As the American Civil War raged on, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln took a personal interest in the formation of a regular police force for the U.S. capital. Washington had quickly filled with soldiers, government employees, and citizens hoping to cash in on the war. The crowds, crime, and the constant threat of enemy spies, had made the capital into a rowdy city barely under control. After the formation of the Metropolitan Police and its governing Board of Commissioners by Act of Congress, signed into law by President Lincoln on August 6, 1861, Lincoln dispatched a member of the board to study the New York City Police Department and its structure.