Watchman (law enforcement)

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Watchmen were groups of men, usually authorised by a state, government, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement. Watchmen have existed in various guises throughout the world and were generally succeeded by the emergence of formally organised policing.

Early origins[edit]

An early reference to a watch can be found in the Bible where the Prophet Ezekiel states that it was the duty of the watch to blow the horn and sound the alarm. (Ezekiel 33:1-6)

The existence of watchmen have also been found[specify] in the Ottoman, Greek and Egyptian Empires.[citation needed]

The Roman Empire turned the role of a watchman into a profession by creating two organizations:

  • the Praetorian Guard thus establishing a rank and file system with a Captain of the Guard.
  • Vigiles, literally the watch.

Watchmen in England[edit]

The Ordinance of 1233 required the appointment of watchmen.[1][2] The Assize of Arms of 1252, which required the appointment of constables to summon men to arms, quell breaches of the peace, and to deliver offenders to the sheriff, is cited as one of the earliest creation of the English police, as was the Statute of Winchester of 1285.[3][4][5] In 1252 a royal writ established a Watch and Ward with royal officers appointed as Shire Reeves:


Later in 1279 King Edward I formed a special guard of 20 sergeants at arms who carried decorated battle maces as a badge of official office. By 1415 a watch was appointed to the Parliament of England and in 1485 King Henry VII established a household watch that became known as the Beefeaters.

From 1485 to the 1800s it was the Watch and Ward that acted as London's police force upholding and enforcing the laws of the land.[1] In the 1800s watchmen were often drunks and didn't do their jobs properly until Sir Robert Peel created the police force.[citation needed]

Watchmen in the United States of America[edit]

The first form of societal protection in the United States was based on practices developed in England. The City of Boston was the first settlement in the 13 colonies to establish a night watch in 1631.[2] New York (then New Amsterdam) and Jamestown followed in 1658.

Watchmen and modern police[edit]

With the unification of laws and centralization of state power (e.g. the Municipal Police Act of 1844 in New York City, United States), such formations became increasingly incorporated into state-run police force (see metropolitan police and municipal police).

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Pollock, Frederick; Maitland, Frederic William (1898). The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I 1 (2 ed.). p. 565. ISBN 978-1-58477-718-2. 
  4. ^ Delbrück, Hans (1990). Renfroe, Walter J., Jr, ed. Medieval Warfare. History of the Art of War 3. p. 177. ISBN 0-8032-6585-9. 

^ This can be verified by England's Old Bailey court records.

Further reading[edit]


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