Criminology of the late 19th century - Writers Forum

deviger · 12-20-2006, 05:46 PM

Im starting a murder mystery based in late 19th century America. Does anyone know of a good resource for how crimes were investigated at that time, including, crime scene investigation, types of research they would do, questioning of witnessess, etc. Ive already searched crimelibrary.com, wikipedia, and google. Any help out there?

wmd · 12-20-2006, 06:49 PM

If you did not find it on any of those three than it does not exist.

Kimba · 12-20-2006, 10:06 PM

How detailed did you want the information?

Banzai · 12-21-2006, 04:31 AM

Wow, you've certainly picked a topic which is hard to find information on. This is all I could really find on the subject (and even this is pushing it, it's more about general policing than criminology):

The 19th Century required American police to adapt to large-scale social changes. It's called the spoils era ("to the victor go the spoils") because by the end of this Century, municipal police were firmly in the hands of big-city political machines. How the police got there is the subject of this section.
Starting around 1835, a series of industrial and race riots began sweeping across America, mostly involving Irish and Native Americans. Cities responded by assigning their police forces the riot control function, but they soon discovered that a volunteer, night-oriented watch system was inadequate. Day watches were likewise ineffective. Full-time, salaried police officers were needed. 1845 in New York City is the generally accepted date and place for the start of paid, professional policing in America. They were called Coppers, after the copper stars they wore as badges on their Peelian uniforms. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they were available to control riots, and were trained to think of themselves as better than the working class they were recruited from. They were armed with guns (like most citizens at the time) even when policy or public opinion prohibited it. Other cities followed and expanded on the New York model: Philadelphia with the use of wanted posters and a Rogues Gallery (mug shots); Boston with the use of informants, lineups, and detectives; Chicago and Detroit with rapid response via horse patrol or horse-drawn "flying squads". Rapid response caught on with most Americans, and soon municipal police came to be known for it. By 1911, all were motorized and exemplified the service function, or in Egon Bittner's words, fulfilling the need for "something ought not to be happening and something ought to be done about it now". The service function fit well with a spoils system, for obvious reasons.
This era also saw the beginning of state police agencies. Although the Texas Rangers (founded 1845) are said to be the first state police organization, they became the stuff of legend only because of the atrocities they committed, like wiping out Commanche tribes or slaughtering thousands of Mexicans. Originally starting out as Rangers of the King, a group of henchmen for cattle baron, Richard King, the Texas Rangers personified the Western motto, "shoot first, ask questions later". It's widely accepted that the first professional state police agency was the Pennsylvania Constabulary who were originally formed to assist mine owners in breaking coal strikes. The Massachusetts State Police were also an early group, and Western states other than Texas also had Rangers.
This era also saw the beginning of federal police agencies which were prompted in part by the California Gold Rush of 1848. Some of the first ones were the Postal Inspectors, IRS, Border Patrol, Secret Service, and what would later become the FBI shortly after the turn of the century. The model for federal investigators was Allan Pinkerton, a barrelmaker who founded Pinkerton's Private Security Agency in 1855. Pinkerton's Agency busted strikes, secured the railroads, ended horse theft (via photography), provided military intelligence, and protected presidents. Pinkerton offices, with signs displaying an eye and the motto "We Never Sleep" were in almost every American city during the 1800s along with the presence of other private security firms, like the Holmes burglar alarm company and the Brinks and Wells Fargo armored truck delivery services.

I hope that helps a bit.

deviger · 12-21-2006, 11:16 AM

Thanks for the help Banzai. What I really want is to not include anything anacronistic. For example, if they didn't do fingerprinting then I wouldn't want to include anything like that. At least not as a major element in solving the crime.

deviger · 12-21-2006, 12:06 PM

So I answered my own question, but I wanted to leave the sites I found the answers at for everyone. This may be a good thing to sticky admins

http://www.crimeandclues.com/
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/criminology.htm

wmd · 12-21-2006, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deviger

This may be a good thing to sticky admins

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