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83-396: Prior to the founding of the police department, the city used contracted individuals, with Henry Baker becoming the first watchman in 1856 who patrolled what is now downtown Grand Rapids. The Grand Rapids Police Department was established in 1871 with eight patrolmen operating under one chief. The police department originally operated under the direction of the mayor and city council, though

166-474: A car has been breached, and packages may continue to fall from the train, causing more loss as cargo is damaged by the fall or the train's wheels. Train derailment, caused either directly or indirectly, is also frequent. One such derailment in China caused a pileup in a railway tunnel that cost ¥3 million to clear, and millions more in indirect costs and loss of income. Additionally, packages or debris falling from

249-442: A dramatic device or a caricature, but successful dramatists nevertheless work with characters who strike a chord with their audience. A hundred years later such complaints were still commonplace. Daniel Defoe wrote four pamphlets and a broadsheet on the issue of street crime in which, among other things, he roundly attacked the efficacy of the watch and called for measures to ensure it 'be compos'd of stout, able-body'd Men, and of those

332-414: A force of salaried men. Under the new act, the ward authorities also continued to hire their own watchmen and to make whatever local rules seemed appropriate—establishing, for example, the places in their wards where the watchmen would stand and the beats they would patrol. But the implementation of the new Watch Act did have the effect of imposing some uniformity on the watch over the whole City, making in

415-532: A frequent target. These shipments would be guarded by an expressman whose duty was to protect the cargo of the " express car ". Changing social and economic situations after the American Civil War led to the development of gangs and individuals who took up train robbery as a means of income. After the war, many soldiers were faced with little economic opportunity upon returning home, and train robbing required little specialized skill. Other robbers held

498-555: A household watch that became known as the Beefeaters . As of the 1660s, it was already common practice to avoid night-time service in the watch by paying for a substitute. Substitution had become so common by the late 17th century that the night watch was virtually by then a fully paid force. An act of Common Council , known as 'Robinson's Act' from the name of the sitting lord mayor, was promulgated in October 1663. It confirmed

581-529: A large explosion that destroyed the targeted goods; ultimately, four people died in the attack. Southern Pacific and the Pinkertons pursued the gang for years and distributed 3.5 million leaflets worldwide for information, eventually apprehending the members. Train robbery had become obsolete by the 1930s in the United States, and many criminals began instead targeting banks . The outlaw culture in

664-473: A night watch to enforce them. These rules had for long been underpinned in London and other towns by the curfew , the time (announced by the ringing of a bell) at which the gates closed and the streets were cleared. These rules, where codified by law, would come to be known as the nightwalker statutes ; such statutes empowered and required night watchmen (and their assistants) to arrest those persons found about

747-539: A separate board of commissioners was created for police and fire department in 1881, initially creating conflict between city officials and the board. To date, the GRPD headquarters has been in four different buildings; none of the previous sites remain standing today. The first police headquarters consisted of a two-room office suite located over the Rice & Moore grocer at 101 Monroe Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids. In 1882,

830-447: A staff, along with their lantern. Another step in the evolution of the watch involved building 'watch howses' as the country lurched towards revolution after 1640. A City committee was asked to look into the question 'what watchhouses are necessary' and where 'for the safety of this cittye ' in 1642. Workmen began building watch houses in strategic spots soon after. They provided assembly-points for watchmen to gather to hear orders for

913-452: A state, government, city, or society, to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement as well as traditionally perform the services of public safety , fire watch , crime prevention , crime detection , and recovery of stolen goods . Watchmen have existed since earliest recorded times in various guises throughout the world and were generally succeeded by the emergence of formally organised professional policing . An early reference to

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996-564: A sufficient Number'. Watchmen on roads leading to London had a reputation for clumsiness in the late 1580s. It was a temptation on cold winter nights to slip away early from watching stations to catch some sleep. Constables in charge sometimes let watches go home early. 'The late placing and early dischargering ' of night-watches concerned Common Council in 1609 and again three decades later when someone sent out to spy on watches reported that they 'break up longe before they ought'. 'The greatest parte of constables' broke up watches ' earlie in

