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“Law and Order” This historical lecture is divided into two parts reflecting on the formation of Huntington’s government and law enforcement agencies. Part I- GOVERNMENT
 Government is defined as the process within a group for making and enforcing decisions that affect human behavior. Groups of people from a family to a nation have rules of conduct to govern the lives of its members. Governments create rules of conduct making it possible for the people in a community to live together without conflict. Part 1 of this lecture retraces the formation of Huntington’s town government from the “town meetings” in 1653, Duke’s Laws 1644-1691, Town Trustees 1688, to the present Town Board Part II- LAW ENFORCEMENT
 Every level of government, federal, state, county, or local, has a police system to enforce laws. Each agency is responsible only to the officials of its division of government. Although there is no central agency controlling the police system, all police agencies cooperate with each other exchanging information on criminals and crime statistics. Local police forces are supported by community taxes and vary in size depending on the size and type of community they serve and the number of people in it. At one time, their formal training was mostly on-the-job experience. Present day police have training programs teaching all aspects of police work. Regardless of the training method, the result was a dedicated community helper enforcing laws, preventing crime, and protecting the lives and property of the people they serve. Part II retraces the formation of Huntington’s law enforcement agency from the first marshal in 1660, the first constable in 1663, the first official police officer in 1913, the formation of the Huntington Police Department in 1933, to the formation of the Suffolk County Police Department. |