Editing Police (section)

====United States====
{{Main|Law enforcement in the United States}}
[[File:DRIVER GETS TICKET FOR JUMPING THE LIGHT - NARA - 546661.jpg|thumb|A [[Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia]] officer ticketing a motorist for a traffic violation, 1973]]
In [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]], the county sheriff was the most important law enforcement official. For instance, the [[New York City Sheriff's Office|New York Sheriff's Office]] was founded in 1626, and the [[Albany County Sheriff's Department (New York)|Albany County Sheriff's Department]] in the 1660s. The county sheriff, who was an elected official, was responsible for enforcing laws, collecting taxes, supervising elections, and handling the legal business of the county government. Sheriffs would investigate crimes and make arrests after citizens filed complaints or provided information about a crime but did not carry out patrols or otherwise take preventive action. Villages and cities typically hired constables and marshals, who were empowered to make arrests and serve warrants. Many municipalities also formed a night watch, a group of citizen volunteers who would patrol the streets at night looking for crime and fires. Typically, constables and marshals were the main law enforcement officials available during the day while the night watch would serve during the night. Eventually, municipalities formed day watch groups. Rioting was handled by local militias.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Longley|first=Robert|title=The History of Modern Policing and How It Has Evolved|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-history-of-modern-policing-974587|access-date=2021-05-13|website=ThoughtCo|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/criminal-justice/development-of-the-american-police/policing-colonial-america| title = Policing Colonial America}}</ref>

In the 1700s, the [[Province of Carolina]] (later [[North Carolina|North]]- and [[South Carolina]]) established [[slave patrol]]s in order to prevent slave rebellions and enslaved people from escaping.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Origins of Modern Day Policing |url=https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing |access-date=2022-09-27 |website=naacp.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|title=How the U.S. Got Its Police Force|url=https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/|access-date=2020-06-09|magazine=Time|language=en}}</ref> By 1785 the [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] Guard and Watch had "a distinct [[command hierarchy|chain of command]], [[uniform]]s, sole responsibility for policing, [[salary]], [[authorized use of force]], and a focus on [[crime prevention|preventing crime]]."<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Gospel or a Glock? Mennonites and the Police|author=Andy Alexis-Baker|issue=2|year=2007|journal=The Conrad Grebel Review|volume=25|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/publications/conrad-grebel-review/issues/spring-2007/gospel-or-glock-mennonites-and-police|access-date=10 June 2020|archive-date=28 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028162748/https://uwaterloo.ca/grebel/publications/conrad-grebel-review/issues/spring-2007/gospel-or-glock-mennonites-and-police|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
In 1751 moves towards a municipal police service in [[Philadelphia]] were made when the city's night watchmen and constables began receiving wages and a Board of Wardens was created to oversee the night watch.<ref>[https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/police-department-philadelphia/ Police Department (Philadelphia)]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppdonline.org/hq_history.php |title=Department History |publisher=Philadelphia Police Department |access-date=February 24, 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080517082302/http://www.ppdonline.org/hq_history.php |archive-date = May 17, 2008}}</ref> 

In 1789 the [[United States Marshals Service]] was established, followed by other federal services such as the [[United States Park Police|U.S. Parks Police]] (1791)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/uspp/ |title=The history of the Park Police |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=February 24, 2010}}</ref> and [[United States Mint Police|U.S. Mint Police]] (1792).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/mint_police/ |title=United States Mint Police |publisher=[[United States Mint]] |access-date=February 24, 2010 |archive-date=10 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410180915/https://www.usmint.gov/about_the_mint/mint_police/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Municipal police services were created in [[Richmond, Virginia]] in 1807,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/Police/HistoryPoliceDepartment.aspx |title=History of the Richmond Police Department |publisher=City of Richmond |access-date=February 24, 2010 |archive-date=29 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929180144/http://www.ci.richmond.va.us/Police/HistoryPoliceDepartment.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Boston]] in 1838,<ref name="bpd">{{cite web|url=http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/about/history.asp |title=A Brief History of The B.P.D. |publisher=City of Boston |access-date=February 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304222909/http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/about/history.asp |archive-date=March 4, 2012 }}</ref> and [[New York City]] in 1845.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New+York+City+Police+Department |title=New York City Police Department |newspaper=New York Daily News |access-date=February 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118042703/http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/New%20York%20City%20Police%20Department |archive-date=January 18, 2010 }}</ref> The [[United States Secret Service]] was founded in 1865 and was for some time the main investigative body for the federal government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml |title=Secret Service History |publisher=[[United States Secret Service]] |access-date=February 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219142622/http://www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml |archive-date=February 19, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorist Task Force.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]]–[[New York City Police Department|NYPD]] [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]] carrying evidence as part of an investigation in the early 2000s]]

