MUNICIPAL JUSTICE IN THE MELTING POT - ARREST AND PROSECUTION IN OAKLAND, 1872-1910

• NCJ Number: 39945
• Author(s): R V PERCIVAL
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 141 pages
• Grant Number(s): 75-NI-99-0086
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Stanford University
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF POLICE ARRESTS AND THEIR OUTCOMES BETWEEN 1872 AND 1910, A PERIOD OF EXPLOSIVE EARLY GROWTH IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

Abstract

WITHIN THE NARRATIVE, PEOPLE WHO WERE ARRESTED, CHARGES BROUGHT AGAINST THEM, AND RESULTS OF THE APPREHENSIONS ARE EXAMINED. AMONG THE PRINCIPAL SOURCES UTILIZED ARE POLICE ARREST BLOTTERS AND MINUTES OF A POLICE COURT. WHEN COUPLED WITH NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS FROM THE PERIOD, THESE DOCUMENTS ALLOW FOR AN ANALYZATION OF HOW THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM - INVOLVING ARRESTS AND MISDEMEANOR PRACTICES - OPERATED IN OAKLAND A CENTURY AGO. COMPARISON OF THESE DATA WITH PATTERNS OF POLICE BEHAVIOR IN LOWER COURTS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY RESULTS IN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE MODERN CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. OAKLAND'S POPULATION THAT WAS SERVED BY THE POLICE, ARREST RATES AND TRENDS, POLICE MANPOWER, AND THE ROLE OF THE POLICE ARE TREATED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)...KAP