Police methodology has come a long way from the neighborhood foot patrolman. Today, reported criminal incidents in big cities are fed into computers, with whereabouts and crime patterns flashed on video screens and mobile tactical patrols dispatched by a communications network. But law-enforcement sophistication may have come full circle. A federally funded pilot program in St. Louis seems to be demonstrating that there is still no crime deterrent like the cop on the beat.
St. Louis abandoned foot patrolmen in all but downtown business areas some 15 years ago. Even so, explains Police Chief Eugene Camp, "every time I...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
