Police in America. Steven G. Brandl
box was a metal box on a pole with what amounted to be a rudimentary telephone inside the box. Call boxes provided a means by which officers could communicate with supervisors at the police station, and they allowed supervisors to monitor the location of officers on the beat. However, call boxes were often vandalized by officers. They represented a first attempt to control and improve the police, if a rather unsuccessful one.
Beyond serving the interests of politicians, the police were primarily engaged in providing services to citizens: They ran soup lines, provided lodging to immigrant workers, and assisted in finding work for immigrants, all upon the direction of political leaders.22 Something that the police did not do very often was make arrests. More than half of all arrests made at this time were for public drunkenness.23 This was an offense that beat cops could easily discover with no investigation necessary. The police simply did not have the capability to respond to and investigate crimes. When an arrest was made, it was usually as a last resort. Making an arrest in the late 1800s presented some serious logistical difficulties; officers would literally have to “run ’em in” to the police station or, when arresting a drunk, use a wheelbarrow and wheel him into the station.24 So-called curbside justice with a wooden baton often became an alternate means of dealing with drunken citizens and other law breakers.
curbside justice: The use of force by police rather than arrest to deal with law breakers.
A Question of Ethics
Changes in Ethical Standards
What historical aspects of policing could be criticized today as being ethically wrong? Why do you think ethical standards of conduct change? Do you think there is anything about policing today that is viewed as ethical (or unethical) that may be viewed differently in the future? Explain.
Criminal Investigations During the Political Era
The need to improve methods of criminal apprehension was not lost on the police of the political era. Police officers known as detectives began to appear in the late 1800s, largely in response to public concern about the increasing amount of crime. As an illustration of this increase, for most of the early to mid-1800s, there were no homicides recorded in Suffolk County (Boston), Massachusetts. Between 1860 and 1869, however, 70 homicides occurred. During the 1870s, 107 homicides were reported.26 The most important quality for detectives to possess was a familiarity with criminals and their tactics; many detectives were selected from the ranks of prison guards, and some were even reformed criminals.27 Since they held this specialized knowledge, detectives received more pay than beat cops. Detectives also received extra compensation through witness fees or compensation for providing testimony in court. Detective work was often a clandestine activity, and detectives were sometimes considered to be members of a secret service.28
Technology on the Job
The Police Baton
Invented in the 1800s and first used in English police departments, the police baton was one of the few tools available to officers to assist them in controlling and arresting criminals. In its original form, the baton, also known as a billy club, sap, blackjack, or truncheon, was approximately twelve inches long, made of wood, and heavy. It was meant to be used as a striking instrument. There were few if any limits on how the club was to be used; most effective was when a subject was hit in the head and knocked unconscious. It was a relatively inexpensive weapon and easy to use. Over time, the baton was made longer and incorporated other features. As batons become longer, they became more difficult and cumbersome for police officers to carry. In the 1960s, the use of batons became synonymous with police brutality, and officers were frequently shown using batons on rioters.
Side handle batons, commonly known as PR-24s, were introduced in the 1970s and are still used in some police departments today. With the addition of a side handle, the baton became a more versatile tool that could also be used like a shield to protect from an attack. Collapsible batons, also called expandable or telescopic batons, were introduced to American police departments in the 1980s. In most police departments today, this type of baton is standard issue and is carried on the officer’s duty belt. For most models, when collapsed the baton is less than ten inches long and can expand up to thirty-one inches. It is extended with a forceful quick swing. These batons are made of metal and are lightweight.
While batons are still standard issue in U.S. police departments, they are very seldom used by officers in force incidents as their use often results in serious injuries to subjects.25
Photo 2.3 The wooden baton, sometimes knows as the billy club, was one of the first tools used by the police. Over time, the police baton became more technologically advanced. Today, most officers carry an expandable baton but seldom use it against subjects.
Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
It was also around this time that criminal identification systems began to be developed and used in police departments. The first of these systems involved photography. By 1858, the New York City Police Department had on file a collection of photographs of known criminals called a rogues gallery.29 However, photographs were extremely limited in their usefulness because the appearance of criminals could be altered either deliberately or simply by the aging process. Of course, for photographs to be useful, authorities first needed to know who committed a crime and then have a photograph of that person.
rogues gallery: A collection of photographs of known criminals.
The Bertillonage system was considered a major improvement over the use of photographs. The system consisted of eleven measurements (e.g., length and width of the head, length of the left foot, length of the left middle and little fingers) that could be used to differentiate one person from another.30 However, by the early 1900s, the deficiencies of the system were obvious. Besides being cumbersome and error prone, it had essentially no capabilities in identifying unknown offenders who committed crimes.
Bertillonage: A system wherein physical measurements were used to differentiate suspects.
In addition to these identification methods, detectives during this period also used various “investigative” tactics to deal with crime and criminals. One common strategy was the dragnet, which involved the police “rounding up the usual suspects.” The dragnet was often paired with the third degree—the brutal interrogation of suspects.31 The third degree included beatings with a rubber hose,32 placing a suspect in a sweat box for hours or days under constant questioning,33 drilling teeth, burning flesh with lit cigars or cigarettes, and beating with blackjacks or batons.34 Many accounts suggest that the use of the third degree to obtain confessions was commonplace into the 1930s and possibly even later.35 However, in 1936 the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Mississippi that prolonged beatings used to extract confessions were no longer a legally acceptable police practice.
dragnet: A historical reference to the process wherein when a crime occurred, the police would bring in for questioning all the suspects usually associated with that type of crime.
third degree: A historical reference to the physically brutal interrogation of suspects by police.
Early 1900s to 1960s: The Reform Era of Policing
Another swell of change began to sweep through American society in the early twentieth century. By 1920, automobiles were being widely used, as were radios, telephones, and other technologies. Along with advancing living standards for many, the new technology also placed increased demands on the police. Due to the use of automobiles in particular, criminals could commit crimes in one jurisdiction and easily flee to another, causing great difficulties for the police. In addition, automobiles created