Robbers "lawfully convicted" (no vigilante justice under the statute) were punished with the "Pains of Death." By the 1767 revision of laws the list of officials that could raise the Hue and Cry also included county sheriffs, their deputies and town sergeants. There was plenty of incentive to evade capture. Bear in mind this was an era long before professional police forces or even uniforms existed, any casual observer unacquainted with the participants involved would have been hard put to even identify the constables in charge from the rest of the posse. Watching the apprehension of a robber under the Hue and Cry would probably look to us more like a mob or a riot. As long as the constables had made an effort, the town was off the hook for the resident's loss. ![]() Here is the etymology and some history about the "Hue and Cry," one of many pre-modern institutions that was carried across the colonial Atlantic and became part of Rhode Island's pre-industrial culture, an era where the common folk were expected literally to help police their own communities (thanks going to Michael Quinion's World Wide Words for that brilliant explanation).īeginning in 1728 constables were designated the local Rhode Island officials responsible for raising the "Hue and Cry" and leading the chase after robbers "caught in the act." Raising the Hue and Cry not only might lead to the apprehension of the criminal, but it also indemnified the town for the money and property stolen.
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