1079-523: A tax levied specifically for the purpose of hiring full-time watchmen. Some voluntary prosecution societies also hired men to patrol their areas. While the societies for the reformation of manners showed there was a good deal of support for the effective policing of morality, they also suggested that the existing mechanisms of crime control were regarded by some as ineffective. Constable Dogberry's men from Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare, who would 'rather sleep than talk', may be dismissed as merely

1162-587: A train can damage surrounding infrastructure. In one case in China, sheet metal being thrown from a train by robbers damaged nearby power lines, causing a blackout. Especially during the early decades of train robbery, violence against train staff and passengers, both directly and indirectly, was common. A 2017 review of 241 train robberies in the United States between 1866 and 1930 found that 91% were committed at gunpoint, 28% used dynamite, 29% resulted in shootings, 13.5% led to deaths, and 7.5% included derailments. One 1896 train derailment caused by robbers resulted in

1245-568: A train carrying gold departed London , England, for Boulogne , France, and was found upon arrival to be missing over £12,000 worth of gold and money. The incident became known as the Great Gold Robbery of 1855 . Four men were arrested in 1856 for the crime. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, train robberies were frequent in the American Old West , where trains carrying valuable cargo, like payroll shipments, were

1328-505: A train. Some will obstruct or sabotage the railroad itself in an attempt to derail a moving train. Some use dynamite to damage the rails or train itself to gain entry. Before the invention of dynamite , it was almost impossible to break into safes. Criminals required the combination lock to open safes and often relied on the courier to provide it. Following its invention and widespread use, it became much easier to break into safes and rob trains. Criminals sometimes robbed passengers of

1411-647: A watch can be found in the Bible where the Prophet Ezekiel states that it was the duty of the watch to blow the horn and sound the alarm. (Ezekiel 33:1-6) The Roman Empire made use of the Praetorian Guard and the Vigiles , literally the watch. The streets in London were dark and had a shortage of good quality artificial light. It had been recognized for centuries that the coming of darkness to

1494-568: A watch fund that supported hired man. From the mid-1690s the City authorities made several attempts to replace Robinson's Act and establish the watch on a new footing. Though they did not say it directly, the overwhelming requirement was to get quotas adjusted to reflect the reality that the watch consisted of hired men rather than citizens doing their civic duty—the assumption upon which the 1663 act of Common Council, and all previous acts, had been based. The implications and consequences of changes in

1577-463: A way. The fact that the 1705 act called for watchmen to be strong and able-bodied men seems further confirmation that the watch was now expected to be made up of hired hands rather than every male house holder serving in turn. The act of 1705 laid out the new quotas of watchmen and the disposition of watch-stands agreed to each ward. To discourage the corruption that had been blamed for earlier under-manning, it forbade constables to collect and disturbs

1660-576: Is rare, and the majority of robberies on freight trains are nonviolent, as robbers prefer to avoid confrontation in most cases. However, passengers aboard carrier trains generally still fear being victimized. A 2024 study on Swedish rail safety reported 19% of surveyed passengers feared robbery while on or waiting for a train. Railroad companies have long hired private security agencies to protect cargo during transport, or even establish their own internal police forces to patrol railroads. They may also hire private detectives to investigate and deter theft. In

1743-712: The American Old West . It has continued into the 21st century, with criminals usually targeting freight trains carrying commercial cargo, or targeting passengers of public transportation for their valuables. Prior to the development of railroads , stagecoach robbery was common. Especially in Europe and North America, stagecoaches and mail couriers were frequently targeted for their cargo. As coaches and horses were phased out in favor of trains, which could haul far more freight and passengers, so too did robbers adjust their targets. Several major train robberies occurred in England in

