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LibertyYou will find in this section hot News articles which we feel are of national importance to all folks. This article is brought to you as a free service from AAJTS. 

 

THE CONCISE HISTORY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PART 2 

 

  THE 1700'S IN USA

      In 1712 the first full-time paid law enforcement officer system was developed in the United States.  Again because of the Manufacturing and accelerated growth of civilization due to science and manufacturing Boston again set the trend.  Boston was the first city in the United States to hire full-time, paid law enforcement officers. 

     In fact on September 24th, of 1789, the Congress of the United States created the first Federal law enforcement officers known as the United States Marshals.  It is quite sad but important to note that the first officer in United States history, U.S. Marshal Robert Forsyth, was killed in the line of duty on January 11th, 1789.   

 

MODERN LAW ENFORCEMENT BEGINS IN GREAT BRITAIN

      As you can see most civilized and scientifically advancing nations struggled with ever changing law enforcement techniques.  Inevitably a miscellaneous yet all encompassing method of Specialized Municipal Police developed which encompassed, the night watch, market police, warehouse and dock police and the river police.  Unfortunately it was inevitable that a lack in coordination between the various Municipal police would be the system’s downfall.  Between 1600 and 1700, the English Parliament began the first survey of existing police systems by a committee of investigators.

    Henry Fielding best known as the author of Tom Jones, Magistrate for Middlesex and the Westminster areas made the first real police survey and promoted the concept that the police should be paid and trained with permanent special forces replacing the voluntary or civilian duty systems.  It was Fielding who advanced special agents for investigation and the adjudication of crimes (deviated from the courts of ancient Judaism: Remember the Sheriff insignia and even Law Enforcement’s Insignia in the US is the Star of David; see modern Serifs badges as one reference) in courts. 

     The "foot patrol" or street foot patrol, the mounted patrol for Magistrate Fielding originated highways.  In fact by 1749, he established the Bow Street Runners as special investigations unit.  They were detectives who sped to a crime scene to reconstruct or hold evidence securely. 

     However it was Anthony Cooper who established the Habeas Corpus act.  As a result of this act, a prisoner thereafter had the right to be advised as to why he was being held, and he could be held only within his own county.  This is the origin of the American writ of habeas corpus.

     Bobbies or English police derive their name from Robert Peel.  In 1829, Home Secretary Peel introduced into Parliament the Metropolitan Police Act.  Thus "Peel's Principles" formed the basis for Law Enforcement throughout the world. 

     New York City adopted "Peel's Principles in 1833, which follow: 

1.      The police must be stable, efficient, and organized along military lines.

2.      The police must be under government control.

3.      The absence of crime will best prove the efficiency of police.

4.      The distribution of crime news is essential.

5.      The deployment of police strength, both by time and area, is essential.

6.      No quality is more indispensable to a policeman than a perfect command of temper.  A quiet, determined manner has more effect than violent action.

7.      Good appearance commands respect.

8.      The selection and training of proper persons are at the root of efficient law enforcement.

9.      Public security demands that every police officer be given an identifying number.

10.   Police headquarters should be centrally located and easily accessible to the people.

11.  Policemen should be hired on a probationary basis before permanent assignment.

12.  Police crime records are necessary to the best diestributio9n of police strength. 

The year 1831 sadly brought about the death of Stephen Girard in Philadelphia.  However in his last will and testament he stipulated that a large sum of money be bequeathed to the city of Philadelphia to create a "competent police."  So, by 1833 (the same year of the Peel Act of New York) Philadelphia came under protection of a unit of 24 police by day and 120 by night.  A captain appointed by the mayor was responsible for both units.  Moreover, advancement was entirely on merit. 

  

1835 THE UNHERALDED YEAR

      In 1835 both Texas in the US and the English Parliament had new accomplishment. 

     Texas created the oldest statewide law enforcement agency in America, what today is known as the Texas Rangers.  The British Parliament passed legislation permitting a city of over 20,000 population to establish its own law enforcement agency.  The city council was authorized to appoint a committee to establish a police force comparable to the London police. 

     The New York Legislature in the US , in 1844, created a united day and night force of 800 men and a Chief of Police.  This organization followed the London plan and served as a model for urban police organizations throughout the United States.  In 1851, Chicago adopted New York's pattern, and in 1850, Boston consolidated its day and night watch because it found that the separation of the two units was not feasible.

     The Obligatory Act of 1856 was passed in England by Parliament; the Act made it mandatory for each county to create its own law enforcement body and to finance its operation.

     In the United States police uniforms were introduced; however, police executives in 1855 weathers tremendous resistance from the public due to complaints that uniforms were undemocratic and un-American.  However in 1856 New York City police adopted the full police uniform, Not to be outdone in 1858 both Boston and Chicago police departments issued uniforms to their officers.  And in 1860, Philadelphia followed the new set of standards. 

