Suburbia 911

Joe Friday and Streebeck, Cagney and Lacey, Crocket and Tubbs, Turner and Hooch. The cops of our popular culture always came in two's. Partners came with the territory. Sometimes they were loved, sometimes they were loathed, but you always had a partner. Whole episodes were dedicated to the apprehension that came with the assigning of a new partner, the guy with whom you'd work long hours, shoot the shit, and who would get coffee while you held down the Chevy Caprice in front of a perp's place of residence.

I've noticed that backup is a bit further away when you work the mean streets of suburbia. It's now routine in such areas to see police officers patrolling all by their lonesome issuing tickets and tracking down vandals. And this isn't simply a matter of the times. Show me a car pulled over by a single officer in Washington D.C., and I'll show you a movie set that closely resembles D.C.

Perhaps such a change doesn't seem to be anything of note. There is less violent crime in the suburbs, and therefore, leaner units can do the job. I think that logic is overly simplistic. When I think of a cop patrolling alone, I think of a person who spends the majority of their life sitting in a crappy automobile, zoning out the background noise of incessant radio chatter so that they can listen to the voices in their heads, innocuous or otherwise. It's not that I have anything against cops. I'm just saying near-solitary confinement (they can't even listen to music) is no way to live, especially when a loaded Beretta is always at arm's length. Think about it next time you see a lone police officer sitting in his cruiser in the most remote spot at a baseball field near year. What the fuck is going through that armed jackal's mind right now? Best to steer clear.