Policing in America: Historical Context and Evolution
The Evolution of American Policing
Foundations of American Policing
American policing is largely based on the practices of British policing.
Over the years, policing in the United States has evolved from a relatively unskilled, unprofessional career dominated by white men to a slightly more professional and diverse police force.
While some tactics from pioneers remain, policing has embraced technology, new training, and new tactics.
Policing in Colonial America
Closely resembled systems used in England.
Funding: Each colony was responsible for funding its own police force, leading citizens to prefer minimal and local policing.
Formalized Positions:
Frequently held by large landowners.
Appointed by colonial governors to enforce laws and protect their own lands.
Parish Constables:
Maintained weapons and equipment for each "hundred."
A "hundred" is defined as men years and older from households grouped into security collectives.
County Sheriffs:
Responsible for a wide range of duties:
Capturing criminals.
Serving subpoenas.
Supervising elections.
Dealing with religious nonconformists.
Collecting taxes.
Prioritization of Tax Collection:
Sheriffs tended to prioritize collecting taxes because they were essentially "fee for service" employees.
They were paid by each duty fulfilled, with tax collection offering the greatest fee, providing a significant incentive.
Resistance and Vigilantism
The prioritization of tax collection by sheriffs often led to public dissatisfaction.
The Regulators: An example of a historical movement, active in the Carolinas around for nearly six years.
Vigilantism: When the official justice system is perceived as not distributing justice effectively, resistance (like the Regulators) can be seen as an alternative or an achievement of justice outside the formal system.
The Rise of Modern Policing: The British Model
As populations increased and the Industrial Revolution progressed, informal systems like parish constables (unarmed, unpaid, part-time) became insufficient.
Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Act of :
This act sparked the beginning of modern policing.
Effectively replaced parish constables and night watchmen with constables.
Officers in Britain were nicknamed "Bobbies" (after Robert Peel) and in Ireland, "Peelers."
Peelian Principles of Ethical Policing:
Historical Complication: There is no definitive record that Peel himself authored these principles; they are associated with him, perhaps in his honor.
Key Principles:
Public Approval: The importance of public approval for the police to work effectively. Police often do not witness crimes themselves and rely on public reports (victims or witnesses) to do their jobs.
Public Cooperation: Directly related to public approval. If the public perceives the police as corrupt, they are unlikely to cooperate or report crimes, potentially leading to vigilantism.
Impartiality: Police should serve the people/the law, not wealthy landowners or personal beliefs. They must uphold the law consistently for everyone.
The new force was designed to be more effective than informal watches or violent militias.
Context of Formation: Peale developed his ideas during British colonial occupation of Ireland, seeking new forms of control amidst growing insurrections and riots.
Some argue the London Metropolitan Police were created less to fight crime and more to manage disorder and protect property.
The Peterloo Massacre (August ):
A signal event demonstrating the need for a professional police force.
In Central Manchester, tens of thousands gathered for political reforms amidst widespread poverty and displacement due to industrialization.
The rally was declared illegal, leading to a cavalry charge with sabres that killed a dozen protesters and injured hundreds.
Response: The British state developed vacancy laws (designed to force people into productive work) and Peel, as Home Secretary, created the London Metropolitan Police.
Main Functions of the New Police: Protect property, quell riots, put down strikes and industrial actions, and produce a disciplined industrial workforce.
American Adaptation of the London Model
The London model was imported into Boston, which had the first official police force in the U.S.
Challenges in the U.S.: Massive immigration and rapid industrialization created a more socially and politically chaotic environment.
Early Urban Police in America:
Corruption and Incompetence: Officers were often chosen based on political connections and bribery; civil service exams or formal training were nonexistent.
Political Tool: Used by political parties to suppress opposition voting and to spy on/suppress workers' organizations, meetings, and strikes.
Business Influence: Local business owners with political ties could dispatch police to threaten, beat, and arrest workers.
"On the Take" System: Payments from gamblers and bootleggers were a major income source, increasing up the chain of command. This system remained standard in many departments until the s.
Professionalization Efforts (Late - Early Century):
Business leaders, journalists, and religious leaders exposed corruption and inefficiency.
Demands for more professional policing and effective crime/vice crackdown.
Reforms: Civil service exams, centralized hiring, training, new technology, reigning in overt corruption and brutality, introduction of management sciences.
August Vollmer (Berkeley, California):
A key reformer, developed police science courses and textbooks.
Utilized new transportation and communication technologies.
Introduced fingerprinting and police labs.
Untold History: Many of Vollmer's ideas emerged from his experience with U.S. occupation forces in the Philippines.
The Pennsylvania State Police (established ) was modeled after the Philippine Constabulary.
The Philippine Constabulary served as a testing ground for new policing methods, including developing close ties to communities to monitor subversive activities.
