A Brief History of Policing since the Ancient World

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Peisistratus (605-527 BCE), who was a ruler of Athens, has been called the father of formal policing.

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By Tiffany L. Morey
Instructor of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Southern Oregon University

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Policing in Ancient Times

The development of policing in the United States coincided with the development of policing in England. In fact, the United States legal system traces its roots back to the common law of England. However, we can go all the way back before 1750 BC to see how forms of policing were common during ancient times, to what is now known as kin policing. Kin policing is when a tribe or clan policed their own tribe, and it often turned bloody quickly. The blood feuds would go on for a long period of time. ^[1]

However, it is estimated, also sometime around 1750 BC, that the Code Hammurabi was engraved in stone. This code detailed 282 sections of how one individual should treat another individual in society, and the penalties for such violations. The code is seen as the beginnings of law and justice. Around 1000 BC, Mosaic Law emerged. This law was a new form of rational law and hoped to predict what behaviors were prohibited. In Mosaic Law, the ruling class did not create the law. The Code of Hammurabi and Mosaic Law formed the ladder that would eventually lead to the creation of policing, as we now know it today. ^[2]

Peisistratus (605-527 BC), who was the ruler of Athens, has been called the father of formal policing. During this time of growth, new Greek city-states were being developed and blood feuds that lasted decades had to be quashed. Kin policing slowly washed away due to its barbaric nature and new doors opened for a modern city driven policing model. The first police service in Athens was developed by Sparta and it is often looked at as the first secret service. ^[3]

Augustus Caesar (27 BC), who was the first emperor of Rome, was instrumental in creating what is now called the urban cohorts. The urban cohorts were men from the Praetorian Guard (Augustus’ army), charged with ensuring peace in the city. As crime rose and became more violent, Augustus formed the vigils, which were not affiliated with the Praetorian Guard, but were charged with fighting crime and fires. The vigils were given the power to protect and arrest. ^[4]

From 6 AD until the 12th century, Rome was patrolled day and night, by a public police force. With the fall of the Roman Empire, kings then assumed the role of protection. From the 12th-18th centuries, kings in England appointed sheriffs. At age fifteen, boys could volunteer with the posse comitatus to go after wanted felons. Constables, a police officer with limited authority, assisted the sheriffs with serving summons and warrants. Because young volunteers did the policing work, there were several problems, such as corruption and drunkenness. Victims who had the means to hire private police or bodyguards to so for protection, but unfortunately, that meant those who were poor, had neither help nor protection. ^[5]

Sir Robert Peel

The 19^th century in  England heavily influenced the history of policing in the United States. Not only did policing radically change for the first time in over six centuries, but the father of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel, set up the stage for what is known today as modern policing. Sir Robert Peel, the British Home Secretary, coined the term ‘bobbies’ as a nickname for cops and he believed policing needed to be restructured. In 1829 he passed the Metropolitan Police Act, which created the first British police force and what the 21^st century knows for today’s modern-day police. ^[6]

Sir Robert Peel is best known for the Peelian Principles. He did not create the twelve principles but used a combination of previous codes that he expected police to follow. The exact historical origins of the twelve listed principles below are unknown, but it has been theorized that the principles were slowly created over the years by academics studying Peel.

1. The police must be stable efficient, and organized along military lines;
2. The police must be under government control;
3. The absence of crime will best prove the efficiency of police;
4. The distribution of crime news is essential;
5. The deployment of police strength both by time and area is essential;
6. No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than perfect command of temper; a quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action;
7. Good appearance commands respect;
8. The securing and training of proper persons is at the root of efficiency;
9. Public security demands that every police officer be given a number;
10. Police headquarters should be centrally located and easily accessible to the people;
11. Policemen should be hired on a probationary basis; and
12. Police records are necessary to the correct distribution of police strength ^[7]

Policing Eras

Overview

Researchers Kelling and Moore (1991) evaluated the first three eras of policing. These eras are discussed below, and are often referred to as the Political Era, the Reform Era, and the Community Era. Through the microscope of seven topical areas, listed below, an understanding of how policing evolved begins.

