The Original Name of The American Police Department the Was The Slave Patrol
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NeighborhoodNomad.
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Read this article recently and thought it was important to share.
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1 - more in-depth but very worth the read
A Brief History of Slavery and the Origins of American Policing
Written by Victor E. Kappeler, Ph.D.
The birth and development of the American police can be traced to a multitude of historical, legal and political-economic conditions. The institution of slavery and the control of minorities, however, were two of the more formidable historic features of American society shaping early policing. Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities. For example, New England settlers appointed Indian Constables to police Native Americans (National Constable Association, 1995), the St. Louis police were founded to protect residents from Native Americans in that frontier city, and many southern police departments began as slave patrols. In 1704, the colony of Carolina developed the nation's first slave patrol. Slave patrols helped to maintain the economic order and to assist the wealthy landowners in recovering and punishing slaves who essentially were considered property.
Policing was not the only social institution enmeshed in slavery. Slavery was fully institutionalized in the American economic and legal order with laws being enacted at both the state and national divisions of government. Virginia, for example, enacted more than 130 slave statutes between 1689 and 1865. Slavery and the abuse of people of color, however, was not merely a southern affair as many have been taught to believe. Connecticut, New York and other colonies enacted laws to criminalize and control slaves. Congress also passed fugitive Slave Laws, laws allowing the detention and return of escaped slaves, in 1793 and 1850. As Turner, Giacopassi and Vandiver (2006:186) remark, “the literature clearly establishes that a legally sanctioned law enforcement system existed in America before the Civil War for the express purpose of controlling the slave population and protecting the interests of slave owners. The similarities between the slave patrols and modern American policing are too salient to dismiss or ignore. Hence, the slave patrol should be considered a forerunner of modern American law enforcement.”
The legacy of slavery and racism did not end after the Civil War. In fact it can be argued that extreme violence against people of color became even worse with the rise of vigilante groups who resisted Reconstruction. Because vigilantes, by definition, have no external restraints, lynch mobs had a justified reputation for hanging minorities first and asking questions later. Because of its tradition of slavery, which rested on the racist rationalization that Blacks were sub-human, America had a long and shameful history of mistreating people of color, long after the end of the Civil War. Perhaps the most infamous American vigilante group, the Ku Klux ? started in the 1860s, was notorious for assaulting and lynching Black men for transgressions that would not be considered crimes at all, had a White man committed them. Lynching occurred across the entire county not just in the South. Finally, in 1871 Congress passed the Ku Klux ? Act, which prohibited state actors from violating the Civil Rights of all citizens in part because of law enforcements’ involvement with the infamous group. This legislation, however, did not stem the tide of racial or ethnic abuse that persisted well into the 1960s.
Though having white skin did not prevent discrimination in America, being White undoubtedly made it easier for ethnic minorities to assimilate into the mainstream of America. The additional burden of racism has made that transition much more difficult for those whose skin is black, brown, red, or yellow. In no small part because of the tradition of slavery, Blacks have long been targets of abuse. The use of patrols to capture runaway slaves was one of the precursors of formal police forces, especially in the South. This disastrous legacy persisted as an element of the police role even after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In some cases, police harassment simply meant people of African descent were more likely to be stopped and questioned by the police, while at the other extreme, they have suffered beatings, and even murder, at the hands of White police. Questions still arise today about the disproportionately high numbers of people of African descent killed, beaten, and arrested by police in major urban cities of America.
Victor E. Kappeler, Ph.D.
Associate Dean and Foundation Professor
School of Justice Studies
Eastern Kentucky University
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1 - more in-depth but very worth the read
Comments
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The key question, of course, is what was it about the United States in the 1830s that necessitated the development of local, centralized, bureaucratic police forces? One answer is that cities were growing. The United States was no longer a collection of small cities and rural hamlets. Urbanization was occurring at an ever-quickening pace and old informal watch and constable system was no longer adequate to control disorder. Anecdotal accounts suggest increasing crime and vice in urban centers. Mob violence, particularly violence directed at immigrants and African Americans by white youths, occurred with some frequency. Public disorder, mostly public drunkenness and sometimes prostitution, was more visible and less easily controlled in growing urban centers than it had been rural villages (Walker 1996). But evidence of an actual crime wave is lacking. So, if the modern American police force was not a direct response to crime, then what was it a response to?
