How a Sheriff or Town Marshal Became a Police Officer - Essay Example

A federal marshal serves the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. called the 'United States Marshals Service' by protecting the Federal Judiciary, transporting federal prisoners, securing federal witnesses, and taking responsibility to manage objects or properties acquired from the suspects or culprits. On the other hand, the role of a sheriff varies depending on a state or a county where a sheriff's tasks include administration of a county jail, provision of warrants, transportation of prisoners, and establishment of security in courtrooms (The Free Dictionary). The Federal Judiciary Act of 1789 is known in its nature to have created the lower federal courts through the Congress by which the structure and jurisdiction of the federal court system were made possible as well as the position of attorney general (The Library of Congress).

(3)     Discuss how the Military was used as law enforcement and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1879.

To be able to enforce the state laws, military personnel were authorized to lead the forces used to combat a state of violence that ran contradictory to people's rights by the Constitution. This is based on the working principle behind the foundation of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1879 after the period of Reconstruction which had the chief objective of regulating the controlling powers of the federal government via the Military, similar to that of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

(4)     Explain the effectiveness of Private Police and their connection with the railroads, wealthy eastern bankers, and land speculators.

'Private Police' back then had been effectual through detective operations. As a concrete instance, in 1850, a private detective agency was built by the notorious Allan Pinkerton who, prior to the Civil War, countered and exposed the "Baltimore Plot" which intended to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Three decades later, Pinkerton's agents or private police officials became widely reputed for solving several crimes that put train robbers and bigtime gangsters into jail. This enabled the solid credibility of the private police to gain the trust of other major clients including the U.S. Department of Justice, various railroad companies, major land speculators, and a great number of mining and manufacturing firms.