Law Enforcement History

Law Enforcement

Law enforcement was not always as organized as it is today. When law enforcement officers first came into play, they were not called law enforcement or police officers. They were originally called a Posse which is a group of people coming together to go after people who have committed crimes. This paper will describe the historical development of police agencies. The paper will also reveal the jurisdiction along with the role in contemporary society of police. Finally the paper will reveal the main types of local, state, and federal agencies of law enforcement.

Historical Development

Up until the time of 1200 A.D., law enforcement was not considered to be organized. Criminals or as they were referred to back in those days bandits and habitual thieves were not really pursued by the law; instead they were chased by people called a posse. Back in those days, if a person heard or saw a crime being committed, they were expected to follow in pursuit of the person committing the crime. Leading the search was a person called comes stabuli or as we know it in today's society the sheriff.

Bailiffs or watchmen as they were sometimes called became popular in English's cities and towns. Bailiffs were normally assigned to what is called night watch. The duties of a night watcher primarily maintained of the officer observing for fires and to spot thieves. "Even though bailiffs were too few in number to handle most emergencies, bailiffs were able to rouse the sleeping population, which could then deal with whatever crisis was at hand. Larger cities expanded the idea of bailiffs by creating both a night watch and a day ward" (Schmalleger, 2009).

In 1829, America's first modern police forced was formed by a gentleman named Sir Robert Peel. This new force was called the New Police and was nicknamed the Bobbies after Sir Robert Peel. The New Police wore uniforms similar to what the military wore and Sir Robert adopted a military administrative style that the military used. The Bobbies soon became role models for police forces around the world. The Bobbies had two principles they abided by. The first principle was the belief the belief that it was possible to discourage crime, and the practice of preventive patrol. This was accomplished by the officers walking the streets in order to deter criminals from committing crimes; while the watchmen had stationary post within the city to listen out for any type of public commotion.

During the early 1920's, law enforcement was known to borrow another method from the military called the dossier system. The dossier system is files that have an assortment of raw information concerning people who were suspects in a crime, associated with a crime, and/or people who maybe a threat to the safety of society.

Types of Law Enforcement Agencies

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