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1826-958: The Canyon Diablo Train Robbery in 1889, the Fairbank Train Robbery in 1900, and the Baxter's Curve Train Robbery in 1912. Several factors contributed to the decline of train robberies around the turn of the 20th century and the decades following, although they did not stop entirely. Ruddell and Decker (2017) write, "train robberies were eliminated, in large part, due to making targets less attractive, increasing guardianship, and reducing offender motivation or in other words taking routine precaution". Law enforcement agencies and railroad companies, which once struggled to investigate crimes and arrest perpetrators, began creating or recruiting specialized task forces, such as

1909-673: The Municipal Police Act of 1844 in New York City , United States ), such formations became increasingly incorporated into state-run police forces (see metropolitan police and municipal police ). In the Philippines, Barangay watchmen called "Tanod" is common. Their role is to serve as frontline law enforcement officers in Barangays, especially those far from city or town centres. They are mainly supervised by

1992-569: The Pinkerton National Detective Agency . These bodies relentlessly pursued offenders, often for years, and imposed harsher sentences, which deterred further crime. Railroad companies spent more than they lost from the robberies on investigating and preventing thefts; "that for every dollar that was stolen in a train robbery, five dollars were spent on apprehending offenders". Trains also became faster and thus more difficult to board. Wireless communications spread and

2075-467: The United States was based on practices developed in England. The City of Boston was the first settlement in the thirteen colonies to establish a night watch in 1631 (replaced in 1838); Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1633 (replaced in 1861); New York (then New Amsterdam ) (replaced in 1845) and Jamestown followed in 1658. With the unification of laws and centralization of state power ( e.g.

2158-601: The 2020 protests, an officer who shot a tear gas canister at the face of a protester received a two-day suspension. A year after the protests, Chief Payne would announce his retirement. In March 2022, Eric Winstrom, a 20-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department was sworn in as police chief for GRPD. Shortly thereafter, GRPD faced widespread scrutiny following the April 2022 killing of Patrick Lyoya , with The New York Times writing "Mr. Lyoya’s death

2241-664: The 9mm Glock 17 as its primary service weapon. The department chose the Glock in 2014 as a replacement for the previously issued .40 caliber SIG Sauer P229 pistol. In 2015, the department began deploying Colt M4 semi-automatic rifles in marked patrol vehicles to supplement the shotguns that were already carried. GRPD officers carry a number of less-lethal options, including pepper spray , collapsible batons , and tasers . All GRPD uniformed patrol officers wear Axon 3 body cameras . Watchman (law enforcement) Watchmen were organised groups of men, usually authorised by

2324-587: The African American community in the South Division area of Grand Rapids and armed white vigilantes who patrolled the streets. In 2001, the department moved into the current headquarters at a fifth location, a renovated Herpolsheimer's department store located at 1 Monroe Center NW. The GRPD faced increased controversy with the residents of Grand Rapids in the 2010s. Beginning in 2010, the GRPD watch commander's office telephone line, Line 3407,

2407-730: The American Old West became romanticized in Hollywood's Western films , such as The Great Train Robbery in 1903. Some serial train robbers, like William L. Carlisle , became folk heroes . Train robbery saw a marked decline as the 20th century progressed, although isolated incidents still occurred. Train robberies outside the United States were not as common before the mid-20th century; additionally, many robberies in Canada and Mexico during that time were perpetrated by American outlaws. Examples of 20th-century robberies outside of

2490-507: The Barangay Captain and may be armed with bolo knife. ^ This can be verified by England's Old Bailey court records. Train robbery Since the invention of locomotives in the early 19th century, trains have often been the target of robbery , in which the goal is to steal money or other valuables. Train robbery was especially common during the 19th century and is commonly associated with gangs of outlaws in

2573-548: The King of England the Winchester Act Mandating The Watch. Part Four and the King commandth that from henceforth all Watches be made as it hath been used in past times that was to wit from the day of Ascension unto the day of St. Michael in every city by six men at every gate in every borough by twelve men in every town by six or four according to the number of inhabitants of the town. They shall keep

