Evolution of Law Enforcement and Policing

I. Introduction

II. Early Law Enforcement in England

A. Parish-level Law Enforcement

B. Advantages of the System in Rural Areas

III. Changes to the System

A. Breakdown of the System in Urban Areas

B. Reforms of Henry Fielding

- Bow Street Runners

C. Copying the Bow Street Model in the 1790s

D. Limits to increased policing in 1790s

IV. Long-term Reasons for New Policing

V. Changes in Definition of Crime and Incarceration

A. Severe Penalties to Petty Crime

B. Incarceration and the Utilitarians

VI. Founding of the New Police

A. The 1822 Experiment

B. The 1829 Force

C. The Men in the Uniforms

VII. Conclusion: Effect of the New Police

Key Terms

‘basket justices’

Henry Fielding

Bow Street Magistrate’s Office

Bow Street Runners

Utilitarians

Jeremy Bentham

Panopticon

Robert Peel

police uniform

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