Colonial Times

Originally, during Colonial times, policing in the United States consisted of little more than night watches. These watches weren’t very effective, as watchmen often drank or slept on duty, and many of the volunteers were only there as a way to get out of military service or helping with the watch as a form of punishment (Potter, 2013). It wasn’t until 1838 that the city of Boston established the first formal organized police force in America. Other cities soon followed, and by the 1880s, all major metropolitan areas had a formal police force. These changes took place largely due to the rapid population growth in American cities. As a result of this urbanization, crime numbers were starting to rise – for example, violence against immigrant

The previously mentioned informal night and day watches were common in Britain before colonial times. Essentially, everyone was responsible for looking out for himself and his family. Both the colonial and the English versions were rather ineffective, disorganized, and reliant on volunteers. Before Boston established the first organized formal American police force, a bill was introduced in Britain in 1829 proposing the exact same thing and for many of the same reasons (The History of the Police, n.d.). This bill led to the establishment of the London Metropolitan

As mentioned, early methods of policing included little more then local neighborhood watches. Before this, it was basically every man for himself. People were expected to follow local ordinances and, in turn, essentially take the law into their own hands whenever they were wrong by someone else. If someone murdered a family member, the victim’s family had every right to do the same to the offender. There generally wasn’t much merit placed in evidence, either. A woman who was suspected of being a witch received punishment regardless of whether she could prove but she was not. All that was needed was suspicion and an