Police power 1660577 224261863 2008-07-08T01:31:09Z Eastlaw 1046972 removed inappropriate, irrelevant external link {{expert-subject|Law Enforcement}} {{global|United States heavy article}} '''Police power''' is the capacity of a [[state]] to [[regulate]] behaviours and enforce order within its [[territory]], often framed in terms of [[public welfare]], [[security]], [[morality]], and [[safety]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title =Police Power| encyclopedia =Encyclopedia Britannica|url =http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060615/police-power| accessdate = 2007-02-08}}</ref> Police power is legally considered an inherent power, limited only by prohibitions specified in the [[constitution]] of a state, making it the most expansive authorized power exercised by a state.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} The concept of police power (or simply "police") in [[England|English]] [[common law]] dates back at least four centuries<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title =Police Power| encyclopedia =Encyclopedia of Public Health| publisher =Answers.com| url =http://www.answers.com/topic/police-power| accessdate = 2007-02-08}}</ref> and roughly coincides with the breakdown of the [[feudalism|feudal order]] in [[Europe]] and the development of [[town]]s and [[cities]] ''(polis)''.<ref>{{cite book| last =Neocleous| first =Mark| title =Fabricating Social Order: A Critical History of Police Power| publisher =Pluto Press| date =2004| location =London| pages =1| id = ISBN 978-0-7453-1489-1}}</ref> The exercise of police power can be in the form of making [[laws]], compelling [[obedience]] to those laws through [[violence#law|physical means]] with the aim of removing liberty, legal [[sanctions]], or other forms of [[coercion]] and inducements. Controversies over the exercise of police power, particularly the use of physical means, arise when it conflicts with the [[rights]] of sub-national states and [[individuals]] or [[civil liberties]], such as the police power of [[States' rights|American states]] for example, or [[police brutality]]. In [[United States|American]] legal history, police power has a particular significance for interpreting the [[United States Constitution|constitutional]] [[Federation|division of power]]. Nineteenth-century [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] rulings confirmed that the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]] had certain powers delegated by the constitution, but that all unspecified regulatory powers, or "police power," rested with the states. The concept was expanded in the [[New Deal]] era to grant police power to the federal government under the [[commerce clause]] of the constitution, extending it to the provision of services to enhance public welfare.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title =Police Power| encyclopedia =Encyclopedia of American History| publisher =Answers.com| url =http://www.answers.com/topic/police-power| accessdate = 2007-02-08}}</ref> US courts now rely on a "[[balance of interests]]" doctrine to settle contests over police power.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| title =Police Power| encyclopedia =Encyclopedia Britannica|url =http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9060615/police-power| accessdate = 2007-02-08}}</ref> ===Delegation of power of self defense=== French Economist [[Frédéric Bastiat]] advanced the following democratic theory of police power in his 1849 book, ''[[The Law (1849 book)|The Law]]''.<ref>See [http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/library/thelaw.html The Law], by [[Frédéric Bastiat]]</ref>: The police power is essentially derived from the individual power of self-defense. If someone attacks you, he argues, you have a right, given to you by [[God]]<ref>[http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/library/thelaw.html#What_is The Law, Chapter 3]</ref>, to use force to resist, or detain this person, and as people come together by [[compact]] to form democratic forms of [[self-rule]], it becomes practical for citizens to delegate this power to an external body, such as to a militia or police force. ==Uses of police power== The most common use of police power over [[real property]] is for the adoption and enforcement of [[zoning]] regulations, [[building code]]s, and environmental protection regulations, by [[Local government|local]], [[Administrative division|regional]], and [[Country|national governments]]. Other uses of the police power include [[public health]] regulations, [[vice laws]], [[traffic laws]], and [[family law]]. However, it is impossible to give a complete list of the uses of police power because a state can write any command or prohibition as a law and make people obey it, as long as such laws do not contradict constitutions or other laws with precedent. == Police power in the United States == Under the [[10th Amendment to the United States Constitution]], the powers prohibited from or not delegated to the Federal Government are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. This implies that the states do not possess all possible powers, since some of these are reserved to the people. The powers reserved to the states by the Constitution, include all powers the states retained prior to 1789 (''[[U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton]]''). The framers of the [[U.S. Constitution]] believed that the states were empowered, like the [[British Parliament]], with general authority to act on behalf of the welfare of their people but, unlike the British Parliament, subject to the restrictions of written state and federal constitutions. Police powers are, from the point of view of state courts, also restricted by state constitutions. The concept of police power is used by federal courts which do not have jurisdiction to interpret state constitutions: from the point of view of federal constitutional law, states have general police powers except where restricted by the federal Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has often held that police powers are limited, even before reaching specific Constitutional provisions. One of many such statements: :[[Police]] powers, broadly stated and without, at present, any attempt at a more specific limitation, relate to the safety, health, morals and general welfare of the public. [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0198_0045_ZO.html] Cases such as ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'' suggest that intimate morals are no longer a legitimate subject of the police power except to the extent that health or safety are involved. Because the [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] has limited powers granted in the Constitution, the Federal government does not have a general police power, as the states do. The exceptions are laws regarding Federal property and the military. On the other hand, Congress was granted by the New Deal Court a broad quasi-police authority from its power to regulate [[interstate commerce]] and raise and spend revenue. ==See also== *[[Law and order (politics)]] *[[Police]] ==References== {{reflist}} {{Law}} [[Category:Law enforcement]] [[Category:Legal principles]] [[Category:Public law]]