i d g e T h e Pitt B u i l d i n g , T r u m p i n g t o n Street, C a m b r i d g e C B 2 1RP 32 East 57th Street, N e w York, N Y 10022, U S A 296 B e a c o n s f i e l d Parade, M i d d l e P a r k , M e l b o u r n e 3206, Australia

© C a m b r i d g e U n i v e r s i t y Press 1981

First p u b l i s h e d 1981

Printed in the U n i t e d S t a t e s of A m e r i c a T y p e s e t by D a v i d E. S e h a m A s s o c . , Inc. Printed and b o u n d by V a i l - B a l l o u Press Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

M o n k k o n e n , Eric H 1 9 4 2 -

P o l i c e in u r b a n A m e r i c a , 1 8 6 0 - 1920.

(Interdisciplinary perspectives on modern

h istory)

Includes b i b l i o g r a p h i c a l r e f e r e n c e s and index.

I. P o l i c e - U n i t e d S t a t e s - H i s t o r y . I. T i t l e . II. S e r i e s . H V 8 1 3 8 . M 6 5 3 6 3 . 2 ' 0 9 7 3 8 0 - 1 6 7 6 2 I S B N 0 5 2 1 23454 9

1 The historical development of the police

To prevent the c o m m i s s i o n of crime is a paramount o b j e c t , and if the appearance of the police, in a dress d i s t i n g u i s h i n g them from other citizens, will tend to this result, it is well worth the experi- m e n t . . .

B o s t o n , Annual Report of the Chief of Police (1857)

The urban locus of policing

Because the details of t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of the criminal j u s t i c e sys- t e m , and especially of t h e p o l i c e , in the n i n e t e e n t h a n d early t w e n - tieth centuries h a v e i n h e r e n t i n t e r e s t , it h a s b e e n relatively easy for h i s t o r i a n s to a v o i d a d e e p e r , m o r e analytic v i e w o t h e r than that w h i c h c o m e s from narration a n d d e s c r i p t i o n . 1 T h i s is n o t to d e n y the value of such d e s c r i p t i o n and c h r o n i c l i n g , for it is v a l u a b l e , b u t to d e m o n s t r a t e t h e difficulty of u n d e r s t a n d i n g u n d e r l y i n g relation- s h i p s in the u r b a n p o l i c e across the U n i t e d States in t h e n i n e t e e n t h century. W e k n o w that, w i t h only slight v a r i a t i o n s , police forces h a v e evolved i n t o m u c h t h e s a m e m o d e l across the n a t i o n today, b u t w e n e e d to k n o w if each police system followed the s a m e devel- o p m e n t a l path a n d if each evolved from the s a m e s t a r t i n g p o i n t . 2 If the p o l i c e in different c i t i e s b e g a n f r o m completely d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s , c o n v e r g i n g only w i t h t h e c o m p l e t i o n of the m o v e s i n t o u n i f o r m , the police m u s t h a v e b e e n s h a p e d b y s i m i l a r external forces. If, h o w e v e r , all c i t i e s h a d t h e s a m e k i n d of p r e - u n i f o r m e d police that followed the s a m e e v o l u t i o n a r y p a t h to the u n i f o r m , then it is un- clear w h a t k i n d s of p r e s s u r e s h a p e d the c h a n g e - i n t e r n a l , external, or b o t h . I argue that t h e first s i t u a t i o n o b t a i n e d : S t a r t i n g f r o m di- verse i n s t i t u t i o n a l a r r a n g e m e n t s a n d following d i v e r s e p a t t e r n s , external forces and c o n s t r a i n t s created m o d e r n u r b a n police forces in virtually the s a m e m o l d .

T h e d e s c i p t i o n and a n a l y s i s that follows is b a s e d on the w o r k of v a r i o u s scholars w h o in t h e past ten years h a v e each a d d e d a p i e c e to a puzzle that h a s b e g u n to s h o w its o u t l i n e s , even t h o u g h m u c h m o r e work r e m a i n s . It h a s taken a decade for a c o m p r e h e n s i v e pic- ture to b e f a s h i o n e d b e c a u s e the details t h e m s e l v e s h a v e e i t h e r

30

The historical development of the police 31

b e e n i g n o r e d b y h i s t o r i a n s i n t e r e s t e d in t h e b r o a d e r aspects of so- cial a n d u r b a n h i s t o r y , or b e c a u s e t h e p o l i c e , from t h e p o i n t of v i e w of m a n y scholars, h a v e b e e n and r e m a i n an u n a n a l y z e d part of t h e historical social structure. In the late n i n e t e e n t h a n d early t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s , p o l i c e h i s t o r i e s f u n c t i o n e d as a f o r m of c o m p a n y h i s t o r y , a s s e m b l e d to s h o w a g l o r i o u s o r i g i n , often w i t h c o n s c i o u s i n t e n t of instilling c o n t e m p o r a r y p o l i c e p r i d e : E v e n the title of A u g u s t i n e C o s t e l l o ' s Our Police Protectors (1885) s h o w s t h i s a s p e c t of t h e b o o k ' s p u r p o s e . R e c e n t historical s t u d i e s , h o w e v e r , s h o w a m o r e critical attitude toward p o l i c i n g in the p a s t , b u t t e n d to c o n v e y t h e i m p r e s s i o n that t h e h i s t o r y of p o l i c i n g h a s b e e n t h e story of p r o g - ress a w a y from the b a r b a r i s m of t h e n i n e t e e n t h a n d early t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r i e s .

A s p e c i f i c political c h a n g e u n d e r l i e s t h e m o r e v i s i b l e c h a n g e i n p o l i c i n g b e t w e e n 1800 and 1920: t h e shift of p o l i c i n g f u n c t i o n s f r o m a traditional, if v a g u e , a t t a c h m e n t to the j u d i c i a l b r a n c h of g o v e r n - m e n t to a f i r m l o d g i n g in m u n i c i p a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . T h e c h a n g e in the n a t u r e of the p o l i c e f r o m an i n f o r m a l , e v e n casual, b u r e a u c r a c y to a f o r m a l , r u l e - g o v e r n e d , militaristic o r g a n i z a t i o n m i r r o r e d t h i s d e e p e r p o l i t i c a l s h i f t . A s t h e n a t u r e of t h e p o l i c e o r g a n i z a t i o n c h a n g e d , so d i d its s p e c i f i c d u t i e s , w h i c h m o v e d first f r o m a g e n - eral c o n c e r n w i t h t h e orderly f u n c t i o n i n g of c i t i e s , a small part of w h i c h w a s c a t c h i n g c r i m i n a l s ; to t h e f u n c t i o n in t h e m i d a n d late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y of controlling t h e d a n g e r o u s class, w i t h a g r o w - i n g e m p h a s i s on c r i m e control; a n d finally to the f o r m of social c o n - trol that w e r e c o g n i z e today, e m p h a s i z i n g c r i m e a n d traffic control. T h e criminal arrest p o w e r h a s always b e e n the u l t i m a t e p o w e r u n - derlying t h e p o l i c e , b u t w e m u s t k e e p in m i n d that this in n o w a y expresses the totality of p o l i c e b e h a v i o r , e i t h e r in the p a s t o r today. I n d e e d , o n e of the m i n o r p o i n t s of this c h a p t e r will b e to s h o w t h e diversity of t h i n g s the p o l i c e h a v e d o n e , a n d the m a i n task of t h e c h a p t e r will b e to d e s c r i b e h o w t h i s diversity h a s c h a n g e d . T h u s , although the m o s t v i s i b l e f u n c t i o n of the p o s t - World W a r I police is c r i m e control, w e m u s t r e m e m b e r that t o d a y t h e average officer s p e n d s a g o o d deal of t i m e in n o n - c r i m e - r e l a t e d a c t i v i t i e s , a situa- tion that, incidentally, creates a frustrating i n c o n s i s t e n c y b e t w e e n the i m a g e a n d actuality of police w o r k .

English origins

In the p r e - u n i f o r m era, the c o n s t a b l e a n d w a t c h , a s y s t e m w i t h ori- g i n s r e a c h i n g b a c k i n t o t h i r t e e n t h - c e n t u r y E n g l a n d , p o l i c e d c i t i e s

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

and villages. T h e s p e c i f i c office of c o n s t a b l e as a p a r t - t i m e p e a c e k e e p e r h a d evolved b y t h e late fifteenth century, b u t formal codifi- cation h a d occurred m u c h earlier w i t h the Statute of W i n c h e s t e r (1285), w h i c h h a d also c o d i f i e d the watch a n d the h u e a n d cry. T h e c o n s t a b l e , s u b s e r v i e n t to the j u s t i c e of the p e a c e , arrested t h o s e w h o b r o k e the " k i n g ' s p e a c e , " raised the h u e and cry, a n d arrested p e r s o n s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e " c o m m o n n u i s a n c e s of the w a r d , " w h i c h could range f r o m b a k e r s c h e a t i n g on the w e i g h t of b r e a d to the w h o l e c o m m u n i t y n e g l e c t i n g to p r o v i s i o n the p o o r . 3 Although the p o s i t i o n of c o n s t a b l e , an elected o n e in t h e A m e r i c a n c o l o n i e s , w a s c o m p e n s a t e d b y f e e s a s s i g n e d b y the court or j u s t i c e of the p e a c e , the n i g h t w a t c h b e g a n as an u n c o m p e n s a t e d , v o l u n t a r y p o - s i t i o n . In its t h i r t e e n t h - c e n t u r y o r i g i n s , the u n c o m p e n s a t e d n i g h t watch w a s a m e t h o d of c o m m u n i t y s e l f - p r o t e c t i o n , a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of all adult m a l e s . By S h a k e s p e a r e ' s t i m e in E n g l a n d , the develop- m e n t of a m o n e y e c o n o m y a n d g r e a t e r u r b a n c o m p l e x i t y h a d r e d u c e d the watch to a decrepit force of u n e m p l o y a b l e s , paid a m i n i m a l w a g e that h a d b e g u n as a f e e - b a s e d s c h e m e of b u y i n g s u b s t i t u t e s for w a t c h duty. O n c e the w a t c h h a d c h a n g e d from a voluntary p o s i t i o n to o n e d e p e n d e n t on p a i d s u b s t i t u t e s , it b e c a m e the constant b u t t of j o k e s b o t h in E n g l a n d a n d A m e r i c a , and w h a t - ever the effectiveness it h a d p o s s e s s e d d i s a p p e a r e d . In 1808, for e x a m p l e , the Louisiana Gazette c o m m e n t e d on the N e w O r l e a n s watch: ' " S i n c e substitutes have b e e n allowed, the patrol is com- p o s e d principally of the m o s t w o r t h l e s s p a r t of the c o m m u n i t y , n o t to u s e a m o r e appropriate t e r m . It is like setting w o l v e s to guard s h e e p ' . " 4

T h e reason for the w a t c h ' s f e e b l e n e s s , although usually b l a m e d on the p o o r p a y and i n e f f e c t i v e , defective or a n c i e n t p e r s o n n e l , in fact derived from its earliest E n g l i s h conceptual b a s i s , w h i c h w a s shared b y the c o n s t a b l e and b e s t e x e m p l i f i e d in the h u e a n d cry and posse comitatus. T h e t w o legal o b l i g a t i o n s of the p o s s e c o m i t a t u s , theoretically c o m p o s e d of all m a l e s over the age of fifteen in the county as called up b y the sheriff, a n d of the h u e and cry, the s h o u t of the v i c t i m of a c r i m e o r a c o n s t a b l e , w h i c h legally b o u n d all males h e a r i n g it to p u r s u e the o f f e n d e r until c a u g h t , formalized c o m m u - nity law e n f o r c e m e n t . 5 A s the b r o a d e s t level of c o m m u n i t y enforce- m e n t , t h e s e legal o b l i g a t i o n s concretely s p e c i f i e d the u l t i m a t e inter- est of all community m e m b e r s in the preservation of order and law e n f o r c e m e n t . H o w e v e r , that the v o l u n t a r y aspects of c o m m u n i t y law e n f o r c e m e n t h a d b e e n d e f i n e d as a legal o b l i g a t i o n b y the Stat-

44 The historical development of the police 45

ute of W i n c h e s t e r should m a k e us s u s p e c t t h e i r truly v o l u n t a r y and organic n a t u r e .

I n d e e d , if w e step b a c k to the era p r i o r to the Statute of W i n c h e s - ter, b e f o r e the codification of c o m m u n i t y law e n f o r c e m e n t , w e dis- cover that from the t i m e of the N o r m a n c o n q u e s t until the thir- teenth c e n t u r y the A n g l o - S a x o n i n h a b i t a n t s of B r i t a i n , ruled b y the N o r m a n s , h a d b e e n u n d e r the c o m p u l s o r y social control s y s t e m of frankpledge. Frankpledge, described b y its historian as a " 'system of compulsory collective bail fixed for i n d i v i d u a l s , n o t after their ar- rest for a c r i m e , b u t as a safeguard in a n t i c i p a t i o n of i t ' , " forced the c o m m u n i t y to accept r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for the b e h a v i o r of its i n d i v i d - ual m e m b e r s , to p r o d u c e o f f e n d e r s f o r trial, or, if u n a b l e to d i s c o v e r the offender, to p a y the f i n e s . 6 T h u s , frankpledge d e m a n d e d that the c o n q u e r e d A n g l o - S a x o n s p r e s e r v e N o r m a n - d e f i n e d law and or- der w i t h i n the c o m m u n i t y . E x e m p l i f y i n g c o m m u n i t y law enforce- m e n t at its m o s t b a s i c level, f r a n k p l e d g e p r o v i d e d the conceptual b a s i s for the law e n f o r c e m e n t s c h e m e in the Statute of W i n c h e s t e r . H o w e v e r , it is clear that t h e n a t u r e of frankpledge w a s n o t volun- tary c o m m u n i t y s e l f - d e f e n s e , b u t rather a s i m p l e w a y of c o n q u e r o r s controlling the c o n q u e r e d . C o m m u n i t y p o l i c i n g , t h e r e f o r e , devel- o p e d n o t out of a n y organically evolved s y s t e m of social self-con- trol, b u t from an e x p e d i e n t m e a n s of social control b y alien con- q u e r o r s . It is n o w o n d e r that this m e a n s of l a w e n f o r c e m e n t n e v e r developed i n t o an effective or j u s t s y s t e m , w h e t h e r in E n g l a n d or A m e r i c a , for it w a s b a s e d on a faulty c o n c e p t .

In translation from B r i t a i n to A m e r i c a , certain c h a n g e s in the of- fice of t h e s h e r i f f c a m e a b o u t . O r i g i n a l l y an e x e c u t i v e of great p o w e r in E n g l a n d , the sheriff h a d b e c o m e the officer in charge of the court's b u s i n e s s in the U n i t e d States b y the b e g i n n i n g of the n i n e t e e n t h century. A l t h o u g h s o m e t i m e s r e s p o n s i b l e for the e n - f o r c e m e n t of c r i m i n a l law, the sheriff and h i s d e p u t i e s or m a r s h a l s n e v e r h a d a patrol r e s p o n s i b i l i t y like that of the w a t c h . T h e term marshal in the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y did not always refer to an officer of the court. In the territorial W e s t , especially in the m i d n i n e t e e n t h century, local police officers a n d t h e i r u n d e r l i n g s w e r e called mar- shals and d e p u t i e s , t h e m a r s h a l s c o r r e s p o n d i n g to h e a d c o n s t a b l e s and the d e p u t i e s to c o n s t a b l e s . For i n s t a n c e , in D e n v e r the city's first charter u n d e r a territorial g o v e r n m e n t d e f i n e d a m a r s h a l as an official who could " 'do all the acts that a Constable may lawfully d o ' . " 7 U n l i k e h i s c o n s t a b u l a r y c o u n t e r p a r t , h o w e v e r , the m a r s h a l had n o n i g h t w a t c h formally e s t a b l i s h e d ; c o n c e i v a b l y , the m a r s h a l ' s

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

d e p u t i e s could f u n c t i o n as a w a t c h w h e n n e c e s s a r y . T h e lack of a watch system in the West suggests that its well-known reputation for ineffectiveness had created no reasonable substitute short of a uniformed police, and the n e w g o v e r n m e n t s simply dropped the watch provision.

Although the specific duties of the watch and constable (or mar- shal) varied from place to place a n d t i m e to t i m e in the U n i t e d States, the general duties covered a b r o a d range of police functions. T h e n i g h t watch p r e s e r v e d order, b r o a d l y d e f i n e d to i n c l u d e re- p o r t i n g fires, r a i s i n g the h u e and cry if t h e y d i s c o v e r e d criminal o f f e n s e s , and arresting or d e t a i n i n g for arrest s u s p i c i o u s and disor- derly p e r s o n s . In B o s t o n , for e x a m p l e , the watch h a d a statutory o b l i g a t i o n to " ' e x a m i n e all p e r s o n s , w h o m t h e y h a v e r e a s o n to sus- p e c t of unlawful d e s i g n ' " ; to " 'walk the r o u n d s in and a b o u t the s t r e e t s ' " ; to report fires and suppress riots and disturbances; and to light a n d m a i n t a i n t h e s t r e e t l a m p s . 8 A l t h o u g h such d u t i e s s o u n d straightforward e n o u g h , the i m p l e m e n t a t i o n often p r o v e d u n s a t i s - factory. In C i n c i n n a t i , for i n s t a n c e , in the 1850s each w a r d elected its w a t c h m e m b e r s . T h e w a t c h , b e c a u s e of its w a r d - b a s e d loyalties, reported only t h o s e fires w i t h i n the ward. Even w o r s e , w h e n var- ious v o l u n t e e r fire d e p a r t m e n t s clashed, the v a r i o u s w a r d w a t c h e s , w h i c h h a d p o w e r s of arrest e q u a l to t h o s e of the c o n s t a b l e s , ar- rested m a i n l y f i r e m e n from o t h e r w a r d s , t h u s c o m i n g to the battle aid of t h e i r n e i g h b o r h o o d fire d e p a r t m e n t . 9

R e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r o r d e r m o r e broadly d e f i n e d to i n c l u d e e l i m i - n a t i n g health h a z a r d s a n d road o b s t r u c t i o n s , as well as e x e c u t i n g court orders a n d c a t c h i n g c r i m i n a l s , fell u p o n c o n s t a b l e s . C o m - p a r e d to the w a t c h , the c o n s t a b l e s ' or m a r s h a l s ' d u t i e s w e r e even m o r e v a r i e d . N o t only did t h e y w o r k for the c o u r t s , arresting of- f e n d e r s , b r i n g i n g in w i t n e s s e s , and serving p a p e r s ; t h e y also h a d to keep an eye on s u s p i c i o u s p e r s o n s and places in the city, plus act as health officers. In D e n v e r , f o r i n s t a n c e , in 1860 the city m a r s h a l u s e d h i s authority to o r d e r t h e removal of a s l a u g h t e r h o u s e a n d a tannery, b o t h located in the c e n t e r of t o w n . 1 0 Further, a n d m o r e distastefully, the D e n v e r m a r s h a l h a d a c o n s t a n t b a t t l e w i t h stray dogs, p i g s , a n d o t h e r livestock; b u t w h i l e the h o g a n d livestock p r o b l e m h a d b e g u n to a b a t e b y t h e 1870s, t h e stray d o g s c o n t i n u e d to b e c o n s i d e r e d a p r o b l e m . M a r s h a l s dealt w i t h dogs b y s h o o t i n g t h e m , and during the 1880s, w o u n d e d , m a i m e d , a n d d y i n g dogs, their entrails trailing, h o w l e d t h r o u g h t h e streets of D e n v e r . N o t until 1883 did t h i s attract a n y n e g a t i v e c o m m e n t s , a n e w s p a p e r edi- tor finally proclaiming that " 'There is something essentially cruel in

44 The historical development of the police 45

filling the h i n d q u a r t e r s of even a d u m b b r u t e w i t h b u c k s h o t a n d s e n d i n g h i m m o u r n i n g n o i s e l y u p the streets, w i t h h i s liver a n d l u n g s a n d o t h e r a b s o l u t e n e c e s s i t i e s i n t a c t a n d q u i v e r i n g w i t h p a i n ' . " 1 1

It m u s t b e e m p h a s i z e d that all t h e s e duties d i d n o t result from a c o n c e p t i o n of t h e v a r i o u s officers of t h e p o l i c e as p r e v e n t i n g c r i m e , d i s c o v e r i n g c r i m i n a l o f f e n s e s , or regularly i n t e r v e n i n g in t h e crimi- nal p r o c e s s b e f o r e a c o m p l a i n i n g v i c t i m o r a w i t n e s s a p p e a r e d . 1 2 T h o s e o f f e n s e s that officers w e r e o b l i g e d to discover on t h e i r o w n initiative w e r e only the o n e s that affected the p u b l i c health a n d welfare as a w h o l e : All o t h e r activities resulted f r o m s o m e k i n d of formal r e q u e s t , w h e t h e r to arrest a n o f f e n d e r or to care for an i n - sane p e r s o n . 1 3 T h u s , w h e r e a s the duties of t h e c o n s t a b l e a n d w a t c h were v a r i e d , they w e r e p r e c i s e in t h e i r general c o n c e p t i o n . T h e y took i n i t i a t i v e in p r e s e r v i n g health a n d order rules that affected the c o m m u n i t y as a w h o l e , a n d t h e y r e s p o n d e d to r e q u e s t s from i n d i - vidual v i c t i m s of c r i m i n a l o f f e n s e s .

