Police History

Teresa Kohl Ever wondered where policing came from? In this paper we are going to explore the history of policing and how it developed in America from the beginning. At the same time we are going to explore the deferent policing styles used In America through out history. After we will then look at the role of police In modern times In America. Historical Development of Policing and Styles Most know that America adopted its original policing styles from Great Britain, engendering our ancestors all came from their before colonizing over here.

When the first Europeans landed on the shores they had to protect themselves and others from the people that did not want them here. All men and able bodied young boys were in charge of policing up the area. Once everything settled down and everything started to get more situated Into more organized towns. The Justice of the Peace was created to protect the colonies and keep order. Criminals were usually put in stocks in the middle of town to pay their sentence to society. Eventually towns were growing to much and turning into cities where Justice of the peace would Just not work anymore. In 1636 the city of Boston established Night Watch, which idea worked reasonably well as long as the area remained a rural and agrarian one” (Sabbath, n. D. ). You could say that the night watch was a communal and Informal way of policing, Volunteers were In charge of walking the streets and watching for fires or any crimes being committed. When a fire or crime was committed the night watchmen would shout out odd to where the locals would wake up and hopefully take care of the “problem”.

Since the night watch was mostly made of volunteers it usually would have men that sleep or drink while on watch, which would obviously make it to where it would not work. The cities would also use night watch as a punishment for people trying to avoid the military or as a sentence for a crime. Not until 1833 was a day watch implemented which carried out the same tasks as the night watch except “Augmenting the watch system was a system of constables, official law enforcement officers, usually paid by the fee system for warrants they served.

Constables had a variety of non-law enforcement functions to perform as well, including serving as land surveyors and verifying the accuracy of weights and measures. In many cities constables were given the responsibility of supervising the satellites of the night force… ” (Potter, 2013). These first police forces were made up of full time employees rather than volunteers or people voluntary to watch the streets. By having a set police force cities were then able to set up rules and enforce them.

Each established police force was also able to establish and implement its own standard operating systems rather than have everyone do their own thing. The departments also had to answer to higher government agencies rather than Just them selves. Police in Modern Society Police today have a lot more responsibilities than most people realize. Police are not only in charge of keeping order and serving and protecting the people. They are now in charge of protecting against terrorism, and extremists.