4.5: In America

In America

The newly established colonies in America brought with them British ways of establishing government and law enforcement. In the American colonies there was usually a village authority who typically was the one who had the money to sponsor the voyage for many of the residents across the seas and to the new colonies. Their money and position allow them to further their power by choosing who they would have served as their Sheriff or Constable.

Given that there was not a lot of crime in the beginning in the early colonies, these law enforcement personnel typically only worked part time and they were also responsible for any other duties that the village leader wanted. One typical duty was the collection of tax money from the citizens in order to send it back to the royalty in England. Many early settlers were very busy trying simply to survive and erect shelters; they had no new income with which to pay the taxes. Therefore, law enforcement would often enter the homes against the settlers’ wishes and take any items of value that they could find in order to settle the tax debt. This established a long-standing habit of thinking that nothing good will ever happen if law enforcement is at your door.

Fee System

When the early law enforcement officials were actually performing criminal duties such as trying to find a robber or arrest of violent individual, the duties were primarily reactive or in other words after-the-fact. The officers themselves often had secondary jobs and were busy creating shelter for themselves to survive. So, in early dilemma was how to know when to pay a law enforcement officer for actually performing law enforcement duties since they were not being paid full-time. This dilemma was solved by setting up the method known as the fee system. Under this system law enforcement officers would be paid once it was demonstrated that they had performed their duties well by investigating any reported incidents, solving the crime, and thereby arresting the perpetrator. So, the officer was paid a fee for each arrest that was made. The more arrests that were made, the more money that was made. As you can imagine while this system makes sense on the surface it also could easily be abused if the officer was unethical. Notice that with this method the arrested individual did not have to be found guilty—the officer was paid for each arrest no matter the outcome. Some corrupt officers abused this system and simply arrested anyone they wished in order to make more money. Even today, some citizens believe that officers have a quota about the number of arrests they must make each month. And so, at certain times of the month when a lot of officers are visible citizens complain that the officers must be desperate to make their quota. Some disgruntled citizens even suggest that officers may make a commission off each arrest. Today officers are paid a salary and there is no commission for any arrests they do or do not make. Most jurisdictions do not have a quota system although it has been documented that some jurisdictions, certainly not most, do attempt to establish quotas.

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Boston

Despite some of the early problems with American law enforcement, the city of Boston created the first formal American Police Department about 177 years ago, in 1838. This trend spread quickly and New York City established their first Police Department in 1845. Despite such changes as paying for a 24 hour police force, many law enforcement officers were still quite brutal and many were corrupt. Not all the fault for this lies on law enforcement as at the time law enforcement officers were paid very poor wages, they were offered no training, and they were given almost unlimited power.

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The Posse

As citizens of early American society expanded westward, some unique aspects of law enforcement appeared. For instance, the use of the posse was more common in the Wild West. Contrary to the image often presented by Hollywood wherein brave citizens volunteered to be a part of the posse, the use of the posse was more like a type of martial law. In a state of emergency the entire village could be placed under the control of the Sheriff. This gave the Sheriff the right to take whatever weapons or supplies would be needed to perform his duties. It also allowed the Sheriff to select citizens who would be mandated to become deputies.

In many small towns there was only one law enforcement officer. So, if someone came and robbed the town and fled there would probably be the need for posse. In the early days of our country money that was in banks was not guaranteed. And so, if the town was robbed the citizens would lose everything. If the Sheriff pursued the robbers the town would be left unguarded. If the Sheriff statyed to protect the town, everyone’s savings would be gone. That is, in such a state of emergency the Sheriff would need equipment to chase the robbers, they would need citizens to help them, and they would need citizens that they would leave in charge of guarding the town. Sometimes the Sheriff would stay with the town and send the selected citizens to apprehend the robbers. Often, the robbers did not come back alive and sometimes citizens who were granted this new power became vigilantes and performed crimes themselves.

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Rangers

As many citizens continued to head West, some citizens settled in parts of the continent that did not technically belong to the new United States at the time. These areas are often referred to as territories. Even though many of the citizens were settling in these new territories that technically belong to other countries at the time, they wanted American law to be enforced and they also wanted protection from the indigenous people known as “Indians”—whose lands they had invaded. This also presented a dilemma since citizens that were technically breaking laws wanted American laws enforced in a land that did not yet belong to America. In an attempt to protect the citizens and perhaps incorporate the land into the United States, territorial police agencies known as Rangers were established.

One of the most notable Ranger groups is the Texas Rangers. The Texas Rangers were formed in 1835. The initial group of Texas Rangers consisted of about 60 people. As the population of the Texas territory began to grow so did the number of Texas Rangers. These early Rangers often held roles similar to police force that since they were also charged with protecting the borders they often served roles much like the military as well. Many of the other Ranger groups no longer exist of the Texas Rangers still do. Today, the Texas Ranger division still exists and it is a major division within the Texas Department of Public safety employing 150 commissioned Rangers.

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Marshals

City and town Marshals also often existed out in the West. These Marshals served like community law men similar to local police in the Eastern states. Out West there tended to be more violence and gun fights than were seen back in the East. A common skill set needed to survive as a city Marshall was a quick “draw and shoot” of your weapon before you got shot. This shoot first asks questions later philosophy was often needed if you did not want to die on the job. While the position of city and town Marshals no longer exists, some of the dangers of serving in law enforcement do. Even today, there may be times when officers need to use their weapons to protect their lives.

Federal marshals are the oldest federal law enforcement agency. President George Washington himself appointed the first 13 US Marshals in 1789. In the beginning, the Marshals were to carry out all lawful orders issued by judges, Congress, or the president. Today, the federal Marshals served as the enforcement arm of the federal courts. The Marshals protect the federal judges, apprehend federal fugitives, transport federal prisoners, and operate the witness security program. In 2015, there were 94 US Marshals, one for each federal court district. There were also 3843 deputy Marshals and investigators. The officers, along with civilians, resulted in 5410 employees.

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