It is difficult to j u d g e t h e overall e f f e c t i v e n e s s of the c o n s t a b l e - watch s y s t e m , o t h e r t h a n to o b s e r v e its a b i l i t y to p e r s i s t for 600 y e a r s . 1 4 Its m a i n failure s e e m s to h a v e b e e n its i n a b i l i t y to protect property a n d control riots, for alternative m e a n s of social control developed for b o t h t h e s e - t h e thief catchers and the m i l i t i a o r mili- tary. T h i e f catchers existed in E n g l a n d at least as early as 1534, a n d the s y s t e m d i d not e n d u n t i l the u n i f o r m i n g of t h e police a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of i n s u r a n c e in the m i d n i n e t e e n t h century. T h i e f catchers did n o t actually catch t h i e v e s , b u t rather recovered stolen property; functionally, t h e y r e s e m b l e d f e n c e s in that t h e y acted as m a r k e t i n g agents for t h i e v e s . T h e m o s t f a m o u s thief catcher i n E n - gland, Jonathan Wild, managed to act as a broker between thieves and t h e o w n e r s of stolen p r o p e r t y ; t h e o w n e r s p a i d a r a n s o m f e e for the p r o p e r t y w h i l e W i l d carefully a v o i d e d actually c o m i n g i n t o p o s - s e s s i o n of the property.

A l t h o u g h n o i n d i v i d u a l s in the U n i t e d States operated on such a large scale as W i l d , A m e r i c a n c i t i e s d i d h a v e p r o m i n e n t t h i e f catchers. R o g e r L a n e cites t h e e x a m p l e of G e o r g e R e e d , b o t h a con- stable a n d a t h i e f catcher in B o s t o n in the 1820s: A c c o r d i n g to a c o n t e m p o r a r y , ' " T h e secret of h i s [ R e e d ' s ] w o n d e r f u l s u c c e s s , so it w a s s a i d , w a s in h i s h a v i n g in h i s e m p l o y p a r t i e s w h o w e r e in h i s p o w e r , w h o s e l i b e r t y a n d in s o m e cases, it w a s i n t i m a t e d , t h e i r p e r m i s s i o n to p l y t h e i r v o c a t i o n , d e p e n d e d on the v a l u e of the i n - f o r m a t i o n t h e y w e r e a b l e to f u r n i s h h i m ' . " 1 5 T h e constable/thief catcher, like R e e d , a n d t h e c o m m e r c i a l t h i e f catcher like W i l d , dif-

36 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

fered m a i n l y in the g r e a t e r b a r g a i n i n g p o w e r of the c o n s t a b l e w i t h h i s legitimate p o w e r of arrest; the p a s s a g e cited b y L a n e s u g g e s t s that t h e c o n s t a b l e s , like police detectives today, b a r g a i n e d w i t h t h i e v e s , trading f r e e d o m for i n f o r m a t i o n . B u t u n l i k e m o d e r n detec- tives, the constable/thief catcher then traded the information with the victim of the theft for a reward.

In t h e t h i e f - c a t c h i n g s y s t e m of r e t u r n i n g stolen p r o p e r t y , the i n - dividual p r o p e r t y o w n e r took the risk, as o p p o s e d to the m o r e re- cent i n s u r a n c e system w h e r e a large group of p r o p e r t y o w n e r s dis- tributes the risk. F u r t h e r m o r e , in the t h i e f - c a t c h i n g s y s t e m , the thief catcher r e t u r n e d t h e actual stolen property, b u t t o d a y the in- surance c o m p a n y r e t u r n s a p r o p o r t i o n of the m o n e y v a l u e . 1 6 A third s y s t e m a t i c difference n o w allows s o m e w h a t neutral third p a r - ties, the p o l i c e , rather t h a n s o m e k i n d of criminal receiver, to b e involved in the t r a n s a c t i o n : T h u s t h e i n s u r a n c e s y s t e m b r e a k s t h e material c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n t h i e v e s and p r o p e r t y o w n e r s . T h e t h i e v e s and c r i m i n a l receivers m a r k e t the stolen g o o d s a n d the i n - surance c o m p a n i e s b e a r the c o m p e n s a t o r y cost. T h e police do n o t h a v e to n e g o t i a t e w i t h t h i e v e s as d i d thief catchers, a n d therefore n e e d only to d e f i n e the g o o d s as stolen. B e c a u s e t h e c h a n g e f r o m thief c a t c h i n g to i n s u r a n c e lagged b e h i n d t h e u n i f i c a t i o n of the po- lice, for a p e r i o d in t h e m i d to late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y police detec- tives f u n c t i o n e d as t h i e f catchers, n e g o t i a t i n g b e t w e e n thieves a n d p r o p e r t y o w n e r s for p e r s o n a l profit. In N e w York, for i n s t a n c e , dur- ing the 1850s, the return of a stolen watch could cost a p a y m e n t of s e v e n t y - f i v e dollars to the p o l i c e . 1 7

T h e second w e a k n e s s of the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m , its i n a b i l - ity to control m o b s a n d riots, also resulted in the u s e of alternate control s y s t e m s . T h i s s h o u l d not b e interpreted as the s y s t e m a t i c failure of the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m , b u t rather as s h o w i n g the i n h e r e n t i n a b i l i t y of a n y civil p o l i c e force to deal w i t h m a s s actions. A l t h o u g h civil a u t h o r i t i e s still m a k e the a t t e m p t , the control of m o b s h a s n e v e r b e e n successfully or totally transferred from the military to the p o l i c e . F o r i n s t a n c e , in 1842 in C i n c i n n a t i the consta- b l e - w a t c h type police failed to s u p p r e s s a riot, and the militia h a d to b e called i n . A s a result, the city council created the " P o l i c e G u a r d , " a militia/police reserve u n i t specifically for riot c o n t r o l . 1 8 In the late 1850s, P h i l a d e l p h i a also created a reserve corps for riot control, w e a r i n g t h e first police u n i f o r m s in the c i t y . 1 9 In b o t h cases, the reserve corps d e m o n s t r a t e d the failure of traditional p o - lice s y s t e m s a n d the n e e d for s o m e k i n d of militia. T h e u n i f i c a t i o n a n d u n i f o r m i n g of the police did little to i n c r e a s e their riot control

44 The historical development of the police 45

ability. For example, a decade after the N e w York police had b e e n u n i f i e d a n d u n i f o r m e d , t h e draft riot of 1863 erupted. T h i s riot, often cited as an e x a m p l e of successful p o l i c e protection of blacks from h o s t i l e Irish rioters, in fact d e m o n s t r a t e d the i n a b i l i t y of t h e N e w York M e t r o p o l i t a n Police to control d e t e r m i n e d rioters. T h e riot c o n t i n u e d until t h e a r m y successfully quelled it. T h e p o l i c e , although relatively well o r g a n i z e d and c o o r d i n a t e d , and d e m o n - strating r e m a r k a b l e d i s c i p l i n e , s i m p l y lacked the p o w e r and tactics n e c e s s a r y to w i n . 2 0

O n e can u n d e r s t a n d the m e a n i n g and details of t h e c h a n g e from t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h m e a n s of p o l i c i n g to t h e u n i - f o r m e d police b y looking b r i e f l y at the o r i g i n s of t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n Police of L o n d o n . C r e a t e d b y H o m e Secretary R o b e r t Peel in 1829, the M e t r o p o l i t a n Police p r o v i d e d a m o d e l f o r the earliest u n i f o r m e d police forces in the U n i t e d States. Peel's p r i o r e x p e r i e n c e in polic- ing h a d b e e n the creation a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n of t h e police of Ire- land. In s u b d u i n g the continually r e b e l l i o u s Irish, h e h a d l e a r n e d h o w to o v e r c o m e the political and p h i l o s o p h i c a l r e s i s t a n c e to a u n i - f o r m e d p o l i c e as well as h o w to structure t h i s n e w k i n d of p o l i c e .

Ireland, a nation of unwilling subjects ruled b y a loyal English lord l i e u t e n a n t a n d h i s secretaries, h a d p a r l i a m e n t a r y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n only t h r o u g h Irish Protestants loyal to E n g l a n d . Peel b e c a m e chief secretary to t h e lord l i e u t e n a n t of Ireland at t h e age of t w e n t y - f o u r , just three years after h i s father h a d p u r c h a s e d h i m a seat in t h e H o u s e of C o m m o n s . A r i s i n g t a l e n t a m o n g c o n s e r v a t i v e s , P e e l f o u n d h i s n e w p o s i t i o n in Ireland b o t h difficult and c h a l l e n g i n g , as it a m o u n t e d to a d m i n i s t e r i n g a h o s t i l e c o u n t r y and r e p r e s e n t i n g its interests in P a r l i a m e n t . P e e l ' s b i o g r a p h e r d e s c r i b e d the p o s i t i o n as " a c o m b i n a t i o n of P r i m e M i n i s t e r , H o m e Secretary, First Lord of the Treasury, P r e s i d e n t of the Board of Trade, a n d Secretary for W a r . " 2 1 Peel's p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e as an u n d e r secretary in the W a r and C o l o n i e s O f f i c e h a d p r e p a r e d h i m s o m e w h a t in the m a n a g e - m e n t of a l i e n , p o v e r t y s t r i c k e n , a n d r e b e l l i o u s p o p u l a t i o n s . M o r e - over, h i s s t a u n c h P r o t e s t a n t i s m and u n w i l l i n g n e s s to grant political rights to Catholics m a d e h i m ideologically perfect to run the affairs of Ireland, at least from the E n g l i s h p o i n t of v i e w .

Irish r e b e l l i o u s n e s s a g a i n s t the E n g l i s h , P r o t e s t a n t s , a n d land- lords h a d b e e n e n d e m i c s i n c e at least the m i d - e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y p e a s a n t r e b e l l i o n s k n o w n as W h i t e b o y i s m . By the t i m e Peel came to Ireland, the b e h a v i o r of the Irish r e s e m b l e d that of g h e t t o i z e d p e o p l e a n y w h e r e . H e w r o t e to the P r i m e M i n i s t e r , " Y o u h a v e n o idea of the moral d e p r i v a t i o n of t h e lower orders in that country. In

38 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

fidelity towards each o t h e r t h e y are u n e x a m p l e d , as t h e y are in t h e i r s a n g u i n a r y d i s p o s i t i o n a n d f e a r l e s s n e s s o f t h e c o n s e - q u e n c e s . " 2 2 A s the n a t i v e Irish constables w e r e u n c o o p e r a t i v e a n d corrupt, the p e a s a n t s r e f u s e d to assist in criminal p r o s e c u t i o n s , n e i - ther c o m i n g forward as w i t n e s s e s n o r even reporting offenses, part- ly out of fear of reprisal and partly out of hatred of the English. Peel recognized the ineffectiveness of the repeated u s e of military force to preserve order, for the traditional English d e p e n d e n c e on " 'the f r e q u e n t u s e of s o l d i e r s in that m a n n e r m a d e the p e o p l e look u p o n t h e m as t h e i r adversaries rather than t h e i r p r o t e c t o r s ' , " and to b e effective a police force h a d to b e c o m e p e r m a n e n t a n d legiti- m a t e . 2 3 Peel's " P e a c e P r e s e r v a t i o n " Bill, w h i c h h e i n t r o d u c e d a n d g u i d e d to p a s s a g e in P a r l i a m e n t in 1818, w h e n h e w a s t w e n t y - s i x years old, p r o v i d e d the legislative b a s i s for a p e r m a n e n t u n i f o r m e d Irish p o l i c e .

T h i s n e w p o l i c e force d i d n o t c o m e totally u n p r e c e d e n t e d to Ire- land, as the E n g l i s h h a d i n t r o d u c e d an earlier system in D u b l i n in 1785. T h e policed areas b o r e the costs of t h e n e w p o l i c e t h r o u g h taxation p u r p o s e l y d e s i g n e d as a n e g a t i v e s a n c t i o n on r e b e l l i o u s c o u n t i e s , r e m i n d i n g o n e of the N o r m a n f r a n k p l e d g e - a k i n d of externally i m p o s e d c o m m u n i t y law e n f o r c e m e n t . T h e officers in the n e w police, f o r m e r m i l i t a r y m e n , w o r e w i l d l y v a r i e d u n i f o r m s : " s o m e in scarlet cloaks w i t h p l u m e d brass h e l m e t s b e a r i n g the in- scription ' W a t e r l o o , ' s o m e in h u s s a r u n i f o r m w i t h s h o r t cloaks, o t h e r s attired as r i f l e m e n riding p i l l i o n . " 2 4 Peel's Irish p o l i c e suc- c e e d e d in r e d u c i n g the costs involved in c o n t i n u a l military inter- v e n t i o n ; h e also g a i n e d e x p e r i e n c e in allaying E n g l i s h fears of a F r e n c h - s t y l e m i l i t a r y p o l i c e b y the u s e of e u p h e m i s m s like " P e a c e P r e s e r v a t i o n " r a t h e r t h a n " p o l i c e . " A s h e w r o t e to a f r i e n d in 1822, " 'I w a s more i n c l i n e d to the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of a B o d y of G e n d a r - m e r i e (to b e called b y s o m e less startling n a m e ) . . . " 2 S

A d e c a d e after the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of the Irish p o l i c e , Peel, w h o h a d r i s e n to b e c o m e h o m e s e c r e t a r y f o r E n g l a n d , s u c c e s s f u l l y g u i d e d t h r o u g h P a r l i a m e n t t h e bill e s t a b l i s h i n g the M e t r o p o l i t a n Police for greater L o n d o n , t h e p o l i c e force that to w a s to b e c o m e the m o d e l f o r the U n i t e d S t a t e s ' p o l i c e s y s t e m . T h e r e w a s an i m p o r t a n t parallel in the o r i g i n s of b o t h the " P e e l e r s " o r " B o b b i e s " and the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system that t h e y replaced: B o t h w e r e d e s i g n e d to control d i s s i d e n t and r e b e l l i o u s local p o p u l a t i o n s b y ethnically dif- ferent c o n q u e r o r s . P e e l ' s g e n i u s lay in h i s ability to s e e b o t h t h e n e e d f o r l e g i t i m a c y of s o m e sort a n d t h e i n e f f e c t i v e n e s s of c o n t i n u a l m i l i t a r y p r e s e n c e as a successful m e a n s of social control. H i s police

44 The historical development of the police 45

created a n e w k i n d of b u r e a u c r a c y , located i n a social space m i d w a y b e t w e e n an o u t s i d e m i l i t a r y force a n d the group of p e o p l e to b e controlled. T h e s e m i - m i l i t a r y u n i f o r m of t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n Police carefully s y m b o l i z e d this p o s i t i o n of the n e w p o l i c e - n e i t h e r civil- ian n o r m i l i t a r y - the u n i f o r m s a v o i d e d the traditional m i l i t a r y red, u s i n g b l u e , a n d followed t h e civilian f a s h i o n s of t h e t i m e . 2 6 E q u a l t h o u g h t w e n t i n t o t h e d e s i g n of the first A m e r i c a n u n i f o r m s in N e w York: J a m e s G e r a r d , t h e " m a n w h o d i d the m o s t to p u t the force in u n i f o r m , " o n c e w o r e a L o n d o n M e t r o p o l i t a n p o l i c e u n i f o r m to a N e w York d r e s s ball, e m p h a s i z i n g the f a s h i o n a b l e a p p e a r a n c e of the u n i f o r m o v e r m i l i t a r i s t i c a s s o c i a t i o n s . 2 7 In a s e n s e , t h e n , the u n i f o r m s y m b o l i z e d t h e i n h e r e n t l y a m b i g u o u s p o s i t i o n of t h e n e w p o l i c e , for b y t h e i r v e r y a p p e a r a n c e , it was i m p o s s i b l e to say w h i c h side t h e y w e r e o n , t h e s t a t e ' s or t h e c o m m u n i t y ' s . Peel, to create a " s o f t e r " m e a n s of social control t h a n the military, h a d e s t a b l i s h e d an i n s t i t u t i o n that w o u l d b e at the c e n t e r of social conflict for the next 150 y e a r s .

H i s t o r i a n W i l b u r Miller h a s argued that the p u b l i c relations ef- forts b y w h i c h the n e w p o l i c e s y s t e m s l e g i t i m i z e d t h e m s e l v e s dif- fered b e t w e e n Britain a n d t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . 2 8 In L o n d o n , t h e M e t - ropolitan Police e m p h a s i z e d their l e g i t i m a c y as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of the E n g l i s h C o n s t i t u t i o n , t h e i r b e h a v i o r a n d d e m e a n o r b o u n d b y rules of law a n d d e c o r u m , a n d b y o s t e n t a t i o u s l y a v o i d i n g political factionalism. In N e w York, rough a n d ready d e m o c r a t i c p r i n c i p l e s l e g i t i m i z e d t h e p o l i c e to r e p r e s e n t j u s t i c e on the street - officers individually d i s p e n s i n g j u s t i c e . T h i s attitude is b e s t s e e n in a state- m e n t a t t r i b u t e d to N e w York officer " C l u b b e r " W i l l i a m s : " T h e r e is m o r e law in t h e e n d of a p o l i c e m a n ' s n i g h t s t i c k t h a n in a d e c i s i o n of the S u p r e m e C o u r t . " 2 9 Miller sees t h e differences b e t w e e n the t w o m o d e s of l e g i t i m i z a t i o n as arising from the t w o historically differ- ent c o n c e p t i o n s of a u t h o r i t y in the U n i t e d States a n d Britain. E n - glish political philosophers conceived of Parliament as representing the i n t e r e s t s of all p e r s o n s " v i r t u a l l y " ; that i s , all m e m b e r s of Parlia- m e n t stood for the g o o d of all G r e a t B r i t a i n . A m e r i c a n s , on t h e other hand, conceived of representation in a more literal sense: For specific i n t e r e s t s of places to b e r e p r e s e n t e d , o n e n e e d e d " a c t u a l " r e p r e s e n t a t i o n . T h i s n o t i o n a c c o u n t s for the careful d e s i g n of a p e r c a p i t a - b a s e d House of Representatives, requiring a census, as op- p o s e d to P a r l i a m e n t , w h e r e s o m e M P s r e p r e s e n t e d b o r o u g h s w i t h f e w or n o m e m b e r s . In t e r m s of p o l i c i n g , t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s ap- peared on the street, i n d i v i d u a l A m e r i c a n police officers r e p r e s e n t - ing " a c t u a l " authority.

