To Protect and To Serve: A History of Police in America fills a void in both criminal justice and historical scholarship regarding the history and development of American police. The leaders, the organizational strategies, and the community problems that created the need far police departments are presented in an insightful and readable format that will appeal to students and scholars alike. To Protect and To Serve explores the influence of slave patrols, corruption by political machines, urbanization, and the desire for reform and professionalism in America's police departments. Since the inception of the concept of policing, the organizational developments designed to deal effectively with crime problems has had an interesting and pertinent history. The authors bring together the fields of criminal justice and history, as well as the roles of practitioner and scholar, to create a fascinating survey of the evolution of police in American society.