Police in Urban America, 1860–1920

This book examines the rapid spread of uniformed police forces throughout late nineteenth-century urban America.

Eric H. Monkkonen (Author)

9780521531252, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 June 2004

240 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.36 kg

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the social history of crime an-long a variety of disciplines. This book examines the rapid spread of uniformed police forces throughout late nineteenth-century urban America. It suggests that, initially, the new kind of police in industrial cities served primarily as agents of class control, dispensing and administering welfare services as an unintentioned consequence of their uniformed presence on the streets. This narrowed role hampered their ability to control crime, and, as modern social services developed and the police came increasingly to concentrate on crime control, they acquired a functional speciality at which they had never been particularly successful.

List of tables and figures
Preface
Introduction
1. The historical development of the police
2. Arrest trends, 1860–1920
3. Tramps and children: the decline of police welfare
4. A narrowing of function
Conclusion
Appendixes
Notes
Index.

Subject Areas: History of the Americas [HBJK]