Palestinian police make a difference in Hebron

[Phx_Dem]

A new chapter in the history of the biblical town of Hebron is being inscribed in a Palestinian police blotter.

The record shows that in August Palestinian police arrested 139 people on suspicion of crimes ranging from murder, drug dealing and illegal arms trading. Nearly 700 traffic tickets were handed out.

After years of rule by gunmen in the Palestinian side of the divided city in the occupied West Bank, some 400 pistol-toting Palestinian policemen in blue uniforms are beginning to make a difference, residents said.

"I feel the security conditions have improved. I feel safer now walking the streets and there are fewer armed conflicts," Umm Nidal, a 49-year-old housewife, told Reuters.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3595398,00.html