40 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

Miller's a r g u m e n t m a k e s the conceptual b a s i s of the t r a n s i t i o n from t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n Police of L o n d o n to the earliest U . S . p o l i c e , c o n s c i o u s l y m o d e l e d on the E n g l i s h p r e c e d e n t , m o r e s e n s i b l e . U p until t h e m o d e l i n g of t h e early U . S . u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e on English p r e c e d e n t s , o n e m u s t m a i n t a i n an A n g l o - A m e r i c a n p e r s p e c t i v e on p o l i c i n g , b u t after the e s t a b l i s h m e n t of the first f e w A m e r i c a n de- p a r t m e n t s , the p a t h s of the police of the t w o c o u n t r i e s d i v e r g e d , those in A m e r i c a n cities looking at each o t h e r rather than to Lon- don. N e v e r t h e l e s s , even t h o u g h police in the U n i t e d States w e r e l e g i t i m i z e d in w a y s d i f f e r e n t from t h e i r E n g l i s h m o d e l , t h e y i n h e r - ited t h e b a s i c a m b i g u i t y of loyalty and authority so neatly s y m b o l - ized b y the u n i f o r m s .

Although P e e l ' s L o n d o n police p r o v i d e d a w o r k a b l e m o d e l for i n n o v a t i o n in A m e r i c a n p o l i c i n g , it is i m p o r t a n t to realize that the m o d e l only c a m e to b e u s e d after m u c h controversy a n d r e s i s t a n c e . A s a result, the p r o c e s s that u n i f i e d the d a y c o n s t a b l e s and the n i g h t w a t c h , a n d t h e n u n i f o r m e d t h e p o l i c e , took a l m o s t t w o dec- ades to complete in t h o s e U . S . cities that i n n o v a t e d first. H o w e v e r , w i t h each successful u n i f i c a t i o n , the next came m o r e quickly, so that b y the end of the century the t r a n s i t i o n from c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h to u n i f o r m e d police h a d b e c o m e a s i m p l e o v e r n i g h t m a t t e r of legis- lative fiat. T h e a r g u m e n t s over a c c o m p l i s h i n g the c h a n g e t e n d e d to follow the s a m e p a t t e r n , w h e t h e r in L o n d o n or N e w York or B o s t o n . T h e p r o p o n e n t s of the n e w police argued that the traditional s y s t e m could n o l o n g e r a d e q u a t e l y cope w i t h c r i m e and d i s o r d e r b e c a u s e of its i n e f f i c i e n c y , lack of central control, i n c o m p e t e n t and/or cor- rupt p e r s o n n e l , f r a g m e n t e d o r g a n i z a t i o n , a n d i n a b i l i t y to p r e v e n t disorder and c r i m e . O p p o n e n t s argued that the n e w police threat- e n e d traditional civil l i b e r t i e s and f r e e d o m , the E n g l i s h p o i n t i n g at the evil French police of F o u c h e a n d the A m e r i c a n s at the m o n a r - chical a n d a n t i d e m o c r a t i c E n g l i s h .

T h e creators of the n e w police i n t r o d u c e d a n e w c o n c e p t in social control: the p r e v e n t i o n of c r i m e . W e can see in retrospect that b o t h the p r o p o n e n t s a n d e n e m i e s of the n e w p o l i c e h a d valid p o i n t s , b u t on an i s s u e that n e i t h e r r e c o g n i z e d . T a k i n g an a r g u m e n t of the Ital- ian criminal law r e f o r m e r , Beccaria, they claimed that regular pa- trolling, p r e d i c t a b l e d e t e c t i o n of o f f e n s e s , and rational p u n i s h m e n t would d e t e r p o t e n t i a l o f f e n d e r s . 3 0 T h e y even e x t e n d e d Beccaria's a r g u m e n t , c l a i m i n g that t h e sight of the police u n i f o r m itself would deter potential offenders. 3 1 T h e o p p o n e n t s of the police had a mixed reaction to the idea of t h e u n i f o r m : O n the o n e h a n d , the v i s i b i l i t y of the u n i f o r m w o u l d k e e p police from skulking and s p y i n g ; on the

44 The historical development of the police 45

other, the u n i f o r m s e e m e d to c o n f i r m the s u s p i c i o n s of t h o s e w h o feared that p o l i c e forces w o u l d evolve into s t a n d i n g a r m i e s . 3 2

By arguing that u n i f o r m s would m a k e the police a s t a n d i n g army, m o s t civil l i b e r t a r i a n s overlooked t h e conceptual shift involved in p r e v e n t i o n , a n d in so d o i n g i n s u r e d that t h e i r worst fears w o u l d b e realized. A s w e h a v e s e e n , the c o n s t a b l e s a n d thief catchers acted after offenses h a d occurred, w i t h t h e h o p e of c a t c h i n g the o f f e n d e r and restoring the stolen p r o p e r t y ; the criminal j u s t i c e system d i d not b e c o m e involved until a p r o h i b i t e d b e h a v i o r h a d occurred. B u t the n o t i o n of deterring potential offenses i m p l i e d a n e w attitude toward social control, d i v e r t i n g attention f r o m illegal b e h a v i o r to p o t e n t i a l o f f e n d e r s , from act to actor. In so d o i n g , the e m p h a s i s necessarily i m p l i e d t h e forecasting ability of the p o l i c e , especially to explain a n d p r e d i c t c r i m i n a l b e h a v i o r , t h u s r e n d e r i n g it a m e n a - ble to control. From the civil l i b e r t a r i a n p o i n t of v i e w , this i m p l i e d the ability and right of p r i o r restraint, of s t o p p i n g p e o p l e from do- ing w h a t o n e expected t h e m to do. B y accepting the n o t i o n of pre- v e n t i o n , b o t h the p r o p o n e n t s a n d t h e c r i t i c s of t h e n e w p o l i c e o p e n e d the P a n d o r a ' s box of controlling p o t e n t i a l b e h a v i o r , dealing with w h a t m i g h t h a p p e n . O f c o u r s e , if successful, the e f f e c t i v e n e s s of such control w o u l d b e u n m e a s u r a b l e , for the p r e d i c t e d and t h u s forestalled b e h a v i o r would n e v e r o c c u r . 3 3

The American adoption of the London model

J a m e s W. Gerard p r e s e n t e d a closely r e a s o n e d a r g u m e n t for reor- g a n i z i n g and u n i f o r m i n g t h e N e w York p o l i c e in early 1853, follow- ing a visit of h i s t h e p r e v i o u s y e a r to L o n d o n , m a d e w i t h the i n t e n t " o f o b s e r v i n g the i n s t i t u t i o n s of E n g l a n d a n d their w o r k i n g on the m a s s e s of p e o p l e . " G e r a r d ' s m a i n a r g u m e n t f o c u s e d on the " e f f i - c i e n c y " of the L o n d o n police c o m p a r e d to the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h police of N e w York. T h i s e f f i c i e n c y w a s twofold - moral a n d p h y s i - cal. T h e p h y s i c a l e f f i c i e n c y c a m e f r o m b e t t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d greater n u m e r i c a l strength p e r capita, b u t the moral e f f i c i e n c y c a m e from the character of the p o l i c e , s y m b o l i z e d and actualized b y the u n i f o r m . " T h e great moral p o w e r of the p o l i c e m a n of L o n d o n in p r e v e n t i n g c r i m e s lies in h i s c o a t . " T h i s moral p o w e r operated b y striking fear a n d dread in the h e a r t s of the " c r i m i n a l l y - d i s p o s e d population . . . b y t h e i r w e l l - k n o w n i n t e l l i g e n c e , activity, u n f l i n c h - ing f i r m n e s s , a n d i n c o r r u p t i b l e honesty."34 T h e i m p o r t a n t p o i n t to b e n o t i c e d h e r e is that the p r e v e n t i v e p o w e r of the police operated on p o t e n t i a l o f f e n d e r s t h r o u g h t h e s y m b o l i c m e d i u m of the u n i -

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

f o r m . P r e v e n t i o n , in G e r a r d ' s t h i n k i n g , d e p e n d e d on c r e a t i n g a m o n g p o t e n t i a l o f f e n d e r s moral fear and c e r t a i n t y of a p p r e h e n s i o n and p u n i s h m e n t . A s all t h r e e affected i n d i v i d u a l s , h i s v e r y c o n c e p - tualization d e p e n d e d on h i s v i s i o n of p o t e n t i a l c r i m e p r o d u c e r s . O n c e t h e n o t i o n of p r e v e n t i n g c r i m e s h a d s u p p l a n t e d the n o t i o n of c a t c h i n g o f f e n d e r s , t h e focus of police a c t i o n s on a " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s " b e c a m e assured.

T h e n e b u l o u s idea of p r e v e n t i n g criminal b e h a v i o r f o u n d t h e perfect m e a n s of i m p l e m e n t a t i o n in the c o n c e p t of an i d e n t i f i a b l e , c r i m e - p r o d u c i n g " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s " ; for only b y f o c u s i n g on c r i m e p r o d u c e r s could c r i m i n a l b e h a v i o r b e p r e v e n t e d , a n d the " d a n - gerous c l a s s , " b y d e f i n i t i o n , p r o d u c e d the criminal b e h a v i o r . T h u s , although it is e r r o n e o u s to s e e the n e w p o l i c e as originally created w i t h a p u r p o s e f u l class-control f u n c t i o n , class control resulted from their efforts to p r e v e n t c r i m e , 3 5 o n e of the m a j o r r e a s o n s for creating the n e w p o l i c e . T h e third c h a p t e r of this b o o k e x a m i n e s certain as- pects of the class-control activités of the police in m o r e detail, b u t it m u s t b e e m p h a s i z e d that the goal of class control followed as an u n i n t e n d e d c o n s e q u e n c e of the n e w idea of p r e v e n t i n g c r i m e .

T h e c h a n g i n g arrest p o w e r s of police c o m p a r e d to c i t i z e n s in the m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y paralleled the n e w focus on p r e v e n t i o n . J e r o m e Hall h a s s h o w n that j u s t two years b e f o r e the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n and u n i f o r m i n g of the L o n d o n police b y Peel, the difference b e - t w e e n citizen a n d police arrest p o w e r s that h e l d t h r o u g h the rest of the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y in E n g l a n d a n d the U n i t e d States b e c a m e e s t a b l i s h e d . 3 6 A l t h o u g h c i t i z e n s could only arrest an o f f e n d e r after a c r i m e h a d , in fact, b e e n c o m m i t t e d , the police could m a k e an ar- rest if t h e y t h o u g h t a c r i m e h a d b e e n c o m m i t t e d . If t h e moral aspect of the u n i f o r m did not s u c c e e d in striking f e a r a n d dread i n t o the c r i m i n a l h e a r t , the arrest p o w e r certainly w o u l d .

T h e c o m p l e t e transition from the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system to the u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e took t w o d e c a d e s in B o s t o n , 1 8 3 8 - 5 9 ; a decade in N e w York, 1 8 4 3 - 5 3 ; a n d eleven y e a r s in C i n c i n n a t i , 1 8 4 8 - 5 9 ; yet fifteen y e a r s later in D e n v e r , in 1874, it h a p p e n e d virtually o v e r - n i g h t . Clearly, the early police u n i f i c a t i o n s took q u i t e a long t i m e , b u t the l e s s o n s l e a r n e d in each m a d e the s u b s e q u e n t u n i f i c a t i o n s in o t h e r cities go m o r e quickly.

Factional political struggles, b o t h w i t h i n cities a n d b e t w e e n cities a n d states, also deterred early u n i f i c a t i o n s , b e c a u s e all k i n d s of p o - licing s y s t e m s r e p r e s e n t e d b o t h m e t h o d s of controlling votes a n d sources of p a t r o n a g e . P r o b a b l y the i r o n i c e p i t o m e of such struggles occurred in N e w York in 1857: T h e R e p u b l i c a n , n a t i v i s t - d o m i n a t e d

44 The historical development of the police 45

state legislature created the M e t r o p o l i t a n Police for N e w York City in an effort to gain political control of the city from t h e D e m o c r a t s , w h o s e M u n i c i p a l Police h a d h e l p e d to a s s u r e D e m o c r a t i c election victories w i t h i n the city. T h e M u n i c i p a l P o l i c e , following the lead- e r s h i p of M a y o r W o o d , r e f u s e d to g i v e up t h e i r p o s t s , and an a r m e d battle took place b e t w e e n t h e two d e p a r t m e n t s w h e n the M e t r o p o l i - tan Police tried to arrest the m a y o r at city hall. No o n e d i e d , and the battle lasted less t h a n a day due to the f o r t u i t o u s p r e s e n c e of t h e S e v e n t h R e g i m e n t , w h i c h j o i n e d t h e battle o n the s i d e of t h e Metro- politan Police. T h e battle b e t w e e n the t w o forces d i d n o t e n d t h e conflict, and b o t h forces patrolled t h e city in parallel f o r t w o m o n t h s until M a y o r W o o d d i s s o l v e d h i s p o l i c e following a State C o u r t of Appeals decision in favor of the Metropolitan Police. 3 7 The n e w Met- ropolitan Police, g o v e r n e d b y a nativist B o a r d of C o m m i s s i o n e r s a p p o i n t e d b y t h e g o v e r n o r , took t h e i r s u p p o r t from city taxes levied b y the state, u n e x p e n d e d p o r t i o n s of w h i c h w e n t to the state trea- sury, a situation r e m i n i s c e n t in s o m e w a y s of P e e l ' s Irish p o l i c e . T h e subtle d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n the t w o s t e m m e d f r o m their politi- cal contexts - the Irish p o l i c e w e r e c o n s c i o u s l y d e s i g n e d to i n s u r e d o m i n a t i o n of t h e Irish b y t h e E n g l i s h , w h e r e a s t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n Police r e p r e s e n t e d a political faction w i t h i n the city that u s e d state aid to g a i n control from a n o t h e r political f a c t i o n .

A battle s i m i l a r to that in N e w York almost occurred in the " C i t y Hall W a r " of D e n v e r in 1894. A g a i n the strife c o n c e r n e d political control of the p o l i c e , b u t t h i s t i m e w i t h the additional e l e m e n t of reform: T h e R e p u b l i c a n B o a r d of C o m m i s s i o n e r s r e f u s e d to resign for t h e a n t i - g a m b l i n g p o p u l i s t b o a r d a p p o i n t e d b y the governor. A s t h e battle s h a p e d u p , t h e state militia s u p p o r t e d t h e g o v e r n o r w h i l e the p o l i c e , s h e r i f f ' s d e p u t i e s , a n d strong arm r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of D e n v e r v i c e b u s i n e s s e s b a r r i c a d e d t h e m s e l v e s in t h e city hall - a r m e d w i t h d y n a m i t e a n d w h i s k e y . T h o u g h the forces faced each other, n o t h i n g h a p p e n e d b e c a u s e t h e g o v e r n o r s u d d e n l y called t h e militia to Cripple C r e e k to s u p p r e s s a strike. F o r a s h o r t p e r i o d after this, D e n v e r h a d t w o p o l i c e b o a r d s a n d three chiefs, b u t ultimately, as in N e w York, the i n c u m b e n t s y i e l d e d to a court o r d e r and t h e p o p u l i s t p o l i c e took o f f i c e . 3 8 After t h e resolution of the conflict, o n e of t h e n e w p o p u l i s t c o m m i s s i o n e r s c a n d i d l y e x p l a i n e d the source of the conflict: " 'All w e w a n t is a fair share of the p a t r o n a g e , and to keep t h e d e p a r t m e n t in m e n w h o will do t h e i r duty h o n e s t l y ' . " 3 9

Conflict o v e r the n e w p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t s , e x e m p l i f i e d b y the N e w York a n d D e n v e r p o l i c e b a t t l e s , occurred b e c a u s e the police w e r e o n e of t h e earliest u r b a n b u r e a u c r a c i e s to u n i f y c o m m u n i c a -

44 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

t i o n s a n d control of t h e c i t y . 4 0 T h i s u n i q u e p o s i t i o n h e l p e d the po- lice p r o v i d e p a t r o n a g e , social control, electoral control, and v i c e control. T h e latter g e n e r a t e d b r i b e s and protection m o n e y . O n l y a p o r t i o n of this m o n e y stayed in t h e h a n d s of the p o l i c e , the r e m a i n - der g o i n g to political p a r t i e s that forced police officers to c o n t r i b u t e to c a m p a i g n s . T h e s u p p o r t and control of t h e police i n s u r e d d o m i - n a n c e of c o m p e t i n g political f a c t i o n s , w h e t h e r the challenges c a m e from reform efforts, state v e r s u s local control, e t h n i c v e r s u s nativist control, o r D e m o c r a t s v e r s u s R e p u b l i c a n s . T h u s , the m a j o r o b s t a - cles that actually d e l a y e d u n i f i c a t i o n w e r e n o t the i s s u e s of u n i - f o r m e d police v e r s u s traditional p o l i c e , b u t conflicts over w h i c h es- t a b l i s h e d political elite w o u l d reap the b e n e f i t s . T h e N e w York conflict in 1857 - w h i c h w r a p p e d up three sets of i s s u e s : partisan politics, e t h n i c i t y , a n d the q u e s t i o n of w h i c h political faction gov- e r n e d the city - p r o m p t e d N e w Yorker G e o r g e T e m p l e t o n Strong to w r i t e in h i s d i a r y that t h e i s s u e w a s merely over ' " w h i c h h o r d e h a d the legal right to b e s u p p o r t e d b y p u b l i c p l u n d e r ' . " 4 1

T h e r e f o r e , in t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t s e n s e , the u n i f o r m e d police did n o t e m e r g e out of political conflict, b u t rather the p r o c e s s of u n i f i c a - tion attracted existing conflicts. T h e crucial ideological p r o b l e m s of social control n e v e r really surfaced after G e r a r d ' s p e r f u n c t o r y dis- c u s s i o n in N e w York. In the U . S . cities that p r o v i d e d the m o d e l s for the rest of the country, the d e e p e s t i s s u e s , at b e s t , m e t p e r f u n c t o r y treatment from r e f o r m e r s like J a m e s Gerard. Gerard saw an almost mystical p o w e r in t h e u n i f o r m , m a k i n g it a moral a g e n t , w h i c h af- fected the w e a r e r as well as t h i e v e s and f e l o n s . D i s c u s s i n g the po- tential p o w e r of the u n i f o r m on p o l i c e officers, h e said:

The dress is respectable, and they feel respectable. . . . Their cos- tume is a sure guarantee that they will never disgrace it; they know that they are known by it and, therefore, while they are watching others, that they are watched themselves. They take good care, therefore, not to enter tipling shops, or visit any places or do any acts which will disgrace their uniform.

