On The Invention of "Police."

[stephendare]

Does anyone know, for posterity, when the creation of the first Metropolitan Police Force in Jacksonville was?

We used to have two overlapping law enforcement agencies, the County Patrol and the Jacksonville Police Department.

When was the Police Department established?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_criminal_justice

The invention of "police"

In Western culture, the contemporary concept of a police paid by the government was developed by French legal scholars and practitioners in the 17th century and early 18th century, notably with Nicolas Delamare's Traité de la Police ("Treatise of the Police", published between 1705 and 1738). The German Polizeiwissenschaft (Science of Police) was also an important theoretical formulation of police.

The first police force in the modern sense was created by the government of King Louis XIV in 1667 to police the city of Paris, then the largest city of Europe and considered the most dangerous European city. The royal edict, registered by the Parlement of Paris on March 15, 1667 created the office of lieutenant général de police ("lieutenant general of police"), who was to be the head of the new Paris police force, and defined police as the task of "ensuring the peace and quiet of the public and of private individuals, purging the city of what may cause disturbances, procuring abundance, and having each and everyone live according to their station and their duties". This office was held by Gabriel Nicolas de la Reynie, who had 44 commissaires de police (police commissioners) under his authority. In 1709, these commissioners were assisted by inspecteurs de police (police inspectors). The city of Paris was divided into 16 districts policed by the 44 commissaires de police, each assigned to a particular district and assisted in their districts by clerks and a growing bureaucracy. The scheme of the Paris police force was extended to the rest of France by a royal edict of October 1699, resulting in the creation of lieutenants general of police in all large French cities or towns.

However, this early conceptualization of police was quite different from today's police forces, exclusively in charge of maintaining order and arresting criminals. As conceptualized by the Polizeiwissenschaft, the police had an economical and social duty ("procuring abundance"). It was in charge of demographics concerns and of empowering the population, which was considered by the mercantilist theory to be the main strength of the state. Thus, its functions largely overreached simple law enforcement activities, and included public health concerns, urban planning (which was important because of the miasma theory of disease; thus, cemeteries were moved out of town, etc.), surveillance of prices, etc [5].

Development of modern police was contemporary to the formation of the state, later defined by sociologist Max Weber as detaining "the monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force," primarily exerced by the police and the military. Despite its differences, this definition was not completely alien to the Marxist definition of the state as a "repressive apparatus" guarding the bourgeoisie's interests.

Modern police

After the troubles of the French Revolution the Paris police force was reorganized by Napoléon I on February 17, 1800 as the Prefecture of Police, along with the reorganization of police forces in all French cities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. On March 12, 1829, a government decree created the first uniformed policemen in Paris and all French cities, known as sergents de ville ("city sergeants"), which the Paris Prefecture of Police's website claims were the first uniformed policemen in the world.[6]

In the United Kingdom, the development of police forces was much slower than in the rest of Europe. The word "police" was borrowed from French into the English language in the 18th century, but for a long time it applied only to French and continental European police forces. The word, and the concept of police itself, was "disliked as a symbol of foreign oppression" (according to Britannica 1911). Prior to the 19th century, the only official use of the word "police" recorded in the United Kingdom was the appointment of Commissioners of Police for Scotland in 1714 and the creation of the Marine Police in 1798 (set up to protect merchandise at the Port of London).

On June 30, 1800, the authorities of Glasgow, Scotland successfully petitioned the Government to pass the Glasgow Police Act establishing the City of Glasgow Police. This was the first professional police service in the country that differed from previous law enforcement in that it was a preventive police force. This was quickly followed in other Scottish towns, which set up their own police forces by individual Acts of Parliament [1]. In London, there existed watchmen hired to guard the streets at night since 1663, the first paid law enforcement body in the country, augmenting the force of unpaid constables. On September 29, 1829, the Metropolitan Police Act was passed by Parliament, allowing Sir Robert Peel, the then home secretary, to found the London Metropolitan Police. This group of Police are often referred to as ´Bobbies´ because it was Sir Robert (Bobby) Peel who authorized it. They were regarded as the most efficient forerunners of a modern Police force and became a model for the police forces in most countries, such as the United States, and most of the then British Empire (Commonwealth) Bobbies can still be found in many parts of the world. (Normally British Overseas Territories or ex-colonies, Bermuda, Gibraltar or St Helena for example). The model of policing in Britain had as its primary role the keeping of the Queen's Peace and this has continued to the present day. [2] Many of the Commonwealth Countries developed Police Forces using similar models such as Australia and New Zealand.
Sir Robert Peel

In North America, the Toronto Police was founded in Canada in 1834, one of the first municipal police departments on that continent, followed by police forces in Montreal and Quebec City both founded in 1838. In the United States, the first organized police service was established in Boston in 1838, New York in 1844, and Philadelphia in 1854.

