Lizzie Borden Society Forum

The 1892 FR City Directory lists by name the entire police force. In addition to the higher ups they list two classifications of police, patrolmen and constables.

All the names of "our guys" appear under the patrolmen category. From a quick look I couldn't see any of the names listed as constables being involved in the Borden case.

The number of constables appears to out number the patrolmen by a factor of almost 2 to 1.

Just what were constables and what were their duties?

I believe the position of constable goes back to medieval time. It may have been a part-time position (night work - the Charlie ?).
Police were a 19th century creation, needed w/ the rise of large cities.

This is from general knowledge. Why not try the Internet- Google?

Harry, I just saw this post while reviewing topics I have missed over the past several months. Where I now live in Vermont "constable" is an elected position, chosen by the voters of the town. The constable's duties include patrolling local roads, directing traffic, house checks, responding to incidents like accidents and fires, and the like. I believe constables can also serve papers, though I am not positive of that. Constables receive law enforcement training though perhaps not as much as regular police officers. As our town does not have a police force as such our first constable and second constable call on the state police for assistance when needed.

In the Fall River area the constable is the one that will usualy serve you with "papers" such as summons, divorce and eviction. A constable is a law enforcement officer that is not officialy a policeman through formal training or appointment.

Thanks you guys!
Sounds archaic!