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Some of the earliest forms of policing were colonial night watches in the time shortly before and during the Revolutionary War. These were volunteer groups designed to provide security for colonists, and were largely informal.
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The foundations of policing. Colonial era United States was the beginnings of policing, with social punishments being the primary operation, but policing then didn't look like it does today. There weren't paid police, rather town criers and community groups were more common. Community social shunning and stockades were typical forms of colonial policing.
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Starting in the early 1700s, slave patrols were formed to keep slaves from organizing, revolting, and escaping. These were the first organized law enforcement groups, with uniforms, a chain of command, and the authority to use force.
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Borrowing ideas from English cities, the idea of organized law enforcement and police patrols was introduced in the United States, first adopted by the city of Boston in 1838.
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Directly following the Civil War, as the newly freed slaves began living as equal citizens, they faced a great deal of police brutality as an attempt by slave supporters to continue keeping black people oppressed.
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As a way to try to keep slavery in place without it being legal, many laws were passed to perpetuate segregation and forbid black people from participating in activities equally to white people. These laws were called Jim Crow laws, and the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson upheld that "separate but equal" was an acceptable practice. -
Around 1900 the addition of police cars, telephones and radios began transforming the way police operated. It gave the police mobility to enforce the law at greater distance and quickly respond to calls.
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Ended legal segregation and established that Jim Crow "separate but equal" was no longer legal. This made it much more difficult to make racist police enforcement stick. During this time period, policing was largely breaking up riots of people angry about the groundbreaking issues regarding civil rights. -
Starting mostly during the Civil Rights movement, the revolving door effect began to be a problem. Recently released convicts found themselves right back in prison due to difficulties integrating back into society after being released the first time.
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Protests against police brutality following a number of cases in which black people were murdered by white people in the US with little to no consequences began spreading into a worldwide movement to try to bring accountability upon police everywhere. Check out this link for photos of the protests: ABC News -
In today's society there are still many forms of racial profiling and police brutality still exists. "Stop and Frisk" allows police to blatantly racially single out targets to search with basically no probable cause and is the center of much controversy.