Evening star., 1937-01-10
By Stanley Johnson.

walked out of a filling station,
satisfied that the job was
done and that their escape
would be easy. Nine minutes later
two of them were in a cell and a
doctor was working over the third.
Behind this split-second arrest was
the work Of the modern mounted
police, the men in radio-equipped
cars and motor cycles who patrol the
streets of busy cities. They don't
have to report to headquarters" for
orders, for from loudspeaker in
front of them booms the laconic
voice of the police announcer: Car
nine, go to Tenth and Dodge; stick
up"
OF course. it IS not always possible
to apprehend and jail criminal in
less than a quarter of an hour. but
invariably the use Of police radio
saves precious minutes. In the holdup
Of the filling station, part of the
credit for the quick arrest must be
given to wide-awake 9-year old
boy who witnessed the crime.
The boy was quick witted enough
to notice the license number on the
bandits car. AS soon as he saw them
leave the station he ran in and gave
the number to the station attendant,
The attendant telephoned the police.
TWO officers in a cruiser" only
short distance away picked
up the call and Immediately began
the chase. Since the license number
checked with the one which they had
received, the officers were certain
that they were chasing the right
car and opened fire when the driver
refused to stop. The bandits were
captured after one of them had been
wounded by shotgun slugs tearing
through the back of the car.
Police radio, 10 years ago an ex-
pertinent in the hands of few far
seeing police departments, is now
part of the laW-enforcement ma
chinery of almost every large city
in the United States. It has given
the police a new weapon: the ability
to strike with the lightning speed of
radio while the trail is still "hot"
and criminals are close to the scene
Of the crime.
Although the systems in some cities
are more complicated than those in
others, the underlying set-up is the
same in all Of them. When trouble
is reported to the police station
whether it be a million-dollar robbery
or a cat stranded on top of a tele-
phone pole-a short-wave transmitter
takes the air and a police car or
motor cycle unit is ordered to investi-
gate. Both cars and motor cycles are
equipped with radio tuned to the
police broadcasting station, and each
has a certain district or area to
patrol. Knowing approximately where
each one is, the announcer is able
to order investigation by the nearest
unit.
THE police radio system in some
cities are so complete that not
even the "cop on the corner" has
DSCAi ICSlCCCCu. AS Ilc Walks Ills DedL,
he listens to the police radio station by
means of an extremely light and COM
pact receiver which is as much a part
OF his equipment as his club or his
handouts.
Some cities have recently installed
ultra-Short wave sets. With these,
officers in cruising police cars arc
able not only to receive instructions,
but also to "talk back" and report
the progress Of the investigation. The
cars are equipped with ultra short
wave enthusiastically miniature
broadcasting stations-which auto
matically go on the air when the
officer picks up a French-type tele-
phone.
OF course. there were many prob
lens, both technical and non-techni-
cal, which had to be overcome be-
fore police radio systems could be
put into operation. One Of the nom
technical problems was that of pre-
venting criminals from equipping their
cars with short-wave radios and
listening in" to police broadcasts.
At first, an effort was made to stop
this practice by making it unlawful
to have short-Wave set in an auto
mobile. This worked such a hardship
on radio amateurs and others with a
legitimate interest in short-wave re-