The History of Crime Prevention: The Orgin of Community Policing

In 1990 when I attended the Crime Prevention school  with the Detroit Police department, I was excited, nervous and curious about what to expect. That was the first time that I met  Sgt. Gary Chatman, if you've met him, you know he lived crime prevention and when he engaged you one-on-one, he wanted to know if you had the drive to be the best crime prevention officer/practitioner that you could be and wanted to be, he was determined to get the best out of you during that two-week period.
 
I was fascinated by the first several days of learning historically how crime prevention concepts and practices were created. I now have the opportunity to present to the Eastern Michigan University Criminal Justice and Sociology classes on crime prevention and share the origin and the individuals who helped shape where we are today.
 
See if you remember this early start of Police work:

The English Experience Oliver Cromwell, 1655
Thomas deVeil 1729
Henry Fielding, mid 1700’s
• *Henry created the 1st steps in the formation of “responsible” police work.
International Centre for the History of Crime, Policing and Justice

Henry Fielding, mid 1700’s
•Henry created the 1st steps in the formation of “responsible” police organization.
•Two goals:
–Stamp out existing crime
–To prevent outbreaks of crime in the future
–Created a criminal-justice  system, 1st to establish the magistrates' role.

Three Objectives were established:
•1.) The development of a strong police force.
•2.) The organization of an active group of citizens a body of citizens householders, and
•3.) The initiation of action which would serve to remove some of the causes of crime and
     the conditions in which they flourished.
 
Sir Robert Peel 1822
 Origins of the Metropolitan Police:
Formation of the Metropolitan Police started when Sir Robert Peel was appointed Home Secretary in 1822. Except for a brief period in 1827, he continued in the post until the Tories lost power in 1830. Peel had experience of creating police institutions; when he was Chief Secretary for Ireland (1812-1816), he had established the Peace Preservation Force.
From the beginning of his time as Home Secretary he made it clear that he wanted to reorganize policing in London. The question is – why?

Sir Robert Peel:
The Metropolitan Police Act’s foundation-
He wanted a single, unified force under central control that could be used to maintain order without having to call for the aid of the army. Soldiers were trained to use lethal weapons. A police institution could be trained to restore order without guns and sabres.
A uniform system of police for the entire metropolis would mean that provision was not so dependent upon the wealth of a parish. Wealthy parishes could afford more watchmen, better watchmen, and pay them better than the poorer ones.

Recently historians have begun to recognise and understand a new desire for order and tidiness on the streets of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century cities. A new, centrally-directed police made it possible to enforce such a policy across the metropolis. 

Source: International Centre for Crime and Policing

Relations between police and the public:

•Examining the interaction between the police and public is important for two reasons. First, the presence of police officers on the streets of London was symbolic of the power of the State. Remember, when the Metropolitan Police was established in 1829 the central State played a much smaller role in society. Local government was far more important in the day-to-day affairs of the average citizen, hence initial opposition to the notion of centralized police control in 1829.

Police and Public Order

•The old time parish constables had to present offenders before magistrates for 'nuisance' and they prosecuted people for riding horses, or driving carriages, carts and wagons dangerously.

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The new police continued these old practices, but given their numbers and their central direction they were able to enforce new levels of decorum on the streets and this, some historians have argued, became one of their key duties in the years following their creation. 

Fighting crime in the 1800’s

•Up until the end of the eighteenth century crime was associated with acts of personal depravity. Explosive economic and demographic growth and resultant urban changes in early nineteenth-century Britain led contemporaries to view 'change' as a social force in its own terms. Linked with notions of 'change' were fears about the collapse of 'traditional values' such as the break-up of extended families as society moved from a rural to urban base, and the sinister spectre of the 'poor'. The criminal, especially the offender drawn from the poorest section of the working class, symbolized these changes. 

1st Record of Crime statistics

Criminal statistics began to be collected for England and Wales from 1810, but the first figures collected went back to 1805.

Isn't it amazing that from this start modern day policing's use of terminology, methods, and concepts has not changed. The use of technology and equipment for officer's safety has continue to save lives and assist in enforcing laws.