Police Administration and Progressive Reform

Book excerpt: Jay Stuart Berman has written a clear, useful, and persuasive book. Regardless of Theodore Roosevelt's precise role in police reform, this study sheds considerable light on a crucial period in the development of American law enforcement, and Berman's analysis of the important relationship between a Progressive reform and the birth of the modern police makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the history of the police in America. Criminal Justice Review While recent research in criminal justice has made major contributions to the rapid advancements and changes that have occurred in the field, little effort has been devoted to developing a historical perspective on the processes and institutions of the criminal justice system. Seeking to expand our understanding of significant historical antecedents, Professor Berman focusses on the law enforcement reforms of Theodore Roosevelt, who was a pivotal figure in the evolution of the American police department. In the first full-length study of the subject, the author considers Roosevelt's term as police commissioner (1895-1897) in the context of Progressive Era urban reform, and he analyzes the professional model Roosevelt developed, its strengths and weaknesses, and its implications for contemporary criminal justice.