1. Authorization
2. Function
3. Organization
4. Demand
5. Environment
6. Tactics
7. Outcomes

These seven characteristics have been used to evaluate how policing operated throughout history, most notably through its organizational structure, tactics, and primary focus. ^[8]

Political Era

The political era is often referred to as the first era of policing in the United States and it began around the 1840s with the creation of the first bona fide police agencies in America ^[9]

This era of policing is marked by the industrial revolution, the abolishment of slavery, and the formation of large cities. One way to confirm the start of this era is to look at the creation of police departments in larger cities:

• New York Police Founded 1845
• Chicago Police Founded 1855
• Philadelphia Police Founded 1751
• Jacksonville Police Founded 1822
• Indianapolis Police Founded 1850’s
• Detroit Police Founded 1865
• Portland Police Founded 1870
• Eugene Police Founded 1863
• Jackson County, Oregon Police Founded 1852

With the advent of the industrial revolution, came goods and services. Along with new job opportunities, came a myriad of conflict as well. The fast-growing cities had to answer these problems with solutions in the form of policing. The abolishment of slavery and the new free black population created many unforeseen issues too with The Klu Klux Klan. The Klan began to make terrifying appearances and their reign of terror left many in fear. Policing had not yet formally entered the scene; therefore, The Klan operated virtually unencumbered.

The United States saw tremendous growth in major cities, had the industrial revolution, and the abolished slavery, which is when the Political Era of policing was set into motion. As its name suggests, it was an era of politics, mainly because of how policing was limited as a result of new laws, made clear by the Constitution. America answered the call by following the English and Sir Robert Peel’s principles. Not unlike today, policing during this era was under the control of politicians. Politicians, like the mayor, had no problem controlling everything a policeman did during his call of duty (NOTE: the word policeman/men is utilized in this era/context, because during this time period, women were not allowed in the profession, and if they were accepted it was under a microscopic view of certain stereotypical matronly duties to be performed). In fact, Black policemen were rarely hired. Black policemen made their way into policing in the late 1800s, but when the Civil Rights Act of 1875 was ruled unconstitutional, Black officers all but disappeared from policing until the 1950s.

Reform Era

Because the Political Era of policing ended up being laced with corruption and brutality, the panacea for the negativity became the Reform Era. One police chief was largely at the forefront of this new era, Chief August Vollmer. He is considered the pioneer for police professionalism. August Vollmer was the Chief of Police in Berkeley, California (1905-1932). He had many new beliefs about policing that would forever change the world of policing:

1. Candidates who were testing to be in policing had to undergo psychological and intelligence tests
2. Detectives would utilize scientific methods in their investigations, through forensic laboratories
3. Recruits, for the first time, would attend a training academy (police did not receive any formal training prior to August Vollmer’s arrival)
4. Assisted with the development of the School of Criminology at the University of California at Berkeley

Chief August Vollmer saw policing and officers as social workers that needed to delve into the causes behind the acts in order to solve the issue, instead of just arrest it. ^[10] He knew in order to rehabilitate offenders, police officers needed to look behind the handcuffs and start looking into the person and reason behind the behavior. ^[11]

Diversity in policing started to make a mark during this era, but it would fall irrevocably far from meeting any type of quota. It was a better era for diversity than the Political Era, but the numbers don’t lie in that it fell dismally short.

The Community Era: 1980s to 2000

In the 1960s and 1970s the crime rate double and it was a time of unrest and eye-opening policing issues. Civil rights movements spread across America and the police were on the front lines. Media coverage showed controversial contacts between white male officers and African American citizens, which further irritated race relations in policing. The U.S. Supreme Court handed down the landmark Miranda v. Arizona and Mapp v. Ohio decisions. The writing was on the wall that the policing environment had to change. The days of answering everything with bullying or police professionalism were no more. The Community Era of policing began and those in police administration hoped this new era held the answers to fixing decades-old issues. The police needed help and they would turn towards the community and its citizens for assistance.

