By this I do not mean the street officers (known as Policemen) were brutal for they were not. They were believers in the law and the obediance thereof. They were almost all veterans of WWII. They went from wearing one uniform to another.

Footbeat cops were revered. They knew the life and style of everyone on their beat. They recognized strangers immediately and could tell the good guys from the bad guys in the blink of an eye. Patrol officers rode in silence, interrupted only by the sounds of the police radio. They knew how to listen to and observe the street. They saw crime in progress. They acted by instinct, and criminals went to jail, usually without so much as a wimper, let alone a fight.

It went on like this for decades until the mid 80s when respect for the street officer started to deteriorate, accellerated by the lack of support from the brass. When disrespect for authority became more commonplace, crime began to rise. The primary tools of the policeman, his keen powers of observation, were dulled by monotony and tedium. Paperwork became the order of the day. Airconditioned comfort, chetter and conversation further limited the policeman’s knowledge of the street.

Finally, today, the average police officer (note the correct term was replaced with politically correct people and politically correct terminology) rolls from mundane radio call to mundale radio call, handling issues that people used to be able to deal with themselves. They go merrily along in cool comfort typing away at their electronic leash now fully insulated from the public they swore to protect. Seperated from the street by steel and glass, they no longer know the people, they cannot identify the criminal, and they could care less.

Thanks to the “wussification” of command personnel, the Chief has been forced to be a political puppet of the Mayor, the Council, and the ever-present Police Commission.

I’m not sure what Mr. Dunphy thinks, but in my humble opinion, the last Chief of the LAPD was Daryl F. Gates and even he took a beating from the political machine that suffocates this city.

It is not what it was. That is a certainty and it may not necessarily be a good thing.

COMSTAT may report crime is down but is it really? Could it be that the numbers were skewed all along?

Bratton brought the bean counters with him. Unlike many before them, these guys actually know how to count. The numbers now recorded are more accurate than ever and actually reflect the true sense of the street. Using the computer, the police department can feel the street and know where things are happening and where they’re going to happen.

Just like the footbeat policeman of the 70s.