The first police force was established in London in 1829, by Sir Robert Peel, with police departments established in Boston in 1838, and New York City in 1844. Early on, police were not respected by the community, as corruption was rampant. In the late 19th and early 20th century, there were few specialized units in police departments.[7]

In 1905, the Pennsylvania State Police became the first state police agency established in the United States, as recommended by Theodore Roosevelt's Anthracite Strike Commission and Governor Samuel Pennypacker.[8]

The advent of the police car, two-way radio, and telephone in the early 20th century transformed policing into a reactive strategy that focused on responding to calls for service.[7] In the 1920s, led by Berkeley, California police chief, August Vollmer, police began to professionalize, adopt new technologies, and place emphasis on training.[9] With this transformation, police command and control became more centralized. O.W. Wilson, a student of Vollmer, helped reduce corruption and introduce professionalism in Wichita, Kansas, and later in the Chicago Police Department.[10] Strategies employed by O.W. Wilson included rotating officers from community to community to reduce their vulnerability to corruption, establishing of a non-partisan police board to help govern the police force, a strict merit system for promotions within the department, and an aggressive, recruiting drive with higher police salaries to attract professionally qualified officers.[11]

Despite such reforms, police agencies were led by highly autocratic leaders, and there remained a lack of respect between police and the community. During the professionalism era of policing, law enforcement agencies concentrated on dealing with felonies and other serious crime, rather than focusing on crime prevention.[12] Following urban unrest in the 1960s, police placed more emphasis on community relations, and enacted reforms such as increased diversity in hiring. The Kansas City Preventive Patrol study in the 1970s found the reactive approach to policing to be ineffective.[13]

In the 1990s, many law enforcement agencies began to adopt community policing strategies, and others adopted problem-oriented policing. In the 1990s, CompStat was developed by the New York Police Department as an information-based system for tracking and mapping crime patterns and trends, and holding police accountable for dealing with crime problems. CompStat, and other forms of information-led policing, have since been replicated in police departments across the United States and around the world.

[macbeth25]

FYI, Bobbies were also called "Peelers" for the same reason -- Sir Robert Peel -- but that didn't go over very well.  I think the acronym "COP" may have had something to do with constable on patrol and the term sheriff -- as I think has been mentioned in a prior post -- came from the United Kingdom where it meant a "shire" (roughly the same as a county) "riff" (I think it was pronounced "reef") who was a law enforcement officer.  As is true of much of our present language, the term  was "Americanized" when it moved across the Atlantic and became "sheriff." 

[downtownparks]

Well Jacksonville was chartered as a City in 1859.  We know from the old records posted above that there were patrolmen appointed in 1895.

So I think it is safe to assume that the police were chartered sometime between 1859 and 1895, so I feel confident that the date is nailed down to a 36 year time frame.

I guess Im going to have to go to the library for some more research.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonville,_Florida

The Florida Territory was ceded to the United States in 1821, and in 1822, Jacksonville's current name had come into use. U.S. settlers led by Isaiah D. Hart authored a charter for a town government, which was approved by the Florida Legislative Council on February 9, 1832.

[macbeth25]

Whatever you call them and whenever they were originally organized, having a police force costs money -- money which is provided by the taxpayer.  One way for citizens to help the police and themselves is to become involved.  Neighborhood watches and programs such as cellular on patrol and civilian volunteers can add eyes and ears to the police without costing the department or the taxpayer much, if any, money.  Volunteer programs can help take over "non-confrontational" duties so that -- there is a better word but I'll just say -- regular police can get back to their police jobs.  I don't live in Jacksonville, but what you do can be an example to your neighbors.  I'd like to see some suggestions as to how metrojacksonville.com and its members can help.  Over to you.

[macbeth25]

Stephendare -- What kind of authority did or do these "civil officers" have?