Introduction

Policing in America traces its roots to England. Beginning in the ninth century with the mutual pledge system and progressing to the thief-takers of the seventeenth century. Sir Robert Peel is credited with organizing the first police department in London, England. American policing began during the colonial period, using the English model with constables by day and watchmen at night. Boston was first to create an organized police department in 1838 followed by New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Newark. Policing on the American frontier was scarce.

Police professionalization began in the early part of the twentieth century and continued through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. This struggle continues as local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies attempt to restructure themselves to manage the affairs of the new millennium. Clearly, the twenty-first century promises to be another turbulent and challenging time for police.

Policing and law enforcement in the United States is based from a viewpoint of local control, which accounts for the large number of police and law enforcement agencies, including a myriad of local, state and federal. (A general outline will be presented.) Also part of U.S. policing is the large private security industry, whose role is valuable in supplementing the limitations of public law enforcement.

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

describe the history of policing and how the U.S. model developed from the English model;
outline the progression from early American policing to present-day policing;
describe the many local, state, and federal policing and law enforcement agencies public agencies in the United States;
list the breathe of private security in the U.S. and its various functions.

Road Map

To Read

Below are the lesson readings. Complete these before progressing to the author's commentary.

Chapters 1 & 2 of An introduction to policing (Dempsey and Frost, 2008).

To Do

Complete the following lesson assignments:

Discussion Forum Activities;
Application Exercise submitted to the Dropbox;
Send your Exam Request Form(s) to World Campus Student Services.

Early Policing

One of early history's codifications of law is The Code of Hammurabi, the Babylonian ruler said to have ruled in the eighteenth century B.C.E. The Code stands as empirical evidence of a set of written laws and the penalties for violating those laws. Although there is no direct evidence of a police or law enforcement agency during Hammurabi's rule, logic suggests such existed.

Not until the third century B.C.E. did Roman magistrates appoint individuals to serve as the law enforcement arm in their jurisdiction. This progressed into the Praetorian Guard, and later the Vigiles of Rome, who served as the first firemen and grew into a policing organization. From the Vigiles of Rome come the terms vigilante and vigilance.

Sir Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel has long been recognized as the father of modern policing. Read Peel's Nine Principles carefully and take notice of their ordering.

Sir. Robert Peel

Discussion Activity

Do you agree with Peel’s ordering of importance for his principles? If so, explain why this ordering is correct. If not, reorder them in their entirety (not just by number) and justify your rationale.

Please post your answers to the Peel's Nine Principles 1 discussion forum. Then respond to two or three of your classmates' postings, choosing ones that represent different viewpoints.

The Changing Focus of the Police

Early policing in America was based on the watchman style. Even into the nineteenth century, policing was not very organized. That changed in 1838 when Boston created the first organized police department. New York City followed in 1845, and Philadelphia in 1854. Early policing in the United States was political and the buying and selling of police positions was common. And yet in some jurisdictions police officers were also street sweepers and some opened their empty jail cells to the homeless for shelter and food. Still, training was non-existent and more often than not, the great arbiter of disputes was the end of a police officer's nightstick.

Policing into the Twentieth Century

Policing at the turn of the twentieth century was rife with corruption - a problem that continues to plague current police administrators. Reforms in policing were attempted during the progressive period of American government (1900-1914) with no effect. The Boston Police Strike of 1919 was a first of its kind. It ended when rioting and looting broke out, turning the public against the striking officers and ending their strike. Not until 1969 did the next unofficial police strike occur in New Orleans, where Police officers succumbed to an outbreak of the "Blue Flu." New Orleans firefighters joined them in an outbreak of the "Red Flu." Yet these job actions ended without benefit to the officers or firemen. Ten years later, Mardi Gras was cancelled when NOPD officers participated in the first official police strike in 60 years, ending in frustration and failure for NOPD officers as well. (Note: the course author was an NOPD officer at that time and participated in both the "Blue Flu" and the strike.)