T h u s G e r a r d ' s a r g u m e n t h a d a practical side to it as well as a m y s t i - cal, moral side - in c a s e the police officer d i d n o t feel the moral p o w e r of the u n i f o r m , it would m a k e h i m stick out like a sore t h u m b , a n d t h e p r e s s u r e of p u b l i c c e n s u r e w o u l d force h i m to b e - h a v e properly. Gerard argued as t h o u g h the moral p o w e r of h i s analysis alone w o u l d m a k e t h e p o l i c e s e n s i t i v e to the u n i f o r m - " T h e y ought to, and will b e p r o u d to w e a r i t . " 4 2

W h e n articulated, a r g u m e n t s a g a i n s t the n e w police often fo- c u s e d on t h e i r u n i f o r m s . T h e s e a r g u m e n t s h a d three e l e m e n t s : (1)

The historical development of the police 45

the h i g h costs of t h e n e w system c o m p a r e d to the f e e - b a s e d tradi- tional s y s t e m ; (2) t h e fear of a s t a n d i n g a r m y ; and (3) the A m e r i c a n lack of respect for u n i f o r m s , c o n s i d e r e d servantlike a n d u n d e m o - cratic. T h e fear of a s t a n d i n g a r m y s e e m s to h a v e b e e n the h e r i t a g e of p r e - R e v o l u t i o n ideology, for n o t until t h e Civil W a r did this ar- g u m e n t s u b s i d e a n d m o r e p o s i t i v e feelings a b o u t u n i f o r m s b e c o m e d o m i n a n t . 4 3 F o r i n s t a n c e , t h e a r g u m e n t s a g a i n s t e s t a b l i s h i n g a u n i - f o r m e d police for W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . , took t w o f o r m s , the first at- tacking the u n n e c e s s a r y costs a n d the s e c o n d the q u a s i - m i l i t a r y nature of t h e p r o p o s e d force. S e n a t o r A m b r o s e S e v i e r (Arkansas) called the p o l i c e bill, ' " n o t h i n g m o r e n o r less than a p r o p o s i t i o n to establish a little s t a n d i n g a r m y ' . " 4 4 But it s e e m s to h a v e b e e n Jack- s o n i a n e g a l i t a r i a n i s m relating to matters of dress that fueled the m o s t v e h e m e n t attacks on t h e u n i f o r m i n g of the p o l i c e . H i s t o r i a n s agree that t h e u n i f o r m s for the B o s t o n police e n c o u n t e r e d the least resistance of a n y p r e - C i v i l W a r d e p a r t m e n t , and e v e n there they attracted ridicule for m a k i n g the police look like ' " p o p i n j a y s ' . " 4 5

In o t h e r cities, t h e u n i f o r m s created far m o r e a n t a g o n i s m and r e s i s t a n c e , especially a m o n g police officers. In a protest m e e t i n g in front of the c h i e f ' s h o u s e in 1854, N e w York City p o l i c e officers claimed u n i f o r m s ' " c o n f l i c t e d w i t h t h e i r n o t i o n s of i n d e p e n d e n c e and s e l f - r e s p e c t ' " as well as b e i n g ' " e x p e n s i v e a n d f a n t a s t i c a l ' . " Further, " ' t h i s infraction of t h e u s a g e of society in t h e m a t t e r of dress, w a s b u t the c o m m e n c e m e n t of the e s t a b l i s h m e n t in the City of a s t a n d i n g A r m y ' . " 4 6 In 1855, a C h i c a g o n e w s p a p e r editor, horri- fied at the i d e a of a u n i f o r m e d police force, d o u b t e d that ' " a n y m a n , c l a i m i n g the p r o u d title of A m e r i c a n f r e e m a n . . . will lay aside h i s o r d i n a r y dress as an A m e r i c a n citizen to strut a b o u t the streets of C h i c a g o d e c k e d o u t in l i v e r y f u r n i s h e d at p u b l i c ex- p e n s e ' . " 4 7 A n d in 1855 in P h i l a d e l p h i a , a c o u n c i l m a n called t h e u n i - form a ' " b a d g e of s e r v i t u d e ' " as fifteen police officers r e s i g n e d , refusing even to w e a r a h a t , w i t h o n e officer a n n o u n c i n g : ' " I h e r e b y p r e s e n t m y r e s i g n a t i o n , as an A m e r i c a n citizen - n o t w i s h i n g to w e a r a n y t h i n g derogatory to m y f e e l i n g s as an A m e r i c a n . . , ' . " 4 8

P h i l a d e l p h i a ' s M a y o r C o n r a d apparently r e c o g n i z e d the officers' resistance to this i n n o v a t i o n for w h a t it w a s , a c o m b i n a t i o n of tra- d i t i o n , p r i d e in d e m o c r a t i c n o n d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n , fear of greater con- trol on the b e a t b y r a n k i n g officers, a n d , p e r h a p s as m u c h as all others, simple inertia. Therefore, in 1856, h e strategically started u n i f o r m i n g t h e police " w i t h the h e a d , h o p i n g to w o r k d o w n w i t h less o p p o s i t i o n , as t h e m e n b e c a m e a c c u s t o m e d to t h e i d e a . " W i t h this clever a p p r o a c h , the r e s i s t a n c e still took four y e a r s to stamp

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

o u t , a n d even at this p o i n t officers resisted the final c o m p l e t i o n of u n i f o r m i n g . S o m e p o l i c e officers, " w h o w e r e n o t p r o u d of t h e i r n e w c l o t h e s , " a p p e a r e d b e f o r e patrol duty at the station h o u s e in u n i f o r m , t h e n w e n t h o m e , c h a n g e d , a n d p a t r o l l e d in c i v i l i a n clothes, c h a n g i n g b a c k i n t o u n i f o r m b e f o r e r e p o r t i n g to the station h o u s e at the e n d s of t h e i r s h i f t s . 4 9 T h i s i n c i d e n t illustrates h o w u n i - f o r m s could take on such i m p o r t a n c e , b o t h from t h e p o i n t of v i e w of the p u b l i c as well as from the p o l i c e p e r s p e c t i v e . U n i f o r m s w e r e w h a t p e o p l e actually s a w in t h e i r daily b u s i n e s s o n the streets or w i t h t h e police; a n d , f o r the officers, the e n f o r c e m e n t of p e r s o n a l appearance d e s t r o y e d t h e s e n s e of a u t o n o m y i n h e r e n t in their situ- ation - w o r k i n g a w a y from c o - w o r k e r s and b o s s e s for m o s t of t h e t i m e on duty.

In sharp contrast to t h e s e p r e - C i v i l W a r d e p a r t m e n t s , the n e w l y o r g a n i z e d p o s t w a r D e n v e r police d e p a r t m e n t a n n o u n c e d the arrival of its n e w u n i f o r m s , in 1873, w i t h great civic p r i d e . T h e s e u n i - f o r m s , carefully m o d e l e d on the u n i f o r m s of the N e w York City police b u t m a d e in D e n v e r , elicited a p p r o v i n g , if s e m i - h u m o r o u s , c o m m e n t in t h e n e w p a p e r . ' " T h e u n i f o r m is d u r a b l e and h a n d - s o m e , a n d w i t h the belts [imported from N e w York] a n d shields will m a k e a p o l i c e m a n look a b o u t as well as an editor or m i n i s t e r ' . " D u r i n g a police reform in 1895, the D e n v e r c h i e f h i r e d a tailor to p u t p e r m a n e n t creases in the u n i f o r m s , a policy i m p l e m e n t a t i o n of t h e moral h o p e J a m e s Gerard h a d f o u n d in u n i f o r m s forty y e a r s earlier in N e w Y o r k . 5 0

Although it is m o s t i m p o r t a n t to u n d e r s t a n d the s y m b o l i c and political m e a n i n g of the c h a n g e from the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system to the n e w u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e , w e m u s t also look, at least briefly, at the o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c h a n g e s involved. For t h i s p u r p o s e , Boston pro- v i d e s an ideal e x a m p l e , as the transition there took so long to ac- c o m p l i s h , c o m p a r e d to t h o s e of o t h e r cities, that each c h a n g e stands out clearly in the gradual u n i f i c a t i o n of the p o l i c e . 5 1 A s i m p l i f i e d narrative looks like this: In 1822, B o s t o n b e c a m e i n c o r p o r a t e d as a city, m a i n t a i n i n g the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system it had h a d for almost 200 years; in 1837, in a d d i t i o n to t h e traditional s y s t e m , separate day a n d n i g h t police forces w e r e created; in 1854, t h e watch w a s a b o l i s h e d ; a n d b y 1859 the council u n i f i e d the w h o l e s y s t e m u n d e r o n e c h i e f , p u t t i n g the m e n in u n i f o r m s . In a s e n s e , t h e n e w s y s t e m slowly g r e w a n d o v e r s h a d o w e d the old s y s t e m , the city c o n s c i o u s l y c o p y i n g the L o n d o n p o l i c e , yet m a i n t a i n i n g the traditional consta- ble a n d w a t c h .

44 The historical development of the police 45

At t h e t i m e of the city's i n c o r p o r a t i o n i n 1822, c o n s t a b l e s h a d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r b o t h c i v i l a n d c r i m i n a l m a t t e r s ; t h e i r i n c o m e came from f e e s for a t t e n d i n g court a n d serving p a p e r s . A l t h o u g h in theory p a r t - t i m e j o b s p e r f o r m e d b y c i t i z e n s , in actuality b y this time the p o s i t i o n s h a d b e c o m e full t i m e a n d the c o n s t a b l e s h a d a c h i e v e d j o b stability and a n n u a l r e a p p o i n t m e n t . T h e w a t c h , a re- s p o n s i b i l i t y that in t h e o r y fell u p o n all m a l e s over e i g h t e e n , h a d in fact evolved i n t o a p a r t - t i m e j o b p a y i n g fifty cents a n i g h t . Each w a t c h m a n patrolled the city looking for fires and d i s t u r b a n c e s , re- p o r t i n g back to o n e of four w a t c h stations hourly. Each m a n carried a loud w o o d e n rattle that h e could u s e to call for h e l p or, according to critics, w a r n felons of h i s a p p r o a c h in o r d e r to a v o i d trouble. Each w a t c h h o u s e h a d a c o n s t a b l e , a n d a c a p t a i n , w h o s e j o b w a s also c o n s i d e r e d p a r t - t i m e , h e a d e d u p the w a t c h . T h e captain also took charge of l i g h t i n g l a m p s , even in the early n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a traditional m e a n s of c r i m e control. T h e w a t c h patrolled from 10:00 P.M. u n t i l s u n u p , leaving an unpatrolled p e r i o d in t h e early m o r n - ing. T h i s s y s t e m r e m a i n e d virtually u n c h a n g e d until the city abol- i s h e d it in 1854; h o w e v e r , in the y e a r b e f o r e its a b o l i s h m e n t , the city ordered w i t n e s s f e e s , w h i c h t h e watch h a d e a r n e d for a t t e n d i n g court in the day, d i v e r t e d i n t o the city treasury a n d a c o m m e r c i a l enterprise contracted for the streetlighting j o b .

S h o r t l y after city i n c o r p o r a t i o n in 1822, t h e city c o u n c i l created the p o s i t i o n of city m a r s h a l . T h e m a r s h a l , in effect t h e h e a d consta- ble, took charge of all that " 'affects the health, security, and comfort of the city.' " 5 2 T h e s e broad responsibilities constituted a traditional part of the p o l i c e p o w e r of t h e city, usually given to t h e c o n s t a b u - lary. T h e Acts of Incorporation for t h e city of W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . , for instance, gave the city power to " 'prevent and remove nuisances; to p r e v e n t the i n t r o d u c t i o n of c o n t a g i o u s d i s e a s e s w i t h i n the city; and to e s t a b l i s h n i g h t w a t c h e s , or p a t r o l e s ' . " 5 3 T h e only c h a n g e in the p o w e r of the B o s t o n m a r s h a l c a m e in 1837, w h e n t h e city created a separate d e p a r t m e n t of s e w e r s , run b y a f o r m e r d e p u t y m a r s h a l .

U n t i l 1838, t h e city police c o n s i s t e d of the n i g h t w a t c h , w i t h its o w n four watch h o u s e s , a n d a day c o n s t a b u l a r y a n d m a r s h a l , b o t h centrally b a s e d . In 1838, a year after a v o l u n t e e r fire d e p a r t m e n t and funeral p r o c e s s i o n riot h a d forced t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n of the m i l i t i a , the council e s t a b l i s h e d a different p o l i c e s y s t e m : Six p o l i c e officers, w i t h all b u t the civil p o w e r s of c o n s t a b l e s , were a s s i g n e d to t h e m a r s h a l . T h e s e six r e c e i v e d regular salaries rather t h a n fees a n d t o o k d a y p o l i c e d u t i e s , b u t t h e c o n s t a b l e s r e m a i n e d . W i t h i n

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

m o n t h s , the council created a small separate n i g h t police. By 1851, the police h a d g r o w n - f o r t y - f o u r in the day a n d t w e n t y - t w o at n i g h t , with a small d e t e c t i v e d i v i s i o n . W i t h the creation of the de- tective d i v i s i o n , the p r o s e c u t i o n of vice i n c r e a s e d , and b o t h the detectives a n d n i g h t police b e g a n to develop the m o d e r n relation- ship of police to v i c e and illegal b u s i n e s s - a s y s t e m of p a i d in- f o r m e r s , the control of vice t h r o u g h protective payoffs to the p o l i c e , and p o l i c e (especially the n i g h t police) i n v o l v e m e n t in b u r g l a r i e s . 5 4 T h e late 1840s h a d also s e e n the official b u d g e t a r y r e c o g n i t i o n of the police welfare services to the destitute and ill - m o n i e s specifically allotted to food a n d m e d i c a l care. C o n c o m i t a n t w i t h t h e s e develop- m e n t s , Boston got its first p o p u l a r police officer, Marshal Tukey, w h o s e antics, as r e p o r t e d in the n e w s p a p e r , characterized p o p u l a r police officers t h r o u g h o u t t h e n i n e t e e n t h century. M e d i a - p o p u l a r - ized officers like T u k e y m a n i p u l a t e d the detectives to control v i c e and c r i m e in the city, p r o d u c i n g spectacular arrests and vice raids as k i n d s of m e d i a e v e n t s . T h u s t h e y p u b l i c l y portrayed t h e m s e l v e s as the i n d i v i d u a l b u l w a r k s a g a i n s t the u n d e r w o r l d , w i t h w h i c h they w e r e in fact in illegal collusion.

W h e n the mayoral c a n d i d a t e b a c k e d b y T u k e y ' s p o l i c e lost, a re- form p r o c e s s b e g a n . T u k e y lost the next election, a n d the city abol- i s h e d the corrupt n i g h t p o l i c e in 1851, w h i l e c o n t i n u i n g t h e w a t c h . T h e health authority m o v e d from the m a r s h a l ' s office to a n e w l y created s u p e r i n t e n d e n t of health in 1853, a n d in 1854 the council c r e a t e d t h e " W a t c h a n d P o l i c e D e p a r t m e n t , " w i t h t h e f o r m e r w a t c h m e n g i v e n a salary of t w o dollars a n i g h t a n d t h e arrest p o w e r s of police officers. T h e p o l i c e , w h i c h c o n t i n u e d to operate in the day, w e r e d i v i d e d i n t o e i g h t d i v i s i o n s to c o r r e s p o n d w i t h the w a t c h ; b o t h s y s t e m s w e r e given a p a r a - m i l i t a r y c o m m a n d structure of captains and l i e u t e n a n t s (the l i e u t e n a n t s , a m o n g o t h e r t h i n g s , patrolling b e a t s as " r o u n d s m e n " to e n s u r e that the police kept pa- trolling), and all t i m e gaps in patrol p e r i o d s that h a d existed w e r e e l i m i n a t e d . T h e p o s i t i o n of c o n s t a b l e , w h i c h h a d b e e n t u r n e d i n t o a civil court p o s i t i o n w h e n the day and n i g h t police h a d b e e n cre- ated, d i s a p p e a r e d . In 1856, the city b r o u g h t the " s p e c i a l p o l i c e , " still n o t q u i t e u n i f i e d , u n d e r its control. A l t h o u g h privately p a i d b y m e r c h a n t s , the special p o l i c e , w h o h a d h a d the regular p o w e r s of other police s i n c e 1838, w e r e r e q u i r e d to report to the captains. In 1857, the n e w p o s i t i o n of sergeant a s s u m e d the r o u n d s m a n d u t i e s of the l i e u t e n a n t , a n d finally, in 1859, the police b e g a n to wear u n i - f o r m s . T h u s e n d e d t w o decades of c h a n g e a w a y f r o m civil police

44 The historical development of the police 45

and t o w a r d a m i l i t a r y m o d e l . T h e goals of a p r e v e n t i v e p o l i c e system spelled out t w e n t y - t w o years earlier b y M a y o r Elliott - " 'to i m i t a t e , as far as m a y b e , the s y s t e m of L o n d o n ' " - h a d b e e n a c h i e v e d . 5 5

The spread of uniformed police forces across the United States

Although not perfectly i m i t a t e d in every city, the s e q u e n c e of the c h a n g e s in the B o s t o n police d e p a r t m e n t s s u m s u p the variety of duties and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l f o r m s that could occur in the transitional p e r i o d b e t w e e n the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m and the u n i f o r m e d police. Of c o u r s e , if o n e e x a m i n e d o n l y B o s t o n or N e w York or Phil- a d e l p h i a , o n e m i g h t c o n c l u d e that the final form the p o l i c e took r e p r e s e n t e d a u n i q u e result of particular e v o l u t i o n a r y forces. But this w o u l d distort a p r o c e s s of c o n s c i o u s c o m m u n i c a t i o n and i m i t a - tion, for in actuality each city l o o k e d carefully at its n e i g h b o r s , or L o n d o n , and o n e c a n n o t help b u t b e struck b y the c o n s t a n t intercity c o m p a r i s o n s of d e p a r t m e n t s that a p p e a r in police reports. F o r ex- ample, in 1850, a c o m m i t t e e in B o s t o n , c o r r e s p o n d i n g w i t h the L o n d o n p o l i c e , asked for i n f o r m a t i o n that L o n d o n h a d j u s t recently sent to N e w Y o r k . 5 6

A l t h o u g h it w o u l d b e repetitive a n d t e d i o u s to s u m m a r i z e the d e v e l o p m e n t of the u n i f i e d p o l i c e in m a n y cities, the dating of the e m e r g e n c e of the m a n y u n i f o r m e d police d e p a r t m e n t s across the U n i t e d States h a s critical i m p o r t a n c e . 5 7 T h a t i s , did s u b s e q u e n t po- licing i n n o v a t i o n s c o m e from a s i n g l e , c o n s t a n t s o u r c e ? 5 8 O r d i d each city h a v e to go t h r o u g h a d e v e l o p m e n t a l crisis, r e a c h i n g a crit- ical m a s s of s o m e sort, before it w a s c o m p e l l e d to follow the lead of larger p l a c e s ? W e r e t h e r e r e g i o n a l lags or a d v a n c e s , as R i c h a r d W a d e has c l a i m e d ? 5 9 D i d industrial cities w i t h h e a v y i m m i g r a n t p o p u l a t i o n s a n d a n e e d for factory d i s c i p l i n e use u n i f o r m e d police b e f o r e cities w i t h m o r e h o m o g e n e o u s p o p u l a t i o n s ? O r w a s there a s i m p l e r a n d o m p r o c e s s at w o r k , u n i f o r m s s p r e a d i n g like cholera or m e a s l e s from city to city - a " c o n t a g i o u s " d i f f u s i o n ? 6 0

S o m e of t h e s e q u e s t i o n s are p r e s u p p o s e d b y the three explana- t i o n s f o r t h e c r e a t i o n of t h e p o l i c e t h a t h a v e b e e n p r e v i o u s l y advanced b y police h i s t o r y scholars a n d c r i m i n o l o g i s t s . It is i m p o r - tant to e x a m i n e each of t h e s e three e x p l a n a t i o n s carefully, for each e m p h a s i z e s o n e of the m a n y v a r i a b l e s that w e associate w i t h n i n e - t e e n t h - c e n t u r y u r b a n g r o w t h , and c o m m i t s a k i n d of ecological fal- lacy. 6 1 T h e s e also t e n d to b e ahistorical e x p l a n a t i o n s , w h i c h assert

50 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

that t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s of the creation of the police w e r e t h e s a m e as the original i n t e n t i o n s a n d r e a s o n s . Such p o s t h o c r e a s o n i n g con- fuses the analysis of the n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y p o l i c e .

