National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1886-01-27
The District Police.

The recent letter Of Maj. w. Nee. Dye,
superintendent of police, to the commits
sioners of the District Of Columbia, recon-
mending a reorganization of the police force
on broader basis, should attract the serious
attention of Congress, for It states facts Of
great interest, inasmuch as they show that
the force now employed is utterly aud alb
surdly inadequate to the proper perform
ance Of the work required and expected
Of 1t.
II 1t be worth while to make any provision
for the protection Of life and property and
the preservation Of good order In the streets
and places Of public resort, it is certainly
advisable to make such provision as the
necessities Of the situation demand. The
present arrangements, as relates to the po-
lice force, suggest the story Of a good
deacon who hltched very small yoke of
steers to very large load Of wood, and of
course, got stalled in trying to ascend ahill.
A traveller seeing the trouble into which the
deacon had gotten himself reproved him
harshly for trying TO draw such load with
such team, ,whereupon the deacon remarked
that he had "expected some help from Divine
Providence" The traveller replied, "If you
depend on Providence, why not leave your
calves at home and let Providence haul the
whole load.n In like manner, II Congress de-
pends on chance, luck, or fortune to take care
Of life and property in Washington, 1t Is not
worth while to incur the expense Of a rldlcu-
lousy insufficient force Of policemen.
Some of the statistics given in Maj.
Dye'sletter are so suggestive that we repro
duce them, and hope that they will be care
fully conned by every one Of the lawmakers
in the capitol, except the very few who are
really familiar with the affairs Of this Dis
trict.
Number of population to single policeman
on duty-New York. 1895; Boston, 1000; Mon.
treal, 1,GOO; Baltimore, 1900; San Francisco,
$500; Chicago, 1872; Philadelphia, 1881; Louis.
vile, 2li2; New Orleans, 2,2s0; st. Louis, 2,iOO;
Washington, $780, Brooklyn, 1900; Cincinnati,
2,625; Pittsburg 1928 Average number of
policemen per square mile patrolling at one
instant-New York, 2S; Baltimore, ID; Brook.
lyn, 10; Cincinnati, 10; Chicago o; Pittsburg, 7;
New orleans, z; Boston, A; Philadelphia, 4; ST.
Louis, 8; Washington, l.
How the professional thief or burglar
must laugh when he thinks Of one patrol
man to a square mile in a city where thou
sands of wealthy families reside!
OF course there are q good many patrol
men to the square mile in the central por-
tion of the city and in localities where the
disorderly elements require especial atten-
ton, but this leaves several square miles TO
one patrolman In other sections. And, so
far as prevention Of crime is concerned, II
would be just as well to have no patrolmen
at all as to have SO few Of them that they
cannot go half over their beats during day
or night. Better try to be truly good and
trust Pr evidence to take care Of us than to
spend money for protection that cannot
possibly protect
Calling attention to the statistics quoted
above, in which twill be noticed that Wash
ington is at the bottom Of the list In one line
and near the bottom in the other, the SUPER
intendent Of police says:
New York, which stands at the top of the
list in both lines, has nearly double the mum.
Der Of policemen, in proportion TO the popula.
tion, that Washington has, and more than
twenty times our number when area alone Is
considered. The chiefs of police In most OF
the cities in the foregoing table insist in their
reports upon the necessity of having more
patrolmen, complain that these men are over
worked and that the cities are inadequately
policed, and say that crime and the criminal
classes are on the increase
Maj. Dye shows that there is n necessity
for an increase here far beyond that Of any
other large city in the country; that we
have floating population to take care Of
entirely out Of proportion to the permanent
residents, compared with other cities This
being the seat Of the general government,
he urges, onerous duties are entailed upon
the force not elsewhere known.
1t is disagreeable fact that we have in
Washington some hundreds, possibly thou
sands, Of idle, vicious, brutal scoundrels
who do no work, and have no visible means
of support. Most Of these live on the
earnings or stealings Of women and girls
who are "out at service.n They are, of
course, on bad terms with the police, and
they add immensely to the difficulties and
dangers of police duty.
There is urgent need Of a large addition
to the force, and Congress will neglect its
imperative duty II 1t does not provide for
such an increase.
1t is but simple justice to the organza-
tion as 1t exists at present to say that II does
all that ought to be expected. The wonder
is that II is able TO do so much.