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Apatrol is commonly a group of personnel, such aslaw enforcement officers,military personnel, orsecurity personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area.[1]
The word "patrol" is derived from theFrench wordpatrouiller, itself derived from theOld French wordpatouiller meaning "to paddle, paw about, patrol", which is in turn frompatte, "a paw".
Inmilitary tactics, apatrol is asub-subunit or small tactical formation, sent out from amilitary organization by land, sea or air for the purpose of combat,reconnaissance, or a combination of both. The basic task of a patrol is to follow a known route with the purpose of investigating some feature of interest or, in the assignment of afighting patrol (U.S.combat patrol), to find and engage the enemy. A patrol can also mean a smallcavalry orarmouredunit, subordinate to atroop orplatoon, usually comprising asection orsquad of mounted troops, or twoarmoured fighting vehicles (oftentanks).
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In non-militarylaw enforcement,patrol officers arepolice officers (or, for private entities,security guards) assigned to monitor specified geographic areas. In this instance,patrol refers to the action ofpatrolling—that is, to move through their assigned areas at regular intervals to detect or prevent violations of the law or problems of any kind.
Patrol officers are the most recognizable members of thepolice, and are the government officials encountered most frequently by the public. Their duties include responding tocalls for service, makingarrests, resolving disputes, issuingtickets, takingcrime reports, conductingtraffic enforcement, investigatingcrimes, and conductingcrime prevention measures. A patrol officer is often thefirst responder on the scene of any incident, and their actions can greatly affect the outcome of the investigation, as well as the lives and safety of themselves and others. Patrols are often done with the intent ofcommunity policing, to improve relations between police and the public.[2]
Patrol officers may conduct patrolson foot, whilemounted, riding apolice motorcycle orbicycle, driving apolice car, crewing apolice watercraft, or piloting apolice aircraft, depending on the unit they are assigned to or theiragency's capabilities. They may or may not be armed or uniformed. A study conducted byTemple University and thePhiladelphia Police Department in the mid-2000s has shown that foot patrols reduce crime more than other methods.[3]
Someelementary schools utilize the termpatrol to refer to students who are selected to monitor safety in theclassroom or to those students who assistcrossing guards with safety of children crossing busy nearbystreets. Another common term for this use of patrol ishall monitor.
InScouting, apatrol is six to eightScouts (youth members) under the leadership of one of their number who is appointed Patrol Leader and supported by a Second or Assistant Patrol Leader. This is the basic unit of aScout troop. Thepatrol method is an essential characteristic of Scouting by which it differs from all other organizations, using the natural dynamics of thegang for an educational purpose.[4]
