LAW ENFORCEMENT
Before 1066: England – There was no centralized law enforcement of court system. Citizens kept the peace among themselves
1066: Norman Conquest – Norman courts were established in England
1285: England – Watch and Ward police system in operation
1625-1649: England – Cruel punishment for crime imposed by King Charles I
1631: Unpaid watchmen and constables patrolled Boston at night
1653-1658: England under military rule – law enforcement was oppressive
1658: NYC established a paid watch at night
1682: Philadelphia appointed constables
1748: England – Henry Fielding was appointed Magistrate of Bow Street. He established the country’s first detectives – the “Thief Takers.”
1749: Philadelphia began a paid watch at night
1789: U.S. Marshals Office established in U.S.
1792: one of England’s first police reformers/administrators, Patrick Colquhoun, was appointed as a London magistrate
1803: Cincinnati established a non-paid night watch
1810: Paris – The Paris Police Department or Surete is born. Vidocq is appointed its chief
1823: The Texas Rangers are established
1828: The Police Gazette is published in England
1829: The beginning of Scotland Yard
1830: The beginning of the first police reform in the U.S.
1833: Philadelphia established its first daytime policing
------ Cold Bath Fields Riot in London
1835: Charles Dickens published Bleak House – he makes popular the concept and term “detective”
1836: U.S. Post Office established Special Agents
1842: First plainclothes detectives at Scotland Yard
1843: Edgar Allen Poe published his story, "Murder in the Rue Morgue"
1844: NYPD became the first preventative police force in the U.S.
1846: Boston created the first U.S. detective bureau
1849: A city marshal was appointed in San Francisco
1837-1900: England – Police used no scientific crime detection methods
1850-1860: Police brutality in U.S. at a high point
1850: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department founded
1852: New Orleans and Cincinnati started preventative police forces run by chiefs of police
1855: Boston’s paid watch turned into the Boston Police Department
1856: New York was first city in U.S. to uniform its police
1860: Chicago Police Department established its first detective squad
1865: U.S. Secret Service was organized
------ Massachusetts formed its state police
1867: Cleveland Police Department began photographing arrestees
1869: Los Angeles established a police department
1870-1895: Era of legendary sheriffs in the American west
1870-1895: Police corruption in large U.S. cities
1872: First police strike in London
1873: North West Mounted police of Canada formed
1882: NYPD established its detective bureau
1884: Allan Pinkerton died. He was the first detective in U.S., pioneered the idea of criminal records, his was the first company to fight crime interstate, and he started the first contract guard service in the U.S.
1886: Thomas Byrnes, Chief of Detectives, NYPD, published Professional Criminals of America
1888: England – Watches were slowly being replace in cities other than London
1889: Philadelphia began its mounted patrol with 93 horses
1891: William J. Burns became a Secret Service Agent
1892-1895: Parkhurst Crusade and the Lexow Hearings were conducted in NYC
1893: An organization later named the International Association of Chiefs of Police formed
1895: Paris police established a dog force in response to the growing problem of street gangs
1898: A police academy was opened in New Zealand
1899: The police department in Ghent, Belgium started the first successful European canine unit
1905: The Pennsylvania State Police were created
1906: The Philadelphia Police Department began using motorcycles
1907: Bugging devices had been developed and were being sold to private and public police
------ NYPD was first American police agency to use police dogs
1908: The Bureau of Investigation was created as a Justice Department investigative agency
------ The jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service was restricted
1909: August Vollmer was appointed chief of police, Berkeley Police Department
1911: Denmark – The first uniformed policewoman was hired
1914: The Berkeley Police Department formed the first juvenile division in the U.S.
