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Jacob Morrison
Professor chapman
English 180
April 30 2015
Evolution of police officers
The police force has always been a fluid and changing organization, and this is no
more apparent than in the patrol officers who have seen numerous changes to their role in
the community since the 1950s. Since that time the police has evolved into a much more
stringent force and has also became possible far too well equipped.
Back in the 1950s the police force in America was a much less organized and
restricted force. Often the most looked for quality in a potential officer was how large and
physically imposing they were. This is readily apparent in the fact that until Title VII of
the 1964 Civil Rights Act was enacted many police stations had height and weight
requirements, forcing officers to be over 58 and at least 150 lbs. This is mostly due to
the fact that keeping peace at the time relied a lot on the police officers presence. It was
do to this that many police officials, like O.W. Wilson, began to adopt the idea of patrol
by vehicles, bearing clear markings, believing that it would discourage crime by giving
the communities the sense that the police were everywhere at once. It also allowed for
patrol offices to go about their routes at an increased speed hoping that they would be
more likely to catch criminal in the act. These patrols became even more commonplace
and useful as telephones became more accessible, and allowed police to rapidly respond
to calls about criminal activity that they normally would not have been able too. At this
time many of the patrol officers were poorly educated and even couldnt read. This came

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to be a much larger issue in the year 1964 when the Miranda laws came into place and
police began the shift from being mere enforcers in their communities to a group whose
role was more rigid and defined.
In the year 1963 many police officers neither saw it as their duty nor as a
requirement to inform those whom they questioned of their rights to an attorney, their
right to remain silent, and their right against self incrimination. This all changed when a
police office brought in Ernesto Miranda for the crimes of rape and kidnaping. From here
he was questioned and gave a confession, which was later used to help in his conviction.
After being taken to the Supreme Court they gave a landmark decision that set the
precedent that before a person can be formally questioned they must be informed of these
rights. This had a great impact on many law enforcement agencies that up until this time
got many convictions from the uninformed confessions of the criminals. This also
became a problem as many officers were poorly educated and did not know these rights
themselves or could not read the cards they were given to be used to inform the people of
their rights. This was such a problem that at the time of this decision that classes were
held to teach officers how to read. This changed police interaction, with their
communities, no longer were they allowed to assume that the members of their
communities knew their rights they had to inform them, leading to many officers reading
this statement to anyone they would ask any sort of questions too no just those whom this
information was relevant. This lead to a mixed reception as some felt this fostered trust
between the police and their communities while others were concerned over being read
their rights and possible information was being withheld more often. Eventually more
specific rules were applied to the Mirada rights to help alleviate this problem. None the

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less the Miranda rights helped to show hoe dangerous it is to have uneducated police
officers and it is around this time that many precincts began to establish the first
education requirements.
Around the same time the Miranda rights became established the police were
undergoing many other reforms that would forever change the way they interacted and
were interacted with by the people of their communities. In the mid 1960s tension
among the police and the African American community was skyrocketing. The police
were beginning to be seen by many as a force for repression due to the lack of African
American representation on the police force, the abuse of power and police brutality, and
the higher rates of deadly force used on minorities. As these trends began to gain
recognition the police agencies began to enact projects to help improve their public
image, programs like police community relations. These events brought together the
police and the citizens of their districts to promote togetherness in the community and to
help gain face in light of recent police criticisms. In the end though this alone is not
enough and many precincts also established affirmative rights law to increase the rate of
hiring and promotion for women and African American in an attempt to end the culture of
discrimination through integration. Unfortunately, as can still be seen today, this problem
has not been resolved, and there are many places where the polices role in repressing
minority members of their community is indeed alive and well. Beyond changes to race
relations the police also saw the need for other social programs like the LEEA, which
gave grants to study the many social aspects of crime, and LEEP, which gave out
scholarships to students seeking a future in law enforcement. These programs helped to
promote a better educated and more socially responsible office.

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Despite all of these changes to the police over the years the most alarming change
in their role that we may yet have seen is the ever-increasing police militarization. In
many communities across America the officers are becoming increasingly well equipped
according to professor Frederic Lemieux in the last 9 years alone police agencies have
appropriated over 93,000 machine guns as while as over 400 armored vehicles, some of
which could cost an upwards of $300,000. In many communities this rise in police
militarization is dangerous as seen in Ferguson Missouri where pictures surfaced of well
armed police ignoring the idea of escalation of force, the idea that you dont aim your
weapon at something until your ready to shoot, and aiming their weapons at unarmed
civilians. This is in many cases a sign of the dangers to come in this nation, over
equipped police who are undertrained with the use of the weapons they now carry. This
has a powerful effect on the communities this equipment now occupies, serving to bring
fear and unrest to those who see this equipment on their streets. Even the president of the
largest police association in America, Yost Zakhary, admits that "It's not the equipment
that's the problem; the problem is the use of the equipment. Frederic Lemieux again
points to the polices increasing militarization by pointing to the increasing growth of swat
teams from 14% of cities with a population of 25,000-50,000 having one in 1983 to the
80% that have them now. Its not just the amount of swat teams that are increasing its the
frequency of their use as while, over the last two years around a third of swat raids have
been conducted to enforce search warrants. Which can strike fear into any community
when at any moment a squad of officers armed with automatic weapons can appear in
front of your house in an armored vehicle, and kick in your door. There are some people
though who will argue that with the ever increasing strength of criminal firepower the

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police need something to help them compensate, and knowing that the police have the
capacity to do so has a calming effect on the community. However this increase in police
militarization might be the greatest example of law enforcement reflecting the views of
its societies that we have yet seen. After all America has the largest number of firearms
per person of any nation on the planet, and the requisition of this equipment did not
become possible until the department of homeland security allowed for them to be
acquired to calm fears, and combat possible terrorist activity.
With this it is clear that for as long as we have had a police force and as long as
we continue to have one it will be forever changing, and evolving in the way it handles
interaction with the community. From the 1950s which focused on being seen to enforce
order, to the 60s and 70s which focused on reform and a much more active role in the
community to now where the police has taken on a military styling to fight an ever
evolving criminal aspect. Who is to say what the role of the police in American society
will be next.

Johnson, Kevin. USA Today. Battlefield gear hawked to police 10/29/2014

Lemieux, Frederic. Theconversation.com Democratic policing: what it says about

America today. December 17 2014. Web

Clark, Mark. Policemag.com. 50 years after Miranda. May 21 2013. Web.

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