Parts of it go back to Prohibition too. The original push to get police into cars was partially just to let them cover more ground. But part of it was that ca

Parts of it go back to Prohibition too. The original push to get police into cars was partially just to let them cover more ground. But part of it was that cars would separate them from the neighborhoods they covered a bit and prevent them from absorbing local mores about what sorts of activities were harmless instead of what the law said.