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Chapter 1
Police History
Learning Objectives
LO1 Explain the primary means of ensuring personal safety prior to the establishment of formal,
organized police departments.
LO2 Discuss the influence of the English police experience on American policing.
LO3 Outline the regional differences in American policing that characterized the colonial period.
Lesson Plan
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Introduction
A. The word police came from the Latin word politia, which means “civil
administration.” Etymologically, the police can be seen as those involved in the
II. Early Police
Learning Objective 1: Explain the primary means of ensuring personal safety prior to the
establishment of formal, organized police departments.
A. Organized police departments were rare in early societies. Citizens were responsible
for protecting themselves and maintaining order.
B. Around the fifth century BCE, the Romans created the first specialized investigative
unit, called questors, or “trackers of murder.”
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III. English Policing: Our Heritage
Learning Objective 2: Discuss the influence of the English police experience on American
policing.
A. Early History
2. Constable might be considered the first form of English police officer.
3. Shire-reeve (sheriff) was in control of an area equivalent to today’s county.
4. Statute of Winchester established a rudimentary criminal justice system in which
5. Watch and ward required all men in a given town to serve on the night watch.
See Assignment 1
B. Seventeenth Century Policing: Thief-Takers
2. Paid by the king for every criminal they arrested—similar to the bounty hunter of
the American West
C. Henry Fielding and the Bow Street Runners
1. Founds the first modern police force
3. Bow Street Runners—first investigative unit
Class Discussion/Activity:
The watch and ward required all men in a given town to serve on the night watch. In fact,
the Statute of Winchester made it a crime not to assist the watch. How has this changed in
modern times? When an incident occurs, are citizens more likely to not become involved?
Class Discussion/Activity:
Henry Fielding put together a small investigative unit of thief-takers. By collaborating with
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Media Tool
“History of Police—The Fieldings and the Bow Street Runners”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rZfckouVKc
• A very brief introduction to the Bow Street Runners.
• Discussion: Discuss the formation of the Bow Street Runners. What was their purpose?
D. Peel’s Police: The Metropolitan Police for London
1. Act for Improving the Police in and near the Metropolis (the Metropolitan Police
2. Peel’s Nine Principles: concerned with the preventive role of the police and
3. Beat system: officers were assigned to relatively small permanent posts.
See Assignment 2
IV. American Policing: The Colonial Experience
Learning Objective 3: Outline the regional differences in American policing that characterized
the colonial period.
A. The North: The Watch
1. By the seventeenth century, the northern colonies began to institute a civil law
2. In cities, the town marshal was the chief law enforcement official, aided by
constables and night watchmen.
B. The South: Slave Patrols and Codes
local businessmen and sharing information between investigators, this unit was effective in
capturing wanted criminals. What can law enforcement in the United States learn from this
type of policing?
Class Discussion/Activity:
Sir Robert Peel wrote his Nine Principles to guide the newly formed New Westminster
Police Service. How many of these principles are still in use today by local law enforcement
agencies?
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1. Law enforcement was still mainly the responsibility of the individual citizen, as it
3. Slave patrols were commonplace by the early eighteenth century and were often
combined with local militia and police duties.
V. American Policing: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
Learning Objective 4: Summarize the regional differences in American policing that
characterized the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
A. The Urban Experience
1. Early Police Departments
a. The first organized American police department was created in Boston in
2. Politics in American Policing
a. Politicians decided who would be hired and promoted.
b. There was no job security and no training.
What-If Scenario
Imagine the mayor of your town asks you to “fix” a ticket for him. What would be your response
and why?
3. The Early Police Officer’s Role
a. Police officers’ duties extended beyond law enforcement.
B. The Southern Experience
1. Largest obstacle facing Atlanta police leaders was finding qualified, trustworthy
men to serve.
C. The Frontier Experience
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1. Sheriffs and Town Marshalls: locally elected county sheriffs and the appointed
town marshals were usually the only law enforcement officers available on the
American frontier.
3. The Military: the Posse Comitatus Act of 1879; forbid the use of the military to
enforce civilian law except where expressly authorized by law.
4. State Police Agencies: some states and territories created their own police
Class Discussion/Activity:
Compare and contrast the police of the nineteenth century with the police of today. How have
public attitudes toward police changed, or have they? Is the police job much different today from
what it was 100 years ago?
VI. American Policing: Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
A. Policing from 1900 to 1960
2. Technology
3. The Boston Police Strike
What-If Scenario
Class Discussion/Activity:
Most county sheriffs are elected officials, whereas police chiefs are generally appointed.
How does this affect the policies of the respective departments?
Class Discussion/Activity:
What was the purpose of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1879? Why was this an issue in the
late 1800s?
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Imagine you are asked to participate in an “informational picket” of your police agency by your
police union due to a dispute over wages. What would you do?
5. The Wickersham Commission
7. O. W. Wilson
9. John Edgar Hoover
10. Kefauver Committee
B. Policing in the 1960s and 1970s
1. Supreme Court Decisions: Mapp v. Ohio (1961), Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), and
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
What-If Scenario
Imagine you are investigating the murder of a young child and the suspect you have in custody
will not answer your questions. Are you willing to do “whatever it takes” to get information from
the suspect? How should you proceed with this suspect?
