Unit 2: Criminal Justice Foundations

The Criminal Justice System: The History of Law Enforcement in America

The earliest indication of an organized and standardized control of human behavior dates to about 2000 years before Christ. The law of Moses was still 1000 years away at this point. Since that time, law enforcement has existed in one form or another to control the behavior of human beings. Our current form of law enforcement began in England at the time of the Industrial Revolution.

The city of London had become a great metropolis and was rampant with crime. Unlike the European countries, who kept order in society through the military, the British had a tradition of individual freedom which had existed since they wrested power from King John by compelling him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215A.D., recognizing that all British subjects had certain rights which not even the king could disregard.

The first response to the high crime rate in London was to increase the severity of punishment. However, although more than 100 crimes were punishable by the death penalty--seven stealing a loaf of bread-- and public hangings of criminals were held as a deterrent, pickpockets would be found stealing from people in the crowds gathered to witness the hangings.

In 1829, Sir Robert Peel, who held the important cabinet post of Home Secretary, convinced Parliament to pass legislation setting up the first metropolitan police force in London. This was a force under the control of the civil authorities. Although people at first were skeptical of the new police force, within a few short years the crime rate was under control. The new officers were so popular that they were called” Bobbies” after Sir Robert Peel, a nickname which has remained until this day. The first headquarters of the new police force was located in the yard of a castle which had been used by the Scottish kings when they visited London, hence the name “Scotland Yard” which has remained to this day.

When the first settlers came to the new world from England, they brought with them some of their most cherished traditions. This included the British style of policing. Later, when the British government began to oppress the settlers, they started a revolution to guarantee their rights.

Today there are 500,000 people working for 40,000 separate police agencies in the United States. The New York City Police Department has 280,001.

Under our constitutional form of government, the legal authority for police agencies comes from the people. Police agencies are only one of the many services provided by government that are under the control of the governing body, the same as the fire department, school department, highway department, and other agencies. Because of the great authority possessed by police officers, we sometimes forget that our power is really derived from the people, and their elected representatives have a policy making role in the operation of a police agency.

Under our constitutional system, government is based on three co-equal branches; executive, legislative and judicial. Police are part of the executive branch of government. The duty of the executive branch is to carry out the laws passed by the legislative branch, and to handle the every-day workings of government.

The legislative branch is represented at the federal level by Congress, and at the state level by state legislatures. The purpose of the legislative branch of government is to pass laws as representatives of the people. These laws include the raising of taxes, which provide the revenues to support the other two branches of government. They also pass laws which control the relationships between people, such as criminal and civil laws.

The judicial branch consists of the courts. Their duty is to provide justice by settling disputes, and deciding the guilt or innocence and appropriate punishment of criminals. Eveer since the earliest days of the republic, the courts has also assumed the implied power to decide on the constituionality of laws passed by legislature. The principle was decalred by John Marshall, the third Chief Justice of the U.S., in a landmark case known as Marbury v. Madison.

Thus, our three branches of government operate under a system of checks and balances designed to prevent any one branch from gaining total power. If the legislature can increase or decrease the power of the judicial branch, by passing a law or amedning a budget. If the executive branch refuses to enforce the laws passed by the legislature or the order of the courts, those two branches become unable to function.

It is within this government framework that the agencies known as the criminal justice system operate. A system alwasy consists of several component parts, each of which affect the other. The three component parts of the criminal justice system are: (1) law enforcement, (2) courts, and (3) corrections. Law enforcement forms the input for criminal courts. Without police officers to make arrests and bring charges before the courts, there would be no criminal cases in the court system.

The output from the courts in the form of convicted offenders, forms the input for the corrections system by sentencing persons to a term in jail or to probation.

The output from the corrections system goes back on the streets. If a prison is rehabilitated and becomes a good citizen, that is the end of his contact with the system. If the prisoner is not rehabilitated and commits further crimes, he becomes another input for the police and the loop starts all over again.

The efficiency and aggressiveness of the police in pursuing criminals determines how many resources the court system will need. The sentencing practices of the courts determine what is needed in the way of prison capacity, and the number of probation and parole officers that are required. The effectiveness of the corrections system in rehabilitating offenders determines the type of crime rate the police will have to cope with.