Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-04-26
POLICE MATTERS.
Resolutions offered at the
Meeting of
THE POLICE COMMISSIONERS
BY Mayor Workman, Chief Cuddy
and Mr.. Humphreys-Ac-
tion Postponed

the Mayors Office, present, Hon. w
III. Workman, Mayor and Chairman
J.F. Humphreys, President of the
Council, and Chief of Police T. ]
Cuddy. The minutes Of the previous
meeting were then read, but before
they were appoved Mr.. Humphreys
proposed the following resolution and
asked that it be appended to the
minutes:
In order that the records and pro-
ceedings OF this Board shall be prop.
erly kept and handed over to our sue
cessors in office it is hereby ordered
that all the proceedings of the Board,
from the beginning of the term of Of
flee Of the present Commissioners,
shall be written up to date in ink and
shall be continued in future in a-well-
bound record book, and that the pro-
ceodings in future shall be read
from said records direct (and
not from slips of paper) and that
when said proceedings are adopted at
the meetings of the Board they shall
then and there be approved and
aigned by the chairman thereof"
The Chief stated that the motion
was out Of order and moved that the
minutes of the previous meeting be
first approved, which was accord
ingly done. He then moved to amend
the resolution by instructing the clerk
70 have all minutes recorded on the
regular minute book and brought to
the meeting to be regularly signed.
The original motion of Mr.. Hum
phreys was carried.
Major Horace Bell appeared before
the Board and presented a petition
and asked the Board to grant ex-
Detectives Lynch and Donahue an
investigation. Whereupon the Mayor
read the following communication
and the Chief moved that it be placed
on file. Mr.. Humphreys amended it
by moving that it be spread on the
minutes. Motion carried.
GENrLEMEN-In pursuance of my
duty as Mayor l have been investi-
eating, among other things, into the
causes of the non-enforcement of the
laws relative to the suppression of
gambling in this city. This inquiry
has directly led to an investigation
also into the conduct of the police
force and the acts of the individual
members. This examination has been
private and ca pGrte. 1t has taken q
wide range and much evidence, oral
and documentary, has been collected.
What this evidence may be, who fur
nished it, or how obtained, / do not
yet deem it for the public interest to
disclose. As the Chief Exec cative of
this municipality, 1 have been, and
still am, diligently seeking to inform
myself as to the conduct and acts of
its officers, especially its police, to the
end that the lives and property of its
citizens may be the more safely
guarded and the laws more effectively
enforced.
There is now before you an applica-
ton on the part of Police Officers
Donahue and Lynch, recently sus-
pended by your Board (of which
Board l am q member), for q public
investigation as to the reasons which
caused q majority of your Board to
vote for their suspension, and
this investigation is claimed as a
legal right. They at the same time
claim that they have not had hear
ing. At this juncture l deem it my
duty as Mayor to declare my position
generally In the matter Of the regula-
ton of the police.
- : ~ you are invested With
the absolute power to appoints 6fficers
to. and dismiss them from the force.
The law no where provides-as in the
case Of other officers-for the filing of
charges against such police officers, or
for any public investigation OF the
same. The duty is plainly laid upon
you to sele honest and capable men,
and you are given the power to dis
miss any or all, at will. These dis
missals are not required to be fo,
cause. No man appointed upon the
police force hasa right to retain his
position, save by your consent and
the exercise by you of a proper discre
tion, neither does it follow that, be
cause you dismiss an officer from the
force, he is to be deemed for that rea
son dishonest. Incapacity in an off
Ger is as proper ground for dismissal
as any other. The power to decide
as we'll as act, must be lodged
somewhere, and the Lawmakers have
seen fit to rest it in you
You are then responsible for it's exer
else and liable only for its unlawful
abuse. So long as you act according
to your best judgment f,r the preser
walton Of the interests of the public
you are within the lines of your duty
Our city is large /; it has grown rapid
ly; it is filled with new men from al
parts Of the world; there is not tha
opportunity for inquiry into the
antecedents of the men who apply fol
positions on the force which yor
should have in order to secure al
efficient corps of officers. For this
reason, if for no other, the arbitrary
power to judge of the competency o
officers and Of dismissal conferred OF
you by the city charter should be ex
cfcised unhesitatingly in all case'
where you honestly believe any Officer
previously appointed is either in
capable or unreliable, or for any Other
reason unworthy of the trust, and il
is immaterial in what manner you
Judgment becomes informed, 80 long
as it be correct. Such being my
views AS Mayor, propose to do al
in my power to elevate the
standard of excellence on the force
No competent man, who is hones
and earnest in his duty need fear re-
lnoval, but l propose to exercise te
the fullest extent the power vested in
me as Mayor, and as member ol
your body, for the purpose of remov-
ing from the force all officers whom ]
deem unreliable or unworthy of the
trust, and this power propose to ex-
exercise without the requirement ot
written charges preferred or the pre-
liminary of trial, confidently be-
lieving that the law and all good citi-
wax,o mill e.1ofoin mo hovo vri.