Police power

Police Powers resting with governments governments of the world reportedly to promote the health, safety, morals and general welfare of society originated with the people. They come from the God given rights of the people and among them are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of righteousness which brings happiness and its fruit. But men have endowed governments with those powers and more that was once their individual responsibility and religious duty.
A government of the people, for the people and by the people may perish through their appetite for benefits and the dainties of rulers, by neglect, apathy, and sloth as the masses begin to degenerate because they lack knowledge of the way.

Police power

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Police powers originate with the people or press play

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Police corruption is because power corrupts or press play

Police power in the U.S. comes primarily from the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, reserving powers not given to the federal government to the states, granting states inherent authority to legislate for public health, safety, morals, and general welfare, which they often delegate to local governments.

Endowed powers

State governments are only endowed with police powers, which are inherently derived from the people and reserved to the states or the people via the Tenth Amendment.

These endowed powers allow states to enact laws for the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of their citizens but preexisted the creation of the state.

Police powers preexisted the creation of the states and the United States. They were inherited from the British government at the Declaration of Independence and were rooted in English Common Law.

Before the English Common Law the fundamental "police powers" preexisted n early Anglo-Saxon customary law.

The early Anglo-Saxon customary law relied on decentralized, community-based systems of collective responsibility until a national legal system was established under the kings in the 12th century.

Where do inherent government right to enact laws come from? for the common good, distinct from the specific police force but enabling laws like building codes, zoning, and health regulations.

America police powers

In America most all the police powers rested with the States and local government.

The 14th Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in 1868, fundamentally shifted the balance of power in the U.S. by placing the first major federal constraints on state police powers. Before this amendment, the Bill of Rights mostly restricted the federal government, leaving states largely free to regulate their citizens without federal interference. In U.S. constitutional law, "police power" refers to the inherent authority of a state government to regulate behavior and enforce order for the public health, safety, and general welfare. The "inherent authority of a state government" or "federal government" is not static but organic.

The term was first used by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall (1801–1835) who played a foundational role in defining the scope of state police powers—the inherent authority of states to regulate for the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens—within the federal system. Marshall affirmed that broad, residual police powers remained with the states, provided they did not conflict with federal constitutional powers. Those powers will organically shift and change by application, participation, and consent.

The roots of Police powers

The phrase "police power" is rooted in two principles of the Roman law salus populi suprema lex esto ("the welfare of the people shall be the supreme law") and sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas ("use your own property so as not to injure others").

The shift of American thinking of the government providing for the general welfare to providing individual welfare was a shift in thinking of the people that would change the course and destiny of society and the world.

It was a shift from private religion to Public religion.

History of Law enforcement

The origins of police powers are found in both ancient traditions of community responsibility and a more recent formal structured designed to maintain social and economic order.

The earliest form of law enforcement, where families and then tribes or clans which policed themselves. An attack on one member was seen as an attack on the entire group, often leading to skirmish that would perpetuate bloody feuds.

A formal police came with the introduction of man made laws within legal systems like what we see with the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BC). As one of the earliest written criminal codes, they establishing formal penalties and a structured justice system. They were seldom democratic except you became a member of a collective formed as a city-state and often by consent.

The Mutual Pledge System such as that of ancient Israel or later the Anglo-Saxon England Communities which were divided into tithings (10 families).

Every male over and accepted age (from 12 to 21) was responsible for his neighbor's conduct and had to raise a "hue and cry" (shouting announcing the need for help or attention) to pursue, subdue, or ostracize a criminal element from the community.

Shire-Reeves Groups of 10 tithings formed a "hundred," and multiple hundreds formed a "shire" (county).

The name Sheriff actually derives from the old English title "Shire Reeve." The reeve was the "king's man" within a shire, a small community of about one hundred families. His duty was to maintain order while enforcing the king's will along with that of the court.

Before there were kings ruling in England (1066)) the Gerefa an Old English root of "reeve" was a senior administrative official with power in managing rural communities (tuns and a hundred-man or hundred eolder. The Danes would call that a wapentake) a hundred families to help keep order when there was a hue and cry.