Modern policing influenced by the British model of policing established in 1829 based on the [[Peelian principles]] began emerging in the United States in the mid-19th century, replacing previous law enforcement systems based primarily on night watch organizations.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dempsey|first1=John S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4TCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|title=An Introduction to Policing|last2=Forst|first2=Linda S.|date=2015|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1305544680|edition= 8|pages=6–8}}</ref> Cities began establishing organized, publicly funded, full-time professional police services. In [[Boston]], a day police consisting of six officers under the command of the city marshal was established in 1838 to supplement the city's night watch. This paved the way for the establishment of the [[Boston Police Department]] in 1854.<ref name="bpd"/><ref>[http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/about/history.asp A Brief History of The B.P.D.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304222909/http://www.cityofboston.gov/police/about/history.asp |date=2012-03-04 }} City of Boston, Police Department (accessed 3 December 2009)</ref> In [[New York City]], law enforcement up to the 1840s was handled by a night watch as well as city marshals, municipal police officers, and constables. In 1845, the [[New York City Police Department]] was established.<ref>{{cite book |title=American Metropolis: A History of New York City |url=https://archive.org/details/americanmetropol00lank |url-access=registration |author=Lankevich, George L. |publisher=NYU Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-8147-5186-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanmetropol00lank/page/84 84–85]}}</ref> In [[Philadelphia]], the first police officers to patrol the city in daytime were employed in 1833 as a supplement to the night watch system, leading to the establishment of the [[Philadelphia Police Department]] in 1854.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8E5DQAAQBAJ|first1=Joseph F.|last1=Spillane|first2=David B.|last2=Wolcott|title=A History of Modern American Criminal Justice|publisher=Sage|year=2013|page=13|isbn=978-1-4129-8134-7}}</ref>

In the [[American Old West]], law enforcement was carried out by local sheriffs, rangers, constables, and federal marshals. There were also town marshals responsible for serving civil and criminal warrants, maintaining the jails, and carrying out arrests for petty crime.<ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=R_mRcTRYcvsC&pg=PA180| title = The Old West in Fact and Film: History Versus Hollywood | isbn = 9780786493111| last1 = Agnew| first1 = Jeremy| date = 2012| publisher = McFarland}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.legendsofamerica.com/old-west-lawmen/| title = Lawmen of the Old West – Legends of America<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref>

In addition to federal, state, and local forces, some [[Special district (United States)|special districts]] have been formed to provide extra police protection in designated areas. These districts may be known as neighborhood improvement districts, crime prevention districts, or security districts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/govs/go/index.html |title=Lists & Structure of Governments |work=Census.gov |access-date=2012-07-11}}</ref>

In 2022, San Francisco supervisors approved a policy allowing municipal police ([[San Francisco Police Department]]) to use robots for various law enforcement and emergency operations, permitting their employment as a deadly force option in cases where the "risk of life to members of the public or officers is imminent and outweighs any other force option available to SFPD."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Law Enforcement Equipment Policy|url=https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=11449771&GUID=9FC57C5A-6E68-4485-A989-632C3837B909|access-date=December 16, 2022}}</ref> This policy has been criticized by groups such as the [[Electronic Frontier Foundation]] and the [[ACLU]], who have argued that "killer robots will not make San Francisco better" and "police might even bring armed robots to a protest."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Red Alert: The SFPD Want the Power to Kill with Robots|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/11/red-alert-sfpd-want-power-kill-robots|date=November 28, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Killer robots will not make San Francisco safer...|url=https://twitter.com/ACLU_NorCal/status/1597378672503054336|date=November 28, 2022}}</ref>