The American criminal justice system is composed of three elements, the police, the courts and corrections, each of which serve a specific function. However, the purpose of this paper is to analyze a single component of that system by tracing the history of the policing of the American democratic society. Although modeled in part on the English system, American policing remains sui generis. Its uniqueness rests upon the ideals and concerns of the Founding Fathers of the United states in their desire to establish a system of government and policing without creating a centralized police power with exclusive control over the entire country (U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, Articles I, X). An examination of the history of policing in American reveals the evolution from the abecedarian ôwatch and wardö policing system during the seventeenth century to the complexity of modern-day policing process practices used in the United States.
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts in 1620. In essence, these first settlers mimicked the rudimentary policing and criminal justice system they had been exposed to in their native Britain. Initially, England had used a ômutual pledgeö system whereby private citizens would be paid a small sum in order to maintain peace and order within their specific provinces. The higher cost of retaining trained soldiers for internal policing was considered economically unsound by the monarchy since such soldiers were needed to guard the countryÆs borders against foreign invaders (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. 17). Ultimately, local noblemen found it both necessary and prudent to appoint constables, to maintain order. Later, under King Edward I (1272-1307), the ôwatch and wardö system was created as a method of protecting property and arresting offenders between sunset and daybreak; the office of Justice of the Peace was created in 1326 (Eldefonso, Coffey & Grace, 1982, p. 18)....