Transcript No Slide Title

Chapter 5
Police and Society: History and Organization
The Pledge System
 Families banded together for protection
 People raised the “hue and cry” to warn others of trouble and to
pursue criminals
 Tithings were formed (10 families)
 Ten tithings banded together to form a hundred supervised by a
constable
 Hundreds banded together to form shires supervised by the shire
reeve
The Watch System: 13th Century
 More formal than the pledge system
 Employed watchmen to protect property against fire and robbery
 Justice of the peace established and given judicial duties
 Constables served as assistants to justices of the peace
18th Century English Policing
 Industrial Revolution takes place and crime dramatically increases
 London experiments with different kinds of policing
 In 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act (MPA) is passed in Parliament
while Sir Robert Peel is home secretary
 The MPA creates the first organized police force of over 1,000 men
American Colonial Experience
 County sheriff was the most important law enforcement person
 Investigated complaints
 Ran the jail
 Collected taxes, supervised elections
 Town marshal, aided by others, was responsible for urban areas
 Vigilante groups used to eradicate some social problems
19th Century American Policing
 Development of police agencies prompted by mob violence
 Gentry feared restlessness of the underclass
 Gin became a major substance abuse problem
 Fear of urban street crime produced demands for greater police
protection
19th Century American Policing
 Police were incompetent, disliked and corrupt
 Primary functions were to:
 Serve as enforcement powers for reigning political powers
 Protect private property
 Control the rising number of foreign immigrants
20th Century American Policing
 Technological advancements
 Telegraph boxes, motorcycles and police cars
 Local, state and federal crime commissions
 Public concern about police corruption led to reform efforts
The Modern Era of Policing: The 1960s
 Civil unrest and Vietnam
 Growing crime rates
 Supreme Court decisions
 Desire for more educated officers
The Modern Era of Policing: The 1970s
 Emphasis on good police-community relationships
 Federal assistance to local and state agencies to fight the war on
crime
 Recruitment and promotion of women and minorities increased
The Modern Era of Policing: The 1980s
 Concepts of community and problem-oriented policing emerged
 Police unions grew
 Governments faced fiscal constraints and forced budget cutbacks in
policing
 Riots and brutality claims led to an examination of traditional police
practices and roles
Policing in the 1990s
 Rodney King case prompted a renewed interest in police reform
 Evaluation of police broadened to include courteousness,
helpfulness and deportment of the officers
Federal Law Enforcement
 Numerous agencies found in a variety of departments of federal
government
 No single agency has unlimited jurisdiction
 Most agencies have primarily investigative functions
 Function of each agency is determined by specific laws
U.S. Department of Justice
 Headed by the U.S. Attorney General and is empowered to:
 Enforce all federal laws
 Represent the U.S. in court actions
 Conduct independent investigations through its law enforcement
services, e.g., FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals
The DEA home page is located at http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
 An investigative rather than police agency
 Jurisdiction includes all federal laws not specifically assigned to
another agency
 Has over 11,000 Special Agents and over 16,000 other professional,
administrative and clerical staff
 Provides services to local agencies
Department of Homeland Security
 The assigned mission of Homeland Security:
 Prevent terrorist attacks within the United States
 Reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism
 Minimize the damage from attacks that do occur and recover from
them
Five Independent Branches of the
Department of Homeland Security
 Border and Transportation Security
 Emergency Preparedness and Response
 Science and Technology
 Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection
 Management
U.S. Treasury Department
 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms
 Controls sale of untaxed liquor and cigarettes and illegal sales,
importation & criminal misuses of firearms and explosives
 Internal Revenue Service
 Enforces violations of income, excise, stamp and other tax laws
 Often involved with a variety of types of crimes from a tax
“point of view”
U.S. Treasury Department (cont.)
 U.S. Customs Service
 Guards points of entry into the U.S. and prevents smuggling of
contraband into and out of the country
 U.S. Secret Service
 Enforces laws against counterfeiting
 Protects the President, VP and others
 Maintains the White House Police Force
State Police Agencies
 Texas Rangers was one of the first state agencies formed
 Responsible for:
 Highway safety
 Law enforcement in various areas
 Technical support to other agencies
County Law Enforcement
 Either the County Sheriff’s Department (most common) or County
Police Department
 3,100 sheriffs operating nationwide
 Responsible for:
 Law enforcement
 Local corrections (jail)
 Civil law authority
 Court-related duties
Metropolitan Police
 Have majority of personnel
 NYPD is largest
 Large and small departments have same functions
Technology in Law Enforcement
 Criminal identification through computer imaging (biometrics)
 Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems
 DNA testing