On this, the eighth day of the Fenty administration, the Examiner poses an interesting question about the promised increase in beat-walking cops. The strategy is a hallmark of new Police Chief Cathy Lanier‘s community policing plan for a safer city.

Officials haven’t said where they’ll be targeting, but the paper lists ten likely areas of increased presence, including Chinatown, Adams Morgan, and Takoma Park.

The law enforcement theory behind assigned beats says they’re most effective in business districts, public housing and areas of high pedestrian traffic. Under these criteria, the U street corridor seems like an important omission. Is this because there’s already a glut of crime fighters in the area, or is it really quite safe?

With last year’s crime emergency dove-tailed by a historic drop in murders, it seems sensible to focus on “intelligence gathering” and crime prevention to curb criminal activity before it escalates to homicide. But before the final community policing hot-spots are determined, officials should ask whether those areas are most in need of increased protection, or just the location of fairly minor, but high-profile crime, as is the case with the National Mall?

What do you think of the ten proposed beats? Is your neighborhood in need of a sustained police presence?

Photo by Flickr user cyaneyed. (No word yet on how Segways fit into Lanier’s scheme.)