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Acity guard,city watch,town guard, ortown watch were localmilitia companies formed to enforce municipal laws. Usually subordinate to the localmunicipal government, many cities had their own guard formations which doubled as police and military forces in times of need.
After 1830, with theIndian removal policy of the federal government giving white settlers a monopoly over the land east of the Mississippi, many states disbanded their unorganized militias in favor of volunteer militia units who frequently called themselves city or national guards.[1] These companies performed functions such as assisting local law enforcement, providing troops for ceremonies andparades or acting as a benevolentsocial club. The groups ofcompany size were usually uniformed and armed themselves as well as erecting armories through their own contributions. Volunteer units of sufficient size could elect their own officers and apply for a state charter under names that they themselves chose.[2][3]
With the unification of laws and centralization of state power (such as the Municipal Police Act of 1844 inNew York City), such formations became increasingly incorporated into state-run police forces.
TheMilitia Act of 1903 remade city guard forces by stipulating all organized militia companies were to be incorporated into theArmy National Guard orNaval Militias.
