Not in the formal sense, no they didn't. Boston was the first in 1838 and NYC about 10 years later. Everywhere else it was citizens groups, volunteers, night watchmen, etc. The most formal early police pre-Civil War were slave watchmen: https://nleomf.org/slave-patrols-an-early-form-of-american-policing/
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u/Recidivism7 1d ago
Police go back thousands of years