The History of the Mystery

Crime and Punishment

Stories of crimes have a long history. The earliest tales of crime and punishment told of blood feuds within families and war between tribes. The Old English Beowulf is such a tale. Rulers took care to have strong protectors. The rule was an eye for an eye. Family or tribal members had to seek vengeance. War among families and among peoples was fairly constant. Slowly, criminal justice systems came into being as civil societies developed. A written law and set of procedures meant that knowledge of a system could be handed to others.

The Code of Hammurabi, a codification of Babylonian laws, dates from 1728 -1686 B.C. The offenses and penalties were spelled out. In Old Testament times the Hebrews promulgated the Mosaic Law. Law and order systems reflected the communities that initiated them. The Greek city of Sparta had secret police. In Athens, seat of democracy, there were jury trials. Greek philosophy was largely responsible for popularizing the majesty of justice by associating good law and order with virtue. The first organized civil police force was the Roman system of vigiles who were non-military.

When the Romans conquered England, they brought with them organization and methodology. They divided the land into shires and appointed civil officers, who were called magistrates who were empowered to administer the law. Constables worked under the direction of magistrates. Minor civil officers acted as justices of the peace or judges of police courts. In England any of these various officers is known as a sheriff. A familiar town figure was the night watchman who lit the lamps and called out the hours. Night watchmen have a long history. In ancient times the night was divided into watches, or periods. A watchman was on duty for a certain watch.

The magistrates and judges have a longer history than do professional crime fighters who systematically pursue the criminal. Frank Smythe and Myles Ludwig, in their book The Detectives(1978) state that in the middle ages the main recourse victims of crimes had was to raise a hue and cry to try to force the criminal to appear before the magistrate. In a small rural environment where people were known to each other, this may have worked but it became increasingly difficult to track thieves and murderers in crowded city areas. Demand for personal safety grew. Some people worked as thieftakers who, for a fee, would try to solve a crime. In 1750 famed novelist Henry Fielding founded the Bow Street Runners in London. He hired the best of the constables. These men had a formal arrangement with the Bow Street magistrates' offices. The magistrates paid the Runners with money from the central government. The Runners, under the authority of the magistrates, served writs, and followed and apprehended criminals. They were first known as the Robin Redbreasts, because they wore red waistcoats. Later, Fielding's brother assumed charge of the Runners and worked to make them into a better trained professional force. Runner Morton is the detective in author T.F. Bank's mystery novel The Thief-Taker, published in 2001.

Kate Ross' novel Cut to the Quick (1993) features Julian Kestrel, a London dandy in the 1820s who sets out to solve a crime. It is a world without fingerprinting, chemical analyses, or police. Julian takes direction from Sir Robert, landowner and the magistrate who has the legal authority and the responsibility to apprehend, hold, and determine the guilt of the criminal. Sir Robert has a constable to assist him and he calls in the local doctor to obtain medical information. It may be that they have to send to London for the Bow Street Runners. Sir Robert must carry out his legal duty of informing witnesses that they do not have to give information about themselves. Another question arises, will his own family members have to answer his questions. Cut to the Quick presents many other details of the solving of the crime and the legal problems of a magistrate.

The next important step was under the direction of Sir Robert Peel in 1820. He pushed a bill through Parliament that led to the organization of 1000 policemen. Called the Peelers, this force absorbed the Runners. It took time for Londoners to feel comfortable with policemen, some of whom had dubious past histories. Further, there still were no police in towns growing in population such as Liverpool with 250,000 people and only 50 night watch men. It was costly to set up a police force. Towns would ask policemen to keep chickens to help pay bills. Being a policeman not only meant low pay, but also a lack of status. The Metropolitan Police Force was the name given to the formal organization set up in 1829. Eventually, the Force absorbed the previous law enforcement organizations. The Force developed divisions of personnel who had specialties. In 1875 the first officers moved into the Great Scotland Yard building. Scotland Yard today is a familiar name to mystery fans.

