The Evolution of Policing

BY CLAIRE DAWSON, MORGAN MONTOYA, BEN STRICKLER

Policing seems like such a rudimentary and basic right. The right to feel safe in your own home seems like something that would always be in someone's subliminal mind. It turns out it took 248 years just to have police funded by taxes. But why was a police force created in America? How did the police force evolve through United State history?

Boston Police watch over the Liberty Bell circa 1903. Library of Congress

“That system wasn’t very efficient because the watchmen often slept and drank while on duty, and there were people who were put on watch duty as a form of punishment…"

The first police system dates back to 1636 in the US. In Boston, police were created to stop prostitution and gambling. But according to Time Magazine, “That system wasn’t very efficient because the watchmen often slept and drank while on duty, and there were people who were put on watch duty as a form of punishment…” The police force was created to protect against crime, but often became a source of corruption. “In cities, increasing urbanization rendered the night-watch system completely useless as communities got too big (Waxman, 2017).” The model of a few citizen vigilantes just wouldn't work anymore, so people pressed for a solution. In 1838 the Boston Police Force was completely revamped. “Boston was a large shipping commercial center, and businesses had been hiring people to protect their property and safeguard the transport of goods from the port of Boston to other places (Waxman 2017).” These merchants came up with a way to save money by transferring the cost of maintaining a police force to citizens by arguing that it was for the “collective good.” This was one of the first examples of a community-sourced policing effort. 

As time progressed, so did thoughts around policing and how to fund it. As Britannica writes, “The first police department in the United States was established in New York City in 1844 (it was officially organized in 1845).” Thanks to the popularity of crowd funded policing efforts, New Yorkers were able to make the model of keeping people safe more institutionalized. With tax dollars funding policemen and incentives for the job, policing became a more sought after career. New York set an example and soon other states were following in their footsteps. New Orleans, Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Newark all developed tax funded police departments.

In the South, however, it was a different story. The whole point of policing in the South was not for protecting its citizens against crime, it was to protect property and money. Money and property, in this case, was in the form of enslaved people. “Some of the primary policing institutions were the slave patrols tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts,” Potter says. The first formal slave patrol had been created in the Carolina colonies in 1704. “During the Civil War, the military became the primary form of law enforcement in the South, but during Reconstruction, many local sheriffs functioned in a way analogous to the earlier slave patrols, enforcing segregation and the disenfranchisement of freed slaves (Waxman 2017).” The original motivation of slave patrols was gone, but even after the Civil War parallels between early slave patrols and law enforcement directly after definitely existed. 

Policing models have changed over the years. Starting off as an unorganised neighborhood watch system and slave patrol in the South, it has taken a long time to get to where we are today. However this is not the end. We as humans will continue to evolve, as will our institutions. We can only hope that policing keeps moving in a path towards kindness, equity, and safety, and that we are able to support it.

Sources:
https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/police/Early-police-in-the-United-States