The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-04-05

Tn. PorIcE LAVA Woap 70 rns SruArR-l
Unless our representatives 1t Albany are eau
tious. they will get themselves into trouble
They have now before them two bills Of para
mount importance one 10 reconstruct the city
charter, the other TO remodel the police sys
tenn. II these two bills-both Of which ere
likely TO become laws-are carefully compared
with each other, they win be found to clash
in very important particular.
The Police bill. which has already passed the
Assembly, confers the power Of appointing the
policemen for each ward rs we understand IL.
on the Mayor. the Recorder. and the Alderman
of the ward, and enacts that policemen shall
not be removable except for misconduct &C.
It is to go into effect Immediately. The conse-
quence will be that on the day Of Its passage
all the policemen in the city can resign, and
be instantly reappointed by the three persons
above mentioned, IL they see ht TO do so. All
the inefficient men who have owed their APP
pointment to the gratitude Of their alder
men for electioneering services, would thus
be retained in Office; and one Of the most
crying evils OF the present systematic
conversion of the police stations into . sort
Of asylum for political pensioners-will be au-
thoritatively maintained. II is true that for the
future aldermen will be deprived Of the power
which their predecessors have SO shamefully
abused. But the present will he beyond the
reach of reform. The men who earned a claim
to the favor Of an alderman by transcendent
zeal at elections and who have ever since been
feeding on the city, and wearing 'star" for
purposes Of ornament, will be secured for life
in their present berths. The smallest dose Of
shrewdness will enable them to steer clear OF
the offences which render them liable 10 dis
missal ; and the police may thus be cursed
with two or three hundred useless men, who,
though utterly inefficient may for very long
period keep within the bounds Of good conduct
prescribed by the bill.
On the other hand, the City Charter Reform
bill very properly deprives the aldermen Of the
power of nominating the police. But it will
not come into effect, if adopted, for several
months, or at all events till long after the
present police have been confirmed in their
berths by the friendly support Of their respec-
tive aldermen What will the Board of Com
missioners have to do? Beyond filling up an
occasional vacancy, caused by resignation, or
dismissal, or death, their Office will be sine
cure, and the salutary results expected from
their assumption of the duties heretofore per-
formed by the aldermen, will certainly not be
forthcoming. When they enter upon the dis
charge Of their functions, they will find their
occupation gone. and the evil they were called
upon to cure consolidated by solemn act Of
the Legislature.
This contradiction can easily be rectified. 1t
is admitted on oil hands that the present al
dermen have made bad use Of the nominating
power. Instead Of selecting the best men to
fill the ranks in the force, as it was supposed
their local knowledge would enable them to do.
they have distributed most of the appointments
intrusted to them among their political sup
porters, party zeal being the only qualification
required of candidate. The present alder
men are no better in this respect than their pre-
dccessors. Hence the police force now contains
large number of men who are totally unfit
for their duties, and to whose inef6ciency much
of the existing agitation for reform may be
traced
Why should these men be retained? Why, if
we are about to reform our police, should we
confne our efforts to the future without trying
to improve the present? Why, in word, should
not the clause in the Police bill above men,
toned be repealed. and a section substituted
comforting the power Of appointing policemen
on the commissioners named in the City Charter
bill, with a proviso retaining the present po-
icemen temporarily in Office until removed or
confirmed by the commissioners?
There is yet another point on which we
deem the Police bill defective. A clause has
been inserted modifying the % emblem Of Office"
but nothing is said respecting uniform. Now,
of all the reforms which the public require, we
hold that there are none more indispensable
than this. But one single reason can be urged
against uniform, and that is the supposed
impolicy Of putting offenders on their guard
against the police. A very little reflection will
soon expose the fallacy of this argument. Po-
licemen are appointed not so much to detect as
to prevent crime. Society gains little by pun
ishing thief, but derives direct benefit from
any contrivancc which, through fear or other
wise, operates to deter the vicious from crime
1t is small consideration to the householder
whose plate has been stolen. to know that the
thief has been arrested and sent to the State
prison he would much prefer that the sight of
a policeman in uniform had prevented the rascal
from entering his premises. For one offender
who allows policeman to approach and arrest
him under cover of his plain dress, twenty
would be deferred from accomplishing criminal
designs, by the sight Of the well-known uniform
in the distance. Nor is uniform less ne
cessary as check on the police themselves.
At present. in case of disturbance. where hard
knocks are flying freely, COW ardly policeman
has only to button his coat to relieve himself
of any responsibility which his Office may
impose. He may stand by while peaceable
citizens are robbed or beaten, without much