Professionalizing Police and Fire Departments

The United States had a large population growth between 1880 and 1920. Urbanization was a large result of this population growth. People moved to cities and new inventions were being created but there were also several side effects to urbanization. Cities that were quickly populated had growing crime rates and the citizens became very concerned. The rates of fires were also increasing in the cities and because of this police and fire departments became professionalized.

            As the city grew in population the number of police officers grew as well and their roles were quickly changing. Up until the early 19^th century police were called on to run soup kitchens, inspect boilers, standardize weights and measures, and recover lost children. Police officers were seen as social workers and the received pay by the number of arrests made. Before official police departments, officers were loosely organized and worked for the courts and made arrests based on the fee reward of the arrests. This way of loosely policing the community changed as urbanization was happening and new inventions were being created.

Police Radio Car

            There were several key factors and changes that helped police officers become more efficient on patrol and allowed the creation of having organized station houses. The first key change was the change to hierarchical organization and communication that closely resembled like the military. This allowed for superiority throughout department. In other words this means that there was a station house that an officer would report to and that the station could communicate to the officer on patrol. Communication was now possible due to the invention of the telegraph and the telephone. Officers were now under the executive branch instead of the judicial branch and were free from civil courts. Police officers were being more proactive on the streets rather than sitting in court for a civil case. The second factor was the creation of uniforms. Policemen were now visible and accessible to all people. This allowed parents to locate and officer from the large crowds on the streets if their child was lost. Lastly was the invention of the automobile. Automobile significantly increased the activity of police officers because there were able to be more mobile and independent. Motorcycles were used to chase traffic violators and officers now obtained radio cars to receive a report on while patrolling the streets for illegal activity. Police departments were only one part of a city’s community service that was professionalized.

Brooklyn Fire Department

            Fire departments played a large role in the period of urbanization. People were quickly moving into the cities and space for housing became limited, the only option was to build up instead of out. So contractors started doing that, buildings were being built taller but there was a lack of cooling and heating so centralized heating units were invented. Imagine you are living in a small little apartment with five people and have a heating unit on. Space is tight and you’re not the only apartment suffering. After the combination of heating units and skyscrapers combined fire rates went up really fast. This caused the creation of professional fire departments.

Steam Fire Engine

            Benjamin Franklin had started fire stations, but they were mainly volunteer stations, and though there still are many professional stations there are still some that are volunteer based. Franklin believed that everyone should carry around a leather bucket so that if the occasion did arise they had the proper materials to put out a fire. This belief led to the creation of volunteer fire station but this idea was not favored as urbanization came along. Just like the police officers there were many key factor that made volunteers undesirable. First was the refusal of internal change. New technology was being developed and new inventions were created for the stations as well, for example like the steam fire engine. The New York City fire station was built a new steam fire engine but they refused to take it because the volunteers that would then be needed were reduced. Secondly the firehouses were seen as meeting places that would corrupt younger kids. Citizens of the city feared this and wanted the have professional fire departments. Third was the amount of rivalries between stations got out of hand and so there needed to be some organization. Each firehouse decided to make a private enterprise but this was impossible because the government had already given volunteers a fixed salary and invested into some fire departments so that they remained stable. By the government investing in some departments it took out the competition of others but there were still some town that were able to keep volunteer departments because the city government did not have enough money to fund them.

New York Police Patrol 1900

            Urbanization had many effects on cities across the United States. The amount of people that were moving into the country during 1880 to 1920 was tremendous and a lot of problems were created. As a result crime rates went up and so did the frequency of fires. Professional police departments were created and fire departments as well. Today some us believe that the way we see policing hasn’t changed a while to be honest it was just about one hundred years ago that the standards were changed. We take for granted police departments, professional fire departments, and volunteer fire departments because we cannot imagine life without all the technology and with it present the world could spin out of control without and public services to ix our dumb mistakes.

Northwestern and Chicago Crime Lab

Sources:

History of Urban Police
I used this source to help me get a better understanding of the history of policing.

