Читать книгу Police in America - Steven G. Brandl - Страница 59

The need to improve methods of criminal apprehension was not lost on the police of the political era. Police officers known as detectives began to appear in the late 1800s, largely in response to public concern about the increasing amount of crime. As an illustration of this increase, for most of the early to mid-1800s, there were no homicides recorded in Suffolk County (Boston), Massachusetts. Between 1860 and 1869, however, 70 homicides occurred. During the 1870s, 107 homicides were reported.²⁶ The most important quality for detectives to possess was a familiarity with criminals and their tactics; many detectives were selected from the ranks of prison guards, and some were even reformed criminals.²⁷ Since they held this specialized knowledge, detectives received more pay than beat cops. Detectives also received extra compensation through witness fees or compensation for providing testimony in court. Detective work was often a clandestine activity, and detectives were sometimes considered to be members of a secret service.²⁸