320) abolished the previous day and night forces and consolidated the District, including Washington, Georgetown, and the County of Washington, Maryland, into a centralized police district governed by a Metropolitan Police Board of five commissioners appointed by the President. The resulting disorder, confusion, and growing concern for the safety of the federal government prompted Congress to establish the Metropolitan Police Department-the first regular federal police force for the District of Columbia-on August 6, 1861. Also finding itself suddenly on the very border of enemy territory, with the newly established Confederacy raising fortifications just across the Potomac River, Washington instantly became a haven for many Southern sympathizers, profiteers, and other suspicious elements. Washington's population exploded, fueled by an influx of military personnel, war contractors, government workers, and office seekers. The outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861 dramatically changed law enforcement in the national capital. On March 11, 1851, Congress established regular salaries for all constables. Initially, the federal government paid the salaries of the night watch, while members of the day force received compensation from the collection of fines and fees. This police force operated mainly during the day, until Congress on August 23, 1842, created an auxiliary watch to patrol the District at night. A subsequent ordinance dated October 13, 1804, authorized the appointment of as many as four constables to enforce the local laws. After the incorporation of Washington in 1802, a city ordinance adopted September 20, 1803, provided for the first superintendent of police appointed by the mayor.
On the other side of the Potomac River, Maryland constables patrolled Washington County and the cities of Washington and Georgetown.
From 1790 until 1804, local constables from Virginia patrolled their portion of the District, which included the city of Alexandria as well as Alexandria County. They also document the background and activities of the many patrolmen, detectives, and other personnel who served on the force as well as the criminals who broke the laws.Įver since Congress established the District of Columbia on July 16, 1790, the federal territory has sponsored a public police force in one form or another. Documenting events both spectacular and mundane, from the heinous national crime of a presidential murder to the routine arrests of pickpockets, streetwalkers, and drunkards, the records illustrate a compelling cross-section of the historical and social fabric of the District of Columbia from 1861 to the 1930s. " 2Ĭapturing the sorrowful reaction of the anonymous officer, this single blotter entry remains one of the most famous reports in the records of the Washington Metropolitan Police. goes to show that the assassin is a man named J. at Fords Theatre was brought to this office and the information obtained. Dated April 14, 1865, the report simply read: "At this hour the melancholy intelligence of the assassination of Mr. In the midst of a growing commotion in the street that accompanied the report, the officer on duty quickly logged the information into the Detective Corps blotter. The quiet atmosphere of the early spring night, already damp and overcast in anticipation of coming rain, 1 broke abruptly when the news burst into the unidentified police precinct around 11 p.m. Metropolitan Police outside the south side of the Treasury Building.