ACAT Criminal Justice Practice Test

This question tests understanding of how medieval offices evolved into modern law enforcement titles. The Shire Reeve was the king’s official responsible for a county (the shire) in Anglo-Saxon England, tasked with maintaining order, collecting taxes, and carrying out royal judgments. Over time, the term was shortened and transformed into sheriff, becoming the standard name for the county-level law enforcement official we recognize today. So, the Shire Reeve is the ancestor of the modern sheriff, sharing the same role as the monarch’s representative in enforcing law and order in a county. The other options come from different traditions: a constable has a separate medieval origin, a watchman is a nighttime local patrol, and Comes Stabuli was a Roman/Byzantine guard, not the English county administrator who evolved into the sheriff.