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POLICING IN U.S.
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Historical overview. Pilgrims, 1877 Great Strike riots, functions, public perceptions.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Historical overview. Pilgrims, 1877 Great Strike riots, functions, public perceptions.

Paper Introduction:
The American criminal justice system is composed of three elements, the police, the courts and corrections, each of which serve a specific function. However, the purpose of this paper is to analyze a single component of that system by tracing the history of the policing of the American democratic society. Although modeled in part on the English system, American policing remains sui generis. Its uniqueness rests upon the ideals and concerns of the Founding Fathers of the United states in their desire to establish a system of government and policing without creating a centralized police power with exclusive control over the entire country (U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, Articles I, X). An examination of the history of policing in American reveals the evolution from the abecedarian “watch and ward” policing system during the seventeenth century

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21). Later, under King Edward I (1272-13 7), the"watch and ward" system was created as a method of protecting property andarresting offenders between sunset and daybreak; the office of Justice ofthe Peace was created in 1326 (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. (1999) In the public eye. 16). These economic riots and theensuing mob violence and rebellions, which stemmed from the riots, led theAmerican public to demand a better police force to protect their personsand property. Obviously, the fine balancing act of maintaining peace and order withthat of enforcing the law invests tremendous discretion in the hands ofAmerica's police. From the social upheaval of the 196 s to the presentdate, such police discretion, and the existing guidelines for itsapplication, generate considerable controversy and debate. However, the purpose of this paper is to analyze a singlecomponent of that system by tracing the history of the policing of theAmerican democratic society. Although modeled in part on the Englishsystem, American policing remains sui generis. Inessence, these first settlers mimicked the rudimentary policing andcriminal justice system they had been exposed to in their native Britain.Initially, England had used a "mutual pledge" system whereby privatecitizens would be paid a small sum in order to maintain peace and orderwithin their specific provinces. President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration ofCriminal Justice. Perhaps the most serious of the riots occurred in 1877 as a result of"The Great Strike." In 1877, in the midst of a horrible depressionthroughout the country, the railroad companies made the mistake of furtherlowering the wages of their already underpaid workers. C. 1 8) as evidenced by recentcomments by Senior Lead Officer Kimberly Kempton of the Los Angeles PoliceDepartment. 15, 29). Thus, throughout the 19 s, each and every state inAmerica ultimately created its own state and local police forces to controlparticular situations within its jurisdiction. As a result of public demand, by the early 19 s almost every majorcity in America had its own unified police force. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in 162 . 26). Boston appointed justices of the justices ofthe peace; Philadelphia created a system called the "watch and ward" which,like its English counterpart, simply meant law enforcement was to beimplemented both day and night (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. 21). Inreality, the police spend considerably more time maintaining order,settling disputes and performing a variety of other functions, which ofteninvolve difficult social, behavioral, and political problems (President'sCommission, 1967, p. 21). New York: Plenum. The common thread uniting the 5 jurisdictions in their policing ofAmerica throughout the twentieth century is three basic tasks: 1) fightingstreet crime; 2) responding rapidly to non-criminal citizen emergencies;and 3) maintaining traffic safety (Bouza, 199 , p. The Big Issue, 8, 16. Bouza, A. 15; Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace,1982, p. Justices were in charge of maintainingpeace in their jurisdictions, and the constables were responsible forsupervising the watchmen, who in turn made arrests, served warrants andinvestigated problems. The American criminal justice system is composed of three elements,the police, the courts and corrections, each of which serve a specificfunction. Thus, from the time the Pilgrims landed in 162 , and throughout thecourse of the seventeenth century, the English method of policing wasimplemented in the new colonies. New York: John Wiley &Sons. (199 ) The Police Mystique. Thus, by the very power of "enforcing" the laws, an officer canattempt to maintain peace and order without the necessity of actualenforcement (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. 17).Ultimately, local noblemen found it both necessary and prudent to appointconstables, to maintain order. 