T h e first e x p l a n a t i o n claims that c r i m e - or, in s o m e of the m o r e s o p h i s t i c a t e d a n a l y s e s , the p e r c e p t i o n of c r i m e - r o s e to such an u n p r e c e d e n t e d extent that t h e traditional c o n s t a b l e and watch w e r e i n c a p a b l e of controlling it to the satisfaction of the p u b l i c . T h i s ex- planation h a s several p r o b l e m s , n o t the least of w h i c h is an i m p l i c i t a r g u m e n t a p p e a l i n g to a " n a t u r a l " s e q u e n c e of causal e v e n t s . T h a t is, w h e n c r i m e reaches a certain level, the " n a t u r a l " social r e s p o n s e is to create a u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e force. T h i s , of course, is n o t an expla- n a t i o n b u t an a s s e r t i o n of a natural law for w h i c h there is little evi- d e n c e . 6 2 C e r t a i n l y the c o n t r o v e r s i e s that a c c o m p a n i e d the earlier u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e s y s t e m s s u g g e s t that c o n t e m p o r a r i e s w e r e u n - aware that u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e w e r e a part of n a t u r e ' s p l a n . If a n y - t h i n g , the W e s t e r n m e a n s of dealing w i t h c r i m e w a v e s in p r e v i o u s centuries h a d always t u r n e d to c h a n g e s in p e n a l policy, n o t arrest t e c h n i q u e s . 6 3

E v e n if w e accept, for the sake of a r g u m e n t , the logical n e c e s s i t y of u n i f o r m e d police arriving in the w a k e of r i s i n g c r i m e , f u r t h e r p r o b l e m s arise. T h e r e is t h e e m p i r i c a l n e c e s s i t y of d e m o n s t r a t i n g that c r i m e , in fact, rose p r i o r to a p o l i c e i n n o v a t i o n . A n d the fact of rising crime m u s t r e m a i n an a s s e r t i o n , for if the r i s i n g c r i m e rate w a s m e a s u r a b l e b y h i s t o r i a n s , it w o u l d h a v e to h a v e b e e n t h r o u g h records g e n e r a t e d b y the arrest p r o c e s s ; b u t if the r i s i n g c r i m e h a d b e e n m e t w i t h r i s i n g a r r e s t s , t h e n t h e r e could h a v e b e e n little wrong w i t h the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m . A slightly m o r e complex account m i g h t claim that w h i l e rising crime did i n d e e d m e e t w i t h arrests, u n i f o r m e d police w e r e created to p r e v e n t c r i m e from rising even further, r a t h e r t h a n a p p r e h e n d i n g criminals after the o f f e n s e . A l t h o u g h an i n t e r e s t i n g alternative, this e x p l a n a t i o n n e e d s m o r e empirical v e r i f i c a t i o n , for it r e q u i r e s a m e a s u r a b l e c r i m e wave pre- ceding the creation of the v a r i o u s u r b a n p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t s .

If, on the o t h e r h a n d , t h e h i s t o r i a n claims that the p e r c e p t i o n of rising crime, n o t n e c e s s a r i l y the actual rate of o f f e n s e s , w a s the op- erative causal e l e m e n t , w e again h a v e the e m p i r i c a l p r o b l e m of f i n d i n g s o m e i n d i c a t o r of t h e s e rising p e r c e p t i o n s : H o w do w e k n o w w h o h e l d t h e s e p e r c e p t i o n s , h o w strongly w e r e t h e y h e l d , and w h y did t h e y c h a n g e ? M o r e to t h e p o i n t , w h a t m a d e t h e s e per- c e p t i o n s m o r e e f f i c a c i o u s t h a n p r e v i o u s p e r c e p t i o n s of r i s i n g crime? W h y , exactly, s h o u l d s o m e p e r c e p t i o n s of r i s i n g c r i m e a n d

44 The historical development of the police 45

not o t h e r s lead to the creation of the u n i f o r m e d police? W h y n o t to a s t a n d i n g a r m y , an i n t e n s i f i e d c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m , or more e x e c u t i o n s a n d d e p o r t a t i o n s i n s t e a d of a n e w d e p a r t u r e that, ac- cording to its o p p o n e n t s , violated t h e b a s i s of A n g l o - A m e r i c a n lib- e r t y ? 6 4

Allan Silver i m p l i e s a s e c o n d explanation for the creation of t h e u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e . 6 5 H e p o i n t s out that civil d i s o r d e r a n d riots h a d b e e n g r u d g i n g l y tolerated b y u r b a n dwellers p r i o r to the n i n e t e e n t h century; this tolerance w a s replaced b y d e m a n d s for social control w h e n the targets of riots c h a n g e d from s y m b o l i c o n e s to property. T h e creation of a p a r a - m i l i t a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n that m a d e its p r e s e n c e c o n t i n u o u s a n d v i s i b l e t h r o u g h o u t society resulted from the i n - creased d e m a n d s of p r o p e r t y o w n e r s for m o r e rigidly p r e s e r v e d ur- b a n order. In a s e n s e , disorderly u r b a n dwellers h a d violated the informal c o n v e n t i o n s of riotous b e h a v i o r a n d b y so d o i n g p r o v o k e d the creation of a far m o r e formally controlled society. S i l v e r ' s i n g e n - ious a n d a p p e a l i n g analysis stands or falls on e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e , of w h i c h p r e c i o u s little exists. N o d o u b t m o r e i n c i d e n t s will c o m e to light, b u t I h a v e f o u n d riots m e n t i o n e d as a clear p r e c i p i t a t i n g ele- m e n t in the creation of u n i f o r m e d police in only four to six cases out of the f i f t y - s e v e n e x a m i n e d for this b o o k - P h i l a d e l p h i a , Balti- m o r e , W a s h i n g t o n , a n d , p e r h a p s , I n d i a n a p o l i s , B o s t o n a n d D e - troit. T h e q u e s t i o n of w h e t h e r t h e s e riots h a d p r o p e r t y t a r g e t s rather than s y m b o l i c targets I h a v e left u n e x p l o r e d , for it s e e m s clear that although t h e riot e x p l a n a t i o n for the creation of the p o l i c e is m o r e satisfactory on a logical level than t h e crime e x p l a n a t i o n , it too lacks c o n c l u s i v e e v i d e n c e .

A third e x p l a n a t i o n for the creation of t h e u n i f o r m e d police ar- gues that t h e y w e r e n o t created in r e s p o n s e to d i s o r d e r of t h e type cited b y Silver, b u t b e c a u s e of elite fears of t h e rising p r o p o r t i o n s of p o o r i m m i g r a n t s in c i t i e s . 6 6 T h e growth in the n u m b e r of i m m i - grants, m a i n t a i n s Allan Levett, a c c o m p a n i e d a d e c r e a s e in the abil- ity of u r b a n elites to control the social order of the cities informally, and t h e y r e s p o n d e d b y creating t h e police to control t h e " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s . " " T h e p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t s , " h e claims, " w e r e n o t created to reduce c r i m e or control i n c r e a s i n g riots. . . . T h e y w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d to control strangers a n d the p o o r in the m a i n . " 6 7 L e v e t t ' s a r g u m e n t , although it h a s m u c h to r e c o m m e n d it, is flawed in its p o s t h o c assertion that w h a t t h e n e w p o l i c e d i d reflected the r e a s o n s for their creation, a p r o b l e m in causal analysis to w h i c h h i s t o r i a n s are p a r - ticularly sensitive. T h e r e is good evidence to support Levett's as-

52 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

sertion that the u n i f o r m e d police h a d a class-control f u n c t i o n . B u t h e p r o d u c e s little e v i d e n c e to s h o w that this w a s the original i n t e n t b e h i n d the creation of the police.

All three of t h e s e a c c o u n t s of the u n i f o r m e d police f o u n d e r on the s u p p o s i t i o n that b e c a u s e t h e p o l i c e , once e s t a b l i s h e d , p e r f o r m e d certain activities, t h e s e activities r e p r e s e n t e d the c o n d i t i o n s that gave rise to t h e i r creation. It is equally p l a u s i b l e to argue that t h e police were created b e c a u s e of t h e i n c r e a s e in lost children, o p e n s e w e r s , or tramps n e e d i n g o v e r n i g h t l o d g i n g .

M u c h of the c o n f u s i o n a n d d i s a g r e e m e n t over the i n t r o d u c t i o n and spread of the u n i f o r m e d police h a s c o m e from a narrowly local- istic a p p r o a c h , w h i c h w h e n g e n e r a l i z e d m o v e s a b r u p t l y from spe- cific locale to grand t h e o r y - for example, from Buffalo to a Marxist or D u r k h e i m i a n m o d e l of s o c i e t y . 6 8 A far m o r e useful w a y to s e e k to u n d e r s t a n d d r a m a t i c c h a n g e s in t h e p o l i c e is to r e c o n c e i v e t h e p r o c e s s as o n e of i n n o v a t i o n and the s u b s e q u e n t d i f f u s i o n of that i n n o v a t i o n . In this w a y , w e gain analytic tools to e x a m i n e each p a r t of t h e process discretely a n d , of e q u a l i m p o r t a n c e , can e m p l o y a t e c h n i q u e of analysis that h a s a large and w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d literature in the social s c i e n c e s , dating at least from G a b r i e l T a r d e ' s Laws of Imitation in 1 9 0 3 . 6 9

Sociologist Everett M . Rogers h a s b r o k e n the p r o c e s s of i n n o v a - tion a n d diffusion d o w n i n t o four " c r u c i a l e l e m e n t s " : (1) the actual i n n o v a t i o n , (2) the c o m m u n i c a t i o n of the i n n o v a t i o n , (3) the n a t u r e of the social system w i t h i n w h i c h the c o m m u n i c a t i o n occurs, a n d (4) t h e t i m e that the d i f f u s i o n t a k e s . 7 0 M o s t analyses of i n n o v a t i o n in p o l i c i n g focus h a r d l y at all on the i n n o v a t i o n s , c o n c e n t r a t e h e a v - ily on the social s y s t e m , a n d virtually i g n o r e b o t h the c o m m u n i c a - tion p r o c e s s e s a n d t i m e lags i n v o l v e d . All too often, t h e i n n o v a t i o n h a s b e e n e x a m i n e d as t h o u g h the actual c o n s e q u e n c e s w e r e the i n - tended c o n s e q u e n c e s , a n d as t h o u g h the i n t e n d e d c o n s e q u e n c e s can b e readily i n f e r r e d f r o m the n a t u r e of t h e social s y s t e m . Both the n o t i o n that the c a p i t a l i s t - i n d u s t r i a l i s t state n e e d e d to create an a g e n c y to c o n t r o l t h e w o r k i n g class a n d t h e n o t i o n that u r b a n growth created a r i s i n g c r i m e rate that forced a d e f e n s e reaction in the creation of t h e police e x e m p l i f y t h i s k i n d of c o n f u s e d t h i n k i n g .

Let u s accept for the m o m e n t that b o t h the r e a s o n s for and the i n n o v a t i v e n a t u r e of the u n i f o r m e d police c a m e f r o m the t w o d e - sires of city elites to p r e v e n t c r i m e and control the police and m o v e to the second a n d fourth aspects of the p r o c e s s , the d i f f u s i o n o v e r t i m e . W e will return to the n a t u r e of the social system or city s y s t e m through w h i c h the i n n o v a t i o n diffused once w e h a v e e x a m i n e d t h e

44 The historical development of the police 45

d i f f u s i o n t h r o u g h t i m e . Finally, w h e n the p r o c e s s h a s b e e n exam- i n e d , the r e a s o n s for u n i f o r m i n g t h e police will b e c o m e clearer.

D e t e r m i n i n g the dates of u n i f i c a t i o n and f o r m a l i z a t i o n of police d e p a r t m e n t s involves several practical a n d conceptual p r o b l e m s . For t h e s o u r c e s h e r e I h a v e d e p e n d e d b o t h on s e c o n d a r y materials - local h i s t o r i e s , u r b a n b i o g r a p h i e s , a n d , w h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e , police h i s t o r i e s - a n d on n e w s p a p e r s and city records. A l t h o u g h each de- p a r t m e n t followed a b a s i c p a t t e r n of c h a n g e , there w e r e local varia- tions e n o u g h to m a k e date a s s i g n m e n t difficult. S o m e d e p a r t m e n t s , like B o s t o n ' s , m o v e d from a day c o n s t a b u l a r y that w a s at least n o m - inally r e s p o n s i b l e to the c o u r t s , a n d a n i g h t w a t c h r e s p o n s i b l e to the c o n s t a b l e s , to separate day a n d n i g h t police forces, a n d finally to a u n i f i e d day and night police force - the w h o l e p r o c e s s taking a decade or so. O t h e r d e p a r t m e n t s m o v e d directly from a c o n s t a b l e - watch s y s t e m to a u n i f i e d a n d u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e force r e s p o n s i b l e to the m a y o r . 7 1 To p r o v i d e c o n s i s t e n c y in a s s i g n i n g d a t e s , I h a v e taken the date of the a d o p t i o n of u n i f o r m s , w h e n e v e r p o s s i b l e , as the starting p o i n t of the n e w k i n d of p o l i c i n g .

T h e uniform concretely symbolizes the changed system of social control r e p r e s e n t e d b y the n e w p o l i c e , asserting p u b l i c l y and u n e - quivocally the difference b e t w e e n the old a n d the n e w . It is n o t surprising that b o t h police officers and the p u b l i c s o m e t i m e s re- sisted a n d m o c k e d the first u n i f o r m s , for t h e y d e p e r s o n a l i z e d the wearer, m a d e o b v i o u s the p a r a - m i l i t a r y n a t u r e of t h e n e w s y s t e m and, as Allan Silver o b s e r v e s , v i s i b l y d e m o n s t r a t e d the " c o n t i n u a l p r e s e n c e of central political a u t h o r i t y t h r o u g h o u t daily l i f e . " 7 2 U n i - f o r m s r e m a i n i m p o r t a n t today, b o t h to the p o l i c e a n d the p u b l i c . A recent study of a state p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t claimed that " p r o b a b l y n o single s y m b o l was of greater i m p o r t a n c e to the role of policeman than the u n i f o r m . " T h e s t u d y q u o t e d a corporal w h o s e t h o u g h t s e c h o e d t h o s e of J a m e s G e r a r d ' s over a c e n t u r y earlier: " ' T h e r e is s o m e t h i n g a b o u t a uniform that makes a m a n different.' " 7 3 W h e t h e r the p r e s e n c e of a u n i f o r m e d officer p r o v o k e s p u b l i c reactions of fear, h a t r e d , anxiety, relief, or security is n o t a crucial matter; w h a t counts is that the u n i f o r m is a s t a t e m e n t of p o w e r . A n d w h e n in the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a city took the step of u n i f o r m i n g its p o l i c e , it c l e a r l y s t a t e d i t s p o w e r t o c o n t r o l i t s i n h a b i t a n t s . T h u s t h e corporal's o b s e r v a t i o n that the u n i f o r m m a k e s a difference is w i s e , for the c o n t e n t of the difference can vary, b u t the ability of the u n i - form to m a k e that d i f f e r e n c e is its i m p o r t a n c e .

T a k i n g the 100 largest A m e r i c a n cities in 1880 as m y initial target g r o u p , I f o u n d p r e c i s e data on 57 ( s e e A p p e n d i x A). T h e m o d e l b e s t

54 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

d e s c r i b i n g t h e d i f f u s i o n of t h e i n n o v a t i o n of u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e through the 57 cities over a h a l f - c e n t u r y p e r i o d is often referred to as o n e of contagious diffusion, to b e contrasted with a m o d e l of con- stant source diffusion.74 T h e latter m o d e l p r e s u m e s the d i f f u s i o n of an i n n o v a t i o n from o n e stable s o u r c e , w h e r e a s the f o r m e r d e s c r i b e s a p r o c e s s w h e r e b y each n e w a d o p t e r of the i n n o v a t i o n b e c o m e s a source for f u r t h e r d i f f u s i o n . T h e S - s h a p e d graph of c o n t a g i o u s dif- f u s i o n , displayed in F i g u r e 1, s h o w s the c u m u l a t i v e n u m b e r of cities u n i f o r m i n g t h e i r police forces over t i m e . 7 5 W h e n regressed against a c o n t a g i o u s d i f f u s i o n m o d e l , a startling 9 9 % of the a d o p - tions can b e a c c o u n t e d for, w h e r e a s only 1 3 % can b e fitted a g a i n s t a c o n s t a n t source m o d e l . T h u s the graph displays the s p e e d of t h e i n n o v a t i o n p r o c e s s - the slow, scattered a d o p t i o n at first; a q u i c k acceleration o v e r a t w o - d e c a d e p e r i o d ; a n d then a trailing off as straggling cities or t h o s e that h a d grown from n o t h i n g d u r i n g t h e p e r i o d (like D e n v e r ) create t h e i r police d e p a r t m e n t s .

A l t h o u g h F i g u r e 1 a n d t h e r e g r e s s i o n b e l o w it d e m o n s t r a t e clearly that the s p e e d of the d i f f u s i o n of u n i f o r m e d police forces across the U n i t e d States c o n f o r m e d to a s i m p l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s

Number of adoptions 60 p

55 -

5 0 -

4 0 -

3 0 -

2 0 -

1 0 -

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890

Figure 1. Cumulative n u m b e r of cities adopting uniformed police, 1 8 5 0 - 1900. (Contagion model, R2 = .997. Straight line model, R2 = .850.) Source: Data compiled from histories of individual cities. S e e Appendix A for com- plete citations.

44 The historical development of the police 45

p r o c e s s , this does n o t tell u s w h y s o m e c i t i e s m a d e the i n n o v a t i o n w h i l e o t h e r s resisted it - t h e s p e c i f i c order of a d o p t i o n r e m a i n s to b e e x p l a i n e d . In o t h e r w o r d s , the close fit of the actual p o l i c e u n i - form dates to the c o n t a g i o u s d i f f u s i o n m o d e l tells o n l y that w e are e x a m i n i n g a c o m m u n i c a t i o n p r o c e s s that followed a p r e d i c t a b l e pattern - a p r o c e s s that n e e d not h a v e i n v o l v e d m o r e t h a n r a n d o m c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a m o n g p a i r s of potential a d o p t e r s . W e n e e d n o w an e x p l a n a t i o n to a c c o u n t for this a p p a r e n t l y orderly p r o c e s s .

T h e e x p l a n a t i o n I a d v a n c e h e r e to account for t h e creation of the u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e s u b s u m e s p r e v i o u s o n e s and places t h e m in a m o r e c o m p l e t e c o n t e x t . T h e g r o w t h of u n i f o r m e d u r b a n p o l i c e forces should b e s e e n s i m p l y as a p a r t of t h e growth of u r b a n serv- ice b u r e a u c r a c i e s . T h e p o l i c e p r o v i d e d t h e s p e c i f i c service of con- trolling an i n c r e a s i n g l y a n o n y m o u s and t h r e a t e n i n g " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s , " but this was not the reason for their creation. T h e n e w police did r e p r e s e n t an i m p o r t a n t and d r a m a t i c c h a n g e in the n a t u r e of u r b a n life, b u t t h e i r i n t r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s p e r s i o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t r y w a s n o t a f u n c t i o n of elite d e m a n d s for class control, c h a n g - ing u r b a n riots, or rising c r i m e . Its s p e e d a n d pace d e t e r m i n e d b y a c o n t a g i o u s d i f f u s i o n p r o c e s s , the spread of t h e n e w k i n d of police c o n f o r m e d to a s i m p l e r a n k - o r d e r d i s p e r s i o n m o d e l . T h e i n n o v a - tion of the p o l i c e , c o p i e d first b y t h e largest Eastern cities f r o m the m o d e l of the L o n d o n M e t r o p o l i t a n Police, s w e p t d o w n the size h i - erarchy of U . S . c i t i e s , f r o m large to small, in a f o r t y - y e a r p e r i o d . A b s o l u t e size m a d e little d i f f e r e n c e : T h u s , w h e n N e w York u n i - f o r m e d its police in 1853 it w a s a m e t r o p o l i s of over 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , b u t T a u n t o n , M a s s a c h u s e t t s , r e o r g a n i z e d a n d u n i f o r m e d its p o l i c e in 1890 w h e n its p o p u l a t i o n n u m b e r e d only 2 5 , 0 0 0 .

T h e causal s e q u e n c e r u n s thus: A m e r i c a n u r b a n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n s in the last half of the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y b e g a n to p r o v i d e a grow- ing r a n g e of rationalized services - p o l i c e , fire, h e a l t h , a n d s e w a g e - w h i c h p r e v i o u s l y h a d b e e n p r o v i d e d on an e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l b a s i s b y v a r i o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n s . F o r the largest c i t i e s , the c o n s p i c u o u s l y s u c c e s s f u l M e t r o p o l i t a n P o l i c e of L o n d o n s e r v e d as a p o l i c i n g m o d e l to b e a d o p t e d w h e n a n y o n e of several p r é c i p i t a n t s occurred. O n c e a d o p t e d b y larger c i t i e s , the n e w m o d e l of p o l i c i n g spread from larger to smaller c i t i e s , spurred not b y p r e c i p i t a t i n g events any longer, b u t b y t h e n e w l y d e v e l o p i n g service o r i e n t a t i o n s of city g o v e r n m e n t s . Each city's p o s i t i o n in the size h i e r a r c h y of U . S . cities d e t e r m i n e d the p o i n t at w h i c h its u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e force w a s c r e a t e d , w i t h o t h e r i n f l u e n c e s - e t h n i c c o m p o s i t i o n , i n d u s t r i a l b a s e , and location - o p e r a t i n g o n l y as m i n o r d e t e r m i n a n t s . Al-

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

t h o u g h city officials m a y h a v e looked w i t h h o r r o r at c r i m e and dis- order, t h e y looked at the m u n i c i p a l o p e r a t i o n s of slightly larger cities for practical s u g g e s t i o n s to u r b a n g o v e r n a n c e .