The King would eventually appoint a shire-reeve to maintain peace and a constable was the "keeper of the stable" and an officer who keeps the peace.

That required a loyalty and care of your neighbor's rights and property that was regularly renewed through personal sacrifice of one for another. This was much different than those systems where rulers provided care, protection, and justice through men who exercise authority one over the other.

Jesus forbid his followers to seek the benefits and dainties of the latter systems because they were both a snare and trap according to Proverbs and David. The Apostles confirm this with their own warnings and Paul would quote David concerning that historical stumblingblock.

Paul also told us in Galatians that we would be Entangled in a yoke of bondage if we did not follow the way and "Stand fast therefore in the liberty".

As soon as you covet your neighbor's goods through the police powers of the corporate State Peter explained that you would become merchandise or human resources and even curse children as a surety for debt because the welfare of rulers was provided at the expense of their fellow citizens who were their neighbor.

Modern policing

Sir Robert Peel was said to be the father of modern policing because he established the London Metropolitan Police in 1829 via the Metropolitan Police Act. The Peelian Principles shifted focus from reactive punishment to proactive crime prevention through uniformed officers ("Bobbies") walking assigned beats. The unarmed Bobbie still relied heavily on the Hue and cry.

The first U.S. cities like Boston (1838) and New York (1844) modeled their first publicly funded, 24-hour police departments after the Peelian Principles system.

Audio 1 Police Powers of the people

Police powers rest first with people but the people through sloth and avarice and ignorance delegate that powers to others. Police Powers Download Recording #1

Question at 50 minutes occurred concerning What are the five things for a constitution seen in a Bible? If you want to give your kingly power, your police powers to a central authority what do you put in you social contract according to Deuteronomy 17.

Audio 1 Police Powers corrupted

[ Police Power Download Recording #2]

To Set a king over you

Deuteronomy 17:14 "When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me;"

Wanting a king, emperor to fight battles against corruption, or a president, prime minister, or a potentate to be the chief executive of a political government or make your society great is a delegation of the Imperium and Potestas of the people to a civil power. It is the neglect of right and responsibilities of endowed by God in the individual and the first step to covenanting with the collective. 1 Samuel 8

1# No stranger

"15 Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother." Deuteronomy 17

If we read the phrase “set a king over “ we might imagine a modern monarch with a crown ruling over the people. The Hebrew word for king is melek. The word is actually translated as both king or counsel. The office of melek ranged from little power to the power over life and death, law and land.

The moral character of your leader is clearly important. When the people tried to make Gideon their king he said:

“And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.” Judges 8:23

2# Professional army 3# In Egypt

16 "But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way." Deuteronomy 17

The bar against returning to Egypt had nothing to do with geography but was about returning to that form of government where a portion of the labor of a man could be annually extracted by the government. God had taken the people from Egypt, out of the house of bondage where they had to pay one-fifth of every thing they earned in a given year to the government and the government was to care for them in time of need.

There are many references in the old and new testament about the bondage of Egypt where the people had to bow down and serve the Pharaoh. The power of that government corrupted the leaders who made their instruments of war, suppressed the people and wreaked havoc on men’s lives.

God wants men to live as free souls according to virtue and good conscience. Every time they go back to a government like in 1 Samuel 8 it was called a rejection of God. Any leader who was knowledgeable of God and His ways would not lead the people back to bondage and, like Gideon, would not try to rule over them.

The king was also not to multiply horses. Did God not want leaders to own a horse ranch?

God was not concerned with the king owning horses. He qualifies this statement by correlating the multiplying of horses to the returning to Egypt.

Egypt was a large grain producer and it had perfected the art of war by the use of horses for cavalry and chariots as well as military supply lines. In denying the king the right to accumulate horses he was denied an unlimited power to wage war. When the people do not have trust or faith in God’s way, they often return to a central government to assure their security.

Things went from bad to worse and eventually Solomon had 40,000 “stalls of horses” and 12,000 horsemen. He also maintained 1,400 chariots in his chariot cities including Jerusalem.

This idea of not returning to that house of bondage was also seen in the bar of the king from the accumulation of the gold and silver of the nation as was the case in Egypt.

