The Original Name of The American Police Department the Was The Slave Patrol

[jono]

I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?

Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.

"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.

Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.

Nigga everyone. You think there was no crime until slavery?

Other civilizations had warriors who were about defending the people, but there were not organizations or groups of people that were crime watchers. When an offense happened in a nation, tribe, etc., the people would bring them to trial though the rules of their culture by the people, chiefs and priests and would be dealt with accordingly.

Now give us a few or several examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it. Since you say it's everyone, these examples should be easy for you to produce.

You ever heard of evolution, change over time? You just destroyed your own argument. The origins of policing come from what you just described.

One things leads to another or do you think this are two separate things?

All dogs are descendant of wolves.

 

[Stiff]

I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?

Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.

"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.

Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.

Ancient Rome:

Spoiler

The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.

Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.

Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.

Ancient Egypt:

Spoiler

At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.

The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.

Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.

 

[Ajackson17]

I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?

Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.

"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.

Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.

Ancient Rome:

Spoiler

The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.

Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.

Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.

Ancient Egypt:

Spoiler

At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.

The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.

Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.

New Kingdom leadership were coons

 

[NeighborhoodNomad.]

I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?

Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.

"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.

Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.

Ancient Rome:

Spoiler

The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.

Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.

Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.

Ancient Egypt:

Spoiler

At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.

The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.

Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.

You may have a point with the ancient Romans. It very well may be apart of European history but what you just presented about the ancient Egyptians just described a private securities/mercenary service, not policy enforcement or crime prevention.

 

[the dukester]

The more you learn about this country, the more you can see why shit is still fucked up for black people.

We're like POW's, smiling--beguiling, working & living with the forebears of people who wanted to wipe us out.

What a precarious existence we have in this country.

 

[IgboNegro]

So before the slave patrol, crooks chose to go to jail??

 

[Stiff]

I think this is some revisionist history. I'm not saying there are no ties between the police and the slave watch, but to imply the police came into existence to catch slaves strikes me as BS. Agents of the law have existed for thousands of years. Are people really trying to claim that law enforcement in America only exists because of the desire to keep slaves in check?

Because it is. Slave catchers are more akin to bounty hunters not police officers. They're job was to catch runaways and return them for the money offered by the master/owner of property. No different than someone posting a picture of their missing dog.

"Law enforcement" is a big umbrella term and slave catcher falls under it because it enforced property laws but to say there was no policing or patrolling is to say nobody was responsible for watching out for simple crime like stealing and assault which we know is untrue.

Give us some examples of civilizations who policed/patrolled their people, or were "watching out for simple crime" as you put it.

Ancient Rome:

Spoiler

The cohortes urbanae (Latin meaning urban cohorts) of ancient Rome were created by Augustus to counterbalance the enormous power of the Praetorian Guard in the city of Rome and serve as a police force. They were led by the urban prefect.

Their primary role was to police Rome and to counteract the roaming mobs and gangs that so often haunted its streets during the Republic. The urban cohorts thus acted as a heavy duty police force, capable of riot control duties, while their contemporaries, the Vigiles, had the day-to-day role of policing the streets and protecting against fires. As a trained paramilitary organization, the urban cohorts could, on rare occasions, take to the field of battle if necessary. This role, however, was only called upon in dire situations. Augustus established a city police force at Rome consisting of three urban cohorts (cohortes urbanae) under a newly appointed prefect of the city.[1] By this time the gangs of Titus Annius Milo, Publius Clodius, etc. which had been used by politicians during the Republic had been eliminated, mostly due to the efforts of Pompeius Magnus and, with the founding of the Principate, had become moot since power no longer resided in the Roman Senate and elected officials.

Unlike the Vigiles, who mostly operated at night as firewatch and watchmen, members of the urban cohorts were considered legionaries, though with higher pay than the regular legions—if not quite as much as the Praetorian Guards—and tended to receive slightly higher donatives though, again, not as much as the Praetorians.

Ancient Egypt:

Spoiler

At the head of the police during the New Kingdom was the Chief of the Medjay (wr n mDAj, lit. Great(est) of the Medjay) who had one or more deputies, the jdn.w n mDAj. Regional and municipal forces were commanded by captains, Hr.j mDAj (lit. Highest of the Medjay). Most of these high officers were native Egyptians, as were by this time most of the constables. [45] Little is known about the structure of the ancient Egyptian police force otherwise, but whatever its actual organization, significant numbers of gendarmes could be assembled to guard strategic places in times of need or accompany expeditions: A mining party more than nine thousand men strong under Ramses IV was accompanied by a unit of fifty policemen [6], and when there was somewhat of a security situation in Upper Egypt during the late New Kingdom, the authorities ordered police from the region to assemble in order to protect the Theban necropolis.

