A hundred years ago, before police officers had patrol cars, radar guns and the help of the Internet, how did they catch bad guys?

Alexandria, Va., Police Department spokeswoman Amy Bertsch has been researching this question. Here is some of what she learned.

You probably have seen a police officer giving someone a speeding ticket. Odds are the officer used a high-tech radar gun to figure out how fast the driver was going.

In the early 1900s, Alexandria's policemen (they were all men in those days) didn't have fancy technology, and people didn't have cars. They rode trains, horses and bicycles. But mostly, they walked.

So when cars first appeared on the city's roads in 1910, officers had to adjust, even though they were still patrolling on foot.

Police relied on pocket watches and some creative thinking. By stationing officers on the corner of several city blocks, they timed how long it took a vehicle to travel around them. Then, if a car or motorcycle went too fast - travelling two blocks in less than 25 seconds - they would know it.

Once police figured out who was breaking the law, they used hand signals or waved at officers down the road in an attempt to stop the speeding motorist.

Usually it worked. "But it sure wasn't easy," Bertsch said.

In many cases, the motorist was asked to drive to the local police station to be issued a $10 ticket. It was a real test of the honour system.

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