History of Policing

By jxs3in
  • First Settlers

    • communites policed themselves: public disapproval and shunning was common
    • informal social control: rely on each other for everything
    • public humiliation
  • Code of Alabama

    Code of Alabama

    • Used to prevent slaves from organizing rebelling against
    • Slaves could not learn to read or write without a white person around
  • colonial era

    • town crier: official job which included part journalist, part police officer neighborhood watch
    • matter of honor: issues were discussed settled privately
    • official salaried slave patrols: "job" used to capture, control brutalize slaves
  • US Marshalls

    • US Marshalls first 13 were appointed in 1789. This federal agency was first established to maintain law order in the Wild West. Now, they are used to arrest fugitives, protect courts, witness protection, etc.
  • Colonists in US

    • Colonist numbers were multiplying by high numbers and the people of the city wanted a stable system. There was now paid police, paid prosecutors and paid judges to get a system that does bring justice.
  • Early Sheriffs

    • Sheriffs would persuade citizens to volunteer to help the community. They would then deputize them, which meant giving them access to arresting people and the use of deadly force.
  • Churches in the system

    Churches in the system

    • At first, there was no actual stable criminal justice system, the closest to serving justice was not the churches. They used a lot of public humiliation and punishments to show people that the criminal behaviors were unacceptable.
  • Slavery in The South

    • Slavery has been present for years in the states, but in the south it was more deeply rooted within the people. Slavery is an example of how policing was not used in the right way. It was used to put fear into slaves and completely change them. They were misguided into forced labor, brutalized and controlled by the people who captured them.
  • Civil War

    Civil War

    • A lot of soldiers were lost in the war, this meaning that paid officers were needed more than ever in order to protect the civilians.
  • Postal Inspectors & Secret Service

    • Postal inspectors and secret service were primarily used to target crimes committed through the mail. They were used to mainly protect the president but also those who use the mail system.
  • Segregation

    Segregation

    • Segregation was deeply rooted because of slavery and was more enforced because of it. Segregation was the law that segregated people of color and white people, it was everywhere and even in education systems.
  • FBI

    • The Federal Bureau of Investigation, also known as the Bureau of Investigation was established to investigate and enforce the federal laws that have been created.
  • 250 Stop & Frisk

    • The 250 stop and frisk form was established in order to have a documented encounter with suspects. This form has a lot of pros in the development of policing, because there will be documentation of every arrest.
  • Social Events

    Social Events

    • "Defund and abolish" the police is being used more commonly now because of the gun voice that civilians have to face coming from police officers. An example was the death of George Floyd in 2020, and more recently all of the ICE raids.