| The presence of a police or other law enforcement group
was not very apparent in Ann Arbor's early days. The first militia company
formed in 1825, which Mr. E.W. Rumsey headed as Captain. |
 |
A courthouse was built in 1834 to deal with matters of
law, but residents' ideas of what should be deemed a crime differed greatly
from the ideas of today. |
|
| In 1839 it was a misdemeanor for a women to go out into
public without an escort. While a woman might sneak out alone
from time to time, they would not admit it to anyone. One woman,
a Mrs. Cummings, was bold enough to admit to the police to going to the post office.
She might have been the only woman of that time to do admit to this. |
| In the 1830s, fire companies began to form.
At first, the companies were more like
social groups. There were great competitions between firehouses to see
which could shoot water higher or further. |
 |
Community festivals often centered on the fire stations'
competitions with neighboring stations. Soon after the emergence of fire
stations came night watchmen, who protected the city property from thieves.
As crime began to escalate, the necessity
of paid police forces became more apparent (Van Der Werker 33-46). |
