Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/211

* POLICE. 175 POLICE. restricted to that part ot the State aJministra-- tioii which is concerned primarily with the preser- vatiiiu ot the peace and the prevention and detec- tion of crime in urban communities. The first in- stance of the separation of the police magistracy from the judicial magistracy seems to have oc- curred in France in the fourteenth century. Ahout the same time a military police was or- ijauized which eventually became the basis of the pic^eiit French yi-ndarmerie. In Paris a sj'ste- nialie ]iolice force soon came to be organized and lielure the close of the eighteenth centurj' consisted of between seven and eight hundred men. In Eng- land the police administration was in the hands of the justices of the peace, who had under their con- trol a small number of parish constables. Sev- eral attempts in the course of the eighteenth cen- tury were made to improve the system of London police, but it was not until 1828 that the passage of the celebrated Peel Act established a con- stabulary force for the city under conuuissioners appiiiiited by the Crown. This has been described as the tir.st modern police force in the world. The act provided for a thoroughly organized and dis- ciplined corps of trained men, a regular day and night patrol, and a force of reserves to be sta- tioned at police headquarters. Although bitterly attached at the time, the Peel system in its main features was adopted in other cities in England. In New Yoi'k City, in 1841, the police force con- sisted of two constables in each of the 17 wards, 100 marshals. 300 night watchmen, and 100 war- dens, bell-ringers, inspectors, and so on. .t the same time Boston had 22 day policemen and 200 night watchmen; Philadelphia had 24 day patrol- men and 120 night watchmen. During the first half of the century the control of the police w-as everywhere in the hands of the local authorities, hut beginning with the year 1857 State boards of police conuuissioners were created for the ma7i- agement of the police in several of the larger cities. In IflOO the police of Baltimore. Saint Louis. Boston, and Cincinnati were still under the management of State Boards, but nearly every- where else the old method of local control had lieen reestablished. In 1834 the police system of Paris was reor- ganized on the lines of the English system, and other Continental cities have followed. In the metropolitan district of London this force num- bers l.l.non men; in Paris. 8000; in New York, 7000; in Berlin. 4."in0 ; in Vienna. .3500: in Chi- cago. .3000 ; and in Philadelphia. 2400. The niim- ber of policemen to every 10,000 of population is 20 in Xew York, 24 in London, 25 in Berlin, and 30 in- Paris. The total annual expendi- tures for |)olice purposes amount to more than eight million dollars in London, more than eleven million in New York, more than eight million in P;iris, more than three million in Berlin, and al)out four million in Chicago. The system of organization of the police force varies widely with difTerent cities. The supreme .Tuthority is usually either a single superintend- ent or a hoard. In Continental Europe the single- headed ;inthority is most common, the maire or the burgomaster being commonly vested with the inunediate control of police affairs. In the ITnited States the same system prevails in most of the smaller cities and in many of the larger ones. In fJreat Britain the statutes usually require that such boards shall be bi-partisan, chiefly on ac- count of the control which the police exercise over the machinery of elections. The Superin- tendent, Couunissioncr, or Chief, whatever title he njay bear, is the executive head of the police ad- ministration, and in general is responsible for the cliaracter of the police service. For the pur- divided into a luiniber of police districts or pre- cincts. Each precinct has a detachment of police at the head of which is a captain, who is respon- sible for the execution of the orders of the chief, and who in turn may issue instructions to those under his conunand. la the larger cities ollicers intermediate between captains and sui)erinteud- ents, called ins]iectors, are frequently provided, and these have control of a certain number of pre- cincts. Next below the captains in the organiza- tion are the lieutenants, or, more frequently, the sergeants. Bcknv the sergeants are the 'rounds- men,' who are charged with the duty of seeing that the patrolmen perform their duties. The lowest olUcer of the police force is the patrolman, whose general dut.y it is to patrol a given district of territory. In addition to the patrolmen on active duty a number of reserves are usually kept iit each station for use in case of emergency. Frequently, as in the public parks and in parts of the city where the posts are unusually long, mounted police are provided, and in the principal ports, as in the case of New Y'ork City, there are special harbor police. A frecjuent and important liranch of the police service is the detective bu- reau, consisting of a force of men employed for their shrewdness and ability to detect crime as well as their knowdedge of noted criminals. Un- like the regular patrolmen, they do not wear uni- forms. Occasionally, as in the city of New York, there are also special detachments of sanitarj' po- lice and bicycle squads. From the standpoint oi the relation of the po- lice to the central Government considerable variety in principle is to be seen. Thus in Ire- land, Egypt, India, and Australi.a the police is subject to the strict control of the central Govern- ment. In Ireland the police force is the Irish ccnistabularj-, organized in 1836, consisting of military forces under the immediate control of the central Government at Dublin. In Russia the system is thoroughly centralized. Elsewhere in Continental Europe the police administration is either directly or indirectly under central con- trol. It is a general practice in Europe for the central Government to defray a part of the cost of administering the police. In Berlin the amount granted by the central Government is four-fifths of the cost; in London and Paris, one-tliird. The borough and county police of England receive a Parliamentary grant, amounting to one-half of the cost of maintenance, provided a given stand- ard of efficiency is maintained. In American cities the entire cost of its police is defrayed by the nniniciiial Government. In most of the European countries a State police is maintained and is under the immediate control of the central Government. It is gen- erally modeled after the French qendarmerie, which is ;i part of the TtegiJar .-rmy. In Russia the secret police is largely concerned with the sinqiressinn of political agitation. .Mthouch lo- cally selected, police ofTicers in the TTnited States are regarded by the courts as State agents .and not agents of the municipalities, and the munici- palities cannot he held liable for the tortious acts of its police OfTicers.
 * )oses of police administration a city is usually