This book is a cumulative history of law enforcement events, leading up to and beyond the creation of state agencies of government that continue to oversee how we select and maintain law officers employed within our police agencies. It emphasizes many of the activities that the states and federal government, as well as other associations, undertook to raise awareness and execute programs that enhance public safety. It also renders, in one source document, the historical discussions and decisions of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
 
Compiled as never before, looking at the roots of professionalism and measures to achieve it, this material has the means to change how historians, educators and our criminal justice academies teach the history of law enforcement. The information clarifies and corrects details, and provides the important source information to support what has been written.