Influence of Vollmer and Wilson on Modern Law Enforcement
Abstract Concepts like crime prevention, authority, professionalism and discretion have evolved in modern law enforcement since the twentieth century. August Vollmer instituted university training as a tool for young officers in training and under Vollmer’s teachings; O.W. Wilson pioneered the use of advanced training for officers and is also known for the start of criminal justice as an academic field. Wilson was also instrumental in applying modern management and administrative techniques to policing. Vollmer’s drive for educational innovations and improvements has changed policing tremendously and is still practiced heavily upon in today’s modern law enforcement society.
August Vollmer Contribution to Modern Law Enforcement
August Vollmer, the leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century was born New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1876. His only formal education, beyond grade school, was a vocational course in book-keeping, typing and shorthand that he took at New Orleans Academy. His family moved to Berkeley, California, in 1891 when he was fifteen and was active in the formation of a volunteer fire department. Upon Vollmer’s erection of the Berkeley police department, Vollmer learned that police officers had very little literature and education on policing. Within Vollmer’s program for modernization, he established bicycle patrol and created the first centralized police records system, designed to streamline and organized criminal investigations, the utilization of patrol vehicles, radio communications, crime labs, lie detectors, fingerprints, computerized records systems, beat analysis, and community relations. He also established a call box network and provided his officers training in marksmanship. The effectiveness of Vollmer’s programs grew and effected surrounding police departments.
In 1908 Vollmer started the Berkley Police School, taught by himself and an Oakland police inspector;
August Vollmer Contribution to Modern Law Enforcement
August Vollmer, the leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century was born New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1876. His only formal education, beyond grade school, was a vocational course in book-keeping, typing and shorthand that he took at New Orleans Academy. His family moved to Berkeley, California, in 1891 when he was fifteen and was active in the formation of a volunteer fire department. Upon Vollmer’s erection of the Berkeley police department, Vollmer learned that police officers had very little literature and education on policing. Within Vollmer’s program for modernization, he established bicycle patrol and created the first centralized police records system, designed to streamline and organized criminal investigations, the utilization of patrol vehicles, radio communications, crime labs, lie detectors, fingerprints, computerized records systems, beat analysis, and community relations. He also established a call box network and provided his officers training in marksmanship. The effectiveness of Vollmer’s programs grew and effected surrounding police departments.
In 1908 Vollmer started the Berkley Police School, taught by himself and an Oakland police inspector;
References: August Vollmer papers, BANC MSS C-B 403, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.Title: Berkeley Police Department records, 1909-1932, Bruce Smith, Police Systems in the United States, 2nd Rev. Ed. (New York: Harper and Bros. , 1960) Hart James, D. A Companion to California, Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 1978 p. 466. "How Accurate Are Lie Detector Tests." The Straight Dope. 23 Apr. 2010. 14 Feb. 2012. . National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931). "Police Records Management." Integraph. 14 Feb. 2011. . Wilson, O. W. (1953). Police Science. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, 44 (1), pp. 91-103.