From the 19th century through the 1920's, officers patrolled designated geographic areas on foot, daily interacting with the neighborhood residents, maintaining order, and making arrests when laws were broken on their beats. The strengths of this patrol style were officers' familiarity with the problems and people on their beat as well as citizens' ready access to police help. The weaknesses of early foot patrol were the loose supervision of officers, officers' alienation from peers and supervisors, a tendency to enforce the law selectively based on friendships, and vulnerability to payoffs. The advent of car patrol in the 1930's enhanced rapid police response, increased police accountability to departmental policy, and increased the number of patrolled areas. Experimental foot parols in Newark, N.J., and Flint, Mich., in the late 1970's reduced citizens' fear of crime, increased citizen satisfaction with the police, and improved officer work attitudes. Foot patrol has some potential for reducing telephoned calls for service. 4 references.
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