4# Wives and #5 treasuries

17 "Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." Deuteronomy 17

Jesus came to set the captive free from the the elements of the world and yoke of bondage which always accompanies the covetous practices of legal charity which makes the word of God to no effect in the same way the Corban of the Pharisees and Herod did.

With an accumulation of wealth in its treasury, the power to conscript the people in to its service the government could create armies, wage war and wield untold power. With unlimited power came unlimited corruption. With an army under its control a central government could not only protect the people but it could wage war on them. This was always a concern in history from Nimrod to the crossing of the Rubicon by Caesar down to modern times.

Babylon, Egypt, eventually Rome and other countries throughout history have often regulated the ownership of gold and silver and its use as money. Often these countries went to the use of some form of monetary exchange that was supported only by an artificial value imposed by the state rather than an actual commodity money like gold or silver with a present value. The removal of these honest weights and measures was a common and often a last ditch effort to maintain some stability as their usurious economies began to collapse.

“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I [am] the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:36 (Deuteronomy 25:13)

The bar against the multiplying of wives was another of many limitations placed on any king or ruler that the people might choose. In those days when a ruler signed a treaty it was common to consummate the contract by giving a daughter in marriage to the other ruler. David did this as well as many other kings.

Although multiple wives leads to trouble of its own the real bar in relation to the king is the making of treaties. Because the people are bound under the king then the king by his agreements can bind the whole nation. The same is true of any treaty making powers.

6# Write and read the terms

"18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:" Deuteronomy 17

Who are your priests the Levites?

Ancient Israel

Ancient Israel operated under a system very similar to a Mutual Pledge System or frankpledge system, often described by scholars as a covenantal community built on collective responsibility, kinship, and mutual accountability. The principle of Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh, Talmud Shevuot 39a("All Israel are responsible for one another" ) was paramount. There are various Bible verses, including the idea of mutual responsibility, Leviticus 26:37, Galatians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 12:26; Acts 2:44-45; Hebrews 10:24-25; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; Leviticus 19:17. That responsibility was the practice of pure religion through the freewill offerings made upon the altars, which were the social safety net of the people.

This system of Israel set up by Moses they had tribes but was not truly tribal in the sense that they all had one Father as they were called the "children of God".

While it was religious in the sense that their "duty was to God and (also) their fellowman" it was not just a religious concept but a foundational, mutually binding, and conditional social contract.

Ancient Israel did not have a modern-style police force as we understand it today—no centralized, professional, uniformed officers dedicated primarily to patrolling, investigating crimes, or maintaining public order independently of courts or rulers.

Law enforcement and public order were handled through a combination of community-based systems, appointed officials, judicial checks and balance rather than office of government that exercise authority one over the other.

The Judicial Structure

The Judicial Structure in early Israel, before the period of kings, provided social order ten elders of free assemblies which were the "lay" leadership who decided fact and law and not by a central top down ruler, or professional police force.

There was an appeals process through the cities of refuge but it was basically the peoples, courts with the ministers of their "private religion" providing an appeal in the case of an unjust verdict locally.

Second Temple period

The creation of specialized guards, varying across different periods would be instituted by the sloth and apathy of the people who turned a blind eye to the cries of their neighbor.

First, tribal interests grew over that of a nation under the will of God, then a call for a Commander-in-cheif under the monarchy of Saul was called for to make them safe and secure rooting out the corruption, then finally the Second Temple period where corruption, bribery and the indifference of the people.

In ancient Israel, law enforcement was primarily handled by Shotrim or officers who might be seen as an enforcement arm of judicial decisions, along with Levite temple guards and community elders.

These officers helped to maintain public order, manage market standards (just weights/measures), and might act under the authority of local courts. The role of "Shoftim" (judges) or the Sanhedrin might be considered more overseers under Mosaic law but the interpretation of that law changed over time until many of their practices began to blind the people, making the word of God to none effect.

Shotrim Officers

Mentioned in Deuteronomy 16:18, these were officials appointed to assist judges by enforcing laws, supervising fair weights and measures, and handling public conduct.

The term Shotrim was often translated as "officers," "magistrates," or "police" and might be considered the closest equivalent to law enforcers.