T h e t i m i n g and pattern of police d i s p e r s i o n t h r o u g h the c o u n t r y s h o w s that city g o v e r n m e n t s seized the i n n o v a t i v e s c h e m e of u n i - f o r m e d police as a c o n v e n i e n t and f a s h i o n a b l e m e a n s of social con- trol w i t h o u t regard for specifically t h r e a t e n i n g s i t u a t i o n s . A l t h o u g h in the i n s t a n c e s of s o m e of t h e larger cities, riots or p e r c e p t i o n s of rising crime a n d d i s o r d e r m a y h a v e b e e n p r e c i p i t a t i n g factors, it is clear that as a general causal explanation such analyses h a v e con- fused précipitants with p r e c o n d i t i o n s . 7 6 For an a c c o u n t of the rise of u n i f o r m e d p o l i c i n g to b e a d e q u a t e , it s h o u l d h a v e a large degree of applicability across t h e range of U . S . cities, and n o n e of the pre- v i o u s models m e e t s t h i s c o n d i t i o n . Each can explain the o r i g i n s of only a handful of city p o l i c e . M y e x p l a n a t i o n , although less dra- m a t i c , directly ties the p o l i c e to m u n i c i p a l c h a n g e w i t h i n an u r b a n n e t w o r k , allowing m o r e u n i t y and complexity in the analysis of t h e services that t h e police p r o v i d e d b y separating o r i g i n s from func- tions. Just b e c a u s e t h e police w e r e created for o n e reason does n o t m e a n that t h e y actually d i d n o t do other t h i n g s : W e m u s t b e pre- pared to accept the idea that the actual f u n c t i o n s of the police w e r e u n i n t e n d e d c o n s e q u e n c e s of t h e i r r e o r g a n i z a t i o n . To s h o w this, it is first n e c e s s a r y to locate each n e w l y created d e p a r t m e n t in the u r b a n h i e r a r c h y , as well as in the t i m e of total a d o p t i o n s .

M y h y p o t h e s i s , w h i c h h a s b e e n tested a n d tentatively c o n f i r m e d , is that each city's p o s i t i o n in the national h i e r a r c h y of cities directly d e t e r m i n e d the order in w h i c h it adopted a u n i f o r m e d police force. T h a t is, larger cities a d o p t e d p o l i c e forces first, w i t h smaller o n e s following quickly. T h e scatterplot in Figure 2 d e m o n s t r a t e s this v i s - ually - each p o i n t r e p r e s e n t s a city, located b y its rank a n d date of u n i f o r m a d o p t i o n (city o n e , for i n s t a n c e , is N e w York City, w h i c h uniformed its police in 1853). As the legend below the scatterplot states, the rank-order correlation of city and police dates is a high .69, s i g n i f i c a n t at .001, for f i f t y - n i n e cities. W h e n the twelve cities located in the S o u t h e a s t a n d W e s t are excluded from the correlation, R declines slightly for t h e s e r e g i o n s and rises for the M i d w e s t a n d N o r t h e a s t . T h i s decline in R is p r o b a b l y the result of the s c a n t i e r and p o o r e r data for t h e S o u t h e a s t and W e s t , and should n o t b e v i e w e d as c o n c l u s i v e . W e s h o u l d look, rather, at t h e overall results, for in c o n f i r m i n g the r a n k - o r d e r h y p o t h e s i s , the p r e v i o u s explana- t i o n s for the creation of t h e police can b e s u b s u m e d .

44 The historical development of the police 45

Rank order 60 r

5 0

4 0

3 0

20

10

1850 1860 1870 1880 1890

Figure 2. Rank order of cities adopting uniforms, 1 8 5 0 - 1900. ( S p e a r m a n ' s R = .689, N = 57.) Source: Data compiled from histories of individual cities. Rank taken from census following year of adoption. S e e Appendix A for complete citations.

T h a t city rank d e t e r m i n e d w h e n a city a d o p t e d a u n i f o r m e d po- lice force indicates that local decisions concerning the m e a n s of so- cial control, s o m e t i m e s p r e c i p i t a t e d b y local s i t u a t i o n s , w e r e n o t u n i q u e b u t w e r e part of a n a t i o n a l trend in u r b a n g o v e r n a n c e . Cities l o o k e d to other cities of s i m i l a r size for ideas. If each city h a d adopted a u n i f o r m e d force only after a riot, c h a n g i n g crime rate, or the n e e d for a n e w k i n d of class-control agency, m a n y places would not t o d a y h a v e a u n i f o r m e d police force. Instead, b y following the examples of larger places, b y 1890 cities as small a n d as different as A u b u r n , N e w York; L y n n , M a s s a c h u s e t t s ; a n d S a i n t J o s e p h , M i s - souri, h a d created t h e i r own u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e forces. T h e p r o c e s s of c o m m u n i c a t i o n d o w n t h e u r b a n h i e r a r c h y , from m a j o r to m i n o r places, occurred not only w i t h regard to g o v e r n m e n t a l i n n o v a t i o n s . A recent study of cholera, for i n s t a n c e , s h o w s h o w the cholera epi- d e m i c of 1832 spread from city to city along m a j o r transport routes; h o w e v e r , b y 1866 cholera spread d o w n the u r b a n h i e r a r c h y from b i g to small p l a c e s , j u m p i n g the m a j o r transport r o u t e s . 7 7 T h i s com- p a r i s o n d e m o n s t r a t e s that t h e s y s t e m of c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d eco-

58 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

n o m i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s of cities structured c h a n g e a n d i n n o v a t i o n b y structuring i n f o r m a t i o n flows. Just as larger cities r e c e i v e d m o r e cholera carriers earlier t h a n smaller o n e s , the s a m e cities also re- ceived more i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t policing i n n o v a t i o n s .

To analyze the i n s t i t u t i o n a l m e a n i n g of this p a t t e r n of police a d o p t i o n , w e m u s t m o v e out of the n a r r o w e r focus of police h i s t o r y and e x a m i n e the b r o a d e r p a t t e r n s of i n s t i t u t i o n a l c h a n g e . In an i m - p o r t a n t and s u g g e s t i v e article on the H o u s e of R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s , N e l s o n Polsby sets up several w a y s to m e a s u r e a n d d e s c r i b e i n s t i - tutional c h a n g e s . 7 8 A l t h o u g h h i s p r o p o s i t i o n s and m e a s u r e s are de- s i g n e d to apply to legislative b o d i e s , they transfer a l m o s t w i t h o u t m o d i f i c a t i o n to b u r e a u c r a c i e s like the p o l i c e .

T h e r e are three d e s c r i p t i v e characteristics of w h a t h e calls an " i n - stitutionalized b u r e a u c r a c y " - a n d for b u r e a u c r a c i e s to b e v i a b l e they m u s t b e i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d . T h e first characteristic of an institu- tionalized b u r e a u c r a c y is its clear " d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n f r o m its e n v i r o n - m e n t " ; s e c o n d , it h a s a " c o m p l e x o r g a n i z a t i o n " ; a n d t h i r d , it is run on " u n i v e r s a l i s t i c c r i t e r i a . " P o l s b y operationalizes t h e s e three char- acteristics i n t o m o r e concrete criteria, almost all of w h i c h are satis- fied b y the c h a n g e s in p o l i c i n g that a c c o m p a n i e d the a d o p t i o n of the u n i f o r m . T h e clearest i n d i c a t o r s of i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z a t i o n m e t b y the u n i f o r m e d police include: (1) easy i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of m e m b e r s h i p - the u n i f o r m , of course; (2) the r e c r u i t m e n t of l e a d e r s h i p from w i t h i n the o r g a n i z a t i o n - t h e u n i f o r m e d police s a w the b e g i n n i n g of this p r i n c i p l e in police o r g a n i z a t i o n ; (3) explicit separation of internal f u n c t i o n s - the p a r a - m i l i t a r y c o m m a n d structure a n d the creation of detective d i v i s i o n s ; (4) n o n i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e roles - m a - trons, patrol, and chiefs, for instance; and (5) internal b u s i n e s s con- ducted b y u n i v e r s a l i s t i c , n o n d i s c r e t i o n a r y , m e r i t o c r a t i c , and i m - p e r s o n a l codes - a goal that the police tried to i m p l e m e n t w i t h v a r y i n g degrees of success t h r o u g h o u t the n i n e t e e n t h century.

Although n o n e of these features was perfectly or instantly a c h i e v e d in t h e n e w l y f o r m e d police d e p a r t m e n t s , t h e y w e r e the desiderata a n d neatly s u m m a r i z e t h e i n t e r n a l goals of t h e n e w p o - lice. P o l s b y lists o n e criterion that the n e w d e p a r t m e n t s did n o t m e e t successfully a n d that h a s o n l y in recent years b e c o m e a d e - m a n d of police d e p a r t m e n t s - difficult m e m b e r s h i p r e q u i r e m e n t s . A l t h o u g h it w a s relatively e a s y to b e c o m e a p o l i c e officer in t h e n i n e t e e n t h century, d e p a r t m e n t s stressed t h e i r h i g h d e g r e e of per- s o n n e l selectivity, a n x i o u s l y s h o w i n g that t h e i r p o l i c e officers w e r e literate p e o p l e w h o h a d b e e n recruited from skilled o c c u p a t i o n s , even to the p o i n t of d i s t o r t i n g p e r s o n n e l s t a t i s t i c s . 7 9 But a b o v e all

44 The historical development of the police 45

these criteria of an i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d bureaucracy s t a n d s t h e u n i - f o r m , d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g the p o l i c e from other c i t i z e n s , v i s i b l y s y m b o l - izing the complex i n n e r h i e r a r c h y of the police d e p a r t m e n t t h r o u g h the d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n the u n i f o r m s of the patrol a n d r a n k i n g offi- cers, a n d s t r e s s i n g u n i v e r s a l i s m o v e r i n d i v i d u a l idiosyncracy.

T h e d e v e l o p m e n t of p o l i c e b u r e a u c r a c i e s paralleled closely, b o t h in t i m e and f o r m , the m o v e m e n t of the H o u s e of R e p r e s e n t a t i v e s toward a t h o r o u g h l y " i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d b u r e a u c r a c y . " A c c o r d i n g to P o l s b y , the turning p o i n t for the H o u s e came in the 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 1 0 p e r i o d , the s a m e p e r i o d w h e n p o l i c e d e p a r t m e n t s b e g a n to free t h e m s e l v e s f r o m factional local politics. Usually the defactionaliza- tion of police d e p a r t m e n t s at the t u r n of t h e c e n t u r y is c o n c e i v e d only w i t h i n t h e context of t h e i n d i v i d u a l d e p a r t m e n t ' s h i s t o r y or as an externally i m p o s e d p r o g r e s s i v e r e f o r m . 8 0 But P o l s b y ' s m o d e l of- fers an i n t e r e s t i n g alternative. H e s h o w s h o w o n e of t h e p r e d i c t a b l e c o n s e q u e n c e s of i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z a t i o n is the d e v e l o p m e n t of " p r o f e s - sional n o r m s of c o n d u c t , " i m p l y i n g that o n c e the n e w d e p a r t m e n t s h a d b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d , t h e i r m o v e s toward p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n b e - came almost a u t o m a t i c . S e e n in this way, t h e defactionalization of the police w a s s i m p l y an aspect of t h e g r o w t h of p o l i c e p r o f e s s i o n - alism, w h i c h w a s itself a b u i l t - i n c o n s e q u e n c e of t h e m o v e to ra- tionalize a n d u n i f o r m the p o l i c e . 8 1

T h e p r o c e s s of the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n and regularization of the police can b e explored w i t h special clarity in the t w i n cities of M i n n e a p - olis a n d S a i n t Paul, for b o t h cities c o n v e r t e d their p o l i c e forces from s i m p l e o r g a n i z a t i o n s w i t h o n e c h i e f a n d a dozen or so p a t r o l m e n to u n i f o r m e d p a r a - m i l i t a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n s in t h e 1870s. T h i s s a m e dec- ade s a w i n t e n s e c o m p e t i t i o n b e t w e e n the t w o cities as b o t h experi- e n c e d p h y s i c a l growth a n d p o p u l a t i o n e x p a n s i o n w h i l e f i g h t i n g for c o m m e r c i a l a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g a d v a n t a g e , their c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s stimulated b y p h y s i c a l p r o x i m i t y a n d e t h n i c and r e l i g i o u s rivalry. T h e u p s t a r t rival, R e p u b l i c a n , S c a n d i n a v i a n , W A S P M i n n e a p o l i s , t h r e a t e n e d t h e older a n d m o r e e s t a b l i s h e d city, D e m o c r a t i c , Irish, Catholic S a i n t Paul. In lieu of c o m p a r a b l e a n n u a l c e n s u s e s , the cities e s t i m a t e d p o p u l a t i o n on the b a s i s of votes (one v o t e b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d to r e p r e s e n t s i x p e o p l e ) , each t r y i n g t o o u t r a n k t h e other.

T h e two c i t i e s ' c o n c e r n s for p o p u l a t i o n accurately reflected real- ity, for S a i n t Paul h a d 2 0 , 0 3 0 p e o p l e in 1870 w h i l e M i n n e a p o l i s h a d only 13,066; at t h e e n d of t h e decade b o t h cities h a d g r o w n c o n s i d - erably, b u t t h e r a n k i n g h a d dramatically r e v e r s e d , S a i n t Paul stand- ing at 4 1 , 4 7 3 a n d M i n n e a p o l i s at 4 6 , 8 8 7 . T h i s reversal occurred at

60 Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

a b o u t t h e s a m e t i m e M i n n e a p o l i s p u t its p o l i c e i n t o u n i f o r m , 1876, for in 1875 the state c e n s u s s h o w e d S a i n t Paul still l e a d i n g slightly at 3 3 , 1 7 8 , w i t h M i n n e a p o l i s only 457 p e o p l e b e h i n d at 3 2 , 7 2 1 . Yet in spite of the i n t e n s e b o o s t e r i s m of and rivalry b e t w e e n the t w o cities, a n d in spite of t h e t e n d e n c y of the n e w s p a p e r s to c o m m e n t on i t e m s even marginally related to the c o m p e t i t i o n , the s u b j e c t of the p o l i c e is strangely m i s s i n g f r o m their dialogue. O n e searches the n e w s p a p e r s and city council m i n u t e s in v a i n , e x p e c t i n g to f i n d i n t e n s e a r g u m e n t a b o u t t h e s e v i s i b l e s y m b o l s of u r b a n m o d e r n i t y . In b o t h cities, the o n l y i s s u e of n o t e c o n c e r n i n g p o l i c e u n i f o r m s w a s w h e t h e r or n o t the city g o v e r n m e n t s s h o u l d p a y for t h e m (they did). S a i n t Paul easily o u t d i s t a n c e d M i n n e a p o l i s in t h e u n i f o r m m o v e m e n t b y four y e a r s , 1872 as o p p o s e d to 1876, t i m i n g that cor- r e s p o n d e d to the rank o r d e r . 8 2 But it is w r o n g to see a n y c o m p e t i - t i v e n e s s h e r e : T h e o n l y contrast b e t w e e n t h e police of the two cities that even c a m e close to c o m p e t i t i o n occurred in 1874, w h e n t h e Minneapolis Tribune ran a h u m o r o u s n o t e c o n c e r n i n g the attractive- n e s s of the S a i n t Paul p o l i c e u n i f o r m s for w o m e n . 8 3 O t h e r w i s e , M i n n e a p o l i t a n s s e e m e d to accept complacently a smaller and m o r e ragtag p o l i c e , a r g u i n g that t h e city w a s " o n e of the m o s t q u i e t and orderly of t o w n s . " 8 4

T h e status of u n i f o r m s w a s such a n o n - i s s u e that n e i t h e r city even h a d the a p p r o p r i a t e t e r m i n o l o g y . W h e n the S a i n t Paul city council voted to p a y for the n e w u n i f o r m s in 1872, it s i m p l y called t h e m " o u t f i t s . " 8 5 E q u a l l y l a c o n i c , the M i n n e a p o l i s c o u n c i l d i s - cussed " u n i f o r m o v e r c o a t s . " 8 6 M i n n e a p o l i s A l d e r m a n Bassett m a d e this relaxed attitude clear w h e n , in an 1872 council d i s c u s s i o n over w h e t h e r o r not to r e o r g a n i z e the police ( w h i c h c o n s i s t e d of a c h i e f and handful of p a t r o l m e n ) to i n c l u d e a captain or t w o , h e allowed that h e " w a s i g n o r a n t as to t h e duties of p o l i c e m e n , b u t h a d n o o b j e c t i o n to all b e i n g c a p t a i n s if it d i d n ' t cost any m o r e . " H e then m o v e d that the d e p a r t m e n t h a v e o n e chief, o n e c a p t a i n , two lieu- t e n a n t s , two s e r g e a n t s , a n d four corporals, b u t n o p a t r o l m e n . H i s m o t i o n failed a n d t h e force then g a i n e d a c a p t a i n . 8 7

W h e n M i n n e a p o l i s finally caught up to S a i n t Paul in u n i f o r m i n g its police four years later, the adoption occurred with little commo- tion a n d almost n o c o m m e n t . If u n i f o r m s w e r e d i s c u s s e d b e f o r e t h e city council, the m i n u t e s failed to record the d i s c u s s i o n . T h e m a y o r , in h i s inaugural m e s s a g e of April 1 1 , 1 8 7 6 , asked for " u n i f o r m stars, belts, clubs a n d h a n d cuffs . . . as it is p r o p o s e d to h a v e all the offi- cers in full u n i f o r m w h i l e on d u t y . " 8 8 T h i s is the first formal m e n - tion of police u n i f o r m s in M i n n e a p o l i s , a n d the p o l i c e a p p e a r e d

44 The historical development of the police 45

three days after the m a y o r ' s m e s s a g e in full u n i f o r m - in a small n o t e , t h e Tribune s a i d " t h e i m p r o v e m e n t w a s n o t i c e a b l e . " 8 9 A m o n t h later, t h e chief a p p e a r e d " i n a n o b b y n e w b l u e u n i f o r m w i t h b u t t o n s all over h i m . " 9 0

T h e actual m e c h a n i s m a n d i m p e t u s for police u n i f o r m s in M i n n e - apolis r e m a i n unclear: T h e entire force h a d p e t i t i o n e d for u n i f o r m overcoats in October, 1875, and the chief m a y have b e e n the prime m o v e r b e h i n d the u n i f o r m s . 9 1 In t h e case of the u n i f o r m overcoats, h e apparently placed the orders a n d h a d t h e m e n w e a r i n g t h e m long b e f o r e t h e council could d e c i d e on h o w the city m i g h t p a y for t h e m . 9 2 A n d it is clear f r o m the c h i e f ' s report of 1879 that h e kept abreast of police d e v e l o p m e n t s t h r o u g h o u t t h e U n i t e d States, as h e included a table c o m p a r i n g t h e M i n n e a p o l i s police to t h o s e in other c i t i e s . 9 3

N e i t h e r c r i m e n o r p u b l i c d i s o r d e r figured in the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of e i t h e r the M i n n e a p o l i s o r S a i n t Paul p o l i c e . A l t h o u g h there is some s u g g e s t i o n that t h e c h i e f s expected u n i f o r m s to help m a i n t a i n the d i s c i p l i n e of the police a n d t h e w a r m overcoats to k e e p t h e m out of b a r s , it is also a p p a r e n t that t h e police e x p a n d e d n u m e r i c a l l y to k e e p up w i t h the p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d p h y s i c a l e x p a n s i o n of the t w o cities. T h e only recorded r e a s o n i n g of a city official on the s u b j e c t of t h e police c a m e w h e n the m a y o r of S a i n t Paul e x p l a i n e d in 1871 that the city n e e d e d m o r e p o l i c e b e c a u s e it w a s g r o w i n g and b e c a u s e m o r e police c o n s t i t u t e d , in the long r u n , a greater e c o n o m y than f e w p o l i c e . " D i s o r d e r , " h e claimed, " s e l d o m arises w h e r e an officer is at h a n d - h i s m e r e p r e s e n c e or c o n t i g u i t y generally pre- vents t h e o f f e n s e from w h i c h follows the arrest, trial, c o n v i c t i o n and c o n s e q u e n t s u p p o r t of o f f e n d e r s for a term at the p u b l i c ex- p e n s e . " 9 4 C o s t , not c r i m e , w a s the c o n c e r n of t h e s e t w o b o o m i n g cities b u i l d i n g n e w police forces; q u e s t i o n s a b o u t the civil libertar- ian i s s u e s of s t a n d i n g a r m i e s , p o l i c e s p y i n g , or social control did not arise, for policing h a d s i m p l y b e c o m e an u r b a n service to b e taken for g r a n t e d , like s e w e r s , s i d e w a l k s , a n d streets.

