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Right right - as I said, "recently have they come to resemble police." But I think that the distinction is still important as we talk about abolishing police.

• skissane 6y ago
  In Westerns, the Sheriff is investigating everything from petty thefts to murders. In many places, that was all the police they had. Is that historically accurate? Pretty much, yes. The modern concept of a police force only began in the 19th century, and at first they only existed in larger cities. As separate police forces were established, Sheriffs began to perform less policing functions, and yield more of that jurisdiction to the newly established police forces. But, in many rural parts of the US, county sheriffs are the only local law enforcement, performing all police functions, and the same was true 150 years ago. The innovation of separate police forces never arrived in underpopulated rural areas. So I think the history is the opposite of what you think–sheriffs performing general policing functions actually used to be more common than it is now.