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2656-782: The Line 3407, with Senior Staff Attorney Miriam Aukerman of the American Civil Liberties Union stating "You’ve got to wonder what is so damaging that was on those recordings that the city had to destroy them over the weekend in order to keep the public from seeing them". Chief Payne oversaw the department during the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests in Grand Rapids , when police were involved with clashes and responded to looting and fires. During

2739-668: The Mexican federal government made train robbery a federal crime. China has its own railway police force, which in 2013 employed approximately 80,000 officers. Chinese cargo trains transporting electronics are usually accompanied by armed guards. Several preventative measures are taken to deter and complicate robberies. These include increased security, target hardening , heavier punishments for convicted criminals, and collaboration with different law enforcement bodies. New technology, such as motion sensors, cameras, anti-theft doors, GPS, and smart seals are all used to deter theft. Some of

2822-603: The Train Burglary Task Force in response to the robberies. The nature of train robbery varies. Cargo can be stolen from either a moving or stationary train in a variety of ways. Perpetrators of train robberies may work alone or in groups and might be committed by gangs or other organized crime . Sometimes, gangs might recuit local residents to partake in the robbery. Goods are often stolen from unattended train cars and in transitional areas like rail yards, parking lots, and warehouses. Thieves might sabotage

2905-1379: The US include the 1906 Rogów raid in Poland; the 1908 Bezdany raid in Lithuania; the 1923 Lincheng Outrage in China; the 1925 Kakori Train Robbery in India; and the 1976 Sallins Train robbery in Ireland. Some countries were an exception to this rule. Egypt , then a British colony , struggled with an epidemic of train robberies during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, Egypt had high rates of poverty and social inequality, leading some citizens to turn to crime; some of these were train employees who were underpaid. An unorganized and ill-equipped police force hampered efforts to resolve cases; during this time, only about 17% of train robbers were apprehended. Some gangs were sheltered by local residents, and in turn gangs often used their profits to support their communities. Most cases occurred in Gharbia Governorate , Beheira Governorate , and Cairo and Giza . Egypt established its Railway Police force in 1893, and this combined with new advances in security and forensic technology led to

2988-525: The Watch all night from sun setting unto sun rising. And if any stranger do pass them by them he shall be arrested until morning and if no suspicion be found he shall go quit. Later in 1279 King Edward I formed a special guard of 20 sergeants at arms who carried decorated battle maces as a badge of office. By 1415 a watch was appointed to the Parliament of England and in 1485 King Henry VII established

3071-470: The Widdicomb Plant riot that saw officers fire into a crowd of protesters, though no gunshot injuries were reported. The Crescent and Ottawa police station was expanded in 1915. In 1928, the public safety James Sinke director was fired after he directed the psychiatrist Dr. Gustav A. Blumenthal to interview and perform phrenological procedures on officers, with Blumenthal charging the city $ 4,000,

3154-541: The appeal for copycat and repeat crimes. Infamous train robbers from this era include Butch Cassidy , Bill Miner , and Jesse James . Jesse James is mistakenly thought to have completed the first successful train robbery in the American West when on July 21, 1873, the James–Younger Gang took US$ 3,000 from a Rock Island Railroad train after derailing it southwest of the town of Adair, Iowa . However,

3237-488: The appointment of watchmen. The Assize of Arms of 1252 , which required the appointment of constables to summon men to arms, quell breaches of the peace , and to deliver offenders to the sheriff , is cited as one of the earliest creations of an English police force, as was the Statute of Winchester of 1285. In 1252 a royal writ established a watch and ward with royal officers appointed as shire reeves : By order of

3320-605: The city's Grand Trunk Western Railroad crossing. Fourteen of those officers died on-duty, while one was killed off-duty attempting to rescue an electrocution victim. Of those killed on-duty, eight were killed by gunfire and six were killed in traffic accidents. The GRPD utilizes the Ford Police Interceptor Utility SUV for marked patrol vehicles. The department also utilizes a number of other platforms for specialized patrol functions, including bicycles , segways , and horses . The GRPD issues

