Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-03-03
Tne MctropoItlan police BIZ.

than one hundred thousand inhabitants.
The effect Of this amendment is practically
to coufne the operations OF the bill at
present to the city Of Cleveland as Co
lumbus, Dayton, Toledo, &c, have not yet
been recognized as cities Of the first class,
while Cincinnati has a population above
the limit fixed. After the next Federal
census is taken, however, the three cities
first named will doubtless rank as cities Of
the first class, and will be entitled to re
ceive the benefits of the act. At present,
however, the system, if adopted, will take
effect in Cleveland only, and it becomes
the duty of the press Of this city to call
the attention of the public to It.
The bill is a lengthy one, and goes into
the details of the new system with great
particularly and minuteness. To some Of
'bese details we shall refer at a future
time. The fundamental idea of the bill,
however, and the great difference between
it and our present police system, is that
while the latter vests the government
of the police in the Mayor and City Nal
shall, both elected by the people, the for
mer places it under the control Of
a Board Of Metropolitan Police Com
~missioners, only one Of whom, the Mayor,
eE o6icio n member of the Board,
is elected b. the people, while the other
four, who each hold Office for a term of
eight years, are appointed by the Cover
nor of the state, by and with the consent
of the Senate, from among the qualified
electors of the city who are freeholders.
In other words, the central idea Of the
measure is 20 rea1o5s the police system from
all connection NTH partisa R or personal
politics and politicians. And this feature
of the bill meets our most hearty approval.
One Of the most essential principles il
the administration Of justice is the neces-
sity vi an independent judiciary. In or
der to establish a proper enforcement Of
the laws, the magistrate must be made in
dependent of the parties in interest and
Of the criminals brought before him. This
principle, of which we have an i~llustra-
ton in our Constitution, which makes
the tenurc ofjudges in our national courts
extend during good behavior, Will be con-
troverted by no one. But is it not of
equal force when applied to the officer
who executes the law? Ifit is essential
that the Judge IN the bench be indepen-
dent of the criminals brought before him,
is it not even more essential that the po-
lice force which arrests these criminals
and ferrets out their crimes should be in
dependent Of them?
Every person who has had the opportu-
nifty TO observe the workings Of a police
system under the control of party politics
and partisan politicians can testify to the
many and fearful abuses and ~corruptions
which result from that connection. These
are so many and so various that to catal-
ogue them, or even to hint at them, would
exceed our space. In the first place, it is
an indisputable fact that offenders against
certain city ordinances-not TO call
them criminals - have a great and
an increasing influence in city politics.
These offenders are of all grades and pos
sess all kinds of influence, but they are
active, energetic and organized, vigilant
in the machinery of nominations and cleo
tions, able often to turn the scale in a close
party contest and their influence is al
ways to neutralize and nullify the laws.
Their influence is not SO marked among
us as in larger cities, but it is great
and growing, and we shall expe
rience its evil effects unless We
remove u police system from under it
Another deleterious result Of the connec-
ton between party politics and the police
system is the fact that partisan service
and not fitness for the position is made a
test in the appointment of police officers.
This is inevitable. A City Marshal is fire.
q~uently nominated and elected by the
work Of men to whom he has promised
such positions if he is successful, and Of
course the best wire-workers and not the
best police officers will get the places.
Men SO appointed are utterly untitled, by
partisan p~rejudices, 10y afinities with par
tisan ~co-workers, and by a desire to main
tain political influence and popularity, to
enforce the law strictly and impartially.
Another result of the present system Is
that there is a liability, under it, of a com
plete change in the entire police
force, from Marshal down to patrol
men, every W. years. Just as our
officers are familiarized with their duties
they are thus ousted to make room for
new and inexperienced men, who spend
two-thirds of their term IN learning their
business. This occurs, as a matter of fact
TO a greater or less extent with every cleo
ton of Mayor or Marshal, and the result
is, as those familiar with the facts cal
bear witness, that after every such change |
the city is flooded with rogues froma broad.
and crime has a carnival, the criminals es-
Gaping with perfect IMMUNITY. Another
inevitableevil in the present system is that
every olice-holder under it is irresistibly
tempted to use the power it gives him to
bring about his own reelection. 1t is IN
necessary for US to show how much the
power and the efficiency of the
police force is weakened when it
is thus p~rostituted to political
ends. One result of this state Of affairs
has, however, become notorious. 1t is that
it somehow or rather becomes next to i'm
possible, during the few weeks preceding
an election, for an officer Of the law to
learn that it has been violated. This ten
dency affects all, and we havc even known
our immaculate and honorable Police
Judges to grow wonderfully mild and
lenient to criminals about the time they
were candidates for reelection.
We have thus hastily sketched some Of
the evils resulting from the connection be-
tween politics and police. We might
continue the catalogue indefinitely; we
NAV add to II at some future time; but We
think We have said enough to demonstrate
that a police system ought to be entirely
divorced from politics. 1t is because Mr..
Danglar's bill does this that we give it our