Pioneers of Law Enforcement and Reformation

CRJS 222

Pioneers of Law Enforcement and Reformation

Law enforcement is the generic name for the activities of the agencies responsible for maintaining public order and enforcing the law, particularly the activities of prevention, detection, and investigation of crime and the apprehension of criminals (Bureau of Justice 2013). Law enforcement is run in an organized manner and has different levels. Throughout the years, dating back to the late 18th century, law enforcement has been evolving into the modern system we have today. Pioneers of law enforcement and pioneers of reform have helped set the standard of the modern day law enforcement. Its English roots have influenced what we have established in America today. Policing, which is generally the basis of law enforcement, has evolved tremendously over the years and comparisons from yesterday’s policing to today make the evolution very distinct.

Policing comes from English roots. A subject from that is King’s Peace, which established that any crime against an individual was also a crime against the community. Another is that all of the King’s subjects were his property. Alfred the Great divided England into shires in which each contained 100 families or 10 tithings (One tithing equals to 10 families. The community would be held accountable for the crimes committed by one of its members. We have come a long way from this to where we punish the individual who commits the crime, rather than a whole community. As a matter of fact, it is better to set ten guilty free than punish one innocent. Law enforcement and policing is supposed to protect and serve the community. Pioneers from the late 18th century have established philosophies that we have carried all the way into the 21st century.

Patrick Colquhoun (1745-1820) is considered to be one of the original pioneers of law enforcement. He argued that police should be a separate government unit with law enforcement duties only. He also attempted...