The 'Fergeson effect'

trickoftrade01,

Interesting theory, but not quite accurate. Most police departments in the US have arrest quotas and many departments incentivize arrests with overtime pay, euphemistically called "collars for dollars." The processing of a perp and taking him to court is the bread and butter of the policeman. It's common practice in NYC, for a detective to make his arrests towards the end of an eight hour tour to maximize his overtime pay. Over the course of a year, a cop can earn $10-30,000 in overtime. Maybe a year's college tuition for their child.

There are, indeed, instances where a cop will avoid unnecessary risk. For instance, if called to a crime, and say, the cop catches a suspect who is bleeding, more than likely the cop will summon an ambulance rather than take the suspect into custody where he would have to explain the suspect's injury to superiors. That never happened years ago.

As you say, "pro-active" policing was the norm in the days of THE FRENCH CONNECTION. But even then, it would have been unlikely that Doyle would have pistol-whipped the drug pusher out in the open as he does early in the film. Police were more noted for taking the suspect back to the precinct's basement or interrogation room for a private session in behavioral modification. A major abuse of cops of the 60s and 70s was the use of the "flake." That is, when frisking a suspect, a cop would plant the drugs in the suspect's pocket. Later, during a second frisk, a fellow officer would find the drugs and substantiate the charge.