Page 18 - MSP Pipes & Drums 20th Anniversary Booklet

As the MSP Pipes and Drums celebrate our 20th anniversary this year, the Massachusetts State Police is
celebrating its 150th anniversary. In honor of that landmark, here is a brief history of the Nation's oldest
continual State Police Organization, the Massachusetts State Police:

On Saturday May 16, 2015, the Massachusetts State Police proudly celebrated its 150th anniversary as
the oldest state policing agency in the United States of America.

In the 1800's the common title for police officers was constable. The
Massachusetts State Police traces its origins directly through legislature to the
Massachusetts State Constabulary, the first statewide policing agency in the
nation. The creation of the State Constabulary was signed into law on May 16,
1865 by Governor John A. Andrews of Massachusetts. The establishment of a
State Police Force was needed to directly enforce state alcohol prohibition
laws that in many local jurisdictions had gone unheeded.

After the repeal of prohibition in Massachusetts, the State Constabulary became the State Detective
Force, a name change signed into law on February 13, 1875. This new state force investigated crimes at
the requests of the attorney general’s office and the county district attorneys. Many local officials were
not fond of the statewide jurisdictional benefits of the State Detective Force, which lent to its
reorganization four years later in 1879 when it was reformed legislatively as the District Police, a name
that in itself seemed to decrease the authority of the force.

The District Police enforced child labor laws at a time of mass immigration into the
United States, where children were often forced into manual labor in textile mills.
They were also called upon to support local police during labor strikes that were
common at the time. In 1888 the statewide agency was split into two distinct divisions,
the detective department; investigators that would prosecute criminals; and the division
of inspectors, who focused on labor laws and building code enforcement. At the turn of
the century in 1900, the District Police responsibilities were extended to cover the
coastal waters of Massachusetts and the steamer “Lexington” assumed patrol of the
waterways, in search of illegal fishing vessels.

On December 1, 1919, the Constitutional Convention reorganized the District Police Force into the
Department of Public Safety, which was created with three divisions- State Police, Fire Prevention and
Inspections. The invention and spreading use of the automobile lead to the need for a statewide patrol
which fell to the State Police. On May 27, 1921, Governor Channing H. Cox signed legislature creating
a State Police Patrol, and so began the history of the Uniformed Branch of the State Police.