Morning journal and courier., 1886-01-02

A Short Talk with a Veteran Police
 officer About the Benefit the Grand
 Street Station Has Been to That Part
 of the City Since 1t Was Built.
 "Where the precinct is situated on Grand street used to be one of the toughest parts of the city,'' said veteran police officer last evening in that building, as he removed his heavy overcoat and hung it near the heater to warm and settled himself back in his chair for a good smoke. 'Why," continued the officer, "a person going through that part of the city was not safe after nine o'clock at night, as members of the old East street gang located on this side of the river and the famous Dublin gang on the Fair Ha ven side used to congregate on Grand street near the Mill river bridge and lay in wait for some person to cross the bridge, and the lat ter could consider himself lucky if he got safely across without being assaulted by some member of the gang. I have known of cases where, when the gang saw man coming down Grand street, they would secrete themselves and when the unsuspecting party had got a few steps past where the members of the gang were in hiding one of them would spring out from his concealment and striking the man on the back of the head would fell him to the ground when the other members of the gang would come quickly forth and after robbing the man would leave him to be found by the next Since the pre- cinct, which is a two story brick building In the front, containing on the first floor the main office and on the second floor the pa trolmen's quarters Id in the rear the lock up, a one story building containing two tiers of cells, was built, these two gangs, which were a terror to the people in that part of the city, have been pretty we'll broken up. The East street gang has been entirely broken up; some of it's members are now serving terms in State prison, while others are dead and some have turned over 8 new leaf and be- come honest hard working citizens. The Dublin gang is fast fading out, and only once in a while do of its old members break the law in some way or other: and I don't think that there is as much hoodlumism now in this city as there is in little town like Ansonia or Birming- ham. Of course there are many cases of drunkenness, breach of the peace and such like, but very little such deviltry as there used to be, although we also need precinct over on Congress avenue somewhere, as Tn that neighborhood there are good many pretty tough cases which would be exterml- mated by such precinct in that locality. We have thirty officers down here at the pre- cinct, one-third of the entire force, and they cover about one-thrd of the city, from the corner of Olive and Water streets to State, to Humphrey to Whitney avenue, to the city line aud all of that part of the city east of these boundary lines. Captain Smith has charge of the office during the day and Lieu tenant O'Keefe during the night time. Dur ing the past year we have made 1918 arrests, over two hundred of these being females. The females arrested we have had to take immediately after their arrest to police headquarters, ,as we have no accommodations for them down here, and that is one of the great things we need here "a women's department for our lookup. There has been in the last twelve months received about ,0O0 in fines and costs from persons arrested and brought to the pre- cinct, and we have taken from prisoners and returned to them about $2,000." Just then the bell rang for the officers to don their clothes ready to once more go out into the cold night in search of criminals, and as the officer pulled on his heavy coat and careful ly placed his ancient pipe in his breastcoat pocket, he turned to the visitor and said: II understand we are soon to have barn down here and a patrol wagon, and when we do then we will have the eastern part of the city entirely under our thumb, and those in clined to break the law will think twice be- fore so doing.' Then he walked slowly down the stairs out into the dark to perambulate about the city to guard well until the morn ing the property of the sleeping citizens on his beat.