The Law: Scouting the Streets

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Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent—all of those are time-honored characteristics. But hawklike vision is what is most valued in a group of 30 Explorer Scouts in Los Angeles. For a month, the Scouts—both boys and girls—have been working with the Hollywood division of the L.A. police as auxiliary crime spotters. One night a week groups of the uniformed Scouts, armed with binoculars and a walkie-talkie, perch on high buildings to watch the streets for suspicious activity. So far, calls from the 16-to 18-year-olds to cruising police cars below have accounted for three arrests—on burglary and narcotics charges.