It h a s b e e n difficult for h i s t o r i a n s to capture descriptively the b u - r e a u c r a t i c c h a n g e from the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h s y s t e m to t h e u n i - f o r m e d p o l i c e , and it h a s r e m a i n e d for a sociologist, Allan Levett, to come up w i t h w h a t I t h i n k is the m o s t e n g a g i n g p r e s e n t a t i o n of this c h a n g e . H e calls the p r e - u n i f o r m e d police " e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l p o l i c e , " e m p h a s i z i n g t h e i r n o n - r u l e - b o u n d b e h a v i o r and d e p e n d e n c e on fees rather t h a n salaries. B e c a u s e of t h e i r fee d e p e n d e n c e , the entre- preneurial p o l i c e e n g a g e d in activities g e n e r a t i n g large fees a n d re- w a r d s , such as the r e c o v e r y of stolen property. T h e u n i f o r m e d po-

Police in urban America, 1860 — 1920

lice h e argues, w e r e a " p o l i t i c i z e d b u r e a u c r a c y " : A l t h o u g h the n e w d e p a r t m e n t s h a d r u l e - g o v e r n e d i n t e r n a l structures, t h u s m e e t i n g the d e f i n i t i o n of a bureaucracy, t h e rules w e r e s u b j e c t to the d e - m a n d s of the local political p o w e r . O f c o u r s e , the e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l police w e r e , legally a n d traditionally, agents of the c o u r t s , w h i c h is w h y t h e y d e p e n d e d on f e e s and e m p h a s i z e d c a t c h i n g c r i m i n a l s rather than p r e v e n t i n g c r i m e . But the u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e , m o v e d from control b y the courts to an a d m i n i s t r a t i v e b r a n c h of city gov- e r n m e n t , b e c a m e a c o n s t a n t a n d regular feature of u r b a n life.

T h e gathering of the p o l i c e i n t o t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e b r a n c h of city g o v e r n m e n t paralleled the fate of a similarly e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l u r b a n service, the v o l u n t e e r fire d e p a r t m e n t . 9 5 Both r e o r g a n i z a t i o n s w e r e part of a larger c h a n g e , the rationalization of u r b a n g o v e r n m e n t a l services. T h i s m u s t b e k e p t in v i e w as w e analyze p o l i c e d society in the n i n e t e e n t h century, for this larger c h a n g e in u r b a n g o v e r n a n c e p r o v i d e d the n e c e s s a r y p r e c o n d i t i o n for the creation of the u n i - f o r m e d police. W i t h i n the context of this p r e c o n d i t i o n , several dif- ferent p r e c i p i t a n t s w e r e s u f f i c i e n t to m o v e t h e police i n t o u n i f o r m - t h a t i s , r i o t s , p e r c e p t i o n s of r i s i n g c r i m e , s e n s a t i o n a l c r i m i n a l offenses, or the demand for class control.

A l t h o u g h the r a n k - o r d e r d i s p e r s i o n m o d e l i n d i c a t e s that the u n i - fication of the S o u t h e r n u r b a n p o l i c e followed the dictates of a n a - tional u r b a n h i e r a r c h i c a l s y s t e m , there is s o m e e v i d e n c e that b e f o r e u n i f i c a t i o n there w e r e r e g i o n a l differences caused b y slavery. H i s - torian Richard W a d e cites t h e o b s e r v a t i o n s of travelers w h o f o u n d the S o u t h e r n p o l i c e efficiently r e p r e s s i v e . A l t h o u g h t h e s e o b s e r v a - tions reflect, at least partially, w h a t the travelers w a n t e d to see - that i s , e v i d e n c e of t h e totalitarian aspects of a slave s o c i e t y - t h e y still h a v e s o m e m e r i t . O n e only w o n d e r s if acute o b s e r v e r s could not h a v e f o u n d s i m i l a r r e p r e s s i v e policing of the p o o r in N o r t h e r n cities of the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h era. V i s i t i n g Charleston, South Caro- l i n a , F r e d e r i c k L a w O l m s t e d f o u n d " ' p o l i c e m a c h i n e r y as y o u n e v e r f i n d in t o w n s u n d e r free g o v e r n m e n t s : citadels, s e n t r i e s , p a s s p o r t s , g r a p e - s h o t t e d c a n o n , a n d daily p u b l i c w h i p p i n g s . . . . I h a p p e n e d m y s e l f to see m o r e direct e x p r e s s i o n of t y r a n n y in a s i n - gle d a y and n i g h t at C h a r l e s t o n , than in Naples in a w e e k ' . " In R i c h m o n d , V i r g i n i a , W i l l i a m C h a m b e r s c a m e u p o n an a r m e d po- lice g u a r d in t h e early e v e n i n g p a t r o l l i n g t h e capital ( w h e n , it should b e r e m e m b e r e d , the N o r t h e r n cities often h a d n o p o l i c e , the c o n s t a b l e s h a v i n g g o n e h o m e for the day a n d the n i g h t watch n o t yet on duty). F o r h i m , s e e i n g the officer " ' h a d the startling effect of

44 The historical development of the police 45

an a p p a r i t i o n ; for it w a s t h e first t i m e I h a d s e e n a b a y o n e t in the U n i t e d S t a t e s ' . " 9 6 A l t h o u g h t h e idea of guarding t h e capital m a y n o t s e e m too s u r p r i s i n g to u s , it h a d n o t b e e n c o m m o n p r a c t i c e even in the n a t i o n a l capital: In 1840, a d r u n k was a b l e to w a n d e r i n t o the W h i t e H o u s e and s p e n d t h e n i g h t u n n o t i c e d . A n d B o o t h shot L i n - coln w h i l e t h e police officer a s s i g n e d to guard L i n c o l n ' s b o x sat d r i n k i n g in a local b a r . 9 7

Not all h i s t o r i a n s agree on the e f f i c i e n c y of the S o u t h e r n p o l i c e , for a study of the S a v a n n a h , G e o r g i a , police b y R i c h a r d H a u n t o n d e s c r i b e s a s y s t e m r e m a r k a b l y like its N o r t h e r n c o u n t e r p a r t s , w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of a m u c h larger w a t c h , at least on p a p e r . In 1854, with a p o p u l a t i o n of a b o u t 17,000, t h e city h a d 5 c o n s t a b l e s a n d 100 w a t c h m e n . T h e next y e a r t h e police c h a n g e d , d e c l i n i n g to a w a t c h of 60 w i t h 20 m o u n t e d c o n s t a b l e s , a n d b y 1860 the w a t c h h a d b e e n e l i m i n a t e d i n favor of 56 police officers, 2 " s e n t i n e l s , " a n d 10 re- servists. T h e S a v a n n a h j a i l , like j a i l s t h r o u g h o u t the country, con- tained blacks, w h i t e s , w o m e n , children, lunatics, and w i t n e s s e s de- t a i n e d f o r trial. In this t h r i v i n g p o r t town w i t h m a n y i m m i g r a n t s and sailors, t h e city jail c o n t a i n e d t w i c e as m a n y w h i t e s as b l a c k s , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e slave o w n e r s p a i d f i n e s a n d free b l a c k s w e r e m o r e apt to receive corporal p u n i s h m e n t t h a n w h i t e s . A n e w s p a p e r edi- torial in 1853 m o c k i n g the w a t c h p r o b a b l y w o u l d h a v e b e e n appro- priate a n y w h e r e in the country: " ' W e are really at a loss to k n o w w h a t to m a k e of our u p - t o w n n e i g h b o r lately - does h e m e a n to say that there is such a t h i n g as a p o l i c e force in this city! Brother, b e - w a r e h o w y o u draw such long b o w s ! You'll i m p a r e y o u r credit for veracity if y o u put such r u m o r s afloat. ' W a t c h ' in S a v a n n a h ! Capital j o k e . W e j u s t b e g i n to see the c u e , our n e i g h b o r refers to t i m e p i e c e s in j e w e l r y s t o r e s ' . " 9 8

If S o u t h e r n police in t h e p r e - u n i f o r m , p r e - C i v i l W a r era w e r e more efficient and r e p r e s s i v e than police in t h e rest of the country, then the s i t u a t i o n h a d certainly c h a n g e d after the war, w h e n the S o u t h e r n c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system evolved i n t o police forces as in- efficient and politically factional as in the N o r t h . E u g e n e W a t t s traced the d e v e l o p m e n t of t h e Atlanta police from u n i f o r m i n g a n d unification in 1874 t h r o u g h depoliticization in 1904 a n d s h o w e d that the m a j o r differences b e t w e e n t h e m a n d N o r t h e r n police w e r e s o m e w h a t h i g h e r p e r capita strength and m o r e explicit race control efforts. A s in the N o r t h , police h a r a s s m e n t kept t h e " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s , " d e f i n e d m a i n l y in t e r m s of race in Atlanta, c o n t a i n e d in cer- tain p a r t s of t h e city. T h e c h i e f p u r p o s e l y allowed black " d i v e s " to

64 Police in urban America, 1 8 6 0 - 1 9 2 0

r e m a i n o p e n to p r o v i d e a c o n v e n i e n t place for a s u s p e c t pool w h e n arrests w e r e n e e d e d - a practice still c o n t i n u e d b y police t h r o u g h - out t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s . "

T h u s , the c o m p o s i t i o n of the " d a n g e r o u s c l a s s , " m a i n l y black in the S o u t h , m o r e h e t e r o g e n e o u s in the N o r t h , d e t e r m i n e d the re- gional differences in p o l i c e organization N o r t h and S o u t h . After u n i f i c a t i o n , w h a t e v e r r e g i o n a l differences that m a y h a v e existed had d i s a p p e a r e d . A s G e o r g e K e t c h a m , in h i s study of t h e unifica- tion of five police d e p a r t m e n t s in the N o r t h , M i d w e s t , and S o u t h , discovered:

Urban law enforcement agencies came to share a variety of com- mon characteristics in their personnel and procedures. Regard- less of region, a striking similarity existed in police practices and even the repeated shifts between metropolitan and state control did little to alter the mode of operations. The distinctive charac- ter of municipal police grew as much from the routine practices used in recruitment, training and law enforcement as from its statutory definition. 1 0 0

By the end of the n i n e t e e n t h century, the uniformed police in U . S . cities h a d a s s u m e d t h e f o r m and roles w i t h w h i c h m o s t A m e r i c a n s h a v e b e c o m e familiar. To b e sure, there w e r e m a n y technological c h a n g e s to c o m e , b o t h in w e a p o n r y and c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , b u t the bureaucratic system h a d b e e n f i r m l y e s t a b l i s h e d . Future technol- ogy w o u l d r e p r e s e n t f i n e t u n i n g on the b a s i c s y s t e m , w h i c h h a d c h a n g e d from a b r o a d l y c o n c e i v e d reactive i n s t i t u t i o n to a m o r e narrowly d e f i n e d p r e v e n t i v e and c o n t r o l - o r i e n t e d bureaucracy. A s a part of similar c h a n g e s in the role and political structure of U . S . cities, the u n i f o r m e d p o l i c e r e p r e s e n t e d a n e w w a y of o r d e r i n g , a d m i n i s t e r i n g , a n d controlling the city, a w a y s u b s t a n t i a l l y differ- ent from the traditional c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h . A l t h o u g h the r e a s o n s for the creation of the n e w p o l i c e c a m e from the n e w k i n d of city gov- e r n m e n t and from n e w k i n d s of social control for physically large and diverse p o p u l a t i o n s , the actual t i m i n g a n d a d o p t i o n of the sys- tem followed t h e m o r e b a s i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n structure of the city s y s t e m . Significantly, the n e w police s p e a r h e a d e d a n o n r e v e r s i b l e and u n i n t e n d e d p r o c e s s of social control in the city. O r i g i n a l i n t e n - tions a n d e x p e c t a t i o n s fell b y the w a y s i d e as city dwellers took i n i - tiative in putting the n e w police to n e w u s e s in w h i c h criminal arrest activities, at least for a long t i m e , figured only peripherally.

Notes to pages 2 6 - 3 0 189

47 Currently, anthropologists tend to hold a contrary position to mine, finding law and crime in all societies. See Edgerton: also see Moore.

48 Eric H. Monkkonen, "States Rights vs. Corporate Rights: Bank of Au- gusta vs. Earle 1 8 3 6 , " Alabama Quarterly (Summer 1973), 1 1 3 - 3 0 .

49 Herein lies the problem in Erikson's Wayward Puritans: He sees crime as defining behavioral boundaries or social norms, but ignores its in- herently political nature.

50 Pollock and Maitland, 1:52, 53.

1. The historical development of the police

1 Roger Lane, Policing the City: Boston, 1822-1905 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967); James F. Richardson, The New York Police: Colonial Times to 1901 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970); George A. Ketcham, "Municipal Police Reform: A Comparative Study of Law Enforcement in Cincinnati, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, and St. Louis, 1 8 4 4 - 1 8 7 7 , " P h . D . dissertation (Columbia: Uni- versity of Missouri, 1967); John K. Maniha, " T h e Mobility of Elites in a Bureaucratizing Organization: The St. Louis Police Department, 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 6 1 , " P h . D . dissertation (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1970); Jerald E. Levine, "Police, Parties, and Polity: The Bureaucratization, Unionization, and Professionalization of the New York City Police, 1 8 7 0 - 1 9 1 7 , " Ph.D. dissertation (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1971); Eugene F. Rider, " T h e Denver Police Department: An Adminis- trative, Organizational, and Operational History, 1 8 5 8 - 1 9 0 5 , " P h . D . dissertation (Denver: University of Denver, 1971); David R. Johnson, " T h e Search for an Urban Discipline: Police Reform as a Response to Crime in American Cities, 1 8 0 0 - 1 8 7 5 , " P h . D . dissertation (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1972); Wilbur R. Miller, "Legitimization of the London and New York City Police, 1 8 3 0 - 1 8 7 0 , " P h . D . dissertation (New York: Columbia University, 1973), published as Cops and Bob- bies: Police Authority in New York and London, 1830-1870 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976); Kenneth G. Alfers, " T h e Washing- ton Police: A History, 1 8 0 0 - 1 8 8 6 , " P h . D . dissertation (Washington, D . C . : George Washington University, 1975); Allan E. Levett, "Central- ization of City Police in the Nineteenth Century United S t a t e s , " Ph.D. dissertation (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1975); Maximilian I. Reichard, " T h e Origins of Urban Police: Freedom and Order in Ante- bellum St. L o u i s , " P h . D . dissertation (Saint Louis: Washington Uni- versity, 1975); Louis B. Cei, " L a w Enforcement in Richmond: A His- tory of Police Community Relations, 1 7 3 7 - 1 9 7 4 , " P h . D . dissertation (Tallahassee: Florida State University, 1975); Charles F. Tracy, " T h e Police of Portland, 1 8 4 0 - 1 8 7 0 , " P h . D . dissertation (Berkeley: Univer- sity of California, 1978); Louis I. Marchiafava, "Institutional and Legal Aspects of the Growth of Professional Urban Police Service: The Hous-

192 Notes to pages 41 — 6

ton Experience, 1 8 7 8 - 1 9 4 8 , " P h . D . dissertation (Houston: Rice Uni- versity, 1976). Johnson, Ketcham, Levett, and Miller all bring more than one city into their analyses.

2 Roger Lane, " C o m m e n t s , " Organization of American Historians An- nual Meeting, Saint Louis, April 8, 1976. James Q . Wilson, Varieties of Police Behavior: The Management of Law and Order in Eight Communities (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1968), finds four differ- ent " s t y l e s " of policing in the modern United States.

3 Thomas A. Critchley, A History of Police in England and Wales, 1900- 1966 (London: Constable, 1967), 1 1 - 1 3 .

4 Ketcham, 48, citing the Louisiana Gazette, August 5, 1808. The sugges- tion here is that the watch substitutes were recruited from the " d a n - gerous c l a s s , " rather than just being ancient and decrepit. If so, this forecasts the general character of the night police during the mid nine- teenth century.

5 Levett, 42, says that in the United States, some constables could raise the posse comitatus.

6 William A. Morris, The Frankpledge System (New York: Longmans, Green, 1910), cited by Critchley, 3.

7 Rider, 31. 8 Lane, Policing the City, 1 0 - 1 1 . 9 Ketcham, 51.

10 Rider, 19. 11 Rider, 249, citing the Rocky Mountain News (Jan. 19, 1883). This duty

was not u n i q u e to Denver. The similar marshal system of Charlotte, North Carolina, had orders to shoot all unlicensed dogs. (Charlotte Ob- server, June 1876).

12 Lane, Policing the City, cites an instance where the Boston watch was ordered to "prevent and suppress" night disturbances; although this is not the same as the general idea of a mission to prevent crime, it does suggest that the notion of prevention was present in the conception of the night watch, with its regular patrol.

13 There is some evidence that this may have been a difference of degree rather than kind: Theodore N. Ferdinand, "Criminality, the Courts and the Constabulary in B o s t o n : 1 7 0 3 - 1 9 6 7 , " m a n u s c r i p t (1973), claims to show that " b e t w e e n 1824 and 1 8 6 0 - 6 9 , drunkenness became the single most important offense in B o s t o n " (p. 11). The amount to which these arrests climbed would be a measure of the increased ini- tiative taken by a preventive police. Nevertheless, it is clear that the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system of Boston was primarily conceived as acting after offenses and upon complaints: For instance, arguing against a unified preventive police as late as 1863, Thomas C. Amory stated, " ' I t is the duty of the police officer to serve . . . warrants, when di- rected to him. It is nowhere made his duty to initiate p r o s e c u t i o n s ' " (Lane, Policing the City, 130). As an example of the variety of social welfare chores freely assigned to constables, in 1860 the marshal of

Notes to pages 46-9 193

Denver was given the care of Chihuahua, a lunatic, by the city (Rider, 2 7 - 8 ) .

14 Historians usually repeat the judgments of contemporaries complain- ing about the constable-watch system, but both Levett and Ferdinand make arguments for the effectiveness of the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h . Because of the measurement problems involved in comparing the arrest rates of the two different systems, this argument can probably never b e re- solved.

15 Lane, Policing the City, 10. 16 It is interesting in this connection that major employers of detectives

today are insurance companies. See the New York Times Magazine (March 12, 1972), 3 6 - 7 , 1 1 4 - 1 8 .

17 Richardson, 304, n. 38, citing Charles H. Haswell, Reminiscences of an Octogenarian (New York: Harper & Row, 1896), 510.

18 Ketcham, 50, 68. 19 Johnson, 1 7 6 - 7 . 20 Adrian Cook, The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of

1863 (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1974). This incident illustrated a pattern still common today: Police mobilize against a riot- ing group, escalating the level of violence and confrontation, shifting the target of the mob to the police themselves; police discipline fails, resulting in more violence on both sides, and finally political leaders call in the military or militia. Although police today have reached new levels of weaponry, riot control tactics, and technological sophistica- tion, the same scenario will no doubt recur.

21 Norman Gash, Mr. Secretary Peel: The Life of Sir Robert Peel to 1830 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1961), 109.