1915: U.S. – by this time there were 204 police departments in the country under civil service
1917: The Berkeley Police Department equipped its entire patrol with automobiles
1920: A large police dog training academy was opened in Germany
1921: William J. Burns was appointed the 4th Director of the Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
1924: J. Edgar Hoover was appointed the 5th Director of the Bureau of Investigation
------ Bureau of Investigation established its fingerprint division
1926-1928: Police radio communications developed during this period
1927: D’Autremont Case – U.S. – police disseminated 3 million photographs to locate 3 fugitives
1928: Cincinnati Police Department created a centralized bureau of criminal records
------ The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) created a new system of crime classification
1929: August Vollmer, on leave from the Berkeley Police Department, taught police administration at the University of Chicago. He returned to Berkeley in 1931
------ By this time, the U.S. was employing 2,836 Special Prohibition Agents to enforce the Volstead Act
1930: August Vollmer and Dean John Wigmore of Northwestern University Law School, helped start the first U.S. college criminal justice program at San Jose State College
1930: Elmer L. Irey, head of intelligence division, IRS, begins his tax evasion investigation of Al Capone
------ The Federal Bureau of Narcotics established under the directorship of Harry J. Anslinger
------ Detective “Camera-Eye” Sheridan of the NYPD was a the top of his career
1931: The Wickersham Commission studied the American criminal justice system
------ By this time, 31 states had established fingerprint bureaus
1932: August Vollmer retired from the Berkeley Police Department to teach at the University of California
------ The Traffic Safety Institute was started at Northwestern University
1933: Bureau of Investigation started compiling crime statistics for the Uniform Crime Reports
1934: Bureau of Investigation Agents were authorized to carry guns and make arrests
------ The Bureau of Investigation had 4,800,000 fingerprints on file, the largest collection in the world
------ There were 500,000 sworn police officers in the U.S.
1935: The Bureau of Investigation was renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation
------ Thomas E. Dewey was appointed Special Prosecutor and started his organized crime investigation in New York City
------ The FBI National Academy was started
------ O.W. Wilson, Chief of Police, Wichita, Kansas Police Department, started the first police cadet program in the U.S. Wilson became one of the major spokesmen for police professionalism in the U.S.
1936: Michigan State University established a 4-year B.S. program in Police Administration
------ August Vollmer published an important book on police administration
------ Congress authorized funds for vocational training in law enforcement
------ The Metropolitan police in London established its first police dog unit
1938: August Vollmer retired from the University of California.
1939: By this time all U.S. cities over 250,000 had police departments with traffic divisions
1942: John J. O’Connell was appointed chief inspector, NYPD
1946: Interpol was established near Paris
1948: Canine units reduced mugging and purse-snatching in Hyde Park
1949: Chief Fire Marshal of NYC, Thomas P. Brody, retired after investigating over 100,000 fires
1950-1959: Most police administrators in the U.S. were primarily concerned with police professionalism and integrity
1950: William H. Parker was appointed chief of the LAPD. Parker was a major spokesman for police professionalism.
------ O.W. Wilson published, Police Administration, a major work in the field
------ The Senate Kefauver Committee investigated organized crime
------ The FBI initiated its “10 most wanted list” program
1952: The California Commission on Peace Officers and Training was organized
1954: The LAPD constructed a large police training complex and academy at Sacramento
1955: August Vollmer died.
1956: Charles E. O’Hara published his college text, Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation
------ The FBI’s Identification Bureau had 140 million fingerprints
1957: Senator John L. McClellan’s Rackets Committee began its organized crime hearings
------ The Baltimore Police Department was the first in the U.S. to establish a successful canine unit
1958: Peter J. Pitchess was elected Sheriff of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office
------ American Hugh C. McDonald (LAPD) invented the “Identi-Kit”
------ American Peter Smith (NYPD) invented the “Imagemaker”
------ Philadelphia was one of the first cities to establish a police civilian review board
1960-1969: Police administrators in the U.S. were concerned with police-community relations
1960: There were major police scandals in Chicago, Denver and Buffalo
------ In Britain, one half of the police departments were using police dogs
1964: There was a major police scandal in Indianapolis
1965: The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement, under President Johnson, was formed
1967: The FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) computer system became operational
------ Hugh C. McDonald retired from the LAPD
1968: The Federal Bureau of Narcotics and other federal agencies were reorganized into the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
------ Pursuant to am American court decision, police officers could be forced to take a lie detector test in an internal affairs investigation
------ The U.S. created the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA)
------ The Texas Rangers were divided into three branches
1970-1979: In the U.S., police administrators were concerned with more efficient crime control
1970: By this time there were, in the U.S., over 80 police departments with canine units
1971: The Knapp Commission disclosed rampant police corruption in the NYPD
1972: The Kansas City patrol study cast doubts on the crime prevention effectiveness of police patrols
------- J. Edgar Hoover died, thus ending a 48 year era in FBI history
1973: The Rand Corporation conducted a study on criminal investigative procedure which questioned the investigative effectiveness of the U.S. police
1976: Storefront sting operations launched by several local and federal police agencies were successful measures against fences and thieves
1977: The Houston Police Department was the last big city police department to form an internal affairs unit
1979: The Guardian Angels were formed in New York City by Curtis Sliwa
------- By this time there were 177 arson task forces operating in the U.S.
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