Evolution of Criminal Punishment and Law Enforcement from the ‘Bloody Code’ to Modern Policing

1. Punishment before the ‘Bloody Code’ • Death for murder, rape and stealing • Fines for cheating, breaking agreements, assault • Being outlawed • Humiliation • Whipping • Stocks • Pillory

2. Early Modern Period – when was it? • 1450-1750

3. Reasons for the ‘Bloody Code’ • Changing society • Rising population • Growing towns • Rise of business – more rich people • Invention of printing – broadsheets full of crime stories • The belief that the crime rate was rising • Unemployment • Fear of rebellion • Rich trying to control the poor • Protecting property • Attempt to scare people and deter them from crime

4. ‘New crimes’ in the Early Modern Period • Vagrants and vagabonds • Highwaymen • Smugglers • Poachers

5. Why were there so many vagrants, vagabonds and sturdy beggars? • Problems in the cloth industry • Enclosure of land in villages • Many people with no jobs • High prices • End of wars – soldiers with no work • Growing population – shortage of jobs and food • No system to help the poor and sick • Monasteries closed down

6. How were they dealt with? • Licences and badges for sick and disabled ‘deserving poor’ • Vagrancy Acts • ‘sturdy beggars’ punished • Whipped • Stocks • Banished from town • Forced to work • Branded • Houses of correction • slavery • None of these measures worked

7. Why were smugglers hard to control? • No police force • Taxation unpopular • Many people supported smugglers or gained from them • Violent smuggling gangs, people afraid of them • Villagers did not report on smuggling to the authorities • Customs officers and government sometimes involved in smuggling

8. Why did poaching become a crime? • Common shared land was being enclosed by rich farmers • They wanted to protect their property

9. Why was there a big increase in highwaymen? • Unemployed ex-soldiers with guns and horses • Horses cheap to buy • Better coaches and roads • More people travelling • No banks so people carried money • Lots of isolated spots where robbery was easy • No police force

10. Why was there no police force? • People didn’t want to pay more tax • People thought it would invade their privacy • People thought it would not work • People feared it would be like an army on the streets taking away freedom

11. What was there instead of police? • Constables • Watchmen • Horse patrols • Thames River Police • Fielding brothers • Bow Street Runners • ‘Hue and Cry’ Newspaper

12. The Industrial Period – when was it? • 1750-1900

13. Why did highway robbery decrease? • Banks • Horse patrols • More traffic on the roads • Built up areas – less isolated places • Horses more expensive • More job opportunities

14. What 3 big reforms were brought in by Sir Robert Peel? • Ending of the Bloody Code • Prison Reform 1823 • Metropolitan Police 1829

15. Why was the Bloody Code ended? • It was not working • Crime going up • People enjoyed executions • Courts did not want to convict • Other forms of punishment • Transportation • Prisons • Changing ideas and attitudes

16. Why did the authorities transport criminals to Australia? • To scare and deter people • Alternative to hanging • To remove criminals and protesters from society • Cheap labour to build up Australia • Prevent other countries from taking Australia

17. Why did transportation end? • Too expensive • Seen as too harsh • Not a deterrent – many had a better life in Australia • Australians did not want any more convicts • New prisons seen as more effective • The gold rush – many people travelled to Australia hoping to get rich

18. Why was the prison system changed? • Pressure from campaigners • John Howard • Elizabeth Fry • Terrible state of prisons • Crowded • Female and male together • Dirty, disease ridden • Hulks • Not a punishment, only a holding place • Privately run • ‘schools for crime’ • Need for an alternative to hanging and transportation

19. What were the new prisons like? • Clean, big, organised • Male and female separate • Visits by doctors and chaplains • Uniforms • Officers employed by the state • Separate system • Silent system • Useful work • Pointless tasks • Crank • Picking oakum • treadwheel

20. Why was the Metropolitan Police set up? • Rising crime • People willing to pay tax for better services • Fear of protest • Growth of cities

21. How did policing change during the 19th century? • Police forces all over the country • Detectives • Growing public acceptance and popularity

22. Why was the crime rate going down at the end of the 19th century? • More effective policing • Better prisons • Fairer punishment system supported by most people

23. The Modern Period – when was it? • 1900-now

24. How did technology change policing in the 20th century? • Fingerprinting • Radios • Computers • DNA • Cars and motorbikes • CCTV and speed cameras

25. In what other ways has policing changed? • Community policing and Neighbourhood Watch • Special units • Drugs • Anti-terrorism • Transport • Fraud • Training • Weapons

26. How did prisons change in the 20th century? • Separate System ended • Open prisons • High security prisons • No hard labour or beatings • Detention centres for the young

27. Why was capital punishment abolished in the 1960s? • Some innocent people hanged • ‘wrong to kill’ • Countries without a death penalty do not have more murders • Juries more likely to convict if no death penalty • Most murders are not planned so fear of execution would not stop them

28. What alternatives to prison have been developed? • Probation • Community service • Tagging • ASBOs • Drug or alcohol treatment centres (‘rehab’)

29. Why were so many people accused of being witches in the 16th and 17th centuries? • Laws passed by King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth and King James I • Religious conflict and civil wars • Looking for someone to blame for bad times • Changes in society – families breaking up, old women left on their own • Male fear of women (misogyny)

30. Why were conscientious objectors treated more leniently in the Second World War than in the First? • Conscription • Military Service Act • Religious, political and moral COs: pacifists • Alternativists and absolutists • Tribunals • Exemption or rejection • WW1: very harsh attitude, COs very unpopular • Work camps, hard labour, prison • Tribunals run by military officers • WW2: not so harsh • Community work, factories, farming • Dangerous jobs e.g. ambulances, land mine disposal • People had gone through the first war and understood pacifist ideas

31. Why did laws on domestic violence change in the 20th century? • Before 1970s husbands had the right to beat wives ‘in moderation’ – ‘rule of thumb’ • Late 20th century • New ideas about government’s right to be involved in family matters • Media coverage • Women as voters • Pressure from feminist groups • 1976 Domestic Violence Act – exclusion orders • 2004 Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act • More power to police and courts • Men and women treated equally