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If I'm remembering correctly, an ex-Seattle police chief wrote in his book that vehicle-based policing is at least partly (if not more so) driven by "consumer"

by percept 10y ago

If I'm remembering correctly, an ex-Seattle police chief wrote in his book that vehicle-based policing is at least partly (if not more so) driven by "consumer" demand, i.e., people want a response to their calls now. NYPD did something almost like this with: http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/nypd-skywatch-tower-comes-to-clinton-hill/ http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/nypd-skyw... But it received a negative response from several directions.

sandworm101 10y ago
It was also a reaction to corruption amongst officers walking a fixed beat. Community policing is all well and good, under you realize that having only a handful of officers dedicated to a small area is a breading ground for corruption and cover-up. Using vehicles means that stations can be larger, more centralized/supervised, with officers rotated amongst different areas. But I doubt any former officer writing a book would have mentioned such things.
- r00fus 10y ago
  Why would localization have a big impact? In this day and age, if there's corruption to be contended with, it'll be with large monied interests that often span localities. Honestly, the people being policed simply don't have input into oversight. That's the root cause of corruption.
  - sandworm101 10y ago
    If you read police/legal history, the issue is with the very very small beats. When there is only one officer assigned to a particular street, what do residents do when that officer is the problem? One early answer was to give them mechanical watches and regiment exactly when and where they were to stand during the beat. But that too led to problems as officers prioritized the schedule over actual policing. It's a very interesting history whereby the trust pendulum has swung back and forth many times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28police%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28police%29
    - gozur88 10y ago
      Yeah. Once you have small groups of officers in the same area for a length of time you start getting pressure on local businesses to contribute to the "widows and orphans" fund.
      - r00fus 10y ago
        I get that today via mailers. Once we accidentally committed to a donation (did not actually donate), now they are ceaseless in their fundraising efforts.

by percept 10y ago

sandworm101 10y ago

It was also a reaction to corruption amongst officers walking a fixed beat. Community policing is all well and good, under you realize that having only a handful of officers dedicated to a small area is a breading ground for corruption and cover-up. Using vehicles means that stations can be larger, more centralized/supervised, with officers rotated amongst different areas. But I doubt any former officer writing a book would have mentioned such things.

r00fus 10y ago
Why would localization have a big impact? In this day and age, if there's corruption to be contended with, it'll be with large monied interests that often span localities. Honestly, the people being policed simply don't have input into oversight. That's the root cause of corruption.
- sandworm101 10y ago
  If you read police/legal history, the issue is with the very very small beats. When there is only one officer assigned to a particular street, what do residents do when that officer is the problem? One early answer was to give them mechanical watches and regiment exactly when and where they were to stand during the beat. But that too led to problems as officers prioritized the schedule over actual policing. It's a very interesting history whereby the trust pendulum has swung back and forth many times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28police%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28police%29
  - gozur88 10y ago
    Yeah. Once you have small groups of officers in the same area for a length of time you start getting pressure on local businesses to contribute to the "widows and orphans" fund.
    - r00fus 10y ago
      I get that today via mailers. Once we accidentally committed to a donation (did not actually donate), now they are ceaseless in their fundraising efforts.