History of Policing in the Bahamas

In the early days crime control was

very little

In the early days police were

-Directed towards specific groups of people
• Delivering goods
• Regulating activities, maintaining health/sanitation
- Managing animals
-Usually performed by volunteers

When was modern day policing created and by who for what purpose?

In the late 9th century by King Alfred the great using the mutual pledge system

Why did King Alfred do this?

To protect his kingdom from the impending Danish Invasion

How did King Alfred do this?

By structing his kingdoms into groups

What is the mutual pledge system?

It consisted of groups of ten families bound to uphold the law, bring violators to court and keep the peace

What is a group of 10 families called?

Tithings

Who was each group governed by?

Tithingman

All men over the age of 12 were required to

Raise the hue and cry when a crime was detected and pursue the criminal

If a criminal could not be produced in court, what would happen?

The crown would fine the group/hundred

Under this system every man was responsible for?

The conduct of every other man

10 tithings (100 families) - formed larger community group known as a

Hundred

The top law official was known as a

Reeve

The hundreds were put into established counties known as

Shires

The top law enforcement official was known as the

Shire Reeve (sheriff)

The sheriff has the power to

raise all able bodied men in the country to pursue a criminal

The power the sheriff has was known as

Posse Comitatus

What set up the parish Constable Watch system and when?

Statute of Winchester and in 1285

Members of the community were still required to pursue criminals, just as they had been doing under the ________________, but now a ____________ supervised those efforts.

Frankpledge and constable

Who was the constable?

a man chosen from the parish to serve without pay as its law enforcement officer for one year

What power did the constable have?

the power to call the entire community into action if a serious disturbance arose

What was established to replace the shire-reeve and in which year?

The office of the Justice of Peace and 1326

In most English cities who helped the constable and what were they responsible for?

The JP AND law enforcement

What were some of the duties the JP and constable had to do?

• Organizing the night watch
• Fire services
• Investigating crimes
• Protection services for visiting dignitaries
• Securing criminals for trial

What were some of the issues in England?

• Serious issue with crime, disorder and public unrest
• Military had the main responsibility to deal with crime
- Great hostility between the military and the citizens
- Military was very abusive

What caused these problems in England?

Lack of an organized system of law enforcement

Who was appoint chief magistrate in Westminster and when?

Henry Fielding and 1748

Where and what type of business did he set up?

On Bow street with some friends and he formed a small investigative division known as Bow Street Runners

What did the Bow Street Runners do?

They wrote newspaper artides to inform the public about crime and published flyers describing articles that were stolen and descriptions of offenders

What crimes did the BSR focused on?

They focused on retrieving stolen property, but worked to stop violence and criminal activity

Were the BSR effective and where did they solve crimes?

They were high effective and solve crimes all over England

Who and when was the Metropolitan Police Act drew up?

Sir Robert Peel in 1829

What did this Metropolitan Police Act form?

The London Metropolitan Police

How many member were apart of the London Metropolitan Police?

1000

What were the uniforms that the London Metropolitan Police wore?

A blue coat, blue pants and a black top hat and were armed with a short baton (known as a truncheon) a rattle (for raising an alarm)

What did each constable wear on his collar?

His individual number

What were the LMP known as

The Bobbies

What are some of the goals of the LMP?

• To reduce tension and conflict between law enforcement officers and the public.
• To relieve the military from certain duties, such as controlling urban violence.
-To be judged on the absence of crime rather than through high-visibility police action.
-To use nonviolent means, not carrying firearms, in keeping the peace, and only use violence as a last resort

Who is the father of modern day policing?

Sir Robert Peel

Was the London Police successful or not successful?

they were successful

Where was this eventually spread to?

The US

Which city formed the first formal night watch in the US and when?

Boston and in 1801

How much were these watchman paid?

50 cents each night

Which city formed the first day and night watch in the US and when?

Philadelphia and in 1833

Which city formed the first organized police dept watch in the US, and when? How many members did they have?

Boston in 1838 and 6 officer

As time passed the crime rates in the islands began to increase, thus the need for more protection. What was formed to help this problem?

