LMPD officers will now begin patrolling in pairs

I'm the OP and I'm not a cop. I was only wanting police to be safe. You make a very valid point and I stand corrected. Be safe, and thank you for your amazing service.

Big city PD's and the military don't have 1 person in vehicles on patrol. It has nothing to do with being skittish either, but because 2 people shooting back is better than 1. Suspects are a lot less likely to size you up and decide they want to assault you if your backup is already there. With training and experience, you can quickly learn how to place your equipment in a 2-man car so you can access it quickly. Those officers with decades of experience should be mature enough to admit that, with a relatively few exceptions, they haven't been making felony arrests on beats with lots of shootings all of that time. Usually they have been in the less active beats or an office for a while and aren't exactly playing Starsky and Hutch anymore. If you have been, then you are still entitled to your opinion, but very few large city PD's have 1-man cars on their high crime beats unless they're broke.

Two man cars for twelve hours is great! I also think having 5 total cars in the division to handle the call volume is a wonderful idea. The extra people gained from the switch to 12's to support better staffing is really coming together for me. And I am sure people won't mind waiting an hour or so to see the next available car. And with 5 cars floating around no criminal in their right mind will dare break any law. Way to go HQ! This is why you all made the top! The lowely beat guys pale in comparison to your knowledge of policing practices that make everyone safe and provide solid coverage to the people.