Constabulary of Yesterday and Today in America

Almost four centuries ago, the Pilgrims at the Plymouth colony published the 1636 Book of Laws and authorized the local militia to enforce that criminal code creating, essentially, the first police department in America. Times were simpler then. The "laws in old Plymouth town combined church dicta and English common law to combat, mostly, crimes of moral turpitude like public intoxication, gambling and fornication." Offenses like drive-by shootings and position with intent to sell meth, crack cocaine and other sundry illegal drugs were considerably less common. Whatever the crime, the punishment was swift and certain – and exacting.

Crimes like arson, rape and even "smiting your parent were punishable by death." The settlement’s general court enacted the laws, passed judgment and carried out the punishment. More than just judge, jury and executioner, they were also the legislative body for the colony. Plymouth’s fledgling government was ardently devoted to law and order and to those who enforced it.

Candidates for the general court of Plymouth likely ran on a “tough on crime” platform. It would’ve been highly irregular for a candidate to side with a young Pilgrim who turned deadly violence against a militiaman. Certainly, the convening of a candidate’s political supporters at the town lodge wouldn’t have embraced the criminal element by featuring the mothers of would-be constable (cop) killers. You see, in pre-colonial days, those who kept the peace were held in high regard, and those who disrupted it found their way to the blocks, jail house or the hangman’s noose.

Nearly four centuries later, the criminals are better armed, greater in number and more violent than ever. More and more frequently, that violence is aimed toward the keepers of the peace, the modern-day militiamen and militiawomen who labor to keep our post-colonial communities safe.

Death by gunfire for police officers is up by record numbers this year, and death by ambush is up more than double. Still, some abnegate the existence of the war on police with the same confounding vigor as Holocaust deniers. Those soulless empty-minded instead glorify the desperate criminals who try to kill police officers when the cop is lucky enough to get the drop on his cowardly attacker. The reality is, American police officers are constantly on the receiving end of deadly violence today. Sometimes they subdue their attacker with appropriate force, sometimes – too frequently – it’s the cop who lay bleeding on the street.

During this Thanksgiving season– the tradition handed down to us by those very same early Americans who gave us our first laws and our first law enforcement officers – I am eminently thankful for the heroes that toil to keep our America safe. It is no small task in this expansive, violent nation that has evolved from that small settlement at Plymouth.

The Pilgrims who forged this nation would be appalled (as this writer is) by our propensity as a nation to devalue the lives of peace keepers and celebrate the lives of those who threaten the peace. The Pilgrims were smart enough to value those who enforced their early code of laws and they were devout enough to give thanks for their many blessings. Law Enforcement Officers are a blessing to those who uphold the law. Just maybe, we in America might want to re-visit the Pilgrims "Book of Laws."