14-23). The vast diversity in size, function, jurisdiction,role and purpose, as well as other properties inherent in law enforcement,make it impossible to present an accurate profile of the "ideal" policedepartment or an "absolute" method for policing America, whether it be atthe local, state or federal level (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. (1982) Principles of LawEnforcement an Overview of the Justice System. However, one can take refuge in the fact that, above all, a singularaim for guiding all jurisdictional levels of law enforcement in thepolicing of America has remained: "To protect and serve." This simplephrase manages to encapsulate the entire history and purpose of policing inAmerica, from the days of Plymouth Rock to the dawn of a new millennium. In light of the large geographical area constituting theUnited States, along with the complicating factor of 5 individualjurisdictions with their own local and state policing methods and laws,efforts were made to create standardized policing practices wheneverpossible (Bouza, 199 , p. InNew Amsterdam (New York), peace officers, known as the "schout-fiscal" andlater the "constable watch," were appointed to maintain order (Eldefonso,Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. Although these roles sound similar,they are actually interdependent and reveal the enormous responsibility ofpolicing in twentieth century America (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p.1 6-118). Although this report was published in 1967, it still retains itsveracity (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. 1 2-111). Instead, such riots required the combinedefforts of the local and state police, as well as the intervention ofmilitiamen and federal troops in order to be brought under control(Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. A comprehensive study performed by the President's Commission on LawEnforcement and Criminal Justice, revealed that, as a result of the newsand entertainment media, the public erroneously perceives police work as"an exciting, dangerous and competitive enterprise of apprehending andprosecuting criminals" (President's Commission, 1967, p. 15-16; Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. Anexamination of the history of policing in American reveals the evolutionfrom the abecedarian "watch and ward" policing system during theseventeenth century to the complexity of modern-day policing processpractices used in the United States. The U.S. 16) and indicates that it is oftendifficult not to be callous when dealing with petty complaints concerning"stray dogs, radar dishes and billboards", given the fact thatinvestigations of brutal child beatings or rapes are also a part of the job(Anderson, 1999, p. This veryexercise of police discretion, which by its own definition is necessarilysubjective, pulls loose the shared thread of policing in America's 5 separate jurisdictions. The higher cost of retaining trainedsoldiers for internal policing was considered economically unsound by themonarchy since such soldiers were needed to guard the country's bordersagainst foreign invaders (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. Constitution,as well as the Bill of Rights, explicitly and implicitly put the burden ofstate and local policing on the individual states (U.S. It was no long before all of the New Englandsettlements had established some method of policing its own territory. However, despite the outdated modes of policing the cities,not until economic unrest threatened the nation did changes in policingtake place. 23). Constitution and Bill of Rights, Articles I, X). 11 -111). 18). References Anderson, J. V. (1967) Task Force Report: The Police. During the 18 there were a series of economic riots,including the "weavers riots" in Philadelphia concerning pay standards ofweavers and the infamous New York "draft riots" of 1863, in which mobssurged in protest of Congress's enactment of a draft law under which adrafted man could hire another person to take his place in the war for $3 (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. Eldefonso, E., Coffey, A., & Grace, R. 11 -111). The railroad'sactions set off a national crisis as workers refused to work and insteadseized the yards so that the trains were unable to operate. Officer Kemptondescribes her job as "part law enforcer, part social worker and partpsychologist" (Anderson, 1999, p. ConstitutionArticles I and X). Washington, D.C.:U.S. 14-23). The bottom line is that thee is no "typical" or "model" means ofpolicing in America. In essence, twentieth century policing in America has involved anincrease in social service duties, such as dealing with domestic disputes,missing children or stray dogs. The relevanceof the "great strike" riots, which spread like wildfire throughout thestates, as well as the "draft riots", was that they revealed that the localpolicing efforts were utterly incapable of handling the disruptiveactivities of the public. 21). Government Printing Office. The significance of thisstructure is enormous. Although these basic forms of policing were sufficient for theinitial settlements, as America, and in particular its cities, became morepopulated, these elementary forms of law enforcement became manifestlyineffective. However, bythe mid-19 s, policing in America was no longer confined to breaking upriots or controlling mob violence; instead, it had expanded to include thedual roles of both keeping the peace and enforcing the law (Eldefonso,Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. Its uniqueness rests uponthe ideals and concerns of the Founding Fathers of the United states intheir desire to establish a system of government and policing withoutcreating a centralized police power with exclusive control over the entirecountry (U.S. Unlike most countries around the world, the UnitedStates does not have a "national" police force with a uniform set of lawsto govern the entire nation (Bouza, 199 , p. Although much of modern policing inAmerica may consist of peace keeping or maintaining order concerningseemingly social service obligations, the police officer also retains thepower of enforcing the laws when such incidents cross over into criminalactivity.

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