     By 1857 New York experimented with boards for local police.  However, after this experiment, they were abandoned because the administrative control was too remote from the local police problems and activities.  Police cannot be supervised in absentia, it was concluded as a result of the experiment. 

     On April 14, 1865, the very day President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, he approved formation of what is now the U.S. Secret Service.  Previously in 1842, when counterfeiting became prevalent, Congress passed the counterfeiting law of 1842.  However, it was not until 1865 that the President signed it into law, and until July 5th of 1865, after his death, that the Secret Service was established to investigate and control federal violations, assume jurisdiction as the first general investigative agencies ranking its investigators with the finest in the World.  The national headquarters of the Secret Service was located in Washington, D.C., with 11 cities selected for field operations sites.  Initially the agents’ credentials were handwritten letters of appointment.  Badges were not given to preserve secrecy.  The Treasury Department would send out a formal circular letter to the United States marshals and other peace officers announcing the formation of the Secret Service and its functions.   Because they did not carry guns nor had credentials, bankers and others investigated were not willing to cooperate with the suspicious agents (more later in the Secret Service Section).

     During this latter period of the 1800s, there were forces for reform in almost every city in the United States.  But only when people became aroused from their usual apathy because of shocking crime waves did new procedures, such as the free election of police chiefs occur.  The election of the chief of police to office usually involved the whole department too deeply in politics, and today this practice of electing the chief of police is almost extinct in the USA.  Whereas in the past, the most common method of selecting chief of police was through appointment by the city council, the modern trend is toward selection by open, competitive written and oral examination.  The members of the city council selected a police chief from one of the top three cops in competitive examinations.  If the municipality had a city manager or administrator, the city council usually would act on the recommendation of the city manger or administrator.  On November 2, 1870, Thomas J. Smith of Abilene, Kansas, was the first of more than 2350 police chiefs to die in the line of duty.  And sadly on November 11, 1871 in Portsmouth, Virginia, Patrolman John Wilson became the first African American Police officer to be killed in the line of duty.

     In the West by 1850 San Francisco, with the help of a city charter, had a chief of police and police force of 7 to 12 men.  During the Gold Rush because of the Gold Rush migration to California in great numbers, caused many problems appearing in vigilantes, bounty hunters, gunslingers, and the vice of the Barbary Coast.  To preserve law and order San Francisco's police force was boosted to 400 members in 1878.

     On September 4, 1781, the city of Los Angeles came into existence by proclamation.  It took almost 70 years for Los Angeles to develop an efficient police department.  Only when California was admitted in the Union in 1850 did Los Angeles legally incorporate as a city.  It is at this point in time that the history of the Los Angeles Police Department commenced.

     The City Marshal could deputize citizens to maintain law and order.  Anyone violating the law would work out his or her fines on chain gangs at $1 per day.  In fact in 1851 a voluntary police force of 100 members acting under the Common Council (City council) was formed in Los Angeles.  White ribbon badges bearing the words "City Police" in both English and Spanish were issued to the volunteers as badge of their police authority.  Yet to fight the organized bandits, volunteer organization such as vigilantes were still used. The most famous group was the Los Angeles Rangers.  In order to supply equipment, the California State legislature, in 1854 granted the sum of $4,000 to the Los Angeles Rangers.  1869 changed this voluntary force to a paid police department with an appointed city marshal.  The new department consisted of two 6-man squads, each under the direction of a captain.  Each squad worked a 12-hour shift under a two-platoon system.  Compensation was based on fees rather than on a regular salary.

     1870 brought about the first appointment by the major with full approval of the Common Council.  In 1877, the office of city marshal was abolished and the Common Council elected the city's first chief of police.  Regular city uniforms were worn and in 1885 the firs telephone was installed in the chief's office.  However not until 1889 did Los Angeles divvied into four policing districts, each under the supervision of a sergeant.  In order to keep the officers in close contact with headquarters, an alarm system was installed in 1897.  It was at this time the Bertillon system of identification was adopted. 

     1789 began the mounted patrol in England, which was the beginning of State Sponsored Highway Patrols.  It was also the first year that the United States Congress created Federal Law Enforcement known as the United States marshal.  Forty years later, in 1829, Congress passed the Postal Act, which conferred police powers on a federal agency.  This act required the service of inspectors to enforce the postal laws.  The US Postal Service was the first law enforcement agency in the United States to begin the policing of Medical Fraud, Quackery, waste and abuse.   

