Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-02-05

HISTORY or IFS GROWTH and lNFLUENCE-
The PAST AND FREsENr-How CRIME
FLoURlsHES-DETECTIyE USING DECoTs-
INTERESTING EEy EIATloSs.
From tie New York Herald.
That radical reform Is needed in or
detective police SYSTEM is a fact too well e7-
tablishel u need extended remark. 1t has
became a settled conviction in the pub.ic
mind that the present plan Of hunting down
criminals by special detectives IS not what it
was originally intended TO be, and it is now
quite evident tina even the board of COM
missioners are satisfied that the present force
of detectives must be overhauled and re-
modelled. Thut there are honest and faithful
officers among the detectives there can lie
no question, but they are associated with
others who-if all that is said about them
be true-are no better than the thieves they
arc suppose to watch and capture.
In order to hasten the reform 50 greatly
needed, We propose to lay before our
readers 2 few facts that will, no doubt,
enlishten them, and to explain the causes
that have led to the present state Of at
fairs
ORIGIN OF TIE SQUAD.
In 1857, when the metropolitan police act
went into operation, the commissioners
found that the old principal police had in its
organization what was called especial
service squad The members Of this body
Of officers were all picked men, and to be-
come one of the squad was deemed decided
promotion. Patrolmen who in any way
distinguished themselves by bravery in
making arrests Of desperate criminals, OF
who displayed peculiar talent in detecting
the authors Of crime, were transferred to the
squad on the first vacancy, and as many OF
the promotions to higher grades Of rank and
pay were made from the squad, it grew in
importance. The result was that the heads
Of the department brought to the surface
whatever real police talent there happened
to be in the ranks. This was one of a few
good features that existed in Mavor Wood 5
police, and it Is best known, but the system
Of permitting every member Of the common
council TO have voice in appointments Of
course weakened the morale Of the force, and
the new department became necessity.
Nearly every prominent member Of the pre-
sent police force, whose date of service ex-
tends back to those early days Of ununiform-
Ell policemen, wos 4 member Of the squad.
The present superintendent, Walling, was
for some time one Of its leading men, and
the experience gained by him in the squad
at that time land the foundation for the
brilliant reputation he has since made for
himself. John Jourdan, who also rose 10
the rank superintendent, and who was in
his life one of tie best detectives in the
country, was also a member. Joseph Dow
ling, the well-known ez-police magistrate,
likewise graduated from the squad
TIE BErEcTIvE BUREAU.
Ia their endcayors to introduce new lea-
tures and obliterate all those Of the extinct
department, the Metropolitan police com
missioners decided 10 organize detective
squad, which was to be under the eye and
personal control of the superintendent The
purpose was to make the detective body an
efficient aid in the detection of crime. Con-
sequently all important cases were given to
those men for calculation. As the powers of
the police were extended the detective squad
was placed under the command Of ser
geant, and when the late war broke ont the
name Of John Young grew into prominence
as the chief. In those ante-beium days the
detectives did good service, ant the reputa-
tion Of the squad was most excellent one
Each man became expert in certain lines Of
detective duty, and the efficiency of the force
was source Of pride TO their superintend-
ent, the late John 4. Kennedy. and his as
sistant, Daniel Carpenter In those DAYS a
detective was Just what the word implies.
He was called in by his superior and set to
work on some new case. II il was a robbery
the man most familiar with that class of crime
was summoned, all the facts at hand clearly
4.l o,,l ba II -
up." Frequently the clew was yery faint one,
vet from small beginnings these detectives
nearly always succeed in building up p
fabric of evidence that led to the arrest and
conviction Of the criminal.
WANT or SECRECY.
Bat there was one inherent fault in this
system of special detectives, and that was the
absence Of secrecy as to the personnel Of the
squad. Each detective being merely de
tailed patrolman, made his own arrests, so
that, when an officer had run down three or
four burglars, forgers or pickpockets, as the
case might be, he naturally becomes known TO
nearly every member of the criminal class
he was engaged in hunting down. This
fact led sensibly TO the origin Of the trouble
that now exists regarding our detectives.
Dy lilt TINT lut NTH ildu uliuc themselves Us
valuable thief-takers their efficiency was i'm
paired by the familiarity gained dbyprofessional
law breakers as to their names and features.
Even then careful students Of our local police
system were already aware thai to permit
thieves to know who were their greatest enc
mics was to rob the detectives of much of
their power. The result was that when
crime Of a certain class had been commit
ted the detectives who usually locked after
such offences were narrowly watched by al