BLACKMAIL - Clans routinely battled each other in 16th century Scotland. There wasn't a lot of law enforcement, so if a marauder said, "Pay me this money and I'll make sure nobody steals your cattle, 'you paid him, especially because the subtext was really, 'Pay me and I won't steal them myself.' The Scottish word for payment was maill, and black referred to the underhanded nature of the exchange, similar to its useage in black market. Over time, blackmail morphed to mean…

The line that divided lawmen from the lawless was often indistinguishable on the Western Frontier and Dallas Stoudenmire walked that line until he was murdered on the streets of El Paso in 1882.

A Southern Gentleman born in Macon County, Alabama in 1845, Dallas Stoudenmire regarded the carrying out of the law as purely black and white, and though he had his own demons, when challenged by scofflaws, drunks, rustlers, and gunmen, he dispensed quick justice from the muzzles of two…

E.P.P.D. – 1880 – Let’s Try It Again…

El Paso’s First Police Motorcycle…

Municipal police forces across the country began making significant progress in the 1930s. Salariesbegan to improve, political influence was eased, new equipment was adopted, internal reforms started and the necessity for training became recognized as imperative. Spurred by the Wickersham Commission Reports, the police…