The Streets of……. America

[Playinghardball]

Found on the Obama Diary

[VanGoghRocks]

1. "Who's in charge here?" "Yeah." ~Apocalypse Now

[gldstwmn]

2. It's time for the military costume

convention to go home. Let this community grieve after what they've been put through for the last 10 days. How much is it costing the community for the police force for which they pay to come in and attack them nightly? How many stores were looted? Four? Five? I'm not condoning looting but this is ridiculous. Withdraw and the situation will improve.

[RKP5637]

4. Exactly! Well said! n/t

[Scruffy Rumbler]

7. The only one in that picture I see burning things is the cop/verman.

I hope you don't enjoy your stay....

[BlueCaliDem]

8. I'm happy that poster has been received his loaded pizza. eom

[Scruffy Rumbler]

9. ...

[happyslug]

10. I was to serve on the Jury, but the post was deleted by the time I finished my vote.

I was wording my explanation to state that the word Vermin, when used to describe one side or the other is just plain wrong (Unless you are discussing Rats vs Cats, then calling Rats Vermin is called for). In simply terms to call the Police Vermin is as objectionable as calling the protesters Vermin. Such "name calling" should be avoided on ANY discussion forum.

[kjones]

11. I didn't have time either

"I was going to hide based on "vermin," because it's hard to tell who that refers to. It
could be viewed as a racist remark. The poster's other two posts are benign. The following
post (different poster replying to this) calls cops vermin. So I'm inclined to just go ahead
and give it the benefit of the doubt that it is not racist, but directed at arsonists, who
I would be hard pressed to defend from insults.
Honestly, this name calling is getting old from all angles, and I would normally hide this
post. If we, as a community, are going to allow people to call cops vermin (or many
worse things elsewhere) and let it stand (as we know it will), I can't find any reason
to hide a post. The standards are slipping here."

[happyslug]

12. I knew a Police Office who hated the Word "Cop"

You must understand the term "Cop" is short for the term "Copper". Various explanations have been reported for such a name, but most have been debunked. I.e. the following:

1. name after a English Police Chief, the problem is the term is known to be used BEFORE anyone by the name of Copper was involved in Police Work.

2. Named after the copper buttons worn by officers, the problem is when the term is first used, police officers had to buy their own uniforms and Copper was expensive. Thus such officers used BONE not Copper for buttons.

These are the two most popular debunked reason for the name cops and coppers. On the other hand, the oldest explanation has never been debunked, but it is hatred. The reason is that it implies Police can be bought and bought cheaply. The Officer I knew thus hated the name Cop, he did not want to be known as someone who could be bought cheaply.

That reason for the name Coppers? For you could hear them running down the street from all the penny (made of Copper) bribes they took from various people of questionable legal status (i.e. people selling things they should not be selling, prostitutes, petty thieves and various poor people they could shake down, etc).

[kjones]

13. Hmm

I knew some of those explanations. Didn't know anyone, even police, bothered
with possible origins and the entailed baggage.
My use is mostly based one the words I learned. I'm about as likely to say
"there's a cop" as "there are the police." When it's one "officer", I now notice,
thinking about it, that I say "cop" a lot more than "officer". I always figured
which one people tended to use was somewhat like the "pop/soda/coke" usage.
What people learn and then use tends to match up geographically.

http://www.popvssoda.com/

After I came up from central Indiana to Michigan, I got a lot of strange looks
when I accidentally refer to any soft drink as "coke."

I thought preference for "cop" or "police" might work the same. Haven't found
anything though.

Interesting stuff.

[happyslug]

15. The Officer I knew was comparing Pig, Fuzz and Cop.

In his opinion, being called a "Fuzz" (To bring back a term I have NOT heard in decades) or a Pig, did not imply he could be bought CHEAPLY, after he found out where the term Cop came from, he often joked he preferred to be called "Fuzz" or "Pig" for neither implied he was cheap to buy or rent.

[kjones]

16. "Oh man, here come the berries and cherries."

There's a rich diversity of names for police. A lot of them,
I don't have any idea where they come from. (Well, B&C is
kind of easy haha).

[happyslug]

17. Cop is clearly a name of derogatory term for Police

Among the poor and working class, Cop means some thug, to the upper middle class and the 1%, cop means some hired thug hired to beat someone else up. Notice the use of the term is derogatory, but by the rich it is one of contempt, of the poor and working class, more one of fear as while as contempt.

Police is the proper name for that is the Name France Gave them in the 1700s and the name adopted by the English Speaking world as they embraced the Police in the 1800s (After calling Police an instrument of French tyranny in the 1700s and praising the Common Law as NOT having such an institution).

After Police came to America starting about 1830, it was mostly in Urban Areas to watch new immigrants. Slaves had been handled by the Sheriff's patrol since the 1600s and that continued till the US Civil War in those areas with Slaves. In areas without slaves, the Sheriff's patrol declined in use.

The Sheriff's patrol was a requirement of every free white male to "Patrol" a certain part of his county at least once a month. Such Patrols were organized by the County Sheriff. These patrols were were often a group of men of the county who had to be at a certain intersection to watch who went where. Slaves caught on such roads without permission of their masters could be arrested by such patrols, whipped by such patrols and even killed by such patrols. Any slave killed would be paid for by the county sheriff. The Sheriff's patrol was tied in with Militia Duty, a free white male went to his monthly militia duty and found out where and when he was on "Patrol" that month. This had the affect of making the Militia in Slave States more a slave suppression unit then an actual military formation (unlike the New England Militia of the Colonial Period, which concentrated on military functions and were as good as regular troops, unlike Southern Militia of the Revolution that were almost useless and this fact had to be told to Generals coming from the North to fight in the South in the last years of the Revolution. The New England Militia was that good, and the Southern Militia was that bad).

