The Washington City police who searched for John Wilkes Booth were accustomed to working 12-hour shifts seven days a week. That was their normal schedule.

The patrolmen were paid $40 a month — less than day laborers and less than half what a skilled mechanic could command. Sergeants made a little more — $600 a year.

Source: “Law and Order in the Capital City: A History of the Washington Police 1800-1866 by Kenneth G. Alfers.