Tactics: Quick erection of telephone and telegraph wires for communication, a network of informants to infiltrate demonstrations, use of spies and agent provocateurs to sow dissent, swift arrest of leaders.
Jesse Garwood, a figure in the Philippine occupation, applied these methods to Pennsylvania miners and factory workers, feeding back into domestic American policing.
After serving in the Philippines, Vollmer became Berkeley's police chief and wrote influential textbooks, pioneering radio patrol cars, fingerprinting, and other standard techniques.
Marine General Smedley Butler:
Created the Haitian police and played a major role in U.S. occupation of Nicaragua.
Served as Police Chief of Philadelphia in , ushering in technological modernization and militarized police tactics.
Removed from office due to public outcry over repressive methods.
The Texas Rangers
Origins: Initially a loose band of irregulars, hired to protect interests of white colonists under Mexican government, then independent Texas, and finally the state of Texas.
Main Work:
Hunting down native populations accused of attacking white settlers.
Investigating crimes like cattle rustling.
Often acted as vigilantes on behalf of whites against Hispanic, Spanish, and Mexican populations.
Colonial Expansion: For over a century, a leading force for white colonial expansion, using violence, intimidation, and political interference against Mexicans.
Mexicans and Native Americans who resisted could be killed, beaten, arrested, or intimidated.
Suppression of Mexican American Rights (1960s-1970s):
Local and state elites used Rangers to suppress political and economic rights of Mexican Americans.
Subverted farm worker movements by shutting down meetings, intimidating supporters, arresting and brutalizing picketers and union leaders.
Intimidated Mexican Americans out of voting in local elections.
Crystal City (1963) - A Direct Assault on the System:
Mexican Americans made up the majority but had no political representation.
In , attempts to register to vote met harassment and intimidation from local police and employers.
After extensive effort, they registered and ran a slate of candidates for city council in .
The Texas Rangers tried to prevent rallies, threatened candidates/supporters, and engaged in physical attacks and arrests.
Outcome: Due to extensive outside press attention, the Rangers backed down, and the slate swept the election, leading to greater civil rights for Mexican Americans.
Slavery and Southern Policing
A major force shaping early U.S. policing, predating the London Metropolitan Police reforms.
Slave Patrols: Southern cities like New Orleans, Savannah, and Charleston had paid, full-time police who wore uniforms, were accountable to civilian officials, and connected to the criminal justice system.
These forces derived from slave patrols, not the informal watch system of the Northeast.
Developed primarily to prevent slave revolts.
Powers: Ride onto private property to ensure enslaved people were not harboring weapons or fugitives, conducting meetings, or learning to read and write.
Played a major role in preventing escapes to the North through regular patrols on rural roads.
Post-Abolition (After ):
The slave patrol system evolved into controlling and forcing newly freed Black individuals into subservient economic and political roles.
Vagrancy Laws: Increasingly used after the Civil War (and in England).
Definition: Outline moving through public space without proof of employment or permanent residency.
This activity, such as being out in public without a job or place to sleep, became a criminal offense, giving broad powers to authorities.
Used extensively to force Black individuals to accept employment, often in the sharecropping system.
Local police enforced poll taxes and other voter suppression efforts to ensure white control of the political system.
Jim Crow Era: Supplemented by ad hoc vigilantes like the Ku Klux Klan (an early terrorist organization), which often worked with and was populated by local police members.
Northern Policing Post-Emancipation
Deeply affected by the northern migration of newly freed rural Black individuals.
Northern political leaders often viewed Black migrants as socially inferior, uneducated, and criminal, fearing their growing population.
Ghettos: Established in northern cities to control this population, with police playing roles of containment and pacification.
Tactics (Until 1960s): Largely accomplished through facially discriminatory law enforcement and widespread use of excessive force.
Black people were keenly aware of behavioral and geographic limits and the police's role in maintaining both the Jim Crow South and the Northern ghettos.
The Civil Rights Movement and Policing (1950s-1960s)
Confrontational Relationship: The movement highlighted the problems of policing that were less evident before these public confrontations.
Key Issues Exposed:
Predominantly white police forces not representing the communities they served.
Use of police resources (like canines, as depicted in Andy Warhol's "Birmingham Race Riot" print of ) as weapons for violence against protesters.
Unrestricted use of force and actions not aligned with the intended purpose of policing.
Nonviolent Tactics vs. Police Force: The movement was largely nonviolent, strongly juxtaposing protesters' tactics against the state-authorized (and often excessive) force used by police.
Racial Dynamic: Unlike previous worker movements where police suppressed predominantly white striking miners, the Civil Rights Movement involved Black individuals (and white allies) advocating for Black rights against a predominantly white police force, making the racial contrast particularly notable.
Influence and Outcomes:
Expansion of civil rights, such as the Civil Rights Act of .
Shifts from legalized discrimination towards legal inclusion (at least facially).
Diversification of the police force began to emerge as a result.