Two centuries ago, gentlemen routinely carried swords or pistols to protect themselves, their families and their property. On the unlit dirt backroads of England or colonial America, armed highwaymen like Dick Turpin could demand “your money or your life!” without warning.

There was no 911. No local law enforcement or highway patrol on the roads. In colonial America, frontiersmen had to protect themselves from hostile Native American tribes, the French and wild animals—sometimes using homemade weapons. In the wild West, there were local sheriffs, and deputies if the town was big enough, but anything exceptional required the sheriff to call up a posse of armed volunteers.

This changed with the advent of the police. In 1829, British Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel founded the London Metropolitan Police, which is still headquartered in Scotland Yard. The constables he hired became known as “bobbies” or “peelers” and gradually adopted the blue uniforms with distinctive hats that we know today.

American towns, states and cities began to hire their own police forces in the following years.

The fundamental deal was that citizens gave the state a monopoly on violence and punishment, in exchange for the........

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