trol . . ." (Robinson & Scaglion, 1987, p. 109). However, the full purpose of the police force is more than a simple matter of dominance or control. It is apparent that the police provide an invaluable service to society, because without a system for maintaining order, the foundation of the society itself would crumble.
Although the first modern police forces arose in England during the early 19th century, the idea of police enforcement was present even in ancient times. For example, the early Romans utilized policing techniques for maintaining order within their empire, and also for their protection against invasions by barbaric tribes. Through the medieval period of feudalism, techniques for maintaining public order were further developed and utilized. Prior to the 19th century, the work of policing in England was for the most part maintained on the local level in rural communities. Thus, order was maintained by men from the community who were concerned with fighting crime only within their own local district or town. This heritage had a strong impact on the subsequent development of law and order. As such, it can be seen that the local watch committees and rural magistrates served to further the understanding of social discipline and community order that provided the background to the development of mid-nineteenth-century police forces" (Steedman, 1984, p. 1).
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the rural system of local law enforcement began to undergo a change. This was due to the fact that crime had increased to a dramatic level in Europe during the seventeenth century, and ". . . in the eighteenth century the situation was aggravated by mob violence" (Stead, Pioneers, 1977, p. 4). By the end of the 18th century, political and social revolutions in England, France and the United States had changed society in the Western World to the extent where the former system of law enforcement could no longer be effective.