Kristian Williams - Our Enemies in Blue - Police and Power in America

Masters sometimes complained about the abuses directed against theslaves, but courts were generally reluctant to award damages or discipline thepatrollers, for fear of undermining the patrol system. II I The main restraint onthe actions of patrollers was the economic value of the slave's life; slaves wererarely killed, since the local government would then have to compensate theowner. ll2 In general, however, the patrols were invested with vast authorityand wide discretion, as a North Carolina court explained in 1845:[Patrolsl partake of a judicial or quasHudicial and executive character.Judicial, so far as deciding upon each case of a slave taken up by them;whether the law has been violated by him or not, and adjudging the punishmentto be inflicted. Is he off his master's plantation without a properpermit or pass? Of this the patrol must judge and decide. If punishment isto be inflicted, they must adjudge, decide, as to the question: five stripesmay in some cases be sufficient, while others may demand the full penaltyof the law.113To summarize, the state control of slave behavior advanced through threestages. First, legislation was passed restricting the activities of slaves. Second,this legislation was supplemented with requirements that every White manenforce its demands. Third, over time this system of enforcement graduallycame to be regulated, either by the militia or by the courts. The transitionbetween these second and third steps was a slow one. Each colony triedto cope with the unreliable nature of private enforcement, first by applyingrewards and penalties, and later by appointing particular individuals to takeon the duty. Volunteerism was eventually replaced with community-sanctionedauthority in the form of the slave patrols. Among the factors determining therate of this transition, and the eventual shape of the patrols, were the date ofsettlement, the size of the slave population, the size of the White population,threats of revolt, geography, and population density. I J4 As this suggests, slavepatrols developed differently in the cities than in the countryside.CITY GUARDSSlave control was no less a priority for White urbanites than for their countrykin. The growing numbers of Black people in cities were of obvious concernto the White population, and their concentration in distinct neighborhoodspresented an unnerving reminder of the possibility of revolt.In many respects, the cities followed the lead of the plantations. There,too, Black people-slaves especially, but free Black people as well-weresingled out by the law, and specialized enforcement mechanisms arose toensure compliance. These agencies "went by a variety of names, includingtown guard, city patrol, or night police, although their duties were the same:to prevent slave gatherings and cut down on urban crime."111In the initial stage, enforcement would be entrusted to private individualsand the existing watch, but after some period the town might petition the legislaturefor the funds to form a permanent patrol, with the same group on dutyeach night. I IG The urban patrols, then, did not evolve from the watch system;rather, adapted from the rural slave patrols, they came to supplant the watchmen.41