22 Cited by Gash, 175. 23 Quoted by Gash from a speech by Peel, June 23, 1814, 179. 24 Gash, 185; see also Robert Curtis, The History of the Royal Irish Constab-

ulary (Dublin: Moffat, 1869), 2 - 5 1 . 25 Gash, 184. 26 Miller, 64. 27 Richardson, 64. 28 Unfortunately, Miller's sources tend to bias his results - for London h e

uses departmental correspondence and memos, whereas for New York he relies upon external sources. In a sense, then, he has the inner views of what the London police were trying to do, as opposed to the outsiders' views of the New York police.

29 Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Un- derworld (New York: Knopf, 1927), 237.

30 Leon Radzinowicz, Ideology and Crime: A Study of Crime in its Social and Historical Context (London: H e i n e m a n n , 1966), 6 - 1 4 .

31 Miller, 112; Johnson, 173; Rider, 100; James W. Gerard, London and New York: Their Crime and Police (New York: W. C. Bryant, 1853).

32 Miller, 64.

192 Notes to pages 41 — 6

33 Perhaps the preventive detention part of the D . C . Crime Bill suggests the next step in the prevention concept - imprisoning potential of- fenders, rather than speedily trying them for offenses in fact commit- ted. James Franklin, Benjamin's older brother, established the freedom of the press from prior restraint with the New England Courant, early in the eighteenth century. See Edwin Emory, The Press and America: An Interpretive History of Journalism (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962), 4 8 - 5 1 .

34 Gerard, 1, 6, 17. 35 Levett argues that urban elites consciously created the police to control

the "dangerous class." 36 Essentially, the arrest power of the constable did not differ from that of

a private citizen until the late eighteenth century, when differing defi- nitions began to emerge in England, coincident with the beginnings of the uniformed police. These differences remained unsettled and in constant flux until two years before Peel's London police were created. At this point, in 1827, the issue finally became clarified, when it was decided that a police officer might arrest when there were reasonable grounds to suspect that a felony had been committed, whereas a pri- vate citizen could only arrest upon proof that a felony had been com- mitted. See Jerome Hall, "Legal and Social Aspects of Arrest Without a W a r r a n t , " Harvard Law Review, (Feb. 1936), 5 6 6 - 9 2 , for a clear discus- sion of this matter.

37 See Richardson, 1 0 2 - 8 , for a more detailed account. 38 Rider, 3 7 1 - 8 8 . 39 Rider, 398. 40 For instance, police in Denver, through telegraphic call-boxes, had a

communciations network by 1885 (Rider, 271, 276, 471): again, other larger cities provided the model. See Seymour M a n d e l b a u m , Boss Tweed's New York (New York: Wiley, 1965), for an interesting analysis of bosses and communication networks.

41 Richardson, 106, quoting George Templeton Strong, The Diary of George Templeton Strong, ed. Allan Nevins and Milton H. Thomas (New York: Macmillan, 1952).

42 Gerard, 17, 18. 43 Lane, Policing the City, 105; also, Lane, " C o m m e n t s . " 44 Alfers, 53. 45 Lane, Policing the City, 105. 46 Richardson, 65, citing the New York Times (June 30, 1854). 47 Johnson, 172, citing the Chicago Tribune (March 19, 1855). 48 Johnson, 1 7 3 - 6 , citing the Philadelphia Public Ledger (Feb. 28 and

March 5, 1855). 49 Incident described in Howard O. Sprogle, The Philadelphia Police, Past

and Present (Philadelphia: n . p . , 1877), 1 0 3 - 2 2 . The proposed uniforms for the San Francisco police in 1855 were

mocked by an editorial in the Weekly Journal (Sept. 29, 1855) that

Notes to pages 4 6 - 9 193

heaped abuse on the " m o n k e y s h o w " and then went on to ask for full military regalia and " ' f u s s and feathers'": "Then let no man be ap- pointed as a policeman who has not a countenance full of w a r . " As late as 1878, the issue of police uniforms in San Francisco was the butt of editorial jokes. A proposal to change the color of the uniforms from grey to blue and to copy the style of the New York police was the subject of a cartoon in the Wasp (May 25, 1878) and, later, an article describing h o w the new color ran in the first rainstorm (Oct. 26, 1878). Similarly, the New Bedford, Massachusetts, police uniforms were greeted with laughter, apparently because the city had a tradition of officers creating their own outfits (Sunday Standard, Feb. 5, 1911).

The point, however, should be made clear that the visibility of uni- forms and change in uniforms, rather than their implicit meaning, cre- ated controversy. And the new uniforms were not always resisted by the police officers. For instance, the officers of the Bridgeport, Con- necticut, police force petitioned the city to be uniformed on Nov. 4, 1861; n . a . , History of the Police Department, of Bridgeport, Conn. (Bridgeport: Relief Book Publishing, 1892), 35. For over a century, this aspect of policing has attracted attention; see, for instance, the story about Houston police resistance to replacing cowboy boots with shoes; Nicholas C. Chriss, "Police Toe Line, Turn in Boots for W i n g - T i p s , " Los Angeles Times (Jan. 27, 1975), 1.

50 Rider, 120, citing the Rocky Mountain Times; also 425. 51 For more detail, see Lane, Policing the City, 9 - 1 0 1 . 52 Lane, Policing the City, 17. 53 Alfers, 16. 54 See Jerome H. Skolnik, Justice Without Trial: Law Enforcement in Demo-

cratic Society (New York: Wiley, 1966); Rider, 3 4 6 - 7 ; Lane, 148; Rich- ardson, 282; Alfers, 192.

55 Lane, Policing the City, 34. 56 Lane, Policing the City, 6. See also Rider, 100, 213, 272; or Ketcham,

143, 1 5 2 - 7 , for similar intercity communications. 57 Ketcham, Walker, and Levett have the best national surveys of police

changes. 58 See G u d m u n d H e m e s , "Structural Change and Social P r o c e s s e s , "

American journal of Sociology (Nov. 1976), 520, for a good brief expres- sion of this notion.

59 Richard Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South, 1820-1860 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964).

60 See H e m e s , 520, and also 5 1 3 - 4 7 , for a longer discussion of these models and their relationship to social structure.

61 There has been a good deal of literature on the methodological implica- tions of the ecological fallacy since the term was introduced by W. S. Robinson in a famous article, "Ecological Correlations and the Behav- ior of Individuals," American Sociological Review (June 1950), 3 5 1 - 7 . More recently, a collection of pieces on the subject, Stein Rokkan and

192 Notes to pages 41 — 6

Mattei Dugan, eds., Quantitative Ecological Analysis in the Social Sci- ences (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1969), has shown how research based on relating large units can be pursued without being crippled by the logical problems of the ecological fallacy.

62 See Johnson, Policing the Urban Underworld, whose thesis is that the police were modernized to fight rising crime.

63 Thorsten Sellin, Slavery and the Penal System (New York: Elsevier, 1976), shows how the penal response to crime came from models of slavery. Police do not enter his interesting and provocative discussion.

64 For instance, see Miller, Cops and Bobbies, 43, on the resistance to the Metropolitan Police in London.

65 Allan Silver, " T h e Demand for Order in Civil Society: A Review of Some Themes in the History of Urban Crime, Police, and R i o t , " in David J. Bordua, ed., The Police: Six Sociological Essays (New York: Wiley, 1967).

66 See Note 1. 67 Levett, 25. 68 For the Marxist version of Buffalo, see Sidney Harring and Lorrain

McMullin, " T h e Buffalo Police, 1 8 7 2 - 1 9 0 0 : Labor Unrest, Political Power and the Creation of the Police I n s t i t u t i o n , " Crime and Social jus- tice (Fall-Winter 1975), 5 - 1 4 . For the Durkheimian approach, see Elwin Powell, "Crime as a Function of A n o m i e , " Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science (June 1966), 1 6 1 - 7 1 .

69 See Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations (New York: Free Press, 1962), 2 1 - 5 6 , for a succinct discussion of the major areas of diffusion research. For a more mathematical analysis, see James G. Coleman, Introduction to Mathematical Sociology (Glencoe, 111.: Free Press, 1964) 4 9 2 - 5 1 7 ; and with Elihu Katz and Herbert Menzel, Medical Innovation: A Diffusion Study (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1966), 103, n. 5 for a good brief discussion of the S curve. Chapter 11, "Spatial Diffusion: Meshing Space and T i m e , " in Ronald Abler, John S. Adams, and Peter Gould, Spatial Organization: The Geographer's View of the World (Pren- tice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, N . J . , 1971), 3 8 9 - 4 5 1 , has a thorough and well-written summary of the geographer's version of innovation diffu- sion. This includes a good section, 4 3 7 - 4 7 , on various geographical studies of diffusion across the nineteenth-century United States, which shows a transition in the middle of the century from a diffusion pattern that followed water transport routes to one flowing through the urban hierarchy. This chapter also makes clear h o w a diffusion process may often contain both hierarchical and contagious patterns. For a suggestive analysis of diffusion through an urban system in an under- developed nation, an important characteristic of which is the adapta- tion of innovations from other nations (thus making this recent study similar to the adoption of the English policing model in the United States), see Poul O. Pederson, "Innovation Diffusion Within and Be- tween National Urban S y s t e m s , " Geographical Analysis (July 1970),

Notes to pages 46-9 193

2 0 3 - 5 4 . For a rather disappointing treatment of nineteenth-century diffusion of innovations adopted by state governments, see Jack L. Walker, " T h e Diffusion of Innovations Among the American S t a t e s , " American Political Science Review (Sept. 1969), 8 8 0 - 9 9 . Walker tends to ignore time and space consideration for a multivariate analysis of pro- pensity to innovate; his footnotes are extensive. Almost the whole first issue of Geographical Analysis (Jan. 1969) was devoted to diffusion analysis - all of the articles are relevant, but of special interest is G. P. Pyle, " T h e Diffusion of Cholera in the United States in the Nineteenth C e n t u r y , " 5 9 - 7 5 .

70 Rogers, 1 3 - 1 9 . 71 St. Louis evolved from a constable (city marshal)-watch system, to a

separate day and night police (1846), to a unified police in 1861. Chi- cago, on the other hand, changed directly from the c o n s t a b l e - w a t c h system to a unified police in 1853. (Ketcham, 1 2 0 - 3 3 ) .

72 Silver, 1 2 - 1 3 ; Miller, 1 1 3 - 1 4 . 73 Jack J. Preiss and Howard J. Ehrlich, An Examination of Role Theory:

The Case of the State Police (Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1966), 20. Thus, there were usually one of three reasons given for the uniform: that of the contemporary police officer cited here, the hope of deterrence, or the need to control the police themselves. The Norfolk (Va.) Journal (December 20, 1866) expected that the newly uni- formed police would make "life and property . . . more secure hence- forth, than it has in the p a s t . " In addition to deterrence and control over officers, the Worcester, Massachusetts, marshal pointed out that "strangers visiting our depots and other public places, and needing the services of a Police officer" would appreciate the visibility of a uniform. Report of the City Marshal (Worcester, Mass., 1864), 172.

Nursing outfits provide one comparable example, although they came somewhat later in the nineteenth century than police uniforms. Caps were the first formalized part of the nurse outfit, those in the United States apparently imitating European precedents from the early nineteenth century. The earliest caps appeared, with a uniform, in New York City (Bellevue) in the early 1870s, and were shortly followed in Boston and Philadelphia in 1878. Later adopters directly imitated these early innovators. The Good Samaritan hospital in Portland, Ore- gon, copied Bellevue; the Cincinnati Nursing School copied Blockly Hospital in Philadelphia; and St. Luke's in Denver copied St. Luke's in Chicago. The relevant point here is that, like police departments, nurs- ing organizations followed the precedents set in larger urban places. See n . a . , Why a Cap? A Short History of Nursing Caps from Some Schools Organized Prior to 1891 (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1940).

74 H e m e s , 5 1 3 - 4 7 , relates these two models to theories of social structure and social change.

75 The shape of the curve is for all practical purposes identical to that of the normal curve expressed additively, and has often been interpreted

192 Notes to pages 41 — 6

as the graph of diffusion in a system where resistance to innovation is normally and randomly distributed. See Earl H. P e m b e r t o n , " T h e Curve of Cultural Diffusion R a t e , " American Sociological Review (Aug. 1936), 550, for a classic statement on this. The implication is that the speed of diffusion is simply determined by randomly distributed and unspecified traits among, in this case, a population of cities: This no- tion is neither theoretically nor substantively satisfying, and can be readily rejected in this study by the analysis of the order in which cities uniformed their police, an order which clearly was nonrandom and hierarchical. For an explanation of the model of précipitants and preconditions, see Harry Eckstein, " O n the Etiology of Internal W a r s , " History and The- ory, 4 (1965), 1 3 3 - 6 4 . The problem of explaining the creation of uni- formed police solely as a response to urban riots may be highlighted by the patterns of major riots in New York City. The following list of dates show those years that historians have identified as occasions for major riots from 1800 to 1900. Note that the list in itself provides no guide as to a likely point for changing the police system. For convenience I have stopped the list at 1900, although it could be extended:

Year Riot

1806 Irish Catholic 1826 New Year's Eve 1834 Abolitionist, election 1837 Flour 1849 Astor Place 1855 Seventeenth Ward beer riots 1857 Police, dead rabbits, bread (all following the

creation of the police) 1863 Draft 1 8 7 0 - 1 Orange 1874 Tompkins Square 1900 I r i s h - N e g r o

Source: Richardson, 1 4 - 1 6 , 28, 68, 105, 1 0 9 - 1 0 , 166, 195, 276, and Joel T. Headley, The Great Riots of New York: 1712-1873 (New York, 1873; Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970), 97, 134, 289. To more clearly test the hypothesis that riots precipitated police change, one would have to mount a study similar to that of Charles Tilly documented by R. A. Schweitzer, " A Study of Contentious Gatherings in Early Nineteenth- Century Great B r i t a i n , " Historical Methods (Spring 1979), 1 2 3 - 6 . Pyle, Figures l a , 2a, and 3a. As New York and Boston copied the police of London (a single point), smaller cities copied New York and Boston. The police of Lowell, Massachusetts, copied their badges from those of Boston in 1887 (City Documents LLowell, Mass.: n . p . , 1888J, 19). The Providence, Rhode Island, police modeled their whole uniform on Bos-

Notes to pages 46-9 193

ton's in 1865 (Henry Mann, ed., Our Police, [Providence, R.I., n . p . , 1889J). The buttons of the Utica, New York, uniform were copied from the New York City police in 1859 - and the uniforms were paid for by the proceeds from a ball! (Utica [N.Y.] Morning Herald LOct. 26, 1859]). The material of the uniform of the Paterson, New Jersey, police was the same as that of the New York uniforms in 1871 (n.a., History of the Fire and Police Departments of Paterson, New Jersey, "General R u l e s " LPater- son, N.J.: n . p . , 1893J, 163). The Norfolk (Va.) Journal (Dec. 20, 1866) proudly announced the new uniform would be made in Baltimore, but " i s the same as worn by the police of New York, Baltimore and Wash- ington. . . . "

78 Nelson W. Polsby, " T h e Institutionalization of the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives," American Political Science Review (March 1968), 1 4 4 - 6 8 .

79 See Eugene Watts, " ( O n e Dimension of the) Social Dynamics of 'Cop' Careers: The St. Louis Police, 1 8 9 9 - 1 9 7 0 , " paper presented at the Or- ganization of American Historians Annual Meeting, April 8, 1976.

80 See Bruce C. Johnson, "Taking Care of Labor: The Police in American Politics," Theory and Society (Spring 1976), 8 9 - 1 1 7 , for a discussion of progressives and police reform.

81 Both Levine and David Johnson argue that conflicting demands placed on the individual police officers by politicians, the public, and the police command structure forced police to professionalize and develop their own norms.

82 Alix J. Muller, History of the Police and Fire Departments of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis: Minneapolis, St. Paul, American Land and Title Registration Association, 1899), incorrectly stated that the Minneapolis police got their uniforms in 1874 (p. 41).

83 Minneapolis Tribune (Nov. 15, 1874). The Tribune of March 20, 1874, noted that the Saint Paul police wore new uniforms, but these appar- ently were not their first, as the council had paid for new " o u t f i t s " on June 4, 1872. (Proceedings of the Common Council, 1872-1874 |Sf. Paul, 1874\).

84 Proceedings of the City Council, 1876, June 21, 1876 (Minneapolis, 1876), 41.

85 Proceedings of the Common Council, 1872-1874, June 4, 1872 (St. Paul, 1874), 66.

86 Proceedings of the City Council, 1876, Oct. 20, 1875 (Minneapolis, 1876), 77.

87 Minneapolis Tribune, April 18, 1872. 88 Proceedings of the City Council, 1876, April 1 1 , 1 8 7 6 (Minneapolis, 1876),

3. 89 Minneapolis Tribune, April 14, 1876. 90 Minneapolis Tribune, May 19, 1876. 91 Proceedings of the City Council, 1876, Oct. 20, 1875 (Minneapolis, 1876),

77. 92 Proceedings of the City Council, 1877, Dec. 20, 1876 (Minneapolis, 1877).

198 Notes to pages 6 1 - 6

93 Annual Report of the Chief of Police, 1879 (Minneapolis, 1879), 9 4 - 5 . 94 Proceedings of the Common Council, 1871-1872 (St. Paul, 1872), 2. 95 See Bruce Laurie's article on fire gangs in Allen F. Davis and Mark H.

Haller, eds., The Peoples of Philadelphia: A History of Ethnic Groups and Lower Class Life, 1790-1940 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1973). See also Richard B. Calhoun, " N e w York City Fire Department Modernization, 1865-1870: A Civil War Legacy," New-York Historical Society Quarterly (Jan./April 1976), 7 - 3 4 , who argues that Civil War military organizational experience provided a model for reorganizing the New York City fire department.

96 Wade, 98, citing Frederick L. Olmsted, A journey in the Back Country (New York: Mason Brothers, 1860), 280; one suspects Olmsted may have been looking for tyranny. Lane, Policing the City, 129, quotes a Bostonian who compared the Southern police to those of Cuba and Europe: The date, 1861, suggests such sentiment again reflects anti- Southern bias rather than accurate analysis.

97 Alfers, 4 7 - 1 3 0 . 98 Richard H. Haunton, " L a w and Order in Savannah, 1 8 5 0 - 1 8 6 0 , " Geor-

gia Historical Quarterly (Spring 1972), 14. Leonard P. Curry, "Urbaniza- tion and Urbanism in the Old South: A Comparative V i e w , " Journal of Southern History (Feb. 1974), 5 3 - 4 , emphasizes the similarity of the Northern and Southern police.

99 Eugene J. Watts, " T h e Police in Atlanta, 1 8 9 0 - 1 9 0 5 , " journal of South- ern History (May 1973), 1 6 5 - 8 2 .

100 Ketcham, 213.

2. Arrest trends, 1 8 6 0 - 1920

1 Roger Lane, " C r i m e and Criminal Statistics in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts," Journal of Social History (Winter 1968), 1 5 6 - 6 3 .

2 The use of sentencing or convictions poses several measurement prob- lems, not the least of which is shown by Charles N. Burrows, Criminal Statistics in Iowa, University of Iowa Studies in the Social Sciences, 9 (1931) n. 2, p. 110, who found a greater fluctuation in convictions.than in sentences over a seventy-five-year period. Theodore N. Ferdinand, "Criminality, the Courts, and the Constabulary in Boston, 1 7 0 3 - 1 9 6 7 , " manuscript (De Kalb: Northern Illinois University) n. 6, p. 23; " T h e Criminal Patterns of Boston Since 1 8 4 9 , " American Journal of Sociology (July 1967), 8 4 - 9 9 ; "Politics, the Police and Arresting Policies in Salem, Massachusetts, since the Civil W a r , " Social Problems (Spring 1972), 5 7 2 - 8 8 ; "From a Service to a Legalistic Style Police Department: A Case Study [of Rockford, Illinois]," manuscript (De Kalb: Northern Illi- nois University). An earlier study, Leonard V. Harrison, Police Admin- istration in Boston (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1934), found patterns conflicting with those reported by Ferdinand. Robbery