History of Policing Final
History of Policing
The function of policing has played a considerable role in American history. The policing occupation has worked toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America to become the free nation it is today. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, from this document we gather the rules of policing and make sure that every Americans rights are met. The evolutions of policing practices that officers have learned have changed American history for the better. As new problems in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public.
Early American policing strategies were based off of a similar British model. Law enforcement was not well organized or structured until 1200 A.D., after that time offenders were being pursued by an organized posse. In those times offenders were caught be the organized posse and were usually tortured and faced public execution. Rarely were the criminals or the accused of this time given the right to fair trail, and were not considered innocent until proven guilty like the laws we have today state, it was the other way around, where citizens that were accused of crimes were guilty before any evidence or testimony were ever provided. One of the earliest forms of policing came about in English cities and towns and were called night watches.(Schmalleger, 2009). The primary purpose of a night watch was to watch out for fires and thievery. There was also a day watch which basically was the same job as night watch, but in the day. Eventually this form of policing led to a written law being proposed in 1285 called the Statute of Winchester. This law created a watch and ward system that gave early watches a systems and structure to form themselves around. This law gave early English towns the policing practices and guidelines needed to produce a stable society, free of criminal activities, allowing the towns the type of policing that they needed to
The function of policing has played a considerable role in American history. The policing occupation has worked toward protecting citizens’ rights and helping America to become the free nation it is today. The United States of America is built from the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights, from this document we gather the rules of policing and make sure that every Americans rights are met. The evolutions of policing practices that officers have learned have changed American history for the better. As new problems in society arise, police must change and adapt to protect and serve the public.
Early American policing strategies were based off of a similar British model. Law enforcement was not well organized or structured until 1200 A.D., after that time offenders were being pursued by an organized posse. In those times offenders were caught be the organized posse and were usually tortured and faced public execution. Rarely were the criminals or the accused of this time given the right to fair trail, and were not considered innocent until proven guilty like the laws we have today state, it was the other way around, where citizens that were accused of crimes were guilty before any evidence or testimony were ever provided. One of the earliest forms of policing came about in English cities and towns and were called night watches.(Schmalleger, 2009). The primary purpose of a night watch was to watch out for fires and thievery. There was also a day watch which basically was the same job as night watch, but in the day. Eventually this form of policing led to a written law being proposed in 1285 called the Statute of Winchester. This law created a watch and ward system that gave early watches a systems and structure to form themselves around. This law gave early English towns the policing practices and guidelines needed to produce a stable society, free of criminal activities, allowing the towns the type of policing that they needed to