Historical Roots
This Mesopotamian legal code, carved into stone around 1754 BCE, established punishments meant to maintain public order.
What is the Code of Hammurabi?
This 1988 film, often debated whether it can be considered a Christmas movie, focuses on a New York police officer battling terrorists (led by Sirius Snape) in a Los Angeles skyscraper while there visiting his estranged wife's office for a Christmas party.
What is Die Hard?
Signed into law by this president in 1968, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act expanded federal support for policing by established grant funding systems that still shape federal support for local law enforcement today.
Who is Lyndon B. Johnson?
The first U.S. mounted police unit was established in New York City in this year.
What is 1858?
This British statesman, who founded London’s Metropolitan Police in 1829, is often called the “Father of Modern Policing.
Who is Sir Robert Peel?
Established in 1838, this city’s police department is often cited as the first modern municipal force in the United State
What is Boston, MA?
This film's famous line about feeling lucky and a .44 Magnum helped cement it's place in pop culture and defined the image of a loose cannon cop, depicted by Clint Eastwood.
What is Dirty Harry (1971)?
The 1932 kidnapping of this famous aviator’s infant son helped expand the investigative authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation across state lines.
Who is Charles Lindbergh?
In which country does the Nara Police Department used a tiny Chihuahua named Momo to find people in rubble, with her small size allowing her to squeeze into narrow spaces?
What is Japan?
As police chief in Berkeley, CA, this reformer introduced hiring standards, formal training, and the concept of policing as a profession in the early 20th century.
Who is August Vollmer?
The 1931 report of this commission marked the first comprehensive national study of crime and law enforcement in U.S. history. It highlighted systemic issues in policing and criminal justice, influencing later reforms and contributing to the debate that led to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.
What is The Wickersham Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement?
This 1987 film pairs a by-the-book detective who is "getting way too old for this s**t" with a reckless partner, helping define the modern “buddy cop” formula.
What is Lethal Weapon?
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which authorized funding for 100,000 additional police officers nationwide and established the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, was passed in this year.
What is 1994?
After studying the world's first canine policing program in Ghent, Belgium, this police department launched the first official U.S. K-9 unit in 1908.
What is the New York Police Department?
As commissioner of the NYPD in the 1990s, this individual implemented CompStat, using real-time data to drive accountability and crime reduction.
Who is Bill Bratton?
This Midwestern city was the site of a 1970s (1974) experiment that revealed that routine preventive patrols alone are not a significant deterrent to crime, highlighting the need for strategic, data-driven approaches to law enforcement and community safety.
Where is Kansas City, MO? (The Kansas City Preventive Patrol Experiment)
This actor won the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying a corrupt narcotics detective in the 2001 film Training Day.
Who is Denzel Washington?
Before it became the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), this agency was known by this simpler name when it was created in 1908.
What is the Bureau of Investigation (BOI)?
Police in this European country once trained North American eagles to intercept drones mid-flight, but the program was later abandoned.
What is the Netherlands?
Penny Ledyard Orazetti Harrington became the first female police chief of this major U.S. city department in 1985.
What is Portland (OR) Police Bureau?
An experiment conducted in this New Jersey city demonstrated that while foot patrols did not reduce crime rates, they significantly improved residents’ perceptions of safety and community engagement.
Where is Newark, NJ? (Newark Foot Patrol Experiment, 1981).
Before becoming major film stars, actors such as Bruce Willis, Julia Roberts, Chris Rock, Liam Neeson, Ben Stiller, and Stanley Tucci, appeared in guest roles on this visually distinctive 1980s police drama set in South Florida.
What is Miami Vice?
The 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, passed during the height of the War on Drugs, introduced mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses, including this substance.
What is crack cocaine?
This dog breed is the second most popular with police agencies after German Shepherds, and actually goes all the way back to the first use of dogs in police work.
What is the Belgian Malinois?
Before the White House, this reform-minded politician took on corruption as New York City’s Police Commissioner from 1895-1897.
Who is Theodore Roosevelt?