Policing in the Turbulent 1960s and 1970s

The 1960s and 1970s were turbulent decades in the United States: the Civil Rights movement was in full swing; the U.S. Supreme Court had handed down major decisions such as Mapp v. Ohio (1961), Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), and Miranda v. Arizona (1966). In just one decade, three national leaders were assassinated: President John F. Kennedy (1963), Robert Kennedy (1968) and Dr. Martin Luther King (1968). This, too, was the era of national anti-Vietnam war demonstrations, including those of college campuses, the most notable being the May 4, 1970, tragedy at Kent Sate University, where members of the Ohio National Guard killed four students and wounded another nine.

Policing into the Twenty-first Century

The millennium had barely begun when international terrorists commandeered passenger airliners and turned them into flying bombs. September 11, 2001, is a date that will be etched for all time in memories of Americans. Since then, we have witnessed increase security and scrutiny by all levels of government. But are we any more secure than we were pre-September 11, 2001? The Patriot Act of 2001was enacted and just recently the USA Patriot Act Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2006. In October 2005, in the name of securing life and liberty, we witnessed warrentless searches of persons in New York City subways and of vehicles and persons at the scene of a bomb threat in Baltimore, Maryland. In both situations, no bombs or explosives were found nor were any persons suspected of terrorism arrested. Yet everyone submitted voluntarily to a search.

Organizing Public and Private Security in the United States

Local v. National Control

Many know the adage "all politics is local." Policing in the United States is viewed similarly, accounting for why this country has more than 18,000 full-time police and law enforcement agencies. The vast majority of these are local police departments with less than 50 sworn personnel. The majority of the uniformed officers are engaged in patrol work, while less than 20 percent are assigned as full-time investigators.

The most recognized of federal Law enforcement agencies are the U. S. Department of Justice; Department of Treasury; Department of Homeland Security; Department of the Interior; Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Marshals Service; Internal Revenue Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; National Park Service; U.S. Capitol Police; U.S. Postal Inspectors; and the U.S. Department of Diplomatic Security.

Private Security

In the past 25 years, the private security industry has grown tremendously. In 2003, persons in the contract and proprietary security industry held 1.1 million jobs. This field spans from security guards to armored car services to security consultants and engineers. Private investigation agencies such as The Pinkertons and Wackenhut are also major employers in the field.

Lesson Activities

Application Exercise

The criminal justice program is participating in a time capsule project, and the department chair has asked you to contribute material with the intent of burying it on campus for 100 years. The chair requests that you contribute five of the most significant documents relating to policing from its inception to the present. What would you include?

Please submit this exercise to the dropbox named Capsule Project.

Exam Reminder

It is now time to submit the Exam Request Form for the first exam. The World Campus is NOT responsible for making arrangements for proctored exams. Click on Exam #1 Request Form to access the link. Be sure to do this immediately and read the exam instructions on the form. Your exams will not be mailed to your proctors until you submitted your Exam Request Forms.

This exam will cover material from Lessons 1 through 4. It consists of 50 multiple-choice. You will have 60 minutes to complete the exam. You are permitted to bring pencils into the exam. You may not use your texts or other course materials.

At this point in the course, you should already have identified a proctor and provided appropriate proctor verification documents.

After you submitted your exam request to the World Campus, you should have received an e-mail with the subject line CRIMJ 210 Student Exam Rules. At this time you must contact your proctor and arrange a suitable time and place to take the exam.

EXAM RULES AND PROCEDURES: Please pay close attention to the exam rules and procedures. These rules are necessary to maintain the integrity of the exam process. Failure to adhere to these rules could result in the exam being deemed invalid, the student being charged with academic dishonesty, and/or the proctor no longer being approved.

IDENTIFICATION: All students must bring some form of valid identification to the exam. A driver's license, Penn State student identification, or some other form of current picture identification is preferred.

Each exam request form can only be submitted ONCE. If you need to change any information submitted on an exam request form, or if you have questions regarding the status of your proctor verification or exam, please e-mail wdrecords@outreach.psu.edu or contact the World Campus at 1-800-252-3592. If you have a question about your exam grade, please contact your instructor.

Police History and the Organization of Public and Private Security in the United States (Printer Friendly Format)