pound a beat

English

WOTD – 17 September 2015

pound a beat (third-person singular simple present pounds a beat, present participle pounding a beat, simple past and past participle pounded a beat)

(idiomatic, usually of a police officer) To walk a regular route.
Assigned to the riverfront precinct for years, he pounded a beat of backstreets and dockyards.
- 1948, Alfred Haines Cope, The administration of civil service in cities of the third class in Pennsylvania, page 65:
  Flat feet may be important to the patrolman who must pound a beat, but in cities with patrol cars, should mild cases of flat feet disqualify?
- 1970, The Bench and Bar of Minnesota, volume 27, page 8:
  You can't ask a college graduate who is interested in law enforcement to pound a beat for four years before he becomes a sergeant.
- 2012, Frank Kane, Grave Danger, section 14:
  I worked my way up from a flatfoot pounding a beat to where I am today. I like being a cop, I'm proud of being a cop.
(idiomatic, usually of a journalist) To cover a regular beat, reporting on an assigned category of news.
Assigned to the city desk for years, she pounded a beat of city council and mayoral activity, police blotters, and the like.