Constable

[Fr. connétable; O. Fr. connes table; Lat. comes stabuli. In the Middle Ages, an officer under certain European crowns, who had the command of the army, and the cognizance of military matters, and who was judge of the court of chivalry; as, the Constable of France, Lord High Constable of England, Constable of the Tower of London, . ( Eng . Law .) A police officer or person placed in charge of the public peace; more properly applied, at the present time, to a petty officer who keeps the peace in a parish or rural district. (Amer. Law.) In the U. States, generally, a petty officer, whose duties include a limited judicial power as conservator of the peace, a ministerial power for the service of writs, ., and some other duties not strictly referable to either of these heads. They are authorized to arrest, without warrant, on a reasonable suspicion of felony, for offences against the peace committed in their presence, and in various other cases.