The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.

Mahu was chief of police at Akhetaten under Akhenaten. He decorated his tomb with scenes from his working life such as escorting robbers to court and looking for fugitives.[13] and in the tomb of Merya police units are depicted preceding the royal cavalcade, [14] some of the tasks policemen still fulfill today.

You may have a point with the ancient Romans. It very well may be apart of European history but what you just presented about the ancient Egyptians just described a private securities/mercenary service, not policy enforcement or crime prevention.

The police were paid by the treasury, but apparently they had at times a supplementary income, tapping into local resources (as still happens today, occasionally). Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The basic tasks of the police have not changed much over the last four millennia. They have always included some attempts at least however feeble and ineffective at the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals.

They were paid by the government's treasury so they weren't private mercenaries and one of their stated listed duties was the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals. The various periods of ancient Egypt were dominated by bureaucracy and crime wasn't uncommon...so they had to have a specific occupation tasked with dealing with that(in the new kingdom called the Medjay). They had police bro..like actual government employees

 

[The Lonious Monk]

The watch system was composed of community volunteers whose primary duty was to warn of impending danger. Boston created a night watch in 1636, New York in 1658 and Philadelphia in 1700. The night watch was not a particularly effective crime control device. Watchmen often slept or drank on duty. While the watch was theoretically voluntary, many "volunteers" were simply attempting to evade military service, were conscript forced into service by their town, or were performing watch duties as a form of punishment. Philadelphia created the first day watch in 1833 and New York instituted a day watch in 1844 as a supplement to its new municipal police force (Gaines, Kappeler, and Vaughn 1999).

Augmenting the watch system was a system of constables, official law enforcement officers, usually paid by the fee system for warrants they served. Constables had a variety of non-law enforcement functions to perform as well, including serving as land surveyors and verifying the accuracy of weights and measures. In many cities constables were given the responsibility of supervising the activities of the night watch.

In 1838, the city of Boston established the first American police force, followed by New York City in 1845, Albany, NY and Chicago in 1851, New Orleans and Cincinnati in 1853, Philadelphia in 1855, and Newark, NJ and Baltimore in 1857 (Harring 1983, Lundman 1980; Lynch 1984).

These "modern police" organizations shared similar characteristics: (1) they were publicly supported and bureaucratic in form; (2) police officers were full-time employees, not community volunteers or case-by-case fee retainers; (3) departments had permanent and fixed rules and procedures, and employment as a police officers was continuous; (4) police departments were accountable to a central governmental authority (Lundman 1980).

@"The Lonious Monk"

In the Southern states the development of American policing followed a different path. The genesis of the modern police organization in the South is the "Slave Patrol" (Platt 1982). The first formal slave patrol was created in the Carolina colonies in 1704 (Reichel 1992). Slave patrols had three primary functions: (1) to chase down, apprehend, and return to their owners, runaway slaves; (2) to provide a form of organized terror to deter slave revolts; and, (3) to maintain a form of discipline for slave-workers who were subject to summary justice, outside of the law, if they violated any plantation rules. Following the Civil War, these vigilante-style organizations evolved in modern Southern police departments primarily as a means of controlling freed slaves who were now laborers working in an agricultural caste system, and enforcing "Jim Crow" segregation laws, designed to deny freed slaves equal rights and access to the political system.

http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1

So now we cherry pick shit and think we're proving something. Did you not read the first part of your own source? It points out that policing in general evolved from the constable system used in England and evolved in America and took two forms, watches and private policing. The only region to which the thread title even applies is the South. And even then, it's spurious because again as your own source points out, after reconstruction, there was a lot of change in how policing was done across the board, so you can't just trace a line from the modern police to the Slave Patrol and act like it was some singular continuum. It would be like me making a statement like "The original name for America was England." If you trace back far enough, America as we know it largely came to be because of England's actions, but only the 13 colonies were English, the rest of the country wasn't and there has been a lot to happen and shape the country since England was in control.

 

[NeighborhoodNomad.]

@Stiff

I understand what you're saying but ironically the quotes you used were the reason I said "mercenaries" even though they were paid by the treasury.

Community policing may often have equalled the provisioning and appeasing of a village tyrant, more popular with well-to-do scribes to whom he was likely to be deferential, than with the poor who had to bow to his every order.

