According to George T. Felkenes and Paul M. Whisenand (1972), the authors of “Police Patrol Operations”, “The police are recognized as the only agency of government that has a twenty-four hour a day presence in the community, That will usually respond quickly to a call for assistance and that has sufficiently broad activity-whether real or imagined- to permit effective action in resolving conflicts and in obtaining needed services.” This is quite amazing to many people because there are very few agencies out there that run on a constant basis. Not only do they run on a constant basis but at the same time they are protecting and serving the people. Once of the main and most important functions of policing is the patrol function. Without patrol there is no policing.
Policing is essentially considered a patrol service which is the nucleus of a department, with various specialized activates developed around it as aids. (Iannone, 1975 p. 5)
“The main functions of patrol are the prevention and repression of criminal, the maintenance of the peace, and the protection of life and property” (Iannone, 1975 p5). In any American community with a police department, the patrol officer would be primarily responsible for the previously listed functions. Astoundingly the patrolman serves one of the most important roles in law enforcement. Even though a patrolman is at the bottom of the chain of command his duty is of great significance.
The patrol function can be found in organized police forces throughout history. After all since the down of mankind people have found it necessary to protect themselves from danger. Patrol function can be traced back to the Ancient Greek’s, Roman’s, and the Egyptian’s
Police Patrol in America
(Iannone, 1975). In Rome for example, under the reign o Augustus, the police were a dominant stabilizing force. After the fall of Rome however all traces of an organized police force were gone. Hundreds of years would pass until an organized...