Do Police Have Our Best Interest at Heart? - The Evolution of Modern Policing

Police Work--The Beginning 

Police work began quite simply, Constables were America's first police officers and a constables duties included things like, surveying land, announcing weddings, serving warrants, they meted out physical punishments and kept the peace. For many years they were a reactionary force. They never patrolled, observed or surveilled without warrant and many considered this the proper interpretation of a U.S. citizens 4th Amendment Rights.  

Police Work and The Winds of Change

For many years the system of self policing worked quite well. With the explosion of big cities and heavy populations, things began to change. Sir Robert Peel, a Minister of Parliament In England started the first police force built to observe, surveil and engage with the public. It was in response to Englands rising issue with crime in the inner cities. Police officers today are still referred to as "Bobbies" in reference to Sir Roberts first name. (Source)

Change wouldn't come easy. The public feared the police force would behave like an occupying force much like a military. Because of that, Sir Robert is credited with developing the Principles of Policing. (Source) 

Principles of Policing: The Why and How of Policing

The "Peelian Principles," as they are often called, insist that:

• The purpose of the police force is to prevent crime and maintain order.
• Police depend on the approval and trust of the public in order to effectively do their jobs.
• The ultimate goal of policing is to achieve voluntary compliance with the law in the community.
• Police must be unwavering in their duties and adherence to the law, maintaining impartiality and avoiding the temptation to be swayed by public opinion.
• The use of force and physical control is to be used as a last resort, only when other forms of persuasion have failed.
• Police officers must remember that they, too, are members of the public and that their purpose is to serve and protect the public.
• The true measure of the effectiveness of any police force is not the number of arrests or police actions taken, but the absence of criminal conduct and violations of the law.

Sir Roberts, efforts to win over public support was successful and soon modern policing made it's way to the United States, but it wasn't Implemented in the same way. 

The United States--The Evolution of Police

Boston, Ma. established the first police force in The United States. It was supposedly in response to crime just like England had experienced. And although there is anecdotal reports about prostitution, mob violence specifically against immigrants and blacks, there is a lack of evidence to support that there was actually a crime wave taking place. (Source) 

If no true crime wave existed, why was a police force formed? Police forces emerged in The United States largely because of, "civil unrest." Obviously, civil unrest can take on multiple meanings depending on who is defining the words, but it this case it appears that in the 19th century the mercantile interests defined the term. Through taxes and political influence they pushed for the development of police forces around the nation. Unfortunately, the interest of the people who lobbied for police forces were not interested in crime control they were interested in social control. 

           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. (Source) 

The large majority of a police officers job is still maintaining safety for the businesses in an officer's patrol area. 

How Does This Effect Our 4th Amendment Rights? 

Policing before the rise of the police force was reactionary. If a crime occurred, the constable would obtain a warrant and carry out his police duties. Now, police forces were charged with crime prevention. This meant a community presence of police. They were now authorized to use force as they deemed appropriate, and stop crime before it started by subjecting everyone to surveillance and observation. Early police forces shared the same characteristics, they were corrupt and brutal. Further more, they were subjecting everyone to illegal surveillnace and observation-- a clear violation of 4th Amendment Rights. (Source)

Some Supreme Court Rulings

The Supreme Court of The United States has ruled at a police officer can violate your personal rights, as long as he didn't know you had them. Ignorance of the law is accepted for law enforcement, but general citizens are not afforded the same leniency. (Source) 

You can now be stopped without reasonable suspicion. In other words, show us your papers!  (Source)

Conclusion: 

Police forces and police work is complicated. I can't presume to have covered everything in this short piece, but what I hope I've done is lay the ground work for more investigation on your part. We have to fight to understand our rights and then fight to keep them. I know many police officers. For the most part, they are very good people, but they have been largely educated to believe everyone is a potential felon and that is dangerous. We need fewer laws and fewer police interactions with the public. That ensures the safety of police officers and citizens. 

What does the 4th Amendment mean today? Check this out. 

Interesting article on if we allowed our police force to work more like a fire department-- A Particle Solution: Run Police Departments like Fire Departments.