3403-471: The civil war that the watch had already become a body of paid men, supported by what were in effect the fines collected from those with an obligation to serve, the Common Council did not acknowledge this in the confirming act of 1663. The act of 1663 confirmed that watch on its old foundations, and left its effective management to the ward authorities. The important matter to be arranged in the wards

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3486-412: The deaths of about 27 passengers. Such violence only added to the high mortality rate of railroad employees, which during the first decades of operation averaged about 12,000 deaths annually. Additionally, perpetrator death was high; in almost 10% of cases, robbers died at the scene or during apprehension. Others were later executed, lynched , or died by suicide. Today, violence against train employees

3569-413: The department moved to the intersection of Lyon and Campau and ten years later in 1892, a new headquarters was built at the intersection of Crescent and Ottawa designed by notable Detroit -based architect Elijah E. Meyers . The newly built headquarters had two cells, two jailer rooms and a boiler in the basement. During the 1911 Grand Rapids furniture workers' strike , GRPD was involved in clashes during

3652-444: The duty of all householders in the City to take their turn at watching in order 'to keep the peace and apprehend night-walkers, malefactors and suspected persons'. For the most part the Common Council act of 1663 reiterated the rules and obligations that had long existed. The number of watchmen required for each ward, it declared, was to be the number 'established by custom' – in fact, by an act of 1621. Even though it had been true before

3735-440: The early decades of train robbery, sheriffs would often recruit vigilante posses of citizens to apprehend perpetrators. Of the robberies during 1965–1930 studied by Ruddell and Decker, up to 90% of all train robbers were eventually caught. Those who survived the arrest—30% died during the confrontation—were sentenced to prison and sometimes faced capital punishment or were lynched . In response to increased cargo train traffic,

3818-477: The equivalent to $ 60,287 in 2020. As the third headquarters was being torn down in 1965, old police records were also disposed of in the process. In 1967, the department moved to the newly built Hall of Justice, located on the site of the present-day DeVos Place convention center on Monroe Avenue. That year the race riots of the long, hot summer of 1967 occurred, with police responding in July 1967 to riots in

3901-516: The first peacetime train robbery in the United States occurred on October 6, 1866, when robbers boarded an Ohio & Mississippi train shortly after it left Seymour, Indiana . They broke into one safe and tipped the other off the train before jumping off. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency later traced the crime to the Reno Gang . There was one earlier train robbery in May 1865 , but because it

3984-434: The focus for trouble themselves, adding to the hullabaloo at night instead of ordering others to keep the noise down and go to bed. And as by day, there were more than a few crooked officers policing the streets at night, quite happy to turn a blind eye to trouble for a bribe. Watchman Edward Gardener was taken before the recorder with 'a common nightwalker' – Mary Taylor – in 1641 after he 'tooke 2s to lett' her 'escape' when he

4067-578: The gradual decrease of train robberies after 1904. The Great Train Robbery of 1963, the UK's most infamous occurrence, occurred in Buckinghamshire in 1963. On April 8, a group of robbers targeted a Post Office train enroute from Glasgow to London and stole over £2.3 million in parcels. Apprehended members of the gang were sentenced to a collective total of 307 years imprisonment. Modern train robbery still exists, although it no longer resembles

4150-442: The job attracted a fairly low standard of person, and they acquired a possibly exaggerated reputation for being old, ineffectual, feeble, drunk or asleep on the job. London had a system of night policing in place before 1660, although it was improved over the next century through better lighting, administrations, finances, and better and more regular salaries. But the essential elements of the night-watch were performing completely by

4233-404: The late seventeenth century. But it seems clear that few did, because the halberd was no longer suitable for the work they were being called upon to do. It was more often observed that watchmen failed to carry them, and it is surely the case that the halberd was no longer a useful weapon for a watch that was supposed to be mobile. By the second quarter of the 18th century, watchmen were equipped with

