Do the train tracks of criminals and law enforcement run parallel in M?

At this point in the film, we have an understanding that the criminals union and the police are after the same thing. Obviously, considering the backgrounds of the respective groups, we assume that they’re going to go about the process of catching Mr. Beckert with some different methods. However from these two parallel shots, Lang shows that the plans the police make and the plans that the criminals craft are not as different as we might think. From this shot we see that both groups have a very methodical way about their process. However, we also see a difference in the way that the two groups approach the situation. In one shot Shranker, we see a hand, covered by a black leather glove, over the map. By just looking at this shot and not having seen the previous frames, the audience knows this symbol as a representation of Shranker and the criminals. This is due to Lang’s use of metonymy. In addition to showing, by use of symbols, the perspective of this frame, we can also read the approach that Shranker and his men take, that of a very “hands on” approach. He is signifying the way in which the criminals will go about completing their mission. And later on in the film we see that in fact they do employ that “hands on” approach that is exemplified here. In contrast is the overhead view of the map that the police are looking at. All that Lang shows in this shot is the compass and the circles that it, an inanimate object, creates. Unlike in the frame of the criminals’ map, we don’t actually see any human contact with the situation. Lang shows that the police are not “hands on” like the criminals. Rather, they are removed from the circumstances. One could argue that because the police go directly to the root of the evil, Beckert’s apartment, they too take a “hands on” approach. However, their techniques are not as direct as those of the criminals. The criminals are out on the street, cautiously keeping an eye out for anything or anyone that could be a clue. They make the first move, they operate the preemptive strike, while the police, although they pursue Beckert, make one move and then sit around while he comes to them. The criminals go to Beckert and that is why they are successful. We can see from this one frame that there is something separating the police from Beckert. While the criminals go about the problem directly, the police approach it from a detached standpoint. Whereas the criminals go and physically hunt down Beckert and make the first move, the police go to a spot where he could be heading and wait for him to make the first move. The police also pursue Beckert actively but from a more detached angle and from a different side of the conflict. The criminals close in on Beckert from one direction while the police come in from the polar side. Shranker’s approach was not better than the approach of the police, but it was swifter and happened to work more successfully in this instance.