Police- Encyclopedia of Chicago
This website was used for me to see an example of how policing was changed in a certain city.

Reform- Professionalism
This reform article helped me specifically see how reform and professionalism was created with police departments.

Development of Fire Departments
I used this article to better inform me of how fire departments were created and how they were changed.

Deployment Changes
The article on deployment changes allowed me to understand the changes of deployment and to see if there were different views of how deployment changed.

History of Policing
I used this link to teach myself the way policing has changed and why. This article made me come up with my own inferences about urbanization.

Population Migration/ Race

A lot of people moved from South Asia to Africa or Western Asia. I also learned that a person's DNA can change after throughout time. It is all based on where you live and you are able to adapt to certain living conditions. Race is a modern idea. It is not based on genetic DNA or where you are from. PBS says that race was born with the idea of freedom.

Philanthropy Thoughts

Philanthropy is an act of giving for better living and better human welfare where as charity is giving for the basic needs. Philanthropy is wanting to give so that the world can be a better place to live where charity is giving enough so that you can just get by. I have learned that there is a wide range of areas that people want to give to as philanthropists. One topic that surprised me that was that a coupe of people want to give to foundations of music and sports.

Thinking About Success

1. Hard Work
2. Opportunity
3. Skill
4. Luck

Hard work is the most important in becoming successful. Without hard work the opportunities and skills that one person may have will not matter if there is no work and thoughtful work put in. Opportunity is second because a person that works hard for what they want won't matter on the skill level that they started with. A person that works hard will take every opportunity he or she may get in order to become successful. Without the opportunities all the hard work can mean nothing because you will be building up but have no release or growth from the build up. Skill is the third most important thing when it comes to being successful. A person can have skill but choose not to put in the work and not have the determination for the accomplishments the skill they have can achieve. Without putting in the hard work and not having the determination to take the opportunities given being successful is close to none. Lastly comes luck. Luck has nothing to do with being successful. Luck may help a person become successful if they are lazy or aren't that motivated but by that point that person wasn't really looking to be successful.

Business Innovation Research

According to Bloomberg Business Zara was the first company to introduce fast fashion. The goal for Zara and fast fashion is for store managers to order new clothing at a specific time every two weeks. The managers are less concerned about the cost of the clothes and more concerned about the timely manner and responsiveness in that the clothes are delivered. For fast fashion to work Zara most of the manufacturing is done in Spain. This small supply chain is important because it allows Zara to have more control of the rate that clothes are made. Zara will be expanding to China meaning that its supply chain will grow and that the goal of fast fashion may slow down a bit.

Forbes says the H&M has taken a similar approach as Zara did but they appeal to the needs of the customer too. To accomplish this goal H&M, unlike Zara, outsources their manufacturing to Europe and Asia. The 60% in Europe following the model of Zara where they can have some control, but they outsource 40% to Asia. To keep bringing in new trends the store will have and spring and fall edition or collection. Within each collection or edition the store will have smaller sub-collections. The longer collections feeds the needs of the consumers while the sub-collections bring in new style and allows the customer to see what is trending. To keep the trends flowing in the store at the right times there are 20 to 30 production offices near each store so that clothes are delivered on time.

"Made in America" means that the product can have parts made from somewhere else but is assembled in the US. An example of this is the Boeing manufacturing plant in Washington. The 787 and 747 in particular have parts made form Japan, China, and countries in Europe. All parts are sent to the plant in Washington so that they can be assembled there. Therefore technically speaking the plane in made in America but some parts are manufactured in other countries.

Investigating Representations of Indians

According to Google the definition of savage means fierce, violent, or uncontrolled in its adjective form. When it is used as a noun it means a member of a group of uncivilized or primitive people.

In the online textbook archives Indians were not seen as great people. The textbook describes them as a copper-brown color and as if they were some type of strange creature that did not belong in the New World. The Northmen also known as the vikings traded with the Indians for skins and furs. The word savage is used to describe the Indians alike they are animals.

