Motorized vs Foot Patrol and the Effects on Public Perception
on Law Enforcement
Abstract:
The year is 2020 and police and community tensions could not be any higher. Almost nightly, news headlines cloud our social media accounts with titles with language like “More Police Protests End in Bloodshed,” and “Armed Rioters Shoot at Police.” These headlines are not new to Americans in this country as altercations between the everyday citizen and police officers have existed since the Reconstruction period in America in the late 19th century. Some of this added tension between the police and the people can be attributed to the way in which the police now patrol the streets. This senior thesis will examine which form of police patrol is most favored by the American public, by examining scholarly works, as well as field studies involving the opinions of the American people. At the start of policing in America, the main form of police patrol was on foot, making the police more accessible and friendly in the eyes of the public. In the 1930s most law enforcement precincts in America began to switch to a new form of patrol called motorized patrol in which the police are more isolated, and are seen as less friendly in the eyes of the public which has been reported in numerous studies. This senior thesis argues that over the course of history, public perceptions of the police have declined due to the changing in the way that police patrol the streets, and the American public is ultimately in favor of the reintroduction of foot patrol officers more widely.