Boston Night Watch is established.

[7/26-Thwing] The oldest police force in the British Colonies, the volunteer organization is described as, “a court of Guard upon the Neck, between Roxburie and Boston, whereupon shall always be resident an officer and six men . . . [on duty] “from sunne sett an houre after beating of the drumbe.” Two of the men are to be in Boston, two in Charlestown, and two in Roxbury. By 1635, all property-owning men are required to take a turn in the watch. Members are authorized to carry a “Hook with a Bill” in 1701. They are first paid in 1703, watch houses are established in other parts of the town in 1723,* and the watch is increased to 16 members in 1736.