The History of the Police Essay

Submitted By miaten
Words: 744
Pages: 3

Police History
Mia Blaze-White
CJA/214
March 20, 2013
Dr. Cornelius D. Perry

Police History

During early history of policing, citizens were usually responsible for taking the law into their own hands. Citizens who served in the early policing era would not get paid for their services. In the late 1700s and early 1800s riots, and civil arrest was common and the United States believed they needed law enforcement to keep and carry official authority of the government.
The Impact Sir Robert Peel had on American policing been very important and is used in policing today. “Sir Robert Peel served as Home Secretary in 1891and created the metropolitan police He also served as Home Secretary of England. The key for policing according to Peel is “the police are the people and the people are the police”. (“Law Enforcement: Sir Robert Peel’s Concept of Community Policing in Today’s Society”, 2013). Sir Robert peel was also a prime minister in 1834-1835. Sir Robert Peel believed that you can contain crime without invading the lives of citizens. In developing the Metropolitan police, he developed nine principles in police theory. The nine principles created by Robert Peel are still used today in the United States. Community policing is based on the prevention of crime and to promote policing partnerships. Sir Robert Peel’s first principle was “to prevent crime and disorder existing police”. (“Law Enforcement: Sir Robert Peel’s Concept of Community Policing in Today’s Society”, 2013). Peel established Bobbies which are known to be the police. Bobbies is known as patrolling was performed by beats. Beats is a form of patrolling that is performed by Bobbies. The next five principles are cooperation and public approval of Sir Robert Peel’s principles. Peels said the police ability to perform depends on the approval of the public, police actions and the cooperation of the public. There are two levels of police which are the federal and state. The federal government includes organizations such as Immigrations and Customs, Bureau of Investigations, Drug enforcement administration and many more. In the United States Constitution, Article 1 section 8 states Congress’ power to regulate taxes and interstate commerce. The state has three sub levels of police such as the state trooper, county sheriffs and local police. State police has jurisdiction across the entire state such as highways and state government buildings. County sheriffs maintain county jails and patrol areas controlled by the county sheriff’s not in the city. Every state policing organization has to follow the states Penal Code. State policing organizations have to follow the state’s laws and are controlled by the State Government structure.
The relationship between the U.S. and policing can be affected because federal government and local state police are collaborating and seeking funding to expand their joint investigations. The local police are outmatched because