NCJ Number
193364
Date Published
2002
Length
279 pages
Annotation
This book presented a brief and concise history of police and policing beginning in the 600's to the early 19th Century, an era with its origins in the English police system and the customs of the Danes and Anglo-Saxons, to the 1829 Act through the present, an era known for the establishment of the Metropolitan police and the spread of the new police idea, the connection between the police and the public.
Abstract
In order to understand the use in the idea of policing as a way into the state’s involvement in policing, this book reviewed what historically shaped the state’s involvement dating back to the 600's through the 1900's, the objectives and methods, and how they have changed. The period prior to 1829 was considered the first period with origins of the English police system in the law and customs of the Danes and Anglos-Saxons. The old system was viewed as corrupt and inefficient in coping with the growth in populations and wealth in the 18th Century. The new police emerged in 1829 with the establishment of the Metropolitan Police. The new police was seen as restoring the social cohesion that was lost through urbanization and industrialization. Industrialization and urbanization were seen as leading to a society divided along class lines. Traditional historians saw the connection between the police and the public as the potential key to its success and popularity. The police became the weapon in the class war. This revisionist history came into play in the 1960's with the civil rights movement and protesters against nuclear weapons, as well as the Vietnam War. The history of police was emerging as one of diversity and slow evolutionary change. In the review of policing, policing was seen as not only what the police do, but as an aspect of social control. There was the element of directed action. In summation, policing passed through three stages in its history. The first was the blood-feud. This was where the victim would take direct action against the offender. In the second stage, there was the establishment of authority through the imposition of a system of royal justice, bringing the village within the larger nation state. The third and final stage was where certain roles were professionalized. It was argued that there was the need to construct a bureaucracy to control the flow of information on crime and put detection into the hands of skilled officers. This led to a detachment from the community and the victim. These became the core of the development of the police forces of the 19th and 20th Centuries. References and index