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Daily Planet is a collection of short news items -- one each weekday -- that evoke and illuminate the far corners of the world. To read previous items, visit the Daily Planet archive. Send all tips to DailyPlanet @salon.com.

Because it's tough to track down such criminals, who often slip away amid the winding garden paths and thick bushes of the park, the constabulary has decided to put a new breed of bobby on the beat: "rollercops."

According to a BBC report, four rollercops -- three women and one man -- will be outfitted with in-line skates, protective pads and "combat trousers." The skates will have detachable blades so the officers can chase muggers, drug dealers, "paedophiles and other undesirables" up hills, across gravel and into the bushes.

Inspector Ron Cook, head of the Royal Parks Constabulary's community section, told the BBC, "This innovative patrol is another example of our partnership approach with the public, and will help to reassure visitors that they can safely enjoy the Royal Parks."

As long as the sun's out, that is. Once it rains and the pavement becomes slick, the bobbies will have to lose their blades, and Regent's Park will once again become a free-for-all for flashers.
salon.com | April 20, 2000

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