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4316-531: The mid-19th century. The Great Western Mail Robbery occurred in 1849. In two robberies on the Bristol and Exeter Railway , two passengers climbed from their carriage to the mail van and back. They were discovered at Bridgwater after the second robbery. One was Henry Poole, a former guard on the Great Western Railway , dismissed for misconduct (possibly on suspicion of another robbery); the other

4399-424: The middle of the seventeenth century. During the 1820s, mounting crime levels and increasing political and industrial disorder prompted calls for reform, led by Sir Robert Peel , which culminated in the demise of the watchmen and their replacement by a uniformed metropolitan police force . John Gray , the owner of Greyfriars Bobby , was a nightwatchman in the 1850s. The first form of societal protection in

4482-450: The money paid in for hired watchmen: that was now supposed to be the responsibility of the deputy and common councilmen of the ward. The second stage was the recognition that watchmen could not be sustained without a major shift in the way local services were financed. This led to the City's acquisition of taxing power by means of an act of parliament in 1737 which changed the obligation to serve in person into an obligation to pay to support

4565-453: The morninge ' at exactly the time 'when most danger' was 'feared' in the long night, leaving the dark streets to thieves . Watchmen often counted off the hours until sunrise on chilly nights. Alehouses offered some warmth, even after curfew bells told people to drink up. A group of watchmen sneaked into a ' vitlers ' house one night in 1617 and stayed 'drinking and taking tobacco all night longe'. Like other officers, watchmen could become

4648-453: The most notable train robbers and gangs are: Train robberies are a common depiction in Western films and media. The first movie to depict a train robbery was the 1903 silent film The Great Train Robbery , produced by Edison Studios . This 11-minute film depicts a gang of outlaws who rob a train, only to later be hunted down by vigilantes and killed in a shootout. The Great Train Robbery

4731-590: The mythos set by Hollywood Westerns. Thieves often target train cars carrying cargo for large corporations, such as Walmart and Amazon ; and are most interested in commercial goods, particularly electronics, or raw industrial materials like metals and textiles. In the United States, the Los Angeles Basin is the most common spot for freight to be stolen en route. Other hotspots include areas near large depots, like Detroit , Chicago , and Memphis . In Mexico in 2011, train theft had increased by 120% from

4814-465: The night ahead, somewhere to shelter from ' extremitye of wind and weather', and holding-places for suspects until morning when justices examined the night's catch. There were watch houses next to Temple Bar (1648), 'neere the Granaryes' by Bridewell (1648), 'neere Moregate' (1648), and next to St. Paul's south door (1649). They were not big; the one on St. Paul's side was 'a small house or shed'. This

4897-436: The nightly watch. From the late seventeenth century, however, many householders avoided these obligations by hiring deputies to serve in their place. As this practice increased, some men were able to make a living out of acting as deputy constables or as paid night watchmen. In the case of the watch, this procedure was formalized in many parts of London by the passage of "Watch Acts", which replaced householders' duty of service by

4980-524: The population and law enforcement presence in once-sparse areas grew, making crime reporting and response much faster. The first train robbery to be reported by telephone occurred in 1907. In 1923, what would later be dubbed the "Last Great Train Robbery", the DeAutremont Brothers targeted a Southern Pacific Railroad carrying mail. The would-be robbers attempted to breach the mail car using dynamite but accidentally used too much, causing

5063-401: The previous year. Railroads in the south-central part of the country, such as Zacatecas , Veracruz , Puebla , and Guanajuato , are at the highest risk. The area around Acultzingo has the highest rate of train robberies, recording 521 in 2017–2018 alone. A string of train robberies in India have targeted both cargo and passengers. On August 9, 2016, a group of robbers drilled a hole into

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5146-478: The process some modest incursions into the local autonomy of the wards. One of the leading elements in the regime that emerged from the implementation of the new act was an agreement that every watchman would be paid the same amount and that the wages should be raised to thirteen pounds a year. From 1485 to the 1820s, in the absence of a police force, it was the parish-based watchmen who were responsible for keeping order in London's streets. Night watchmen patrolled

