Future, past. present Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Future, past. present - Essay Example Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the past, present and future of law enforcement, with a view to establishing how this particular component of the legal system has evolved over time, how it has related with the other components forming the criminal justice system, its present state, and the likely nature of this component in the future. The past of law enforcement The history of the concept of law enforcement dates back to the settlement of the colonists in America, where the colonists who settled in America imported their constable system of law enforcement, with each community required to constitute a watchdog force that kept peace while dealing with the criminals and crime resolution, under the leadership of a chief peacekeeper, also referred to as the constable (Bumgarner, 2006). This was mainly applicable in the urban regions where the settlers had established their settlements. In the southern states, the concept of law enforcement developed with the establishment of the slave patrols, which was meant to whip and terrorize slaves, to prevent them from holding meeting or leaving their plantations without the express authorization of their masters, or even travelling (Roth, 2011).The first organized and paid policing force was established by City of Boston in 1635, followed by Texas in 1835, whose police force was referred to as the rangers, followed by the Municipality of New York in 1884, and eventually the other cities started following suit, but it is only until the Civil War, that a uniformed law enforcement force was established, which used nightsticks as their main weapon (Roth, 2011). Despite this organization, the law enforcement forces were controlled by politicians who presided over the cities and the municipalities, and thus they operated on the basis of their orders. However, the data of the number of the police officers in America remains scanty especially regarding the past, considering that the police officers established by diffe rent municipalities and cities could not be practically enumerated, since the law enforcement forces were not organized into a full disciplined force (Bumgarner, 2006). However, the existing data regarding the earliest disciplined force that was well organized is that of the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) formed in 1852, which comprised of the 7 officers, with a chief officer, 4 assistant chiefs and 2 other ground patrol officers (Bumgarner, 2006). The U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) forms one of the few primary law enforcement force, still maintained by the federal government, which currently comprises of over 1,000 disciplined officers, forming the USCP federal department. The major reforms in the law enforcement started in the 20th century, where reforms regarding the qualifications, education and training of the enforcement officers, as well as the elimination of the political control over the law enforcement came into the limelight. The present of law enforcement The present state of la w enforcement in the US now comprises of well trained and disciplined forces, with well structured recruitment formulae and requirements. The other aspect of the current state of the law enforcement component of the justice system is that their duties and responsibilities are now well cut out, with such provisions enshrined in the constitution and in the law enforcement policies and regulations that guide their operations. Presently, as