PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE POLICE - AN ESSAY ON THE LIMITATIONS OF INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN URBAN AMERICA, 1890-1970

• NCJ Number: 13555
• Author(s): R M FOGELSON
• Date Published: 1970
• Length: 28 pages
• Grant Number(s): OER-228-G-68-14
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Commerce
• Corporate Author: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Sale Source: National Technical Information Service; National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROFESSIONAL, BUREAUCRATIC POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

Abstract

BEGINNING IN 1890, WITH A DEPARTMENT RULED BY PRECINCT CAPTAINS AND MANNED BY POLITICALLY APPROVED PATROLMEN WITH MINIMAL EXPERTISE, THE AUTHOR TRACES THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS REFORM MOVEMENTS AIMED AT SEPARATING THE INFLUENCE OF THE POLICE FROM THAT OF ORGANIZED CRIME AND POLITICAL MACHINES. HE ARGUES THAT THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE AMERICAN POLICE CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY AND CULTURE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, AND PARTICULARY ITS MOMENTOUS ECONOMIC, POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND IDEOLOGICAL CHANGES.