     From 1878-1881 the notorious outlaw, "Billy the Kid," killed six law enforcement officers in New Mexico.  However on October 26, 1881 the legendary lawman Hero Wyatt Earp, his brothers and "Doc" Holiday, won the Wild West era's most famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

     Because of the Wild West the United States Congress passed the Pendleton Act in 1883 establishing civil service for law enforcement ending the previous 75 years of "to the winner goes the spoils or graft and political plums.”  This tool forged the police appointment out of the reach of sordid politicians.  Thus the federal government served to set up a model for state, county, and municipal police departments to follow.  Now, police promotions at the state, county, and city levels, based on a civil service system of merit via open examinations brought about improvement in municipal police services.

     Yet on December 15, of 1890 six officers with the U.S Bureau of Indian Affairs were killed attempting to arrest the Sioux Indian leader, Sitting Bull.

     In 1902 Finger printing was first used in the United States and in 1903 civil service came into effect (See Chapter 6 the Forensic Science and History of Identification). 

     Yet it was not until 1910 that Alice Stebbins Wells, of the Los Angeles Police Department, became the first female officer with arrest powers.  In 1911 the modern concept of the fingerprint classification became the primary method for identification. 

     The Berkley California Police Department became the first agency in the country to have all patrol officers using automobiles.  However 1916 has the dubious historical identity of the first year in United States history that more than 100 police officers were killed in the line of duty.  Further on November 24, of 1917 a bomb exploded at Milwaukee Police Headquarters killing nine officers, more than had ever died in any other law enforcement incident.

     Because of a need to organize fully the police of Los Angels August Vollmer, known as the patriarch of California law enforcement, was induced to come to Los Angeles.  He guided the department to its first chief of police.  Administrative supervision of the PD was delegated to the police commission appointed by the major, with city council consent.  Due to an inability to recruit new officer fast enough to the most sprawling city in the United States, aggressive officer so lucrative pay and attractive administrative positions became the standard.  American citizens between 21 and 35 were urged to apply.  One would apply at age 19 and if the applicant was successful, he became eligible for regular police officer employment at the age of 21. 

     On May 10 of 1924 the most famous crime fighter in world history begins his carrier.  J. Edgar Hoover served nearly 50 yeas as the director G-man of what would become the FBI.  Sadly the very next day Mary T. Davis becomes the first female officer to be killed in the line of duty. 

     Sheriffs had developed with various limitations dependent upon the state.  The Sheriff however was a consistent policing authority with the US district.  Section 24000 of the Government Code of California for example had stipulated that the sheriff was an officer of the county.  Moreover, the Appellate Court had ruled that the sheriff was a public officer with powers and duties such as officer of the court as well as administrative.  In Section 817 of the California Penal Code the sheriff was designated the title of peace officer.  Section 24001 of the California Government Code required that the candidate for sheriff, be eligible for office at 21 years of age or older, a citizen of the state, and an elector of the county.    The Sheriffs was granted Legal Authority to sponsor, supervise, or participate in nay project or crime prevention action.  The Sheriffs jurisdiction covered the suppression of delinquency and even rehabilitation.  He could arrest and take before the nearest judge, any person who attempt to commit or have committed a crime and was charged with the responsibility of preventing and suppressing any public brawls, breaches of peace e, riots, and insurrections which come to his attention and still for a posse and be custodian of the county jails and the prisoners confined therein.  By Law although the Sheriff was required to serve all resident of the county they actually provide police serve primarily to unincorporated areas and counties that contract for such services. 

     In 1929 the famous federal agent (FBI loaned to treasury) Eliot Ness began his law enforcement career and was picked to lead a group of agents, which we all know today as "The Untouchables".  Although the press was never kind to Ness, because of his never ending quest for truth, justice and the FBI way, he and his team cleaned up the notorious Chicago Crime and Racketeering networks far greater than the stories of Bootlegging.  Any and all racketeering activities (not popular to destroy in a city which a history of big dollar corruption) such as money laundering, gambling, drugs, murders, bootlegging etc. were eliminated in toto by Ness.  Ness leaving Chicago unaided with modern television left for Cleveland to run for Mayor only to be treated so poorly, that he never recovered from the depression and he himself fell into (depression was an unknown medical condition relative to today) depression and an early death.

     Bonnie and Clyde from 1932-1934 murdered no less then 10-law enforcement officers.  This heinous number was the largest amount of law enforcement deaths attributed to any criminals to day.

     Many new reforms were coming but no greater death than Dotson "Pop" Sutton, age 80, was the oldest officer to die in the line of duty.  He died on June 25, of 1952. 

     In 1954, contract law enforcement was initiated in Los Angeles County.  Since then, Los Angeles County has made over 1,000 city-county contracts that cover services ranging form street lighting and fire service to law enforcement.  Almost every new city, which receives a charter, contracts with the county for police services.  This trend was followed throughout California and the Nation.