If I were an American students reading this I would think that the Indians were horrible people and just wanted to kill everyone they came into contact with. The word savage makes them seem vicious and relentless almost like a character from a movie.

News About Indians Analysis

In the Las Vegas Gazette in New Mexico on March 1, 1873 an article was written in the newspaper discussing views of handing the Indians over the the War Department. The views of respecting the Indians and there matters was a sensitive topic when the discussion happened but obviously the issue is still controversial in 1873 as most of the page is covered with this story.


A very horrible event of a store blowing up happened yesterday in a small town outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico. This could have been prevented but the man to blame for this act was too stupid to think what he was doing and where he was. The  story goes that a man was loading a gun over a canister of gun powder in his shop while smoking a pipe, several people were injured due to this ridiculous man. How are people so stupid these days and lack so much common sense? At home news doesn't become much brighter. Two meat shops are going out of business and the ads in the newspaper don't say a whole lot so money must be limited for them. This week has been quite terrifying for most people, a soldier was court-martialed because he was scared of ghosts at his command post where he was supposed to stand. His punishment was to give up $10 of his monthly pay for three months. I know that this town can be quite frightening and have a lot of scary acts but I have gotten used to them, except for one. A young colored servant girl tried to cut off the nose and fingers of the mistress's daughter. I can see why the finger might be one to cut off but a nose? Why would you cut off a nose? Luckily the daughter didn't lose and fingers and still has her nose thanks to the timely arrival of the mother. Though the daughter was saved the mother might have just lost her sense of safety and security of her home. The servant girl attacked the mother brutally and furiously when she came to save her daughter. This town is so crazy that there are usually more stories than this in the paper, but since today's paper was mostly covered by that stupid discussion of respecting Indians there were not many stories to be told. It's tragic to hear all of these stories but they are so wild and fun to read that I look forward to reading them in the Las Vegas Gazette.

Deep Thinking

"Our use of social media for news is selective and intentional so that we may tend to remain interested only in things that we already interested in. On the other hand professional news outlets like newspapers expose readers to information on a broad range of topics this helps me to see what other people are interested in or think what it is important ."

Newspaper Homework Research

3. Newspaper - a publication that appears regularly and frequently and also discusses news on various current events.

4. The first ancestor of the modern newspaper was circulated in Venice during the sixteenth century.

5. The first U.S. printed news report was a description of an earthquake in Guatemala in 1541. This paper was also printed in Mexico.

6. On the Wall Street Journal of October 15, 2015 some of the leading headlines are that the White House has a new plan to ease tension in the Middle East and the democrats are trying to persuade Vice President Joe Biden to run for President.

7. A newspaper of record is a major paper and in  the act of gathering news is a professional job and is usually authoritative. In 1913 the New York Times became the nation's first newspaper of record and today the Wall Street Journal could also be considered a newspaper of record.

8. Newspapers were popular when social media was not in existence. Putting in business advertisements, announcing weddings, deaths, births, and divorce is something that is just done on social media today. By putting these in newspapers people were forced to outside of a home to gossip and even get opinions on current events. Today we send links and talk about top headlines in apps and the information is also susceptible to change. When social media didn't exist people couldn't just cross something out and tell another person their correction. Newspapers were the only reliable source of information and it also helped humans develop social and communicative skills that the generations of today lack.

Quarter 1 Reflections

During the first quarter I have better informed and added more to my knowledge of US history. I have learned about slavery before but not all of it, and I now know why. We always hear about how bad slavery was but never really got the idea of it. Watching movies in class about the Civil War and Slavery helped me truly understand how bad of a time period that was. In 12 Years a Slave, the story of Solomon Northup almost made me feel like I was living through that part of history. Learning about the West and doing the reading questions also helped me retain the history of the West.

