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The establishment of law enforcement in the United States can be directly traced to racial and ethnics attitudes of Colonial America, specifically the South. In many Southern States slave greatly out numbered whites leading to the creation of “slave patrols”. Slave patrols, created specifically to maintain control over the black population, has been identified by historians as the first publicly funded police agencies in America. South Carolina was the first state to establish slave patrols in the early 1700s which eventually spread throughout the South. The three principal duties of slave patrols were: searches of slave dwellings, keeping slaves off of roadways, and disassembling organized meetings of slaves. Institutionalized repression was the law of the land in the South, and slave patrols were known for their brutality and ruthlessness used to maintain control the slave population. The institution of slavery consumed and corrupted the American Justice System and many of the tactics used by slave patrols are being used by some law enforcement agencies today.

hands up don't shoot
Not Your Average Superwoman
mixed-media collage
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