Foot Patrol

[ArkansasFan24]

How many of you guys walk a beat, or is that still done? Bicycles seem to be more of the "in thing."

The reason I ask is I'm curious how much area (miles, blocks...?) a foot patrolman is supposed to cover.

[madcat816]

I work a foot post in Manhattan and by me its not really how far you have to cover, but how many times you cover the area you have.

You could have a 2 block stretch on an avenue and still get a lot of walking done during your tour. I guess it depends on the person really.

[iamacop]

I just got selected for a new downtown walking beat/unit. We really don't know what to expect, but they also want us bike certified, so guess we'll see..

[nobodyjr]

We have one walking unit left in the city. He drives a car but does a lot of foot patrol during that time in a beach area.

I did about an hour a day of foot patrol while working a beat. Now I'm on my bike, which is much better in every way than foot patrol, and in many ways better (more effective) than a car.

[ateamer]

We don't have any regular foot beats, but most beats have places where foot patrol is still done. I like to do foot patrol in shopping centers and get to know the store employees and owners. We do foot patrol on the beaches, too.

[Five-0fromSoCal]

We have foot beats on the Metro Rails (subways, light rail). We also have them at Universal City Walk and various patrol stations during certain times of the season.

[Feb2nd1979]

At least once a night I pick a area ( apts, problem street, etc...) in my beat which has been having issues and do a foot patrol with a partner. You come up on intresting things you wouldn't see patroling in the vehicle.

[creolecop]

At least once a night I pick a area ( apts, problem street, etc...) in my beat which has been having issues and do a foot patrol with a partner. You come up on intresting things you wouldn't see patroling in the vehicle.

+1, I team up with a partner and we pick different areas to walk through, IE.....projects, bad apts, dark foot traffic corners at o'dark 30. We call it fishing the stock (like fishing in a stocked pond ) guaranteed to catch something good. Walking up on crimes in progress is priceless.

[PtlCop]

+1, I team up with a partner and we pick different areas to walk through, IE.....projects, bad apts, dark foot traffic corners at o'dark 30. We call it fishing the stock (like fishing in a stocked pond ) guaranteed to catch something good. Walking up on crimes in progress is priceless.

I love that! There are few things that make me love this job more than walking up on some guy tryin to break into a house or car. When he sees you and you guys look at each other, and he has that moment where his fight or flight sense is tryin to figure out what to do. It's great.

There are times you get this type of thing in a car, but not many. Bicycles and foot patrols are excellent in high crime areas.

[ArkansasFan24]

Well, yeah, I've worked downtown areas on foot at times albeit having been assigned to a car, done the mall thing, Walmart, seasonal, etc.

This came to mind because I walked a half-mile loop around a little, rural town last week, and I began to wonder how much area an officer on foot could cover including how many times the officer might revisit the same area in a given shift.

[Blizzination]

+1, I team up with a partner and we pick different areas to walk through, IE.....projects, bad apts, dark foot traffic corners at o'dark 30. We call it fishing the stock (like fishing in a stocked pond ) guaranteed to catch something good. Walking up on crimes in progress is priceless.

I started doing this with my partner...one night we did it 3 or 4 times, which really sucked. Because right as we reached the half way point, or the "point of no return" as it's sometimes called, we ended up with a priority call and hoofing it back to the cars.

We do happen upon stuff sometimes though

[Thin Blue Line]

I'm required to do foot patrol every shift and make community contacts. Some officers hate that requirement, but you would be amazed at how much information and how many informants I get from that.

[ShantyIrish]

The malls here have details assigned. They walk.
Patrol drives/bikes. There is PWT. Park, Walk, Talk that is supposed to be done every once in a while if you cover a shopping district.

There are no dedicated foot patrols out in the street.

[PPDSWD]

I walk the beat a few times a month depending on our vehicle situation. Some times we don't have enough cars so someone has to hoof it.

[just joe]

I try to cover an area roughly four blocks by four blocks.