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 Peels 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 Peels
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 dont 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 respectedor fearedand 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
