In December 1843, the , Illinois, city council authorized the creation of a municipal police force. Since 1841, there had been a city watch in Nauvoo; in May 1842, a regular night watch was created to protect the city. In late 1843, violence and threats of violence against in and around Nauvoo caused anxiety for JS and other church members. On 11 December 1843, Nauvoo citizens petitioned the city council for a standing police force. The next day, the city council passed an ordinance authorizing the mayor, who was JS, “to select and have in readiness for every emergency forty policemen to be at his disposal in maintaining the peace and dignity of the Citizens, and enforcing the ordinances of the . . . City.” The policemen were “to act as daily and nightly watchmen and be under the pay of said City.” On 29 December 1843, in front of the mayor and the city council, forty policemen were sworn into office with as their captain, or high policeman.

The policemen served daily until 13 January 1844, when JS “dismissed [them] from Regular duty.” After that, the police served on an as-needed basis. This change was likely prompted by a lack of funds in the city treasury to pay the police. For more information about the police force and the city’s inability to pay them, see Historical Introduction to Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; and “Introduction to Nauvoo City Treasurer Records.”

On 26 June 1844, the day before JS and were murdered, the police met and were temporarily reorganized as a force to cooperate with Captain James Singleton of the militia. Many of the policemen were also officers in the . Because the legion was on standby at this time given possible unrest surrounding the arrest of JS and Hyrum Smith, other men were appointed to the city police to replace officers in the legion. The police records include morning reports from 26 June through 6 July 1844 for police service under Captain .

Apparently, some of the temporary police appointed in June 1844 were kept on the police force after their temporary assignment, as they appear on two lists of names of policemen created in the fall of 1844. These two lists of policemen and a few other miscellaneous documents constitute the rest of the extant police records. The numerous pay orders for the police are posted with the Nauvoo City Treasury records.