MODULE ONE Police: Policing Fundamentals 1

MODULE ONE POLICE: POLICING

FUNDAMENTALS

SECTION 1.1: The Deep Roots of Policing ……………………………………………………………2

The history of policing from monkey troops to the Victorian era and an exploration of

Robert Peel’s creation of the Royal Irish Constabulary and Bobbies.

SECTION 1.2: Police as Labourer ………………………………………………………………………17

An overview of police officers’ evolving position in the labour market with an emphasis

on the formation and rise of police unions.

SECTION 1.3: Policing Capitalism ……………………………………………………………………..42

An examination of the private security industry, strike-breaking duties, and the ‘war on

drugs.’

Online Resources

Blackfoot Traditional Justice

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/cnqst-lw/index-eng.aspx

A Brief Guide to Police History

(Ancient, Middle Ages, Colonial, and Spoils eras)

https://web.archive.org/web/20131214051741/http://faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/205/205l

ect04.htm

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/cnqst-lw/index-eng.aspx
https://web.archive.org/web/20131214051741/http:/faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/205/205lect04.htm
https://web.archive.org/web/20131214051741/http:/faculty.ncwc.edu/mstevens/205/205lect04.htm
2 Police: Policing Fundamentals MODULE ONE

SECTION 1.1: The Deep Roots of Policing

The start of the modern era of policing is often given as 1829 when British politician

Robert Peel, legislated the creation of a fully state-funded police force. This dating makes

the institution of modern policing less than 200 years old but social conflict and violence

has been a social problem since the dawn of humanity 200,000 years ago. So how did

societies deal with such difficulties before 1829?

To see the ‘deep roots’ of policing we begin this unit with a peek at the animal kingdom

and a tour through history to see the different forms policing took before Robert Peel’s

invention changed everything.

‘Police Monkeys’

Our search for the origins of ‘policing’ behaviours and social practices can profitably

begin with a look at other primate species as the following description of ‘police

monkeys’ reveals. Pigtailed macaque monkeys were recorded using a ‘voting’ system for

appointing their fellow monkeys to the role of peacekeepers. Voting, in this case, meant

inferior monkeys baring their teeth to more dominant members as a sign of submission

saying, “You don’t have to beat me up to establish your dominance.” Humans would call

it a form of smiling.

When an individual receives these voting signals from most of the group,

it shows he is well respected—or feared—and he becomes the new sheriff

in town. In general, the larger and more senior monkeys are voted into the

policing role. But having a gang to back you up counts for something, too.

A single Schwarzenegger-like monkey may not receive as many ‘votes’

from the group as a smaller individual with several brothers.

Once elected, police monkeys earn certain rights and responsibilities, one

of which is to peacefully settle conflicts. They usually do this by stepping

between combatants or chasing bad monkeys away. Very rarely do they

need to dish out a whooping, but their actions are always respected by the

group. (Carey, 2006)

When researchers experimentally removed such police monkeys from an 82-member

macaque troop the results were a drastic drop in grooming, play behaviours, and the

number of monkeys willing to sit close together.

“Without the police, the remaining monkeys predominantly interacted

with their most familiar fellows, forming small groups and sitting apart

from each other in order to avoid conflicts.”(Biello, 2006)

MODULE ONE Police: Policing Fundamentals 3

Researchers were only able to perform this experiment for short periods or else chaos in

the troop would ensue. The single dominant female was never removed in such

experiments because her role was needed to prevent total anarchy. It was not that the

macaques went wild in the