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In 1658, one captain and eight watchmen known as the Rattle Watch walked the streets of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, an area we recognize today as Wall Street to the north and Battery Park to the south, New York City. These nine men were issued green lanterns and wooden rattles to be used as an early warning system for the new settlers in this new land.
Throughout this book we look at the research of the social sciences from the point of view of the community, academics and practitioners. Research on social cohesion, group dynamics, human behavior, motivation, to mention a few. Further reviewing the intrinsic value of neighborhoods, how in times where the community has abdicated their obligation, it has led to abuse of power and corruption.
The Rattle Watch will transport the reader through the history of policing recognizing the good, and the bad, which can tarnish an institution that is a vital member of society. Where police officers opened the first soup kitchen for the hungry, provided rooms for the unhoused, inspected boilers for safety; Sir Robert Peel said, "...the police are the public and the public are the police." To separate one from another eliminates the necessary guardrails for safe communities.
Police Science has established evidence-based strategies that work if implemented. The role of Social Sciences in the field of policing has been advocated for over one hundred years by earlier pioneers of the profession, Theodore Roosevelt, August Vollmer, and more recently by George Kelling, James Q. Wilson, Herman Goldstein, William Bratton.
Through the social sciences, psychology, sociology, criminology, and police science, we look back at the history of policing and its relations to the community it serves. We look forward with the lessons of the past to implement the evidence-based strategies that work and identify the tactics and strategies that harm our communities.
Most important of all, the Rattle Watch, since its inception, has been an early warning system to alert the community of risk, danger, and crime.
