I. Answer the questions

Text 4. Police

Police is an agency of a community or government that is responsible for maintaining public order and preventing and detecting crime. The basic police mission – preserving order by enforcing rules of conduct or laws – was the same in ancient societies as it is in sophisticated urban environments.

The conception of the police force as a protective and law enforcement organization developed from the use of military bodies as guardians of the peace, such as the Praetorian Guard of ancient Rome. The Romans achieved a high level of law enforcement, which remained in effect until the decline of the empire and the onset of the Middle Ages. Beginning in the 5^th century, policing became a function of the heads of fiefdoms and principalities.

During the Middle Ages, policing authority, particularly in England, was the responsibility of local nobles on their individual estates. Each noble generally appointed an official, known as a constable, to carry out the law. The constable’s duties included keeping the peace and arresting and guarding criminals.

In France during the 17^th century King Louis XIV maintained a small central police organization consisting of some 40 inspectors who, with the help of numerous paid informants, supplied the government with details about the conduct of private individuals. The king could then exercise a kind of summary justice as he saw fit. After the French Revolution, two separate police bodies were set up, one to handle ordinary duties and the other to deal with political crimes.

In 1663 the city of London began paying watchmen (generally old men who were unable to find other work) to guard the streets at night. Until the end of the 18^th century, the watchmen as well as a few constables remained the only form of policing in the city.

The inability of watchmen and constables to curb lawlessness, particularly in London, led to a demand for a more effective force to deal with criminals and to protect the populace. After much deliberation in Parliament, the British statesman Sir Robert Peel in 1829 established London Metropolitan Police, which became the world’s first modern organized police force. The development of the British police system is especially significant because the pattern that emerged not only became a model for the American police system but also had great influence on the style of policing in almost all industrial societies.

1. What is police?

2. What is the basic police mission?

3. How were guardians called in ancient Rome?

4. Who provided policing authority in England in the Middle Ages?

5. Which date is considered to be the beginning of the modern police?

II. Are these statements true or false according to the text?

1. Praetorians were civilian volunteers.

2. First patrolling of London started in 1663.

3. The nobility provided order in the Middle Ages.

4. London Metropolitan police was established by R. Peel.

5. The British police became a model for the American police.

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