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KerPop42 t1_j8rpnbm wrote

Reply to comment by crnelson10 in MPD Officer often fed information to Proud Boys leader by oxidadapanda

The article you linked says it's a mixed history, that in the north it started as a copy of english patrols and in the south it started as slave patrols. You're just ignoring one to elevate the other, exactly what you're accusing me of doing.

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FlimFlamMagoo728 t1_j8s2jq6 wrote

We’re located in the South my guy. Alexandria was one of the leading slave-trading ports in America.

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Gilyon01 t1_j8s31be wrote

The article also addresses the evolution of slave patrols to modern police departments in only one sentence: "After the Civil War ended, the slave patrols developed into southern police departments." It doesn't say anything about how this happened or what the actual connection is between the two beyond that. It instead goes on to talk about the various racist laws that were passed in the south following the civil war, and how the police departments participated in them. Which doesn't actually address the thesis that these departments evolved specifically from groups specifically dedicated to the enforcement of slavery.

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justmahl t1_j8talty wrote

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing
"Slave Patrols continued until the end of the Civil War and the passage of the 13th Amendment. Following the Civil War, during Reconstruction, slave patrols were replaced by militia-style groups who were empowered to control and deny access to equal rights to freed slaves. They relentlessly and systematically enforced Black Codes, strict local and state laws that regulated and restricted access to labor, wages, voting rights, and general freedoms for formerly enslaved people.
In 1868, ratification of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution technically granted equal protections to African Americans — essentially abolishing Black Codes. Jim Crow laws and state and local statutes that legalized racial segregation swiftly took their place.
By the 1900s, local municipalities began to establish police departments to enforce local laws in the East and Midwest, including Jim Crow laws. Local municipalities leaned on police to enforce and exert excessive brutality on African Americans who violated any Jim Crow law. Jim Crow Laws continued through the end of the 1960s."

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justmahl t1_j8tbcjw wrote

So I guess according to you, the same men that participating in the slave patrols, who saw it as their right to control and keep blacks in line just gave up their mission and retired once the 13th and 14th amendments were passed?
Then comes along the concept of police forces in these exact same areas giving police officers the exact same authority that the slave patrols had, specifically with regards to cracking down on Jim Crow laws. These police had free reign to terrorize, beat and kill blacks legally, and....the slave patrolmen weren't interested?

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Gilyon01 t1_j8tgd2e wrote

I'm saying that there existed a generalized law enforcement in both colonial and post colonial United States. A sheriff, or constables, or marshals, or a citizen based night watch. I'm not sure why the existence of groups dedicated to the enforcement of slavery has more of an importance to the history of law enforcement in the US than the actual law enforcement apparatus in place at the time. I'm also not saying that people who were part of slave patrols couldn't have turned into municipal police as they were formed. Neither am I saying that municipal police didn't enforce racist laws.

The statement that "Policing in the United States came from Slave Patrols" is saying that the origination of the enforcement of law in this country came directly from a desire to enforce slavery. The fact that racist laws and policies exist doesn't lead to the conclusion that these departments were created for the purpose of enforcing those laws specifically. It's more that the departments were complicit along with other aspects of government in the oppression. Which isn't the same thing.

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justmahl t1_j8tlljl wrote

I think where you're tripping up as that the statement should be "modern day policing in the US" developed as a response to Jim Crow laws. Focusing on the fact that the idea of policing existed before and in other countries is missing the point, possibly deliberately. It's also ignoring the fact that there are aspects to the US law enforcement and judicial system that are very unique to this country. That is because slavery/racism is woven into the fabric. It's not just something that kind of happened along side it.

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