Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-07-05
wEARERs OF THE STAR.
what the Chief Has to Say Ab0u
Our Police Force,

What the Chief Has to Say About
Our Police Force.
Chief of Police T. ]. Cuddy said yes
terday in relation to the charges which
have been made against the manage
ment Of the Police force by contempo-
rary:
'sOf course l should not be Mentor OF
my own responsibility, as Chief of the
Police Department. / can say that do
not like to give an opinion as to the ef-
ficiency or non-efficiency of the Police
force, over which have control. But 1
think it proper to state that do not
know Of single instance wherein this
Department, taken as a whole, and op-
Grated with the means and methods af-
forded it by the City Government, has
proved inefficient. 1 know of no indivld-
ual instance wherein any member of the
force has been derelict in the discharge
of his duties. This force is provided with
a Captain, Sergeants and clerks, whose
duty it is to report to me dereliction OF
duty on the part of any officer.
have never yet received report GEN.
suring any member of the force. While
l know of instances where men might
have done better duty than they did,
have found on investigation that atten-
ton to their duties, as sworn officers OF
the law, was not lacking. They simply
might have exercised better judgment.
Possibly they did not possess it."
"Why are these stories concerning the
inefficiency OF the force so frequently
given publication ?"
81 cannot say" replied Mr.. Cuddy
IT believe they emanate from the May
or's Office. You know there is nom
concurrence between the Mayor, the
President of the Council and myself in
the opinion held by these officials as to
how this department should be operated.
l confess to the fact that there is mis-
understanding between these gentlemen
and myself in regard to this question.
Under bonds to the city and elected to
the Office hold, I have, and
do deem it proper to operate
that Office in a way that l think will
work to the advantage of the city. l
have been obstructed more than once,
but am now used to being obstructed and
do not mind it much. l propose to run
this Office as / think it should be run,
and its looks as if my policy did not suit
my confreres on the Board of Police
Commissioners"
"You will notice tn, attacks made on
the department and q myself by the
paper you refer to are el.Npy innuendo. 1
do not state positively that these attacks
emanate from the source l have named,
but have reason to believe they do"
"Do you think, Chief, that the means
you have at hand for guarding persons
and property here in Los Angeles are
adequate ?" asked the reporter.
mo; do not. We have men enough
to about half patrol the city. People do
not seem to consider the vastness of the
area covered by Los Angeles. All police
beats are much larger than they should
be. The outside portions of the city are
not sufficiently guarded. While do not
say that the present foloe is too small,
assert that if proper auxiliaries to a
police patrol we're employed the work of
this department would be of much
more efficient character"
"What are the necessary auxiliaries ?"
ga patrol wagon and system of electrical
police calls. The patrol wagon, such as
it will be, will soon be provided. The
new wagon is under way, and it should
be completed within fortnight. This
wagon is to be hauled by one horse, and
will be manned by driver and conduc-
tor. In conjunction with apatrol wagon,
the force should be provided with an
electric call system. That is call boxes,
for police usage only, should be put up
in distant parts of town, such as are used
in Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco
and other leading cities. have demon
strated the effectiveness of such apparat-
us. We have now three boxes. A call
may be made through this system and
answered, if mile away, in eight min
utes, by an effective wagon patrol. Los An
geles is constantly growing, aud as fast
as the city grows additional police pro-
lection will be required. The Depart
ment should have been provided with a
patrol wagon fully two years ago. Now,
with the wagon and telegraphic call box
service, We could handle the city with
ease. AS it is special officers have to be
appointed all the time. We will have a
complete Department when we are
placed in moments communication
with distant points in town and are
provided with good patrol wagon SER
vice. The trouble / really feel we have
to deal with in this matter is lack of
funds. The city is practically
without money. One fund contrib
utes to the support of another.
Still say, all things considered, the Los
Angeles police force is to-day the most
efficient the city has ever possessed. Any
kick coming against it l think unwar-
ranted, and inspired either by malice or
with desire of attaining to political
prestige. The idea seems to have
gained ground that the force is to be
adapted to political machine purposes.
This is not SO. 1 want men under me
to earn their salary, to attend to their
duties, preserve the peace and let poll
tics alone.'