Police

On February 23, 2018, Project Lab eighth graders were preparing for a day of dialogue with local law enforcement officers. In preparation for the experience, they took a few minutes to write down the first words that came to mind when they heard the word police. Word size corresponds to frequency.

The following passage is from our open-access, digital collection of informational texts. We’ve developed readings in United States History, World History, Biology, and Earth Science. For more information please email us at contact@projectlabstlouis.org.

On Monday, May 25, George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. African American victims of brutal assaults and murder by police include Rodney King, Malice Green, Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Breonna Taylor, and thousands more.

Between January 2013 and December 2019, on-duty police officers in the United States have killed 1,945 Black individuals. For centuries, police officers have terrorized, harmed, and killed people of color. Research suggests that police have virtually no effect on crime, no matter what they do or how they do it. So: Why are there police? How did armed, uniformed policing get started in this country? How did police as a whole become abusive, brutal, and violent towards Black people?

We write “as a whole” because we want to distinguish between individual police officers and policing as a system. Many people know individual police officers who enter the profession to serve and protect communities of color. These officers do serve and protect, with honor and with pride. It’s the system and history of policing overall which makes it possible for countless police officers to harm and murder Black Americans and face no punishment. How have the powers of local, state, and federal government used the police to protect white privilege and white power?

Responding to these questions exposes the roots of racism in policing. Responding to these questions can also help us understand the steps we must take so that everyone can be served and protected in our local and national community.

In 1702, the first police force in the South was created in the colony of South Carolina. These early police were called Slave Patrols. Virginia set up slave patrols is 1726. North Carolina set up slave patrols in 1753. Slave patrols had three goals: 1. Chase down and capture any enslaved person who was running away and take this person by force back to the person who claimed to “own” them; 2. Terrify enslaved people so that they would be afraid to revolt; 3. Punish enslaved people if they broke plantation rules.

After the Civil War, these patrols turned into Southern police departments. Police were used by white planters to control free Blacks who were working on land the white planters still owned. The police enforced Jim Crow segregation laws written by white elected officials. Police also enforced laws designed to stop Black Americans from participating in the political process. Written by white lawmakers and signed into law by white governors, these laws denied African Americans equal civil rights, including voting rights.

The first organized police force in the North was set up in Boston in 1838. This was not long after the first modern police force was established in England. In fact, some historians suggest that police might have been called coppers because of the old English word cop, which means to grab or seize hold of. Within the next 20 years, there were police forces in New York City, Albany, Chicago, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Newark, and Baltimore.

By the 1880s, all major U.S. cities had municipal police forces. By 1880, the police were all publicly supported. This means that their salaries came from tax dollars. Police officers worked full time and wore uniforms. The departments had rules and procedures. The police departments reported to a central government authority, like a mayor. Modern police forces were expected to prevent and stop "disorder." But what does disorder mean? It depends who’s defining the word.

In the cities of the 1800s, white merchants and business people said what disorder meant. As they do today, merchants and business people contributed to political campaigns. This gave them power to influence elected officials. Merchants and business people could say what kinds of “disorder” police should stop. White business owners were more interested in social control than crime control. They wanted police to make sure that workers were orderly. They wanted police to make sure the sidewalks and shops were places where customers would “feel safe.” If police did this work, business owners didn’t have to pay for security guards. Because police officers were used for these purposes, public money was being used “to protect” the property and profits of private business.

Police departments gave guns to police officers only after officers had already armed themselves. The police of that time mostly enforced laws against gambling and drunkenness. Everyday people did not generally want police to use force when making arrests. But wealthy people and wealthy business owners did approve of force, even deadly force. Once police could use force, they tried to “prevent” crime by watching everyone all the time. They focused on Black Americans and immigrants. The police also harassed labor organizers. Eventually, it became normal to see police as part of everyday life on the street.

By the early 1900s, police departments were often corrupt. Some officers accepted bribes to protect illegal business or not follow-up on crimes. Some police officers participated in election fraud; they stuffed ballot-boxes with phony votes. Promotions within the police departments were sold, not earned. Some officers were quick to use force for no reason.

Factories and mines in those days were extremely dangerous places to work. Sometimes the exploited workers protested. Factory owners and bosses called these protests "riots." These protests were an early version of union strikes against employers. Factory owners brought in police to clamp down on the protesting workers because police were legally authorized to use force to maintain order in the workplace. Using police to stop workers’ strikes made it seem like police were somehow supporting “the rule of law,” not just protecting the interests of the factory owners.

In the 1960s, citizens were demanding social and political change in the United States. All across the country, the Civil Rights movement challenged white oppression and racist social policies. Elected officials commanded police to use force against people active in the Civil Rights movement. From 1964 to 1968, police brutality against Black Americans sparked protests in many cities.

Ever since the 1960s, the federal government has stripped funding from institutions and programs that help people get by–public schools, mental health hospitals, housing, youth employment, welfare, health centers, and so on. More and more money has gone to police, prisons, and “crime-control” projects.

For the last 50 years, the reasons for anti-police protests remain the same: Police have terrorized, harmed, and killed thousands of citizens of color. Black Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans. The criminal justice system fails to charge and convict the police officers who commit these crimes: 99% of the killings by police from 2013 through 2019 have not resulted in officers being charged with a crime.

Again, it’s important to remember that we’re talking about how police have functioned as a whole. We’re not talking about individual police officers who respect the community they serve and have, in turn, earned the respect of the community they serve.

Still, in light of this history and these facts, many people are proposing and exploring ways to maintain public safety and manage personal crises without police. Citizens all across the United States are demanding elected and appointed leaders to radically change how communities are served and protected.

Sources:

https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/the-invention-of-the-police

https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-6 https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/ https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/nationaltrends https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/defund-police-floyd-protests.html https://www.mpd150.com/mpd150s-five-essential-findings/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_police-related_slang_terms