The initial duties and responsibilities of early law enforcement officials in The Bahamas were extremely vast, a fact that is rather unusual by present day standards. This is true, given the fact that Constables then were required to carry out tasks ranging from fixing roads to catching stray hogs, goats and sheep. The new philosophy of community policing that many police agencies subscribe to today, has actually been in existence from the creation of the policing era.

In the 1840 Police Act, the Nassau Force was made responsible for the 24-hour policing of the Colony. This new Force was to be a day and night body instead of simply a night operation, as was the case with the former Night Guards. Members were charged with three pivotal duties that the government felt were fundamental to properly police the growing Colony. These duties included: