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Chapter 5Chapter 5History and Structure

of American Law Enforcement

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Chapter 5

The Limited Authority ofAmerican Law Enforcement

The United States has almost 18,000 public

law enforcement agencies. Thejurisdictionof each agency is carefully limited by law.

Law enforcement is also limited by theprocedural law derived from U.S. Supreme

Court decisions.

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Chapter 5

The Limited Authority ofAmerican Law Enforcement

Even compared with other democratic nations

of the world, the U.S. has remarkably morepolice agencies that operate under far morerestrictions to their authority.

Like much of the criminal justice system, thislimited law enforcement model came fromEngland.

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Chapter 5

English Roots

Our familiar law enforcement system, in

which uniformed officers respond to calls forhelp and plainclothes detectives investigate,

developed over hundreds of years in England.

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The Tithing System

By the 12th century in England, the practice of

resolving disputes privately gave way to asystem of group protection, called the tithing

system.

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tithing system

A private self-held protection system in early

medieval England, in which a group of ten families,or a tithing, agreed to follow the law, keep the peace

in their areas, and bring law violators to justice.

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The Tithing System

In larger areas, ten tithings were grouped

together to form a hundred, and one or severalhundreds constituted a shire. The shire was

under the direction of the shire reeve.

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Chapter 5

The Constable-Watch SystemThe Statute of Winchester, in 1285,

formalized the constable-watch system of

protection.

One man from each parish was selected to be

constable.

Citizens were drafted as (unpaid) watchmen, and

were required to come to the aid of a constable or

watchman who called for help.

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constable-watch system

A system of protection in early England in which

citizens, under the direction of a constable, or chief

peacekeeper, were required to guard the city and topursue criminals.

constable

The peacekeeper in charge of protection in early

English towns.

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Chapter 5

The London Metropolitan Police The Industrial Revolution brought a huge

influx of people into London, and along

with them, increasing poverty, publicdisorder, and crime.

In 1829, Parliament created the London

Metropolitan Police, a 1,000-memberprofessional force.

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The London Metropolitan Police

The police became known as bobbies or

peelers after Robert Peel, who had pushed fortheir creation.

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The London Metropolitan PoliceThe police were organized around Peels

Principles of Policing.

The London Police were organized according to

military rank and structure.

The main function of the police was to prevent

crime by preventive patrol of the community.

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Chapter 5

The Development of AmericanLaw Enforcement

The United States has more police

departments than any other nation in the

world.

Virtually every community has its own police

force, creating a great disparity in the qualityof American police personnel and service.

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Chapter 5

Early American LawEnforcementSettlers to the new

American colonies brought

with them the constable-

watch system, which

became common (although

not necessarily effective) incities.

In many rural areas, a

sheriff and posse system

was commonly used.

America developed with two separate law

enforcement systems.

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Chapter 5

Municipal Police Forces In 1844, New York City created the first paid,

unified police force in the U.S.

Other cities followed suit, creating their own police

departments, often merely an organization of the

existing day and night watch.

It was not until after the Civil War that police

forces routinely began to wear uniforms and carry

nightsticks.

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Chapter 5

Tangle of Politics and Policing Until the 1920s in most American cities,

local political leaders maintained complete

control over the police force.

The political and police systems in many

cities were corrupt, and jobs, politics, and

law enforcement all depended on paying

money to the right person.

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Chapter 5

Southern Slave Patrols In the South, the earliest form of policing

was the plantation slave patrols.

Slave codes prohibited slaves from:holding meetings

leaving the plantation without permission

traveling without a pass

learning to read and write

Slave patrols often whipped and terrorized slaves.

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slave patrols

The earliest form of policing in the South. They were

a product of the slave codes.

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Frontier Law Enforcement

In the American frontier, justice often meant

vigilantism.

Self-protection remains very popular in the

South and West.

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Chapter 5

Professionalism and Reform Until the late 19th century, there were no

qualifications required for law enforcement

officers.

Cincinnati was the first city to require

qualifications of police officers:

High moral character

Foot speed

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Professionalism and ReformIt was not until the early 20th Century that

reformers began advocating training and

education for police officers.

Reformers also aimed to remove the police

from political influences.

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Chapter 5

The Structure of American LawEnforcementAmerican law enforcement agencies are

extremely diverse in: Jurisdictions

Responsibilities

Employers (hospitals, colleges, transit

authorities may have their own police)

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Municipal Police Departments

Most police departments (almost 90%) in the

U.S. employ fewer than 50 sworn officers.

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Large departments

have many

specializeddepartments.

Small departments

rarely have

specializeddepartments, or

officers trained in

complexinvestigation.

Organizational Structure

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Chapter 5

County Law EnforcementA substantial portion of law enforcement work

in the United States is carried out by the

sheriffs departments.

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Chapter 5

County Law EnforcementFunctions

County sheriff and department personnel

perform many functions: Investigating crimes

Supervising sentenced offenders

Enforcing criminal and traffic laws Serving summons, warrants, and writs

continued

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Chapter 5

County Law EnforcementFunctions

Providing courtroom security

Transporting prisoners

Operating a county jail

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Politics and County LawEnforcement

Most sheriffs are directly elected and depend on

an elected board of county commissioners orsupervisors for funding.

.

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Chapter 5

State Law EnforcementState law enforcement agencies provide

criminal and traffic law enforcement, and

other services particular to the needs of thatstate government.

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State Law EnforcementEach state has chosen one of two models for

providing law enforcement services:

State police model Highway patrol model

Example: Texas

RangersExample: California

Highway Patrol

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state police model

A model of state law enforcement services in whichthe agency and its officers have the same law

enforcement powers as local police, but can exercise

them anywhere within the state.

continued

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highway patrol model

A model of state law enforcement services in whichofficers focus on highway traffic safety, enforcement

of the states traffic laws, and the investigation of

accidents on the states roads, highways, and on state

property.

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Chapter 5

Federal Law EnforcementAmong the best-known federal law

enforcement agencies are:

FBI

U.S. Secret Service

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Drug Enforcement Agency

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Federal Law Enforcement

Lesser-known agencies also exist. Their

jurisdictions are narrowly defined by specificstatutes.

Postal inspectors

Federal Protective Services

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Chapter 5

Federal Law EnforcementMajor differences between federal law

enforcement and local and state police are:

Federal agencies operate across the nation.

Federal agencies usually do not have

peacekeeping duties.

Some federal agencies have very narrowjurisdictions.

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Chapter 5

American Private Security

Private security in the United States is a huge

enterprise.The U.S. spends about 75% more on private

security than on public policing each year.

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Chapter 5

American Private SecurityPrivate security employment is often

categorized two ways:

Contract security Proprietary security

Example: security

guards hired for a

college football game

Example: the security

force for a corporationsmanufacturing plants

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contract security

Protective services that a private security firm

provides to people, agencies, and companies that do

not employ their own security personnel or that need

extra protection. Contract security employees are not

peace officers.

continued

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proprietary security

In-house protective services that a security staff,

which is not classified as sworn peace officers,

provide for the entity that employs them.

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Chapter 5

Reasons for GrowthA number of factors have stimulated the

phenomenal growth of private security since

the 1970s:

Declining revenues for public policing.

The private nature of crimes in the workplace.

Companies can control and hide crimes byemployees.

continued

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Chapter 5

Reasons for Growth

Better control and attention to the problem,

particularly within a business.

Fewer constitutional limitations on the actions of

private security officers.