NEW YORK POLICE FORCES

Mr. Arthur Woods '92 delivered a very interesting lecture on "Police and Detective Forces in New York City" before a large gathering in the Living Room of the Union last evening. He explained the conditions of the detectives in New York and showed how difficult it was for them to be upright and efficient.

Mr. Woods first described two phases of police activity that are little known by the general public. The policeman, when arresting a criminal is really a judge of the first instance, who must quickly decide what constitutes a crime. He is also the only authority in the land in the eyes of the new immigrant, who knows nothing of Constitution or Congress. If he forces some poor push-cart man to give him a bribe, the immigrant forms his ideas of American justice from that action. These two phases greatly increase the need of an honest police force.

Formerly, the men of the detective department were recruited from the police force by a civil service examination. Once the applicant had passed it, he was a member of the force for good. This absurd method has now been changed and the selection of the detective, as well as his dismissal, depends wholly on the commissioner. He has also been given the right to promote any detective, with the result that a far greater activity has been recently shown in this work. During a certain period in 1906, 2000 men were arrested and 300 convicted; during the same space of time in 1908, 4300 men were arrested and 1600 convicted. The greater portion of these men were pick-pockets and burglars. Various methods of detective work are used to capture the criminals; some men in the force are expert "shadows," other devote themselves to watching pickpockets, still others do the deductive detective work.

Many charges have been made by the New York newspapers that burglary has been increasing, due to the inefficiency of the police and detective forces. There is no possible proof that crime is on the increase, because, up to last year, only an imperfect and fragmentary record of the cases was kept. The policeman is not really responsible for the inefficiency of the force. If an over-zealous officer arrests a man who is influential in his ward, he is certain to get into trouble; if he makes too many arrests, he becomes disliked by the other policemen and by the sergeant. On the other hand, if he neglects his duties, he gets the favor of the ward politician and promotion follows. Until the police department is taken out of politics, we cannot expect a truly efficient force.