History of Law Enforcment

HISTORY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT The early police forces in nineteenth-century America were modeled in part on the Metropolitan Police of London, formed in 1829 by Robert Peel (hence the nicknames "peelers" and "bobbies"). But American police came to differ from the police of other Western nations in several important ways. First, they have always been a part of local government, unlike other countries where the local police are a part of a nationally administered force. Second, …

…and at the same time about inadequate policing; and nonalcoholic drugs troubled the society and the police as much as alcohol enforcement had a half-century earlier. Most of the discussion of these issues took place at the national level, as did most proposed solutions. Yet the distinguishing historical feature of American police, their local funding and control, added a special character to the national problems: they remain local, independent, and a part of city government.