This is Part Two. Part One is here. Jill Lepore has an article in the New Yorker about the invention of police that somehow manages to sidestep every thing I know about the history of police. I know a little about the history police history. Much more, I suspect, than Jill Lepore. I discussed a…
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This is Part One of Two. There’s so much Jill Lepore gets wrong in her New Yorker article “The Invention of the Police.” The spoiler is in the subtitle: “Why did American policing get so big, so fast? The answer, mainly, is slavery.” She seems to ignores the actual history of police in America, but…
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On July 22, 168 years ago, Thomas Lynch was the first police officer in America (at least best I can tell) to be fatally injured in the line of duty: Patrolman Lynch responded to 16 Dover street after receive a report of a large dispute. As he tried to mediate the dispute, he was struck…
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Last night a police captain said: I’m in the Department and had better keep my mouth shut. But I must candidly say that I have never known the Police Department to be in such a bad state as it is it right now. One day we receive one imperative order, and on the next another…
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Have you heard the news? There’s nothing new under the sun. “Today a policeman doesn’t know where he stands. He has lost the ball. He has become defensive and he doesn’t do a good job when he is on the defensive.” … “A cop will give his life to catch a burglar, holdup man, or…
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The good ol’ days… I love spending time in John Jay College’s great Lloyd Sealy Library browsing NYPD annual police reports from 100 years ago. Even older ones are available to the public online. In 1912 the total force was 10,371 plus 268 civilian. Three motor patrol wagons were installed during the year 1912 [making…
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Just browsing the 1921 Annual NYPD Report, as you do.
The mighty flex-cuff… Anybody know when they first appeared? I do not. And I just get a query from MOMA asking me them and I’ll be damned, I have no idea. I’d like to know the answer. I write to you with the hope that you might help with our research. We are featuring Flexicuffs…
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From Shorpy.com: Washington, D.C., 1932. “Metropolitan police officer on motorcycle.” Keeping the peace in the gashouse district. Harris & Ewing glass negative. Full size image.
A little over two years ago, William Hackley, retired Baltimore police officer and amateur historian, passed away. Were it not for Officer Hackley, so much of the history of the BPD would have been be lost to time. I was afraid that project would end with Hackley’s passing. Luckily, retired detective Kenny Driscoll has kept…
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