More than crime, modern police forces in the United States emerged as a response to "disorder." What constitutes social and public order depends largely on who is defining those terms, and in the cities of 19th century America they were defined by the mercantile interests, who through taxes and political influence supported the development of bureaucratic policing institutions. These economic interests had a greater interest in social control than crime control. Private and for profit policing was too disorganized and too crime-specific in form to fulfill these needs. The emerging commercial elites needed a mechanism to insure a stable and orderly work force, a stable and orderly environment for the conduct of business, and the maintenance of what they referred to as the "collective good" (Spitzer and Scull 1977). These mercantile interests also wanted to divest themselves of the cost of protecting their own enterprises, transferring those costs from the private sector to the state.
So we see from the beginning, from being called "the slave patrol" to "police" the sole purpose of "law enforcement" was to protect the interests of the businessmen and keep workers subordinate.
Being that a Law of Nature is the root always feeds the fruit, how can there ever be peace or between The Black Community and the police?
There will never be progress if we refuse to accept the truth. We have been dealing with this same system for centuries. THE SYSTEM IS NOT BROKEN. It's doing exactly what it was designed to do. Oppress. The ONLY solution is to build a "new" or alternative system. Before we build, we may have to dig. Before we plant, we may have to uproot.
Many civilizations lived and thrived without prisons or police. There were rules established where the "criminal" would be dealt with immediately by the community. We don't need police. We need culture. We need to remember, create or recreate, Our culture, Our own rules, regulations and codes of conduct. Of course all culture starts at home, so that might be a whole other thread.
There will NEVER be true justice from an organization rooted in injustice.
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I recently dedicated a whole series of facebook posts to this. It amazes me how most people dont know this probably because most people dont care to even think about the origins of the police.
This video here is the icing on the cake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dRaX3ta0xk -
IceBergTaylor wrote: »I recently dedicated a whole series of facebook posts to this. It amazes me how most people dont know this probably because most people dont care to even think about the origins of the police.
This video here is the icing on the cakehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dRaX3ta0xk
Damn -
I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
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The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
They're saying slave patrols originated to catch runaway slaves and police departments came from slave patrols. It was also created to maintain the "collective good" and the policies of the commercial elite.
Past civilizations may have had their own culture, rules and regulations, even soldiers, but not patrolling policy enforcers. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
It's pretty easy to verify this as true at least in the case of the U.S. (particularly the south).
Also I'm not sure why it's so hard to believe considering their basic charter hasn't actually changed very much...Slave patrols had three primary functions: (1) to chase down, apprehend, and return to their owners, runaway slaves; (2) to provide a form of organized terror to deter slave revolts; and, (3) to maintain a form of discipline for slave-workers who were subject to summary justice, outside of the law, if they violated any plantation rules. -
No one is disputing the fact that there were slave patrols. What I'm disputing is the idea that the modern police are derived solely from those slave patrols as if there was no law enforcement entities back then. I mean the Sheriff system that was used in the West during that expansion certainly wasn't developed from slavery given that by that time slavery had already been abolished.
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The KKK founded the police in Miami Florida. It's true because I've read it in the archives
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The watch system was composed of community volunteers whose primary duty was to warn of impending danger. Boston created a night watch in 1636, New York in 1658 and Philadelphia in 1700. The night watch was not a particularly effective crime control device. Watchmen often slept or drank on duty. While the watch was theoretically voluntary, many "volunteers" were simply attempting to evade military service, were conscript forced into service by their town, or were performing watch duties as a form of punishment. Philadelphia created the first day watch in 1833 and New York instituted a day watch in 1844 as a supplement to its new municipal police force (Gaines, Kappeler, and Vaughn 1999).
Augmenting the watch system was a system of constables, official law enforcement officers, usually paid by the fee system for warrants they served. Constables had a variety of non-law enforcement functions to perform as well, including serving as land surveyors and verifying the accuracy of weights and measures. In many cities constables were given the responsibility of supervising the activities of the night watch.In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force, followed by New York City in 1845, Albany, NY and Chicago in 1851, New Orleans and Cincinnati in 1853, Philadelphia in 1855, and Newark, NJ and Baltimore in 1857 (Harring 1983, Lundman 1980; Lynch 1984).These "modern police" organizations shared similar characteristics: (1) they were publicly supported and bureaucratic in form; (2) police officers were full-time employees, not community volunteers or case-by-case fee retainers; (3) departments had permanent and fixed rules and procedures, and employment as a police officers was continuous; (4) police departments were accountable to a central governmental authority (Lundman 1980).
