Law Enforcement

Fun Facts About Law Enforcement

• "Bobbies" and "peelers" are historic British slang for police officers. Both these terms derive directly from the name of a single individual, Sir Robert Peel. He was the British Home Secretary who established the Metropolitan Police Force for London in 1829
• The famous "Miranda rights" warning police must read when arresting someone came from a 1966 Supreme Court ruling which overturned the conviction of kidnapper and rapist Ernesto Miranda. It established that suspects must be informed of their 5th Amendment right to remain silent, and their 6th Amendment right to an attorney before questioning.
• The first publicly funded, organized police force in the United States is the Boston Police Department, established in 1838.
• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was so named because of its historical use of horses. While they are no longer an actively mounted police force, they still maintain a small detachment that patrols on horseback in certain ceremonial and wilderness areas.
• Up until the late-1970s, London police officers were strongly enouraged to grow a mustache. Clean-shaven faces were actually the exception for many years. This was rooted in a very real tradition of mandatory facial hair for the British Army.
• Police uniforms in the U.S. adopted navy blue because there was an abundance of blue dye left over from the Civil War.
• The New York City Police Department is the largest police force in the U.S., with approximately 33,000 to 36,000 sworn officers. It serves over 8.5 million residents, covering 468 square miles and operating 77 patrol precincts. The next two largest departments are in Chicago and Los Angeles.
• The first female police officer with full arrest powers in the U.S. was hired by the Portland Police Department in 1908.