The city's first experiment with solo patrols ended in bloodshed in 1980, when an unaccompanied officer was slain during a test program.

Only a handful of officers conduct solo patrols today, in squad cars, on scooters or on horseback.

The department and the unions originally agreed on solo patrols in arbitration in 1981.

The department has said that the expansion in the number of officers has made the solo patrols feasible.

On that morning, Bishop decided to fly one last solo patrol.

Vor spent a week on solo patrol, following the lines of the traditional update route.

The limitations of solo patrol diminish police presence.

The numbers involved were small, and will remain so since the solo patrols are for now employed in only 14 of the city's 123 precincts.

A departmental rule making solo patrols possible has been on the books since 1977, when it was hammered out with police unions.

The police union objects, arguing that solo patrol isn't safe.