Electric Police Patrol Wagon. It has Reduced Crime.
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The city of Akron, Ohio, which is known so widely as a centre of the tyre manufacturing industry in the United States, claims to be the first authority in the world to adopt a self-propelled vehicle for police uses. The motor has been in service since October, ii8g8, and is credited by the Head Constable with having contributed not a little to the marked diminution of crime in the city. It seems that a ride in the electric patrol wagon is even more distasteful to persons who are arrested than appearance in court itself—a fact which is probably accounted for by the attention drawn to their passage throueh the streets. The wagon is fitted with a battery of 40 cells, grouped in parallel, these having: a capacity of 6o ampere-hours on a three-hours' discharge. The current is supplied to two motors of the iron-clad type, each being of 4h.p., and an average speed of nine miles an hour is maintained.
On one occasion a mob of rioters attempted to lay hands on a negro criminal who was being conveyed to the station in the wagon. The brass rails and coach-work were damaged by bullets, stones, and other missiles; but the crowd did not effect the desired capture. Had the wagon been of the horse-drawn type, there is no question that the anima's would have been stopped and lynch law applied.
Many of the cities and towns in the U.S.A. are now in possession of similar vehicles of an up-to-date character.