a historical look at police services

[UtahProtectionForce Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close UtahProtectionForce]

The first police force comparable to present-day police was established in 1667 under King Louis XIV in France, although modern police usually trace their origins to the 1800 establishment of the Marine Police in London, the Glasgow Police, and the Napoleonic police of Paris

in 1829, Sir Robert Peel, referred to as the 'father of modern law enforcement' and England's Home Secretary, introduced "Act for Improving the Police in and near the Metropolis." The "Metropolitan Police Act" established the first organized police force in London. Comprised of over 1,000 men, the London Metropolitan Police was structured in a paramilitary fashion. The London Metropolitan police was led by two magistrates who were later given the title of Commissioner, however; the responsibility of the police force rested on the Home Secretary and ultimately the Parliament. The officers of the police force were referred to as Bobby's Boys or 'bobbies', after their creator. Sir Robert Peel made the distinction of a policeman visible to the public through the use of uniforms and badges.

In the United States, the first organized police service was established in Boston in 1838, New York in 1844, and Philadelphia in 1854. However, in the Founding Era, and even well into the 20th century in some parts of the country, law enforcement was done by private citizens acting as militia

--- so now i will follow up with a thread on the history of security

[UtahProtectionForce Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close UtahProtectionForce]

a historical look at security services

The vigiles were soldiers assigned to guard the city of Rome, often credited as the origin of both security personnel and police, although their principal duty was as a fire brigade. There have been night watchmen since at least the Middle Ages in Europe; walled cities of ancient times also had watchmen. A special chair appeared in Europe sometime in the late Middle Ages, called the watchman's chair; this unupolstered wooden chair had a forward slanting seat to prevent the watchman from dozing off during his watch.

The Triumviri Nocturni were the first men, being privately owned slaves, organized into a group that combated the common problems of fire and conflagrations in Rome. The privately operated system became ineffective, so in the interest of keeping himself and Rome safe, Caesar Augustus instituted a new public firefighting force called the Vigiles. Augustus modelled the new firefighters after the fire brigade of Alexandria, Egypt. The Vigiles were also known by their nickname Spartoli or "little bucket fellows" which was given to them because of the buckets they carried water in made of rope sealed with pitch.

In AD 6 Augustus levied a 4 % tax on the sale of slaves and used the proceeds to set up the new force. They were commanded by the praefectus vigilum, who was of equestrian rank, and subpraefectus and were divided into seven cohorts commanded by a tribune. Each cohort was divided into seven centuries, each of 70–80 men commanded by a centurio. Each cohort patrolled two of the city's fourteen administrative regiones. The cohorts were doubled in size in AD 205.

The Vigiles also acted as a night watch, keeping an eye out for burglars and hunting down runaway slaves, and were on occasion used to maintain order in the streets. Their most famous prefect, Naevius Sutorius Macro, succeeded Lucius Aelius Sejanus as Prefect of the Praetorian Guard after his men had been used by the Emperor Tiberius to retake control of the city from the treacherous Sejanus's soldiers

The term "Praetorian" came from the tent of the commanding general or praetor of a Roman army in the field—the praetorium. It was a habit of many Roman generals to choose from the ranks a private force of soldiers to act as bodyguards of the tent or the person. They consisted of both infantry and cavalry. In time, this cohort came to be known as the cohors praetoria, and various notable figures possessed one, including Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Augustus (Octavian). As Caesar discovered with the Legio X Equestris, a powerful unit more dangerous than its fellow legions was desirable in the field. When Augustus became the first ruler of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, he decided such a formation was useful not only in war but also in politics. Thus, from the ranks of the legions throughout the provinces, Augustus recruited the Praetorian Guard.


[edit] Early Guard
The group that was formed initially differed greatly from the later Guard, which would assassinate emperors. While Augustus understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime. Thus he allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, originally at 500 but increased to 1,000 men each, and only three were kept on duty at any given time in the capital. A small number of detached cavalry units (turma) of 30 men each were also organized. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in the towns surrounding Rome; no threats were possible from these individual cohorts. This system was not radically changed with the arrival of two Praetorian prefects in 2 BC, Quintus Ostorius Scapula and Salvius Aper, although organization and command were improved.

[Bill Warnock Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bill Warnock]

In the federal system, the US Marshals Service is the oldest having been created by the First Judicial Act of September 1789. The first US Marshal murdered in the line of duty was Marshal Forsyth carrying out a federal court order.
Just as a refresher, this topic was covered in a previous thread.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[UtahProtectionForce Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close UtahProtectionForce]

In the federal system, the US Marshals Service is the oldest having been created by the First Judicial Act of September 1789. The first US Marshal murdered in the line of duty was Marshal Forsyth carrying out a federal court order.
Just as a refresher, this topic was covered in a previous thread.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

sorry could not find the thread. tried searching for it.

[Hank1 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hank1]

Very good posting UPF. Thanks for the information. I was aware of most of what you posted. Thanks again for the refresher.

Be Safe,

Hank

[Chucky Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chucky]

A little more. The origin of the word COP.
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp

[Curtis Baillie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Curtis Baillie]

A little more. The origin of the word COP.
http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/cop.asp

When I went to the LE certification academy (circa 1972) this question was on the final exam. The correct answer was 'Constable on Patrol' - or at least that was the answer they were looking for. So was the formula for (in an accident) determining the minimum speed of a car by measureing skid marks.

[SecTrainer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SecTrainer]

When I went to the LE certification acadamy (circa 1972) this question was on the final exam. The correct answer was 'Constable on Patrol' - or at least that was the answer they were looking for. So was the formula for (in an accident) determining the minimum speed of a car by measureing skid marks.

Same year for me! And don't forget using a stopwatch to catch speeders instead of radar! Click...click...check your chart and light 'em up. A couple of years ago I had occasion to show that I could still do it to within 2 mph when I was consulting with a private community that had a speeding problem (kids who lived in the community), but radar was not an option. Their officers started issuing private citations which carried "fines" (legally, civil demands) under the community's charter that were higher than public citations - and the speeding problem went away.

(One note of interest: This was a large gated dripping-with-diamonds-and-mink community with about 8 miles of private roadway. A large sign on entry advised all visitors and vendors that by entering they were consenting to obey community traffic regulations and subject to being stopped by community security officers. I forget the exact wording now.)

I note with interest that there is software available for PDA's running Windows Mobile CE that implement the stopwatch method of speed determination - obviously in a more automated and precise way. One of these is Sports Tools, which has a RADAR module for this purpose. Use it to measure speed of downhill skiiers, runners...or vehicles.)

I well remember doing 30- and 40-mph test skids at major accident scenes, also.

[Maelstrom Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Maelstrom]

What about the okappiki or doshin (Samurai Police) of the Japanese 'Edo period' (1603 ~ 1868)? notably the first formal users of the 'jutte' early baton-like device designed to disarm & enable the capture of 'armed offenders'

[Andy Taylor Member Find all posts View Profile Close Andy Taylor]

An Administration of Justice class I took at a local college years ago taught the copper badge was where the word "cop" came from.