Slave patrols, then and now

Slave patrols, then and now

#TheMoreThingsChange #SlavePatrols #DHS #ICE #CBP

The origins of modern-day policing can be traced back to the "Slave Patrol." The earliest formal slave patrol was created in the Carolinas in the early 1700s with one mission: to establish a system of terror and squash slave uprisings with the capacity to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners. Tactics included the use of excessive force to control and produce desired slave behavior.

"I [patroller's name], do swear, that I will as searcher for guns, swords, and other weapons among the slaves in my district, faithfully, and as privately as I can, discharge the trust reposed in me as the law directs, to the best of my power. So help me, God."

—North Carolina Slave Patrol Oath

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/origins-modern-day-policing