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Police History

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Police History
Police History
Tracy Doubledee
CJS/241
July 13, 2015
Kenneth Jones
Police History
Law enforcement has come a long way since it was first started. Just like anything else it required a lot of trial and error. Many of the principles and practices that began the foundation of our law enforcement are still very much a part of law enforcement official’s everyday life. How did law enforcement come about and what ups and downs has it had? Law enforcement had to overcome many hurdles to get where they are today.
Police through the ages
Policing started in the Colonial America in the 1630 's; it was something that all people took part in, and there was no pay involved at all. People of the community handled watching everyone and their behaviors. Crime started to increase and at this time towns started to form and the southern colonies began developing a system of circuit sheriff. In the 1840 's in Metropolitan America, the focus shifted to crime prevention rather than detection and punishment. At this time, it was also determined that police officers should wear a uniform, and they also started paying police officers. There was a police officer available twenty-four hours a day. At this point in history, crime was out of hand and very difficult to control. The high influx of crimes made it essential to have more active and effective policing efforts. In the 1840 's in Frontier America violent crimes escalated and there was no law to fall back on. United States Marshalls in Frontier America only enforced federal laws, and they were publically appointed without pay. Professionalism in the 1920 's on the actual law enforcement and controlling the crime. At this point and time, the police started to be divided into specialized groups such as juvenile units and drug units. The police force started to utilize skills such as science to improve investigations. Vollmer was a key player in the 1920 's who helped my huge advance such as utilizing red lights on the vehicles,



References: A History of the Nine Principles of Policing. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.magnacartaplus.org/briefings/nine_police_principles.htm The American System of Policing. (2015). Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/1668/Police-Organization-Management-American-system-policing.html University of Phoenix. (2011). CJ Interactive Multimedia. Retrieved from http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pcp_94869_mutchnick_cj_uop/learning_modules/chapter5/5.1historyandprofessionalismofpolice/index.html

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