Boston Police Department is established.

Authorized by the Massachusetts legislature on May 23, 1854, its creation results in the merger of Day Police and the Night Watch. It is the first police department in a major city in the U.S. Robert Taylor is the first chief. Modeled after the London Police Department, it includes 250 officers, who are paid $2 per shift, equipped with a 14-inch long baton, prohibited from taking other employment, and first issued uniforms in 1858.* Boston Police Department headquarters are located initially in the Suffolk County Court House at 26 Court Street. They move to the Old City Hall (second) in 1865, to Pemberton Square (third) in 1883,* to Berkeley Street (fourth) in 1926,* and to Tremont Street (fifth) in 1998.*