Anyway, given the lack of Sheriff's patrol in the north (no slaves, or so few slaves that is was NOT worth having people stay up all night once a month for nothing) the need to keep the poor urban immigrants that came to the US after about 1830 in line, various states started up urban police forces. These urban police forces, were authorized by the state, but often paid for by the Urban City that they were stationed in. Thus New York City had Police way before New York State.

New York State Police form April 11, 1917
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Police

New York City had its police force in 1845:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_New_York_City_Police_Department

Through New York City had Nightwatchmen from its founding, but they had limited authority (i.e. call out for help, warn of fires, the same arrest power of any other citizen, through could hold anyone till day break but then had to leave them go unless someone file a charge against them).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchman_(law_enforcement)

Now, in rural areas, you had not police till the 20th century, when in 1903 Pennsylvania founded the first modern State Police Force.

Now, The Texas Rangers are older, but the history of the Rangers is complex. From they founding in the 1820s by Austin, till the Civil War, the Rangers were a true military unit to provide Texas a full-time professional army against the Comanches and other Native Americans. The Rangers continued this tradition during the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War, Texas replaced the Rangers with the Texas State Police, a pro-union force whose mission included protecting the recently freed African-Americans. The Texas State Police acted like a later State Police but was replaced in the 1870s.

In the 1870s the Reconstruction Government of Texas was replaced by a Government controlled by former supporters of the Southern Confederacy. The replacement unit was called the Texas Rangers to different then from the hated (By white Texans) Texas State Police. Till after 1900 the Texas Rangers were more State Constables that assisted local Sheriffs or had warrants to arrest certain people, much like US Marshals have the right to serve and make arrests under the Federal System as opposed to a true Police Force which could patrol and make arrest.

To this day the duties of the Texas Rangers is limited, as stated in Wikipedia:

The duties of the Texas Ranger Division consist of conducting criminal and special investigations; apprehending wanted felons; suppressing major disturbances; the protection of life and property; and rendering assistance to local law enforcement in suppressing crime and violence.

More on the Texas Rangers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Ranger_Division

State Police duties in Texas is done by the Texas Highway Patrol NOT the Texas Rangers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Highway_Patrol

Other States had Rangers and other similar forces, but none had Police Power till after the formation of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Thus on a STATE-WIDE BASIS the Pennsylvania State Police is the oldest STATE police force in the USA (Texas Rangers claim the title of Second Oldest law ENFORCEMENT Agency, Second only to the US Marshal Service in age and like the US Marshal Service does NOT have general police power).

More on the Pennsylvania State Police founded in 1905:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania_State_Police

The above shows how little they was of Police prior to the 20th century. The Texas Rangers where more state wide Sheriff deputies (i.e. people who served a warrant and arrested people subject to a warrant, as opposing to patrolling and arresting people they see doing a crime).

Pennsylvania founded its State Police after going over 30 years relying on private police officers. Officers given Police Power by the State, but paid by private companies, mostly coal mines and Iron works, thus they name the "Coal and Iron Police".


The Coal and Iron Police has been called the greatest terrorist organization in American History.

Wikipedia tries to be nice to them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_and_Iron_Police

Part of the Transcript of the 1915 US Senate investigation on the Coal and Iron Police:
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5661/

Take the Westmoreland coal strike as an example of a large strike. Then in a situation of that kind the deputy sheriffs provide thugs imported there from wherever they can get them, usually from the slums of the great cities, not natives; in very few cases they are natives. These men are clothed with the power and authority of deputies, and are therefore armed, with the right to arrest. Now, the coal and iron police are a little different. He is really more like a detective. He is a gum-shoe man, as it were, in the situation. And word may come to picket men saying that a train is bringing a carload of strike breakers in, to meet at a certain time at the station, and the thugs will gather, and when the train unloads its passengers, these pickets call out to them and say, “There is a strike on.” "Don’t go out, don’t take our jobs." And sometimes they reach them—sometimes they get in close communication with them and sometimes not. That is when the imported thug comes in. He starts something. The coal and iron police, most of the time, are on the scene, and when they start something it is because the thugs and the coal and iron police are armed and the strikers are not armed, and are not permitted to be armed; and they are beaten up by the thugs, and that is about the time the constabulary appear on the scene, and they come around, mounted like cavalry, and they come around and see the disturbance, and they always take good care to arrest only the strikers. That is the part they play in that, and when they had this Westmoreland strike, which extended over a very considerable time in Westmoreland County, and not in one instance did we get any aid from the constabulary. We had men who wished to go home, and tried to go home, and the thugs would waylay them and would beat them up, and the constabulary—we telephoned and asked for protection and never got it.

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5661/

Here is a 1928 ACLU paper on the Coal and Iron Police:
http://debs.indstate.edu/a505s5_1928.pdf

The Coal and Iron Police survived till the 1920s, when Governor Pinchot finally managed to outlaw them. There are people to this day who would forgive Pinchot anything up to and including murder for outlawing the Coal and Iron Police, but he did no such high crime, but did a lot of good for the US, being Theodore Roosevelt's head of Forestry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gifford_Pinchot

The Coal and Iron police were called many things, head busters, Cossacks, and other names that may get me banned from DU. They were thugs.

The above is a brief (and I admit disjointed) view of Police in North America over the last 200 years. We have to remember the Colonies were of that tradition that Police were evil, but then adopted the concept from Royal France.

[BlueCaliDem]

14. Me, too! But they were quicker.

I was busy writing something along the same lines as you, happyslug, but the Admin (or someone else alerting the Admin) were/was quicker.

[RKP5637]

3. The face of the New America. Rule by force, not by democracy. So sad. n/t