2. The Civil Rights Movement: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the
4. Anti–Vietnam War Demonstrations
6. Urban Riots
7. Creation of National Commissions
8. Corruption and the Knapp Commission
Media Tool
“Widespread Police Corruption, West City, UT”
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPkvbUVyIqw
• Television news reporting on possible officer corruption.
• Discussion: Discuss the implications of possible officer corruption in this incident. How
does Brady v. Maryland enter into this case? How might the police handle this incident?
9. Police Research and the LEAA
See Assignment 3
10. Development of the Ideology of a Diverse Department
C. Policing in the 1980s and 1990s
1. CompStat
a. Timely and accurate intelligence
b. Use of effective tactics in response to that intelligence
2. Rodney King incident (1991)—LAPD
Media Tool
“Rodney King Incident”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OauOPTwbqk
• Full version of the Rodney King incident from the Department of Justice.
• Discussion: Discuss what you see on the video. What could the police have done
differently? What could have Rodney King done differently? Who is “more” at fault and
why?
Class Discussion/Activity:
How has CompStat changed policing today? What has remained the same?
Class Discussion/Activity:
How has the Rodney King case changed policing? What lessons were learned? What
lessons still need to be learned?
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Commented [PG1]: Au: I don’t see this case
discussed in this section. Perhaps delete this
sentence or replace the case with one that is
mentioned?
4. Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson (1994)—LAPD
5. Riots
D. Policing in the 2000s
2. Beltway Sniper Case (2002) and the Sniper Task Force
3. 9/11 and Its Aftermath
5. War on Police
6. Black Lives Matter
What-If Scenario
What if you are a New Orleans police officer and, Hurricane Katrina has destroyed your home.
Would you stay at your post and police the city? Why or why not?
See Assignment 4
VII. Summary
Lecture Notes
1. How is the law enforcement system of the United States connected to England?
The American style of policing developed from the English model. Sir Robert Peel, who is
Class Discussion/Activity:
The New Orleans Police Department is still struggling to rebuild its ranks, which were
decimated by more than 30 percent by desertions, defections, and retirements during and
after Hurricane Katrina. What can the NOPD do to attract suitable police officer candidates?
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2. What was policing like during the early colonial period?
By the seventeenth century, the northern colonies started to institute a civil law enforcement
3. What were the major duties of urban police officers of the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries?
During the eighteenth century, the most common form of law enforcement was the system of
constables in the daytime and the watch at night. The nineteenth century brought the first
4. Explain the development of the twenty-first-century law enforcement agency.
The twentieth century had a profound influence on policing. Presidential commissions were
formed to look at crime and America’s response to crime. Criminal justice established itself as an
5. Explain the significance of the Wickersham Commission.
In 1929, President Herbert Hoover created the National Commission on Law Observance and
Enforcement with George W. Wickersham as its chair. The commission issued a report in 1931.
The report criticized the Volstead Act, which created Prohibition, saying it was not enforced
because it was unenforceable.
Key Terms
beat system System of policing created by Sir Robert Peel for the London Metropolitan Police
in 1829 in which officers were assigned to relatively small permanent posts. (p. 7)
CompStat Weekly crime strategy meetings, featuring the latest computerized crime statistics
and high-stress brainstorming; developed by the New York City Police Department in the mid-
1990s. (p. 27)
constable An official assigned to keep the peace in the mutual pledge system in England. (p. 4)
Department of Homeland Security Federal cabinet department established in the aftermath of
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. (p. 32)
Peel’s Nine Principles Basic guidelines created by Sir Robert Peel for the London Metropolitan
Police in 1829. (p. 7)
posse comitatus Common law descendent of the old hue and cry. If a crime spree occurred or a
dangerous criminal was in the area, the U.S. frontier sheriff would call upon the posse comitatus,
a Latin term meaning “the power of the county.” (p. 16)
slave patrols Police-type organizations created in the American South during colonial times to
control slaves and support the Southern economic system of slavery. (p. 9)
terrorist attacks against the United States of America on September 11, 2001 The terrorist
attacks committed by al-Qaeda. (p. 31)
thief-takers Private English citizens with no official status who were paid by the king for every
in 1931. (p. 18)
Assignments
1. Using the Internet, research the case of Kitty Genovese. Explain why people did not want
to get involved in this incident. [LO 2]
2. Research your local municipal police department. Determine how many police precincts
(if any) there are and/or how the city is divided into beats. How many patrol officers
work each beat? Are the same officers assigned to the same beat each day or do they
3. Research and discuss police response to civil disobedience, comparing how police
responded in the 1960s and 1970s and how police respond today. What are the
4. Using the Internet, conduct research on the July 4, 2011, BART police officer shooting.
How did the media cover this case? How did the police react to this case? How did the
public react to this case? What was the eventual outcome? Do you agree or disagree with
