Wiktionary
n. (context US English) A police officer who patrols the streets on foot (walk the beat)
Usage examples of "beat cop".
Today's beat cop in any large city is a sitting duck for snipers, rapers, dope addicts, bomb-throwers and communist fruits.
He knew and accepted the life of a beat cop, and for now it was all right that it was mostly tedium.
She ended up standing at the mouth of the alley again with the beat cop, the neighborhood security droid, and Peabody.
His body was trim and showed off to advantage in jeans as battered as Eve's and a simple cotton shirt that would retail for a beat cop's monthly paycheck.
She took a second to debate whether to kick his teeth in or restrain him for the beat cop.
The beat cop was told to write up the proper reporting forms at his station, which, the militiaman thought, would be nice and warm.
Garrity had been a Central beat cop for fifteen years and finished out his twenty-five year career at Wilshire Station where he and Spermwhale were radio car partners.