            The in class essay on the two films we watched challenged my skills of paraphrasing. When I first heard and learned how to properly paraphrase I thought that it would be so difficult but it turns out that it wasn’t. I realized I just had to say where I got the information from and what the source of the information said. We also talked about how empathy is a factor in how history was made.  Empathy and the understanding of a situation changes how people act and can seem silly now that we look back on the history of certain times.

Native American Fast Fact Research

The city of Tuscaloosa is located near the Black Warrior River in Alabama. In an article written by the University of Alabama School of Law a network of trails leading to the tribal area allowed white settlers to settle in the area. The area of Tuscaloosa became more populated after the War of 1812 and honored the famed tribal chief, Creek Chief Tuskaloosa, by naming the area after him. The name Creek Chief Tuskaloosa means "Black Warrior" in Choctaw. Based on a teachers guide titled Discovering Alabama the definition of the chief's name was also used to name the river the tribe settled on. Choctaw is only one of the eight tribes that settled in the region of Alabama. Native-Languages.org claims that the Alabama, Biloxi, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Koasati, Mobile, and Muskogee tribes all resided in the current state. However, with all these tribes that lived in the area there is only one federally recognized Indian Reservation. That Reservation is called Poarch Creek Indians part of the Muskogee tribe.

Learning History Through Film

            Many teachers prefer students to conduct research to learn more about a topic. However, I think movies can be an alternative and fun way to learn more about a topic. Movies are usually associated with entertainment, but they can be educational at the same time. Glory and Twelve Years a Slave are both historically accurate about slavery in the United States. Both of these movies are based on true events that happened during the Civil War.

            Glory is based off the letters that Robert Gould Shaw had written when he had breaks from battles in the Civil War. Glory is a film focused on Col. Shaw leading the Massachusetts 54^th regiment. According to the Massachusetts Historical Society the 54^th regiment was the first volunteer infantry of colored soldiers. To add onto to the historical accuracy of the movie, in a New York Times review, Robert Shaw was recorded as leading the Massachusetts 54^th regiment. In both the movie and historical documents Col. Shaw was known the lead the 54^th in the attack on Fort Wagner. In a Historynet interview with the director Edward Zwick, Zwick states that he wanted to use the African-American experience to help create the movie. Director Zwick was not intending to break a political barrier and I thought that he showed that very well. Reelviews wrote in the review on the film saying, “Edward Zwick gives multiple points of view”. I think is great because it allows the audience to see all the diverse lives throughout the movie and it also allows the audience to empathize with the characters. This film was well produced winning best supporting actor, best cinematography, and 3 best sounds as the New York Times claims.

            12 Years a Slave is another great and historically accurate film based on a book that Solomon Northup wrote. Solomon Northup was a free man living in New York when we was then drugged in Washington D.C. and sold as a slave. This was both shown in the movie and was written in his book Twelve Years a Slave. Two historians Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsron both agree that Solomon’s book gave an accurate description of slavery in Louisiana. The American Historical Association records that Solomon was enslaved for twelve years until a carpenter helped free him letter to Solomon’s friends. This detail was shown in the movie just as it was recorded. 12 Years a Slave won was recoded by IMDb to win an Academy Award for best picture, best-adapted screenplay, and best supporting actress. This film was also well produced and it made me feel like I was in the movie. Director McQueen said in an interview with The Guardian, “’It’s not about sort of sugarcoating it.’”.

            Movies based on true events are a great way to learn more about a topic. They are great in a sense that the audience can really experience what it was like during that time of history and can get a better understanding. I believe that movies are a great resource in class to learn more about a topic if it is historically accurate.

Works Cited

New York Times: The Blood and Tears, Not Magnolias

New York Times: Black Combat Bravery in the Civil War

Reelviews

Massachusetts Historical Society

Glory IMDb

The Tech Interview by Michelle P. Perry

Historynet Interview by Jay Werttz

New York Times: Glory Awards

The Telegraph

12 Years a Slave IMDb

Euronews

American Historical Association

The Guardian

12 Years a Slave Photo