Chapter 4
Police in Society: History and
Organization
Learning Objectives
 Describe how law enforcement developed in
feudal England
 Summarize characteristics of the first law
enforcement agencies
 Discuss the development of law enforcement
in the United States
 Analyze the problems of early police agencies
 Discuss how reformers attempted to create
professional police agencies
Learning Objectives
 Describe the major changes in law
enforcement between 1970 and today
 Be familiar with the major federal law
enforcement agencies
 Summarize the differences among state,
county, and local law enforcement
 Explain the role of technology in police work
The History of Police
 Origins of police traced to early English society
 Before 1066 BCE:

Pledge System - families banded together for
protection
 Prior to the thirteenth Century in England:

Shires


Similar to counties
Reeves

Appointed to supervise the territory
The History of Police
 In the thirteenth Century England:

Watch system

Employed watchmen to protect against robberies, fires, and
disturbances
 In 1326:

The office of the Justice of the Peace was created
Private Police and Thief Takers
 During early eighteenth century:

Rising crime rates encouraged and new form of
private, monied police who profited from legal and
illegal conduct as informal police departments

These private police were referred to as “Thief
Takers”
Creating Public Police
 1829: Sir Robert Peel, England’s home
secretary lobbied an “Act for Improving the
Police in and near the Metropolis” Established
the first organized police force in London with
over 1,000 men
 By 1856, all boroughs and counties in
England were required to form their own police
force
Law Enforcement in Colonial America
 Paralleled British model
 County Sheriff

Collecting taxes, supervising elections, and
performing other matters of business
 Instead of patrolling or seeking out crime, the
Sheriff reacted to citizens’ complaints and
investigated crimes
Early Police Agencies
 Boston created first formal U.S. police dept. in
1838

New York Police – 1844

Philadelphia Police – 1854
 Conflict between police and the public was
born in the difficulty that untrained,
unprofessional officers had in patrolling the
streets of cities and controlling labor disputes
Early Police Agencies
 Police during the nineteenth century:

Involved foot patrols

Were regarded as incompetent and corrupt
 Police agencies evolved slowly during the
second half of the nineteenth century

Uniforms were introduced in New York (1853)

Communication links between precincts using
telegraph (1850s)

Bicycles introduced (1897)

Primary responsibility was maintaining order
Policing in the Twentieth Century
 The emergence of professionalism
 The 1960s and Beyond
 Policing in the 1970s
 Policing in the 1980s
 Policing in the 1990s
The Emergence of Professionalism
 1893 International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP)

Called for a civil service police force
 August Vollmer

Most famous police reformer

Instituted university training for young officers

Helped to develop the school of Criminology at the
University of California, at Berkeley
The 1960s and Beyond
 Turmoil and crisis in the 1960s
 Supreme Court decisions impacted police
 Civil rights of suspects expanded significantly
 Civil unrest between the public and police
 Rapidly growing crime rate in the 1960s
 Both violent and property crimes increased
The 1970s
 1970s

There were structural changes in police departments,
increased federal support for criminal justice

Law Enforcement Assistance Administration provided
resources:


Improved police training

Supported innovative police research
More woman and minorities were recruited for police
work
The 1980s and 1990s
 1980s

Emergence of community policing, unions fought for
increase in salaries, state and local budgets were cut
 1990s

Rodney King case prompted an era of
police reform

Police departments embraced forms of policing that
stressed cooperation with the community and problem
solving
Policing and Law Enforcement Today
 Law Enforcement agencies are adapting to the
changing nature of crime

(Ex: terrorism and internet fraud)
 700,000 sworn law enforcement officers
throughout these jurisdictions:

Federal

State

County

Metropolitan

Private
Federal Law Enforcement Agencies
 U.S. Justice Department Agencies:

Federal Bureau of Investigations

Drug Enforcement Administration

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives

U.S. Marshals
 Department of Homeland Security Agencies:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

The Secret Service
State Law Enforcement Agencies
 First agency was the Texas Rangers, created in
1835
 First truly modern state police agencies:

1903 – Connecticut

1905 – Pennsylvania
 State police agencies

60,000 officers and 30,000 civilians

Primarily responsible for highway patrol and traffic
law enforcement
County Law Enforcement Agencies
 Today sheriffs’ offices contain 330,000 full-
time employees including 175,000 sworn
personnel
 Provide court security
 Operate the jail system
 Duties vary widely depending on size
Metropolitan Law Enforcement Agencies
 Range in size from agencies with 40,000
officers to departments with only 1 part-time
officer
 Nearly 13,000 departments with over 460,000
sworn personnel
 Majority of departments have fewer than 50
officers and serve a population under 25,000
 Most provide a wide variety of services and
functions
Private Policing
 Private security has become a multimillion-
dollar industry
 10,000 firms and 1.5 million employees
 People employed in private security outnumber
public police by almost three to one
 Privatized security costs less than public
officers
Technology and Law Enforcement
 There is little doubt that the influence of
technology on policing will continue to grow:

Crime Mapping

License Plate Recognition Technology

Digitizing Criminal Identification

Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems

Digital Dental Records

DNA Testing
Future Technology
 Genetic algorithms
 Augmented Reality technology
 Automated Biometric Identification System