@The Lonious MonkIn the Southern states the development of American policing followed a different path. The genesis of the modern police organization in the South is the "Slave Patrol" (Platt 1982). The first formal slave patrol was created in the Carolina colonies in 1704 (Reichel 1992). Slave patrols had three primary functions: (1) to chase down, apprehend, and return to their owners, runaway slaves; (2) to provide a form of organized terror to deter slave revolts; and, (3) to maintain a form of discipline for slave-workers who were subject to summary justice, outside of the law, if they violated any plantation rules. Following the Civil War, these vigilante-style organizations evolved in modern Southern police departments primarily as a means of controlling freed slaves who were now laborers working in an agricultural caste system, and enforcing "Jim Crow" segregation laws, designed to deny freed slaves equal rights and access to the political system.
http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1 -
Yeah ? like this causes dumb ppl to get mad
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So if a white guy killed another white guy in virginia in 1831 who handled that
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All yall have to do is google the origins of police, the ? is all the same.
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Translation: You're living behind enemy lines.
The ball is in your court, what's the next move? Do you remain a house ? your whole life and hope your name doesn't come up, or do you lock in and start working towards the goal of creating your own land, a land and system that isn't deep-rooted in your destruction? -
The institution of slavery and the control of minorities, however, were two of the more formidable historic features of American society shaping early policing. Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities
Could've stopped right there. This is still relevant to this very day. Nice read tho...IceBergTaylor wrote: »I recently dedicated a whole series of facebook posts to this. It amazes me how most people dont know this probably because most people dont care to even think about the origins of the police.
This video here is the icing on the cakehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dRaX3ta0xk
Dope. Didn't know this, but won't doubt her one second. They do this all the time by placing these statues of "his-story" right in front of you. Like this human butcher...
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State police agencies emerged for many of the same reasons. The Pennsylvania State Police were modeled after the Phillipine Constabulary, the occupation force placed in the Philipine Islands following the Spanish-American War. This all-white, all-"native," paramilitary force was created specifically to break strikes in the coal fields of Pennsylvania and to control local towns composed predominantly of Catholic, Irish, German and Eastern European immigrants. They were housed in barracks outside the towns so that they would not mingle with or develop friendships with local residents. In addition to strike-breaking they frequently engaged in anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic violence, such as attacking community social events on horseback, under the pretense of enforcing public order laws. Similarly, the Texas Rangers were originally created as a quasi-official group of vigilantes and guerillas used to suppress Mexican communities and to drive the Commanche off their lands.
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The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it. -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
? everyone. You think there was no crime until slavery? -
So if a white guy killed another white guy in virginia in 1831 who handled that
No one apparently. The first prison in the US was constructed in 1770s but I guess people loved the hospitality so they went willingly. -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
? everyone. You think there was no crime until slavery?
Other civilizations had warriors who were about defending the people, but there were not organizations or groups of people that were crime watchers. When an offense happened in a nation, tribe, etc., the people would bring them to trial though the rules of their culture by the people, chiefs and priests and would be dealt with accordingly.
Now give us a few or several examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it. Since you say it's everyone, these examples should be easy for you to produce. -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
? everyone. You think there was no crime until slavery?
Other civilizations had warriors who were about defending the people, but there were not organizations or groups of people that were crime watchers. When an offense happened in a nation, tribe, etc., the people would bring them to trial though the rules of their culture by the people, chiefs and priests and would be dealt with accordingly.
Now give us a few or several examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it. Since you say it's everyone, these examples should be easy for you to produce.
You ever heard of evolution, change over time? You just destroyed your own argument. The origins of policing come from what you just described.
One things leads to another or do you think this are two separate things?
All dogs are descendant of wolves. -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
Ancient Rome:The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.
Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.
Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.
Ancient Egypt:At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.
The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.
The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.
Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today. -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
Ancient Rome:The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.
Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.
Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.
Ancient Egypt:At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.
The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.
The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.
Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.
New Kingdom leadership were ? -
NeighborhoodNomad. wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?
Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.
"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.
Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.
Ancient Rome:The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.
Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.
Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.
Ancient Egypt:At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.
The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.
The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.
Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.
You may have a point with the ancient Romans. It very well may be apart of European history but what you just presented about the ancient Egyptians just described a private securities/mercenary service, not policy enforcement or crime prevention. -
The more you learn about this country, the more you can see why ? is still ? up for black people.
We're like POW's, smiling--beguiling, working & living with the forebears of people who wanted to wipe us out.
What a precarious existence we have in this country.
