Large agencies placed them on rolodexes in order by license plate for quick referral. Smaller agencies had nothing to check for wanted or stolen. The teletypes were data processing tape machines where messages were relayed. Wanted posters were all that you had to identify the bad guys. As you can see we have come a long way.
Law enforcement is a profession with professional requirements.
Our officers of today are better educated, better trained and much better able to render public safety than those officers of the past. What puzzles me is that the image of law enforcement and public perception of our officers today is not as good as those of the past. I can only speculate on what caused this. One of my thoughts is that we are not forced to communicate with those that we meet as in the past. I recall that most of my fugitives and stolen car recoveries were based on interviewing, without the person knowing he was being interviewed.