Aim: The aim of this study is to present the development of the concept of law enforcement science from one period to the next, using the works of thinkers considered by the authors to be decisive, in a unique way. To demonstrate, by exploring the origins of law enforcement science, that one can only fully understand a science if one also knows its history.
Methodology: The authors of the present study, by presenting certain periods in the development of law enforcement science, juxtapose the defining ideas of nearly one hundred works, perhaps little known to many, which are of extraordinary scientific value even today.
Findings: No matter how the concept of policing may change or evolve, it still carries with it a certain essential constancy, for there are permanent tasks of policing which have been the object of „policing” activity at every stage of its development and which are still the tasks of policing, and without which policing is unimaginable.
Value: Young law enforcement academics should strive to explore the issues at stake from as many levels and perspectives as possible, with the necessary scientific rigour. The methodological approach should be based on an inquisitive attitude that seeks to understand the social phenomena that frame the reality of policing, at both institutional and individual levels. Their study will help to achieve this.