The Medjay (also Medjai, Mazoi, Madjai, Mejay, Egyptian mDA.y)–from mDA,[1] represents the name Ancient Egyptians gave to a region in northern Sudan–which an ancient people of Nubia inhabited. In the New Kingdom, the word Medjay developed to refer to members of the Ancient Egyptian military as desert scouts and protectors of areas of pharaonic interest. However, this evolution is more likely based on a change in the definition of the word, Medjay, rather than a change in the Eastern Desert peoples.

The first mention of the Medjay in written records dates back to the Old Kingdom, when they were listed among other Nubian peoples by Weni, who was at the time a general serving under Pepi I.[2] During this time the term "Medjay" referred to people from the land of Medja, a district thought to be located just east of the Second Cataract in Nubia. A decree from Pepi I's reign, which lists different officials (including an Overseer of the Medja, Irtjet and Satju), illustrates that Medja was at least to some extent subjugated by the Egyptian government.[3]

By the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom period, the Medjay were an elite paramilitary police force. No longer did the term refer to an ethnic group and over time the new meaning became synonymous with the policing occupation in general. Being an elite police force, the Medjay were often used to protect valuable areas, especially areas of pharaonic interest like capital cities, royal cemeteries, and the borders of Egypt. Though they are most notable for their protection of the royal palaces and tombs in Thebes and the surrounding areas, the Medjay were known to have been used throughout Upper and Lower Egypt. Each regional unit had its own captains. Chiefs of the Medjay are also known from the New Kingdom, but that title is more likely to refer to a person in charge of building and building material procurement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medjay
http://originalpeople.org/medjay-elite-nubian-pan-grave-people/
http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI3509198/

These were elite paramilitary paid to guard, protect, and patrol things not enforce law or policy on people. These Men were Elite security or paramilitary that were subjugated to the Egyptian government/"The Pharaoh's interests".

 

[dwade206]

The institution of slavery and the control of minorities, however, were two of the more formidable historic features of American society shaping early policing. Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities



Could've stopped right there. This is still relevant to this very day. Nice read tho...

I recently dedicated a whole series of facebook posts to this. It amazes me how most people dont know this probably because most people dont care to even think about the origins of the police.

This video here is the icing on the cake

Dope. Didn't know this, but won't doubt her one second. They do this all the time by placing these statues of "his-story" right in front of you. Like this human butcher...

I read Medical Apartheid last year, and yeah, J Marion Sims is a complete scum bag. The stories in that book had me in tears/anger.

 

[mrrealone]

The institution of slavery and the control of minorities, however, were two of the more formidable historic features of American society shaping early policing. Slave patrols and Night Watches, which later became modern police departments, were both designed to control the behaviors of minorities



Could've stopped right there. This is still relevant to this very day. Nice read tho...

I recently dedicated a whole series of facebook posts to this. It amazes me how most people dont know this probably because most people dont care to even think about the origins of the police.

This video here is the icing on the cake

Dope. Didn't know this, but won't doubt her one second. They do this all the time by placing these statues of "his-story" right in front of you. Like this human butcher...

I read Medical Apartheid last year, and yeah, J Marion Sims is a complete scum bag. The stories in that book had me in tears/anger.

Oh. I know....

Supposedly, her name was Betsy. This pic literally says a thousand words about what's finna happen. I downloaded that book too, I need to quit playing and finish reading it tho. I can clearly see why ppl say whites are of the devil. Understood that this happened way back in a g, but I still can't feel some type of way reading the horror the ones before us went through....

 

[desertrain10]

Regardless of orgin, police are just one of the many cogs of a system that work to continue our countrys long legacy of exploiting blk bodies and the poor

We see what was happening in Ferguson

Prison inmates work for major corporations only to make pennies

Still doesn't mean the police can't serve a legitimate purpose

 

[NeighborhoodNomad.]

Regardless of orgin, police are just one of the many cogs of a system that work to continue our countrys long legacy of exploiting blk bodies and the poor

We see what was happening in Ferguson

Prison inmates work for major corporations only to make pennies

Still doesn't mean the police can't serve a legitimate purpose

There can be no "regardless of origin" when the root ALWAYS feeds the fruit. It's a law of nature. The police are policy enforcers of a racist oppressive system. How can one serve a legitimate purpose when the very purpose is oppression? Police sign up to be cogs of this same system you're speaking of.

We see now that modern day prisons were all about "legally" (r)enslaving a "free" people under the loophole(s) of the 13th amendment. And police were the ones doing the ground work of this re-enslavement.

Slavery By Another Name- Doc


Slavery By Another Name - Lecture/Author