Later, Jewish interpreters (Rashi, Maimonides, etc.) viewed them as officials who executed court decisions, enforced laws (e.g., fair weights/measures, public morality), made proclamations, and carried out orders. They were connected at first to the people's courts, sometimes from the tribe of Levi (per the perception of Josephus and Chronicles references). Their roles included supervising public works, guarding officials, and tribal-level duties similar to district oversight.

Temple Police

The Pre-Monarchy and Monarchy)The Torah (Deuteronomy 16:18) commands: "You shall appoint judges (shoftim) and officers (shotrim) in all your gates [i.e., in every town].

The Second Temple was guarded by a specialized "Temple Police" force of Levites and priests, overseen by a "captain of the Temple". They guarded the gates, maintained order, and had the authority to patrol at night.

The Temple in Jerusalem had this specialized force to protect the sanctuary and ensure only authorized individuals entered.

Elders and Watchmen

In towns, community elders or appointed watchmen (Ezekiel 33:6) held responsibility for security, often dealing with local disputes. While they might be employed to guard cities, with some roles involving armed guards for security, especially during times of a later rebuilding (Nehemiah 4:13).

Some scholars explain that no fully "regulated police force" existed in cities of Israel, but only the shotrim functioned in some sort of people's enforcement capacities.

Watchmen as we may see in Song of Songs:3, 5:7) patrolled city walls or streets at night, confronting suspicious persons. But were these professional positions or a part of the inner workings of the peoples militia of the organized in tens?

What bound them together was the free assemblies of tens which provided a table of welfare that was not a snare. In their synagogues they worshiped God by loving their neighbor according to the way of Moses.

Hue and cry — A collective alarm where the community pursued and apprehended wrongdoers in emergencies (similar to practices in other ancient societies).

Community Responsibility ("Hue and Cry"): In many cases, enforcement was decentralized. Witnesses to crimes were expected to cry out, and the entire community was responsible for responding, acting as a "police force reserve".

Kinsman Redeemer

In cases of homicide or property theft, the closest male relative (kinsman redeemer or gaal, (גֹּאֵ֣ל)) was responsible for pursuing justice and restoring order, as seen in Numbers 35:19.

Numbers 35:19 "The revenger (גֹּאֵ֣ל) of blood(הַדָּ֔ם) himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him."

Genesis 8:13 "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first [month], the first [day] of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed <05493> the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry."

Sanhedrin Authority

The high court Sanhedrin was not really a legislator or supreme court in the days of Moses. But as it existed in the Second Temple period it commanded its own officers to apprehend individuals and carry out judicial penalties.

This new force was at the Sanhedrin's disposal and was the only armed Jewish corps Romans permitted during that Second Temple era.

Duties might included night watches, checking posts and enforcing punishments for falling asleep when they should be controlling gates.

This Temple police appears in the New Testament arresting Jesus or the apostles.

In summary, ancient Israel's "police" were not a dedicated profession but integrated roles: shotrim as court enforcers, Levitical Temple guards, city watchmen, and community self-policing.

Centralized, standing police emerged much later in history along with more degenerating practices.

Roman police

Augustus and Tiberius Caesar played their part in Roman history with their own personal Roman values.

Tiberius even passed laws similar to the Patriot Act to protect the offices of emperor, principals civitas, and Apotheosis and expanded his police force, the Praetorian Guard.

Meanwhile, his favorite grand daughter got his permission and Senate approval to go with her husband to be the Roman financial governor in Judea who was also loved and admired by Tiberius. Tiberius was a fearful and suspicious man but he trusted his grandson in law Pontius Pilate and his granddaughter who would hear the words of Jesus and begin to repent.

Tiberius would be betrayed by an officer in the Praetorian Guard and Caligula and assassinated to usher in a degenerate administration Followed by Claudius, again put in power by the same Praetorian Guard.

Claudius would exile Jewish Christians from Rome by the thousands which made Paul's and Aquila and Priscilla's tent business essential to the spreading of Christianity and it's survival during the following reign of Nero.

During all this do you think God's power was not in play. What is Caesar to those who follow Christ? .

Footnotes