Police in America. Steven G. Brandl
policing today? Explain your answer.
Slave Patrols
As the economy of the colonies continued to grow, so did the need for laborers. This led to the advent of slavery. Africans began to be transported to the colonies in the 1600s, and by 1860, approximately 450,000 had been relocated there.4 With births far outnumbering deaths, by 1860 there were four million slaves in the country.5 Slave patrols were established shortly after the mass importation of slaves began and were in place in several colonies by the mid-1700s.6 The law typically required white landowners (slave owners) to serve on slave patrols. Because it was not a desirable duty, by the 1800s members of slave patrols usually included people who did not own slaves or land, and they were paid. The pay was about the same as that given to members of the town watch, which was about one dollar per night. In addition, when runaway slaves were captured, the slave patrol members shared the reward. The patrols typically consisted of seven men who were assigned to an area of about ten to twelve square miles.7 In 1837 Charleston, South Carolina, had a slave patrol that consisted of more than a hundred officers.8
slave patrols: Patrols tasked with looking for runaway slaves, policing the whereabouts of slaves, and making sure slaves were not in possession of weapons or property they were not allowed to have.
The purpose of the slave patrols was multifaceted. They patrolled the roads and stopped slaves to make sure the slaves had passes to be away from their plantations. They also were on the lookout for slaves who gathered for illegal worship. Members of slave patrols also had the authority to enter plantations and search the living quarters of slaves for stolen property, runaway slaves, and weapons. They also looked for books, paper, and pens, as it was illegal for slaves to learn how to read or write.9 In some villages, the slave patrols worked alongside the watches, and some patrol members went on to serve as members of the watches. During the Civil War, the slave patrols became more active, and slaves were even more closely monitored. For example, in Atlanta, Georgia, slave patrols were authorized to arrest any blacks who were on the street after 9:00 p.m. They also prevented blacks from gathering unless members of a slave patrol or the police were present.10
Photo 2.1 Slave patrols provided an important form of policing in the pre–Civil War era. These patrols represented the first example of racial conflict between police and blacks in America.
@North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy Stock Photo
The Sheriff
The sheriff was another important policing figure in early America. The idea of a sheriff was borrowed from the old English system. In England, a shire was the American equivalent of a county; a reeve was an officer who functioned as a constable. A sheriff was the American version of a reeve. Normally, a sheriff was appointed by the governor and worked in a less populated area than a watch did. The primary responsibilities of the sheriff were to apprehend criminals, assist the justice of the peace, collect taxes, and supervise elections. As settlers moved west into the territory of the American Indians, the sheriff continued to have an important role. U.S. marshals employed deputies who also served as sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, or constables.11 In some places, the sheriff could summon a posse, which was a band of armed male citizens, to assist in apprehending criminals and dealing with other violent threats. The Texas Rangers were formed as a militia to defend against Indians.
sheriff: A police figure who typically worked in a less populated area. In early American policing, the primary responsibilities of the sheriff were to apprehend criminals, assist the justice of the peace, collect taxes, and supervise elections.
A Question to Consider 2.2 The Historical Roots of Police–Minority Conflict
Do you think the early history of the police can help explain why there are often tensions and conflict between some people of color and police in the twenty-first century? Explain why or why not.
The First American Police Departments: The Political Era of Policing
In the early and mid-1800s, three developments converged that led to the creation of the first formal police departments in America: the Industrial Revolution, the rise of major cities, and the abolishment of slavery. These developments are important to consider because they provided the perfect mix of ingredients for the creation of police departments.
Industrial Revolution: A period during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries marked by new manufacturing processes and a transition from rural means of production to urban ones.
The Industrial Revolution and the Creation of Cities
With the creation of various technologies, such as electricity, the steam engine, steel, industrial equipment, and the assembly line, the focus of the economy began to move from the land more toward the production of goods. Factories were built. America was experiencing massive immigration, and these newcomers wanted jobs. Many of the jobs were in the new factories, and people tended to settle in close proximity to where they worked. As a result, new cities formed and already existing ones got much larger. For example, in 1820 Boston had a population of approximately 40,000. By 1870 it had a population of about 250,000.
Cities created a slew of new job opportunities, but they also created problems, particularly with regard to ethnic conflict, housing, sanitation, and health and medical care. Extraordinary wealth was created during this period—at least for some. Others, especially those who were unable to work, lived in poverty. Crime became a major concern, specifically among the wealthy. There were riots in many American cities, most of which were related to poor living standards, poverty, and ethnic conflict. The watch was simply no longer capable of providing the security that citizens demanded.
The Abolishment of Slavery
Slavery was officially abolished at the end of the Civil War with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. The former slave owners and other pro-slavery whites now had a problem uniquely their own: a “free” black population. According to authors Jerome Skolnick and James Fyfe, “The post–Civil War South faced the enormous problem of absorbing a population of former slaves while maintaining the dominance of the white caste.”12 The emergence of the Ku Klux Klan was part of the solution to this problem for the pro-slavery Southerners. The Klan’s mission was to strike terror into the freed slaves and their sympathizers in order to keep them in a powerless position. Lynching was a common tool of the Klan: From 1882 to 1959, it is estimated nearly 5,000 lynchings occurred in the United States.13 The activities of the Klan went on largely without interference from officials.
Along with the use of terror as a tool, another tactic of the pro-slavery faction was the creation of so-called black codes, which articulated black citizens’ “rights and responsibilities.” For example, blacks were prohibited from renting land in cities, and vagrancy was punishable by forced plantation labor. Other rules prohibited “insulting language,” “malicious mischief,” and preaching the Gospel without a license. South Carolina required that blacks be farmers or servants unless they paid a special (and unaffordable) tax.14
black codes: Codes designed to limit the rights of freed slaves in the post–Civil War South.
Photo 2.2 The Industrial Revolution led to the creation of cities, which in turn led to rising concern about crime and the formation of formal police departments.
@iStockphoto.com/ilbusca
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