The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-02-20
rooDLE nrRrHr AND ms GANG
Why the Police Commissioners Wish TO Create
Secret Detective Force.


Two or three times every month some OF
the ncWor Of the Central OGi,c detective
policemen enter the OH e with a cury-haired.
rei-wh,sered prisoner, wno answer, the clerk
blandly, and. perhaps winkins at the older de-
tectyes walks OF IN perfect confidence to the
Tombs, knowing that the magistrate must ra-
lease him from restraint. The police know MIN
as Poodle Murphy. lie Is the chief Of the most
skiiful, dorng, ami successful gang @, Dick.
pockets IN this c'iyi lie has served =, sen,enoe
''Er ''' @i"' IN this city, four or Ave years
az out the days OF his temporary detention
would. piecsd together. make a very consider
lblc rerpd. He he's leirned the weak -nots in
tne laws OF New York IN relation to pckpock-
CTS llu neither he nor any OF hts gang is ever
caught with his hand actually In the wrong
pocket. Hence he invariably baflles the police
. Ihe HaDitutl Criminal act was passed: but
murphy AMI hls gan. were never migrants. II
they Dad not happen TO have the price of a
niEht : lonslng wen arrested, their counsel
.uulu eA~uY SUP them a greenoack, and then
they AT once deman ed their rights As citizens
aoie 10 show visible me ans Of support, aud the
ISrce o. arfcstins then has boen PLAYED SO
oIteD that only inexperienced detectives ever
touch Murphy nov. The gang numbers seven
men.
The thieves reap their richest harvest at the
Terry On the arrival of the 10 \. ". train Tron.
w I'hlhstpn. As the passengers hurry toward
pockets. The cars are generally crowded espe-
clAliy those Of the Grand street line, The pick
snatch
watches and wallets, and then step on. onIy 10
reach the { n again Ct Grand and Greene streets
t!e Junction of the Broadway line. MANY pas.
sengars change ca there. and in their hurry
ana confusi m the thieves do their work. MANY
stranger mas been astounded at seeing his
seemingly respectable neigh Dor made the victim
81 the brutal interference OF the police. Capt
M'Dpnnell's detectives rush out, and on their
approach the thieves scatter: but the detectives
close 10 on them and club them vigorously.
Sometlmes the thieves gather at Grand street
ana the BDwerv and walt for a crowded Fourth
avenue car. when the Eastern trains arrive tho
gang may he found somewhere near the Grand
central depot ready To pick as many pockets as
practicable while passing through the tunnel.
Ihey have lately found profit In waiting for
crowded downtown cars along TryOn row.
Their diligence has met with remarkable sue
cess, ns Is shown by some OF tho rOhberles ro-
ported az the Police Central Oiicc. ON Monday
stranger from Washington was robbed mt The
nfshro- SEES stree, ferry OF presentation watch
worm $500 ana a diamond pin, worth SlOJ0.
From AnD.hcr gentleman the thieves took
wallet con ainlJs 81 500 about three weeks ago.
, IL mas sometimes happened that thieves have
berh convicted through tracing their "ootv y
the receiver Mnrphv's gang seem 20 hays put
the police at sen even there. They u-na'iy 'teN
money, ami of course 10 j. immediately hVtill-
bic. Mhcn IL haAnafts 40 he watches or jewclry,
they either spnuit away from the city or melt
tho metal down. They know the police even
better than the police know them, and they
scatter whenever they sec detective. This Is
why the Police Board wish to establish secret
detective force.