This new era of community policing held that police couldn’t act alone; the community must pitch in as well. Whether the problems were a dispute between neighbors or high crime area drugs and shootings, these issues did not develop overnight and could not be solved by a response of police alone. Instead, these community problems needed a pronged approach where the police worked together with the community and over time the issues could be systematically solved. Out of the box thinking was common in community policing and often community leaders were identified in order to make the impact. During this time police candidates started showing up to the application process with Associates and Bachelors degrees. The ‘old school officers’ mocked these degree-holding candidates. But the landscape was changing and officers needed more thorough training than ever to answer the call.

Problem-oriented policing was an after effect of community policing, in that it utilized community policing, but focused on the problems first. The biggest difference was problem-oriented policing used a defined process for working towards the solution. The problem was torn apart layer by layer and rebuilt according to set parameters that have a proven record of working.

The Community Era was also a time for research. Prior to this era, research on crime, police, or criminal justice topics were few and far between. With new federal government funding options available, this era missions could be accomplished through grants and the needed research began. Proof of what worked, what didn’t, and suggestions on how to improve policing were abundant. Without research or studies, policing can become stagnant. But with funding available, the answers were a questionnaire or interview away and solutions came rolling in.

The Homeland Security Era: 2001 to Present

On September 11^th, 2001, when terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center buildings and Pentagon in the United States, a fourth era of policing, the era of Homeland Security, was said to emerge. ^[12] The long-lasting repercussions of this terrorist act would forever change life for Americans, but the daily activities of all policing departments. There is some debate in the field as to the order of policing eras and what they should be called. Some scholars list the policing eras as:

1. Pre-Policing Era
2. Political Era
3. Reform Era
4. Community Era

While others believe the policing eras are:

1. Political Era
2. Reform Era
3. Community Era
4. Homeland Security Era

The realities of the tragedy of 9/11 were that it did start a new era of policing. In fact, a case could be made for the large dark line that became metaphorically visible on 9/11/01, when the Community Era shifted to the Homeland Security Era as airplanes destroyed America’s feelings of safety. Policing will probably always involve some sort of Community Era policing in order to make a difference.

Policing under Homeland Security is marked by a more focused concentration of its resources into crime control, enforcement of the criminal law, traffic law, etc., in order to expose potential threats and gather intelligence. ^[13]

Scholars have examined the pros and cons of a national police department in the United States. For example, Canada has a Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Whereas, depending on location, one could go through several different cities and counties while driving to the store, all of which have their own respective police departments. With the advent of the Homeland Security Era, a new model of centralized organizational control began due to the need for information dissemination. One of the biggest flaws of 9/11 was the lack of communication between law enforcement agencies. The Department of Homeland Security was developed and one of its first major missions became the dissemination of information and communication. So, while a national police department does not exist in the United States, communication and information are now a common thread that binds all of the different types of law enforcement agencies.

Endnotes

1. Berg, B., (1999). Policing in a modern society. Oxford: Elsevier.
2. Berg, B., (1999). Policing in a modern society. Oxford: Elsevier.
3. Berg, B., (1999). Policing in a modern society. Oxford: Elsevier.
4. Berg, B., (1999). Policing in a modern society. Oxford: Elsevier.
5. Berg, B., (1999). Policing in a modern society. Oxford: Elsevier.
6. Cordner, G., Novak, K., Roberg, R., & Smith, B., (2017). Police & Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
7. Cordner, G., Novak, K., Roberg, R., & Smith, B., (2017). Police & Society. New York: Oxford University Press.
8. Greene, J. R., & Mastrofsky, S. D. (Eds.) (1991). Kelling, G.L., & Moore, M. H. (1991). From political to reform to community: The evolving strategy of the police. In Community Policing: Rhetoric or Reality. New York: Paeger.
9. Oliver, W. M. (2006). The fourth era of policing: Homeland security. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology
10. Reppetto, T.A. (1978). The Blue Parade. New York: Free Press.
11. Reppetto, T.A. (1978). The Blue Parade. New York: Free Press.
12. Oliver, W. M. (2006). The fourth era of policing: Homeland security. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology.
13. Oliver, W. M. (2006). The fourth era of policing: Homeland security. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology.

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Originally published in Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System, by Alison S. Burke, David Carter, Brian Fedorek, Tiffany Morey, Lore Rutz-Burri, and Shanell Sanchez, under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

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