Editing Detective (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of criminal justice}}
[[File:Allan Pinkerton-retouch.jpg|thumb|[[Allan Pinkerton]] (pictured here circa 1861) was, in 1850, a detective of the [[Chicago Police Department]] and, in 1851, the founder of the [[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton Detective Agency]].]]

Before the 19th century, there were few municipal police departments, though the first had been created in Paris as early as 1667. As police work went from being done by appointed people with help from volunteers to being done by professionals, the idea of dedicated detectives did not come up right away. The first [[private detective agency]] was founded in Paris in 1833 by [[Eugène François Vidocq]], who had headed a police agency in addition to being a criminal himself. Police detective activities were pioneered in England by the [[Bow Street Runners]] and later by the [[Metropolitan Police Service]] in Greater London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/blog/2012/07/first-english-detectives|title=The First English Detectives - History Today|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=6 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161106051400/http://www.historytoday.com/blog/2012/07/first-english-detectives|url-status=live}}</ref> The first police detective unit in the United States was formed in 1846 in Boston.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/04/28/the-incredible-untold-story-america-first-police-detectives/jewdTrdVzkQZJuVZEEc9TJ/story.html|title=The incredible untold story of America's first police detectives - The Boston Globe|website=[[The Boston Globe]]|access-date=29 October 2016|archive-date=19 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719071043/https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/04/28/the-incredible-untold-story-america-first-police-detectives/jewdTrdVzkQZJuVZEEc9TJ/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>