The Night Guards

Why were the Night guards introduced?

to combat the growing problems of lawlessness

What were the night guards responsible for?

night foot patrol and their primary duty was to protect the homes and businesses of the plantation/business owners, especially at night

Did they have the power to arrest anyone? Why or why not?

No they did not since they were not police

England provided the islands with a military force known as the?

West India Regiment

Why did the West India Regiment come to be?

Prior to the abolition of slavery, the wealthy plantation/ business owners pressured England to provide them with a military force

Characteristics of the WIR

-Trained soldiers recruited from different ethnic groups
throughout the Caribbean and Africa
-Stationed on the island of New Providence (barracks located
where British Colonial Hotel now stands)
-Main responsibility was to protect The Bahamas from foreign
invaders and impede any breach of peace, particularly, slave
uprisings.

What were the Fundamental Principles of the Metropolitan Police Act?

1. The police force must be organized along military lines.
2. Police administrators and officers must be under government control.
3. Emphasis must be placed on hiring qualified persons and training them properly
4. New police officers must complete a probationary period; if they fail to meet standards during this time, they will not be hired as permanent officers.
5. Police personnel should be assigned to specific areas of the city for a specific time period
6. Police headquarters must be centrally located in the city
7. Police officers must maintain proper appearances at all times in order to gain and keep the respect of citizens.
8. individual police officers should be able to control their temper and refrain from violence whenever possible
9. Police records must be kept in order to measure police effectiveness.

What did the police act of 1840 established?

A Police Force

Who did the Governor appoint?

A police inspector and several constables

Who was the first appointed police inspector?

John Pinder

How much constables did he have, who were they previously and where were they from?

16 constables, all former slaves and from the Night Guards

What did this police force provide Nassau with?

Military in nature and 24 hour foot patrol

Police were equipped with what and when did they carry them?

Swords and other weaponry and during special occasions

In what year was an acting inspector of police appointed and who was he?

1849 and Stephen Dillet

Stephen Dillet was promoted to what in what year?

Inspector of Police and in 1851

What did Stephen Dillet also serve as?

A coroner, Postmaster General and had a lucrative tailoring business

What year did the first riot happen? Who was it between?

1863, Gov Bailey and Commission of Inquiry

How was Inspector Dillet fired?

stripped of his duties

Who became the new inspector after Dillet?

Colonel Dwyer

What did Gov Bailey wanted?

a more educated, efficient, and disciplined police force

How long were police allowed to enlisted for? What would happen after that amount of years?

Police can only be enlisted for three years and and after three years, if the police exhibited exemplary service, he would enlist for another 3 yrs and would be given a 10% salary increase

Police enlisted should no longer be until an officer is

deemed unfit for duty. (Some Constables were allowed to retire at the age of 80 only if they were unfit for service)

There was still tension between the

Police and WIR

How long did Colonel Dwyer last and why?

A few weeks because his life was threatened

Who was the new Inspector of Police after Dwyer?

Edward Vermon

What did Edward Vermon want?

Increase in manpower
increase in salary
Betterimore weapons
Better/more uniforms
Police hospital
Power to punish officers in some sort af police prison
Horses

The governor petitioned England to what the number of soldiers stationed in the Bahamas?

Increase

England did what with this petition and why?

Denied because claiming that it was alread an economic burden to have the WIR stationed in Nassau

WRI were _________ and the authorities in England suggested that to fill the _____ lifted by the WiR, the _______ ______ should be ___________.

removed; void; Police force; strengthened

Police Act of 1891 instituted a new force known as the

Constabulary

Characteristics of the Constabulary

Recruited from Barbados for a period of 6 years
Distinctly military in nature, and it was organized that way to still make outsiders believe that the islands had a military.
Known as the New Force did not replace the Old Force
Treated much better than the Old Force; considered the elite squad, and were given better salaries, cracks, uniforms, weapons, and horses than the Old Force

Tension existed between the

Two forces

Riot of 1893 between the

Constabulary & citizens of Grant's Town

Police Act of ________ called for the consolidation of the

1909 and two forces into a single, unified police force

Consolidated force kept the paramilitary characteristics of the

Constabulary