State v. Grant

At common law and by statute, the duties of police officers and constables have long been those of “conservators of the peace.” RSA 105:3; Sheriffs and Constables s. 3, 80 C.J.S. 154. At least as early as 1842 they were authorized to make regulations in the interest of public safety (R.S., c. 114, s. 7 (1842)), and in 1877 the Legislature extended the authority to regulations “for determining the time of night at which . . . eating-houses and restaurants shall be closed, and prohibiting the keeping open such places on the Lord’s day.” Laws 1877, c. 30; RSA 105:6. The right of a city to…