This volume of Opinions Throughout History takes a look at the history and philosophy of policing in America from the vigilante slave catchers of the American South, to the first modern police departments of the Northeast, to the drug war of the 1980s and 1990s.

America’s first known system of law enforcement was established more than 350 years ago. Today law enforcement faces issues such as racial discrimination, use of force, and Body Worn Camera (BWC) scrutiny. But the birth and development of the American police can be traced to a multitude of historical, legal and political-economic conditions. In The History of Policing America: From Militias and Military to the Law Enforcement of Today, Laurence Armand French traces how and why law enforcement agencies evolved and became permanent agencies; looking logically through history and offering potential steps forward that could make a difference without triggering unconstructive backlash. From the establishment of the New World to the establishment of the Colonial Militia; from emergence of the Jim Crow Era to the emergence of the National Guard; from the creation of the U.S. Marshalls, federal law enforcement agencies, and state police agencies; this book traces the historical geo-political basis of policing in America and even looks at how certain events led to a call for a better trained, and subsequently armed, police, and the de facto militarization of law enforcement. The current controversy regarding policing in America has a long, historical background, and one that seems to repeat itself. The History of Policing America successfully portrays the long lived motto you can’t know who you are until you know where you’ve come from.

Click ′Additional Materials′ for downloadable samples Although there is a plethora of studies on crime and punishment, law enforcement is a relatively new field of serious research. When courts, sentencing, prisons, jails, and other areas of the criminal justice system are studied, often the first point of entry into the system is through police and law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, understanding of the important issues in law enforcement has little general literature to draw on. Currently available reference works on policing are narrowly focused and sorely out-of-date. To this end, a distinguished roster of authors, representing many years of knowledge and practice in the field, draw on the latest research and methods to delineate, describe, and analyze all areas of law enforcement. This three-volume Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement provides a comprehensive, critical, and descriptive examination of all facets of law enforcement on the state and local, federal and national, and international stages. This work is a unique reference source that provides readers with informed discussions on the practice and theory of policing in an historical and contemporary framework. The volumes treat subjects that are particular to the area of state and local, federal and national, and international policing. Many of the themes and issues of policing cut across disciplinary borders, however, and several entries provide comparative information that places the subject in context. Key Features • Three volumes cover state and local, federal, and international law enforcement • More than 250 contributors composed over 400 essays on all facets of law enforcement • An editorial board made up of the leading scholars, researchers, and practitioners in the field of law enforcement • Descriptions of United States Federal Agency law enforcement components • Comprehensive and inclusive coverage, exploring concepts and social and legal patterns within the larger topical concern • Global, multidisciplinary analysis Key Themes • Agencies, Associations, and Organizations • Civilian/Private Involvement • Communications • Crime Statistics • Culture/Media • Drug Enforcement • Federal Agencies/Organizations • International • Investigation, Techniques • Types of Investigation • Investigative Commissions • Law and Justice • Legislation/Legal Issues • Military • Minority Issues • Personnel Issues • Police Conduct • Police Procedure • Policing Strategies • Safety and Security • Specialized Law Enforcement Agencies • Tactics • Terrorism • Victims/Witnesses Editors Marie Simonetti Rosen Dorothy Moses Schulz M. R. Haberfeld John Jay College of Criminal Justice Editorial Board Geoffrey Alpert, University of South Carolina Thomas Feltes, University of Applied Police Sciences, Spaichingen, Germany Lorie A. Fridell, Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, DC James J. Fyfe, John Jay College of Criminal Justice David T. Johnson, University of Hawaii at Manoa Peter K. Manning, Northeastern University Stephen D. Mastrofski, George Mason University Rob Mawby, University of Plymouth, U.K. Mark Moore, Harvard University Maurice Punch, London School of Economics, U.K. Wesley G. Skogan, Northwestern University

Throughout America’s history, our laws have been a reflection of who we are, of what we value, of who has control. They embody our society’s genetic code. In the masterful hands of the subject’s greatest living historian, the story of the evolution of our laws serves to lay bare the deciding struggles over power and justice that have shaped this country from its birth pangs to the present. Law in America is a supreme example of the historian’s art, its brevity a testament to the great elegance and wit of its composition.

"Clear, concise, and filled with new materials, the book sets a high standard . . . Scholars in African American, police, and urban history will all be grateful for what is certain to become a fundamental work in their fields." —The Alabama Review "A balanced, perceptive, and readable study." —Kirkus Reviews " . . . easily read and interesting text . . . " —The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) "[This] readable book is bound to explode plenty of myths. . . . This is an important book that is long overdue." —Our Texas, The Spirit of African-American Heritage "There is no better time than now for this electrifying, clear, and much needed volume." —Robert B. Ingram, President, National Conference of Black Mayors "Black Police in America is the most comprehensive and best documented study that I have read on African Americans in law enforcement." —Nudie Eugene Williams, University of Arkansas "Full of fascinating stories and accounts of racism and heroism, as well as photos and charts, this volume fills a void in the study of the African-American experience." —South Carolina Historical Magazine ". . . a fresh and original study and an important contribution to the fields of African American and urban history and criminal justice." —The Journal of American History " . . . an accomplished and wide-ranging comparative analysis of the role of race in the development and operation of police departments in America's nineteenth- and twentieth-century cities." —The Journal of Southern History African Americans demanded "colored police for colored people" for over two centuries. Black Police in America traces the history of African Americans in policing, from the appointment of the first "free men of color" as slave patrollers in 19th-century New Orleans to the advent of black police chiefs in urban centers—and explains the impact of black police officers on race relations, law enforcement, and crime.

This groundbreaking history of how American police forces have been militarized is now revised and updated. Newly added material brings the story through 2020, including analysis of the Ferguson protests, the Obama and Trump administrations, and the George Floyd protests. The last days of colonialism taught America’s revolutionaries that soldiers in the streets bring conflict and tyranny. As a result, our country has generally worked to keep the military out of law enforcement. But over the last two centuries, America’s cops have increasingly come to resemble ground troops. The consequences have been dire: the home is no longer a place of sanctuary, the Fourth Amendment has been gutted, and police today have been conditioned to see the citizens they serve as enemies. In Rise of the Warrior Cop, Balko shows how politicians’ ill-considered policies and relentless declarations of war against vague enemies like crime, drugs, and terror have blurred the distinction between cop and soldier. His fascinating, frightening narrative that spans from America’s earliest days through today shows how a creeping battlefield mentality has isolated and alienated American police officers and put them on a collision course with the values of a free society.