It took time for policemen to gain respect. In English class society, policemen were not considered to be gentry. Anne Perry's mystery novels set in Victorian England illustrate the policeman's problems in investigating the rich and titled. At the same time, her novels show the improvements in the use of methods and technology such as photography and fingerprints. The roles of various kinds of police and the officers were established, and they were assigned different kinds of duties. Some policemen, known for their intelligence and training specialized in detection, the investigation of crimes and identification of criminals. Their rank, detective, was higher than that of policeman with the Inspectors being the superiors.

Across the Atlantic, the English colonies followed the mother country's watch system. Boston established the first night watch in 1631 with six watchmen, one constable, and hundreds of volunteers. Eventually, towns had constables who organized watchmen, who organized volunteers. A mayor usually had close connection with a high constable or a marshal. After the War of Independence, the English system spread in the United States.

Land divisions or shires were marked off in the United States but were most often called counties. The title sheriff remains but the word is used only for the chief law enforcement officer charged with keeping the peace and executing the orders of the court. The second in command, still known in many jurisdictions as the undersheriff, literally serves under the sheriff who generally comes into office through a county election. The sheriff's office connects the county to the state.

According to analysts, adopting the English system in the United States is the main reason for the limited authority, decentralization, and fragmentation. When a crime is committed, boundary lines can make it difficult for a policeman to chase a suspect outside the city into the county. Also, because of differences in circumstances, citizens' experiences with law enforcement changed. Citizens were less hesitant to pay for police when there was trouble.

In 1835 industrial and race riots broke out in the nation as Irish and Native Americans protested. Cities tried to assign risk control to their police forces, but volunteers and night watchmen could not handle the problems. It was evident that full time professionals were needed. 1845 in New York City is considered the year that the first paid professional officers in the nation were hired. Wearing uniforms with copper stars as badges, they were called Coppers. Mostly from lower class backgrounds, they were trained to think as professionals. They carried guns, as men commonly did at that time. Other cities followed this lead, with such embellishments as horse-drawn rapid response teams.

Another law enforcement group became famous, the first state police organization, the Texas Rangers, in 1845, Other states followed the lead of Pennsylvania which established the first professional state police agency. At the federal level some of the first agencies were the Postal Inspectors, IRS, Border Control, Secret Service, and the Pinkertons. In 1855 the Pinkerton Agency handled such matters as securing railroads, providing military intelligence, and protecting presidents. The Pinkertons were eventually absorbed by the FBI.

Great improvement in police work came in the early 20th century, due to the advent of the civil service system. The Pendleton Act forbade hiring relatives. Such methods as using crime labs and uniform crime reporting were adopted. Local governments funded larger police stations, and changed job titles from town marshall to chief of police. Eventually, police women were no longer regarded as juvenile matrons or decoys in police work, but were allowed to do real police work. The idea spread that education was important for all police officers. Criminology became a subject in higher education.

Citizens become more aware of crime and the police during eras when crime proliferates, such as during prohibition. Protests against war and the drug battles of the 1960s brought about changes. When the federal government, for instance, put money into the Law Enforcement Education Program, criminal justice majors could get tuition subsidies. Commissions investigated police corruption, an old problem in law enforcement. The later years of the 20th century saw interest develop in community policing, with the idea of citizens and police working together. Most recently, integrating police work into homeland security is the emphasis.

Today, police work with experts in many fields including forensics, psychology, and law. Mysteries known as police procedures reflect this advanced knowledge. Despite all the advances, police are still confronted with crimes that remain mysteries, sometimes causing public outcry. Dealing with such situations puts enormous pressure on those working to solve mysteries.

This is not a new problem. People have always responded to news events, especially crime. A figure in the medieval town was the town crier, who called out news. Once the printing press reduced the costs, inexpensive reading materials were produced. Writing and editing for magazines and newspapers became professional occupations. An astute writer and editor, Charles Dickens published material about the detective in the magazine Household Words. The descriptions of the detective as a dedicated worker, experienced in tracking criminals helped improve the image of the lawman.

Newspapers sold thousands of copies for a few pennies, in the United States as well as in Britain. Sales went up when the reported crime was sensational. One example was the New York City murder of a beautiful young woman in the 19th century. So sensational was this murder and the reports of the difficulties in trying to solve it that a writer, Edgar Allen Poe, was intrigued. Poe had already published a detective story after having read Vidocq's memoirs.