The political era was from 1840-1920. The name for this era is due to “the close association between police and political leaders. With this era the “political corruption flourished”. Coming from the fact I live in Illinois, which I believe is the most corrupt state there is, this has definitely played in a negative way in today’s system. During the political era Boston had the “first formal police department”. It was 1844, when “New York established the first police force offering 24 hour protection”. During the era is also when the Chicago police department was established, they also had the great Chicago fire and they hired women for their police force. Finally for the political era and how it has affected the system today. I still see corruption being a big issue at least in my state, were at least once or twice a year we are hearing about another political person doing something wrong. The most recent being our former Governor Blagojevich, who was trying to sell President Obama’s senate seat for a profit. So in my eyes the political era played and is still playing a negative role in today’s society. The reform era took place after the political era and it lasted from 1920-1970. During this era “reformers attempted to redefine the role and function of the police. While this era was happening the police seemed to be trying to turn things around and gain some professionalism. It was the twentieth century when the reform era started to gain some momentum and political started to not play the big role in policing as it did during the political era. It was 1920 when the reform era came to “full bloom and police administrators struggled to establish members of their field as “professionals” rather than simply as person working at a job. During this era there were a few professional organizations that emerged, like The Association of Chiefs Police.