5229-867: The railroad companies in contempt, particularly those from the Midwest and West. The first post-Civil War robberies occurred in Indiana ; Wells Fargo and American Express Company cars carrying money and other expensive materials were common targets. Initially, trains were perceived to be largely impenetrable—especially when compared with the earlier stagecoach—and were often unguarded or only lightly guarded. Early trains passed through large stretches of rural landscape with little to no communication available, leaving them vulnerable to attack and hindering investigation and response by law enforcement. Early bandits were rarely caught. The sensationalization of these crimes in newspapers, dime novels , and Wild West shows added to

5312-998: The roof of a secure car aboard the Chennai–Salem Express and stole ₹ 57.8 million ($ 860,000; £570,000). The train had been transporting ₹342 crore from the Indian Overseas Bank to the Reserve Bank of India in Chennai . The Indian media dubbed it "the great train robbery". Eight arrests were made in 2018 in connection with the heist. Since 2023, several instances of armed dacoits boarding trains and robbing money, mobile phones, and valuables from passengers have been reported aboard Indian passenger trains. Multiple people have been injured in these attacks. In 2021, train robberies in Los Angeles resulted in hundreds of discarded packages to be strewn about

5395-498: The size of trains has also increased. Ferromex , Mexico's largest railroad company, reported that its carload volume had increased by 6.6% in 2011. Financial losses to train robbery are difficult to calculate and vary from one crime to another. Robberies during the American Old West period resulted in an average loss of $ 9,980 per crime. In 2006, 11,711 train robberies in China were reported, with losses totalling ¥41.7 million ($ 6.8 million). Sometimes, train drivers do not realize

5478-472: The streets from 9 or 10 pm until sunrise, and were expected to examine all suspicious characters. These controls continued in the late 17th century. Guarding the streets to prevent crime, to watch out for fires, and – despite the absence of a formal curfew – to ensure that suspicious and unauthorised people did not prowl around under cover of darkness was still the duty of night watch and the constables who were supposed to command them. The principal task of

5561-452: The town or city during hours of darkness. Only people with good reason to be out could then travel through the city. Anyone outside at night without reason or permission was considered suspect and potentially criminal. Allowances were usually made for people who had some social status on their side. Lord Feilding clearly expected to pass through London's streets untroubled at 1am one night in 1641, and he quickly became piqued when his coach

5644-494: The tracks. Trains were targeted on a section of tracks that they must slow down on and that are easy to access. Thieves used bolt cutters to cut open the locks on shipping containers and took the packages inside. The dropped packages were then picked over by thieves as well as passerby. Union Pacific estimated that losses were in the millions from all the stolen merchandise. By late 2021, an average of 90 containers were broken into daily. The Los Angeles Police Department assembled

5727-447: The train itself and bypass security measures, either causing it to drop cargo, creating a distraction, or triggering an emergency stop, thereby creating an easier method of boarding the train. Sometimes, thieves will climb onto the train and pass or spill cargo onto the ground below, where packages can be retrieved. However, as was much more common historically but is still done today, robbers sometimes use more violent means of breaching

5810-634: The train's carriages at gunpoint , stealing their jewelry or currency . Contrary to the method romanticized by Hollywood , outlaws in the American Old West were never known to jump from horseback onto a moving train. Usually, they would either board the train normally and wait for a good time to initiate the heist , or they would stop or derail the train and then begin the holdup. Train theft results in significant financial and commercial losses. As e-commerce has increased demand for large quantities of goods to be transported even longer distances, and as trains create fewer emissions than cargo trucks,

5893-409: The unlit streets of a town brought a heightened threat of danger, and that the night provided cover to the disorderly and immoral, and to those bent on robbery or burglary or who in other ways threatened physical harm to people in the streets and in their houses. In the 13th Century, the anxieties created by darkness gave rise to rules about who could use the streets after dark and the formation of

5976-401: The watch in 1660 and for long after continued to be the control of the streets at night imposing a form of moral or social curfew that aimed to prevent those without legitimate reason to be abroad from wandering the streets at night. That task was becoming increasingly difficult in the 17th century because of the growth of the population and variety of ways in which the social and cultural life

