Police History
Humberto Garcia
CJA - 214
November 7, 2013
Alexander D. Dajero, Jr.
Police History
When it comes to police departments, most people do not know how they got started. Therefore, it is important to discuss the impact of Sir Robert Peel on American policing. The relationship between the U.S. government and the policing organizations throughout the United States, and how this relationship may affect police practices.
The impact of Sir Robert Peel on American policing it goes back to the 1800’s when the considered modern police started to focus on specific problems in specific geographical areas, and turned their attention to reducing response time, and generally adopted a more reactive and enforcement driven approach, following Sir Robert Peel’s main principle “The police are the public and the public are the police”. In fact, according to Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2011), “The mission of Peel’s new police was crime prevention. This reflected the utilitarian idea that it is better to prevent crime than to respond after the fact. Before the London Police, all law enforcement was reactive, responding to crimes that had been committed” (p. 25). Furthermore, Sir Robert Peel was a political leader that fought for more than 30 years to improve the law enforcement in London. Because the country was going through many changes due to the impact of urbanization and industrialization. After such a long struggle Mr. Peel finally persuaded Parliament to create the London metropolitan police in 1829. This is the first modern police force. The impact Mr. Peel had on American policing would not happen until the British immigrants that settle in the Eastern United states started to use it to police their own cities. Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2011), assert that “Mr. Peel used the organizational structure for organizing police operations was borrowed from the military. This included a hierarchical organization, uniforms, rank designations, and an authoritarian system of command and discipline. This “quasi-military” style still exists in American police administration today”. (p. 25).
The relationship between the U.S. government and the policing organizations throughout the United States is more effective and most sustainable when meaningful partnership is develop between police departments and the government. The development of partnership and collaborative efforts are largely depends on officers and administrators who interact with government agencies through personal interaction. In fact according to Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2011). “The city government is usually responsible for appointing police chiefs, who are responsible for running departments with general law enforcement authority within its boundaries. Most police chiefs are appointed at the discretion of the mayor or city manager and lack contracts protecting them from unjustified termination”, (p. 7). Without this law enforcement officers could not carry out their functions effectively. Furthermore, according to Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (2011), “The first federal agency established by the U.S. government was the U.S. Marshal Service, which was founded in 1789. Since that time, the U.S. government has created eight additional government departments with twenty-one agencies dealing with issues of law enforcement. Several of these eight departments contain dozens of smaller offices and bureaus” (p. 8). However, federal agencies can only enforce federal laws not state policies unless a constitutional violation has occurred. In fact according to Grant, H. B., & Terry, K. J. (2012). “The most important role of state governments has been to require the licensing or certification of all sworn officers. In particular, this includes mandatory pre-service training. New York and