Department of Political Science

“The Imperial Origins of American Policing: Militarization and Colonial Feedback in the Early 20th Century”

This presentation offers a comparative-historical perspective on the militarization of policing in through a close examination of urban policing in early 20th century America, a period that historians call “the Reform Era” of policing. Based upon a nested cross-city analysis of qualitative and quantitative data, the study shows that police ‘reforms” in this period constituted an early form of militarization resulting from colonial feedback. Local police borrowed tactics, techniques, and organizational templates from America’s imperial-military regime that had been developed to conquer and rule foreign populations. The study also explains how and why this occurred, connecting local policing to the dynamics of American empire abroad and race relations at home.