Discuss the English roots of policing, starting with some of the earliest forms of law enforcement and through improvements and revisions of the law enforcement process. How do we see elements of these early practices in modern US policing?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Before the Norman Conquest in 1066 CE, no regular English police force existed. Every person was responsible for aiding neighbors and protecting their settlement from thieves and marauders. Through history, we moved from tithings and constables to shire reeves. In the thirteenth century, the night watch system helped protect property in larger cities and towns, and in larger cities, they were organized within church parishes. In 1326, the office of the justice of the peace was created to assist in the duties of controlling each county. The justices eventually took on judicial functions in addition to their role as peacekeepers, with the local constable acting as an operational assistant. This early system helped form an instrumental relationship between police and the judiciary that still continues today. In the eighteenth century, rising crime rates led to a new form of private, paid police called "thief takers," who were the first to have a formal career in policing, but this early form was universally corrupt. Thief takers accepted bribes, targeted the poor, and were violent. Henry Fielding wanted to clean up the system and created the Bow Street Runners, an improvement on earlier paid police because they had an administrative structure, which included improved recordkeeping and investigative procedures. In 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act established the first organized police force in London with the ultimate responsibility of the police falling to the home secretary and Parliament. Some of this early structure correlates to the early corruption of the US police force, but also correlates in creating a judiciary that has an established relationship with the police force and by creating both public and private police forces, two forces that still exist today. The public forces are scrutinized by the public and are held accountable by different branches of the government.