6059-474: The watch were worked out in practice and in legislation in two stages between the Restoration and the middle decades of the 18th century. The first involved the gradual recognition that a paid (and full-time) watch needed to be differently constituted from one made up of unpaid citizens, a point accepted in practice in legislation passed by the Common Council in 1705, though it was not articulated in as direct

6142-714: Was Edward Nightingale, the son of George Nightingale, accused, but acquitted, of robbing the Dover mail coach in 1826, when two thieves had dressed in identical clothes to gain an alibi for the other. They were transported for 15 years. Henry was sent to Bermuda on the Sir Robert Seppings (ship) in December 1850 whilst Edward was transported to Fremantle on the Sea Park in January 1854. On May 15, 1855,

6225-419: Was a time of experimentation, and people (including those in authority) were learning how to make best use of these new structures in their midst. The watchmen patrolled the streets at night, calling out the hour, keeping a lookout for fires, checking that doors were locked and ensuring that drunks and other vagrants were delivered to the watch constable . However, their low wages and the uncongenial nature of

6308-494: Was being transformed. The shape of the urban day was being altered after the Restoration by the development of shops , taverns and coffee-houses , theatres , the opera and other places of entertainment. All these places remained open in the evening and extended their hours of business and pleasure into the night. The watch was affected by this changing urban world since policing the night streets become more complicated when larger number of people were moving around. And what

6391-561: Was committed by armed guerrillas and occurred shortly after the end of the Civil War, it is not considered to be the first train robbery in the United States. Train robberies peaked in the 1890s. Although they occurred in a wide variety of states, California , Missouri , Texas , and Oklahoma recorded the highest numbers. Notable robberies during this period include the Union Pacific Big Springs robbery in 1877,

6474-561: Was escorting her to Bridewell late at night. Another watchman from over the river in Southwark took advantage of the tricky situation people suddenly found themselves in if they stumbled into the watch, 'demanding money [from them] for passing the watch'. A common complaint in the 1690s was that watchmen were inadequately armed. This was another aspect of the watch in the process of being transformed. The Common Council acts required watchmen to carry halberds , with some still doing so through

6557-465: Was frequently thought to be poor quality of the watchman—and in time, the lack of effective lighting—came commonly to be blamed when street crimes and night-time disorders seemed to be growing out of control. Traditionally, householders served in the office of constable by appointment or rotation. During their year of office they performed their duties part-time alongside their normal employment. Similarly, householders were expected to serve by rotation on

6640-470: Was labeled as "unrecorded", though it began recording the conversations of callers. In 2017, GRPD officers detained five teenagers innocent of any wrongdoing at gunpoint while later that year, officers handcuffed an 11-year-old girl at gunpoint without facing discipline. In 2019, Eric Payne was named police chief, serving as the first African American leader of the department. The GRPD faced controversy in 2019 after Grand Rapids officials deleted recording from

6723-453: Was stopped by the watch, shouting huffily that it was a 'disgrace' to stop someone of such high standing as he, and telling the constable in charge of the watch that he would box him on the ears if he did not let his coach carry on back to his house. 'It is impossible' to 'distinguish a lord from another man by the outside of a coach', the constable said later in his defence, 'especially at unreasonable times'. The Ordinance of 1233 required

6806-401: Was the latest in a series of incidents that have strained relations between residents and the Grand Rapids police". A total of fifteen GRPD officers have been killed since the department's first recorded death in 1895. The first killed was detective George Powers who was shot on August 22, 1895, while attempting to arrest train robbery suspects on a Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad train at

6889-420: Was who was going to serve and on what basis. How the money was to be collected to support a force of paid constables, and by whom, were crucial issues. The 1663 Common Council act left it to the ward beadle or a constable and it seems to have been increasingly the case that rather than individuals paying directly for a substitute, when their turn came to serve, the eligible householders were asked to contribute to

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