There’s a surprising amount of policework that is really just not being dumb. My late father, for example, got an “attaboy” from the chief because of his diligent work solving a theft. What happened was that he simply followed the stolen lawnmower’s tracks in the dirt alley that led right to the thief.
A lot of it is much, much more complicated than that, admittedly, but sometimes, it’s just not.