     However November 22, 1963 was and forever will be known as the day of infamy.  Dallas Police officer JD Tippit was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald after the assassination of President Kennedy.  No matter whether there was a conspiracy as many wish to believe, the forensics tying Oswald to Tippit was never in dispute and identified a man fleeing like he had never done before.

     During the 1970's over 32 cities in California contracted for law enforcement services with the sheriff.  Even though there were federal and police authorities, the ever-growing nature of the then 6th largest US economy (now 7th) continued the need of additional sheriff services.  Even Los Angeles with its world famous LAPD had 14 sheriffs' stations location throughout Los Angeles County operating 24-hour radio car patrol services and maintain detective and juvenile unites.  The department was divided into seven major divisions; each headed by a chief who was responsible to sheriff for the division’s actives.  These divisions are administrative, patrol, detective, technical services, jail, corrections and civil. 

     Soft Body armor for protection against handgun assaults were introduced to police in 1974 and it was not until 1988 that the FBI became the first law enforcement agency in the nation to us DNA test methods and results as forensic evidence to solve crimes.   

     The Modern Highway Patrols, as noted earlier (coming from the mounted patrol) serve the all-important task of highway safety.  Not only are they empowered to stop crime but also unlike any other agency they have been empowered to help motorists in distress.  A true story from this CFE's experience.  While in the "employ trenches" on what I had thought to be a “good cover” investigating international campaign contributions from the orient, I became the victim of attempted murder by a rough rookie odd type of federal officer.  He had suddenly tried to run me off the freeway, which developed, into a weave drive adventure.  I flagged down a highway patrol and pointed back indicating a mad man would be along shortly with flashing headlights.  So be it.  The highway patrol officer (State Police) pulled him over.  The Patrol officer then came up to me and said, “don’t say a word.  He can take my badge but I pointed out that I saw everything”.  When he said that, I went ballistic, and began throwing punches and a round house kick to wit the officer tried to stand between us and the alleged unusual type of rookie Federal GREEN POULTICE-GRAFT Officer (still with his training T-shirt on although of the descent of my investigation into foreign graft and corruption) jumped into his car and sped off laying rubber onto the 405 freeway.  The highway patrol man, scratched his head, said, “how do I write this up?”  I said, “You don’t …” with an explanation.  When I returned home I reported this to the L.A. duty officer Agent with a copy of part of my investigation sent by US mail.  However it was the California Highway Patrol, which came to my rescue and stood guardian over Truth, Justice and the Yankee Doodle way of life.

     Today, all sectors of Law Enforcement as well as Forensic Consultants work together to continually refine the science which guide is human behavior along a safe a healthy path of evolution.  Groups such as the American Academy for Justice Through Science, The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners as well as the National Criminal Justice Association continues to bring cutting edge science to eradicate crime and help guide the human race on a safe and healthy course of evolution.

     For the purposes of this Text of instruction we will define criminal behavior as “that human behavior that violates criminal laws”.  Huge schools of thought have been developed within the fields of psychology and psychiatry to define criminal behavior whether it is related to Analytical or Behavior Psychology.  In fact many federal agencies such as the Secret Service, FBI, and even local police departments retain full-time psychiatrists and psychologists for advice and consultation.  By researching, identifying, and learning the patterns of criminal behavior, all of law enforcement benefits through greater expedience in apprehending criminals and solving crimes. 

Several years ago (1998) this examiner was privy to a film presentation by the Secret Service on the Criminal Profiling of Presidential Assassins.  Through the videotape presentation and video question and answer session with the assassin, (he was close enough on the video of Bush and Clinton speeches to have killed them; to make a long story short) the Service believed that Assassins profile were people who were very sane, and simply loners.  Of course this examiner could not let this profile go, as it was incorrect.  I raised my hand in the meeting and stated “many years ago an investigative reporter was asked to visit an insane asylum in upper state New York.  He toured the entire asylum waiting to visit the ward for the criminally insane.  When he entered the ward he noticed that there were no guards.  This cause him to ask the Psychiatrist “Why are there guards everywhere else in the Hospital but not in the ward for the criminally insane?”  The psychiatrist answered that “Lunatics never unite!”  Suddenly many Secret Service Personnel especially from the Secret Service Labs and FBI agreed.  Thus, the Lunatic has been added back to the MO (see chapter on MO) of the Presidential Assassin type for non-profit.  Law Enforcement today is an ever-changing growing science “which bends as the wisdom of science bends in the currents of new knowledge (Neff, SD The Strain of Athleticism, 1981 JACA)”.   For part 3 Click on the link below.

By Dr. Scott Neff Chiropractic Orthopedist MPS-BT MSOM BCFE/BCFM CFE FFABS FACFE FFAAJTS

© & TM 1998 American Academy for Justice Through Science. All rights reserved.

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