If the colonists had not taken it in the U.S. In the seventeenth century it is likely that the sheriff profession would have ended in England.
While sheriffs in England were perceived as merciless lawmen willing to apply any measure in order to be in agreement with the king's requirements, those in the U.S. were seen as noble men who risked their lives in order to protect the law. U.S. citizens appeared to be supportive regarding the sheriffs in their jurisdiction. Thomas Jefferson was particularly interested in supporting sheriffs in their endeavor to perform their duties, as his book, "The value of Constitutions" states that "there is no honorable law enforcement authority in Anglo-American law so ancient as that of the county sheriff whose role as a peace officer goes back at least to the time of Alfred the Great" (Jefferson).
The modern era brings forward the police department as an institution superior to the sheriff's department, with the latter being believed by the masses as being an outdated and limited organization. This happens because people tend to overlook the fact that the sheriff responds faster to the issues of every citizen within his district, in comparison to the police department, which cannot act rapidly in most cases.
Sheriffs have political power over the territory they are in charge of and it thus means that their job makes them more involved than it makes police officers. Recent legislations have harmed the status of sheriff, making it even less possible for the office to exercise the role it had been granted in the Constitution. Sheriff departments have apparently been willing to accept having to accomplish new tasks in addition to the ones they had before. However, most were reluctant to accept having to abandon...
This makes it possible for sheriffs to be able to exercise both ancient and contemporary tasks. With the Constitution stating the exact mission a sheriff has, it is virtually impossible for the legal system to have any influence over the sheriff office.
In its essence, the sheriff department is very similar to the police department. Sheriffs are no longer what they used to be and this can be seen through the fact that the public needs a more modern law enforcement institution. The sheriff department is less able to deal with highly structured conditions in large cities and as a consequence sheriffs are in most cases required to work in rural areas.
The role of the sheriff has gradually decreased in influence over time and the sheriff's department is likely to reach a point where it will mainly perform ceremonial tasks, with the more complex ones being completed by police departments.
Works cited:
1. Arado, Matt, "Sheriff Investigating Death of Epileptic Restrained by Police," Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) 24 Feb. 2000: 4.
2. Glenn, Russell W. Panitch, Barbara R. Dionne Barnes-Proby, Williams, Elizabeth Christian, John Lewis Matthew W. Gerwehr, Scott and Brannan, David W. Training the 21st Century Police Officer: Redefining Police Professionalism for the Los Angeles Police Department / (Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2003).
3. "HISTORY OF THE SHERIFF," Retrieved September 13, 2010, from the Camden County Website: http://www.camdencounty.com/sheriff/History%20Of%20The%20Sheriff.htm
