, 1875-07-04
THE NEW YORK POLICE.

committee of the New York Legislature
is now in session in New York City, busi1y
engaged in investigating the management Of
the police force of the metropolis Two OF
three discharged members Of the force have
made affidavit that the Captains, Sergeants,
and patrolmen nre in partnership with the
chief criminals Of their respective districts.
In return for sum OF money, sometimes
| liked and sometimes percentage Of the
profits, these officials engage, it is said, to
protect the pane1-houses," the houses of ill.,
fame, ETC., from any interference. States
evidence, especially whens given by ex-em-
ployes, is to be received With great caution;
but the story told in these atfidnvits
IS straightforward one. Moreover,
an officer Of excellent character, Ser
gehnt Gnoo, has supplemented these
charges with similnr ones, which he sup
ports in an affidavit that states dates, names.
and numbers, and appears to be beyond con-
trndichon- The state Of affairs disclosed is
simply shocking. The police force seems to
have been used in certain precincts to pro- |
tect, instead Of prevent, crime. When a |
man complained Of having been robbed in
house that did not pay blackmail to the
police, tht lnmates were promptly arrested, !
and, unless the necessary bribes were given.
brought to trial. But if one Of the licensed
haunts OF infamy-licensed, that is, By
bribe-taking oficial-was complained of, il
was utterly impossible to secure any redress
whatever. The victims might appeal to the
police, and write to the papers, and waste
whole weeks of time, but the Police Captain
who shared in the profits Of the panel-garne
would not suppress it. In the Eighth aud
Fifteenth Wards OF the city, taxpayers as
sociations we're formed for the purpose of
driving harlotdom elsewhere Evidence Was
got and complaints were lodged. But tho
police were stubborn, andsthe District-At-
orney supine. The Journal Of Commerce
lays OF the Attorneys office: 90 Its pigeon
1oles are stuffed with dusty indictments
'gainst the vlest creatures in the Eighth and !
Wards, and there is no prospect ,,
hat they will be prosecuted unless the 1eeis- :
ative inquiry shall stimulate sudden energy :
4 that quarter" The charges and the q
roof against the police have received
dded weight from the fact that q
be most notorious Of the Commissioners,
lArsE11, the proprietor Of the infamous ?
'oltce Gazette, and an e1-Chief Of Police, ap- -
cared before the Legislative Committee with r
d attorney, and declined to answer the first Il
uestion put to him, les. Ia should criminate t.
lmseu. t,
The disclosures Of = shocking stats Of n
tairs in New York city are all the more u
apleaaant reading, because this condition Of :.
ings is the inevitable, To- cal result of the -
'licy OF polce-managem~- that Is common =;
both New York and Chicago. An ire cl
onsible Board snd the use of the Dc
Fce as q political engine,-these are re
. two simple elements which insure vi
alliance between the criminal classea GO
i the police. Ne have not been nr
the down-hin road as long as New IN IN
'rk, and the alliance here may not be as .e -.
Enplste as it is there but we believe it bo
lsts. The owners, and managers, and in fe.
':es Of the pane1-houses, the gambling mt
1s' and the bunko headquarters, whose set
mes and haunss are al perfectly familiar ~
the police, could not ply their vicious =:
des with the reoklessneas and success they m' M
wers they not snre Of the mid and counte- ". w.
zoe OF tha police force. 6ome of them, Of
lble<z, pay for thfs countsuance with ADJ
b; eAaes pay Tor Il With political indu- tal