9. The police
Examples of how cities and towns were protected by their police forces in the past abound in films from their respective eras. Policemen once walked their beats, communicating with their precinct houses through call boxes. They knew the people who resided within their beat, their habits and tendencies, their schedules and places of work. Officers knew the merchants, and other businesses along the streets they patrolled. They often resorted to solving problems without referring to the courts, almost unthinkable today. In many films, such as Going My Way, the beat cop (as they were known) worked with local churches and other entities to resolve issues including juvenile delinquency, homelessness, and helping the poor.
Films also depicted the problem of police corruption, from political machines and organized crime. Bribing officers to look the other way, a common plot device from the 1930s on, featured in many films. Gradually, in cities and towns and in the films made within them the police moved in to patrol cars, and the walking beat cop faded from the scene. Radios replaced the call box as the primary means of communication with headquarters. Films recorded the changes as they occurred. Older movies are a window into a simpler time, when police officers did not wear bulletproof vests as part of their standard uniform when patrolling their beats.