Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-06-12
OUR POLICE PROTECTION.
Public Decency Demands Reform
In the Force.
A Few OF the DIsgracefui Incidents
winch Have characterized the Pres
ent Arrangement---w VIII This Con-
IinueY

l
tInueY
| After the miserable failure Of police
force which Immediately preceded the
present one, the ARGUS has heretofore
been inclined to reserve Its opinion OF
the outfit which Mayor Banding has seen
fit to clothe with police authority and
call police. This paper has felt for some
time, too. that the mayor had thrown
himself in the light of criticism in SO
many other ways. that to touch
him in this most tender spot
might be something of a cruelty. and il
has been with desire that the city's ex
ecutive might see the fragrant weakness
of the force he has organized and in JUS
tice to himself as well as the public.
make the changes that he ought--and
there are a great many. But he has not;
his excuse for not doing SO, whether it
be blind stubbornness or total ignorance
of facts, the ARGUS does not feel called
upon to attempt to say.
A sense of duty to the public, however.
viii. not permit of further silence, and it
remains for a democratic paper to con-
| denim the misuse and reckless abuse OF q
public trust placed in the hands of a dem
ocratic mayor. 1t is expressing it in mild
terms when it is said that the police force
of Rock Island has become odious and so
rotten that the tax payers Of the city and
the public generally have a right to cry
out in their indignation for protection
from their protectors. For the marshal,
John Brennan. and the deputy marshal.
Lawrence Kramer, the ARGUS has only
words of praise. They are both
capable men. but, with the
force placed at their disposal,
they are simply Handicapped in their en-
deavors to protect public property and
preserve public morals There are men
on the day force. too, whom we believe
under different circumstances would make
good officers. But the night force is col
lectively and individually burning dis
grace to the citY.a reproach to the mayor
and reflection On the marshal and dep
uty and every faithful officer on the force
1t is no longer an honor or indeed trust
to be member of the Rock Island police
force. A man of moral principles and
an appreciation of the obligations he
owes the public, mast blush with shame
whenever he puts on the star that marks
him as an associate of some of the pres
ent worthless men who pretend to be the
guardians of public safety and decency.
Look at the recoid:
Two of the force convicted twice of
brutality to a prisoner.
One being sued by the city for running
the police horse.
One in Jail for rape.
And all this, without saying anything |
of the times without number almost, that |
members of the force have been seen in |
a helpless state of intoxication while in |
the discharge of their duty. The ARGUS |
has known of numerous occasions where /
members of the force have been Sc al reel.
ing through the streets with a prisoner in
charge not so much under the influence
of liquor as themselves.
During the trial of Officer Cummins, in
Justice Haws' court yesterday, it was
shown in evidence that two members of
the night force, other than Cummlns, had
been in the habit of frequenting the dis
reputable house where Cummlns was acN
cused of committing the crime and had
been in the habit of dressing up in
clothes there and having high
old time during the lonely hours when
they were supposed to be on their beats
the duties for which they
are paid. This all came out in public
evidence. Can any newspaper with re-
spect to itself or Its trusting readers know
these things and suppress it's indigna.
ton?
The ARGUS further maintains that Off
Ger Cummins should have been suspend
ed by the mayor the moment there was a
suspicion of conduct on his part suffi-
cient to warrant his arrest. True, he
may have been the victim of a conspiracy
on the part of his fellow officers, and on
that account he should have had as he
did, the benefit of the doubt, as a citizen
but not as an officer-until the
hearing. The moral stan
dard of the police force should
demand the suspension of any .officer the
moment there is sworn evidence of an
abuse of his office, until he proves his
innocence. In Davenport last week the
best officer on the force was discharged j.,
by Mayor Claussen because a little girl !,
accused him of attempting undue liber-
ties with her. The officer is probably :,
innocent, too, but the mayor told him he ,
must show it conclusively before he
could retain his position. The city of
Rock Island was never in more deplor-
ably immoral condition than it is at
the present time. Houses of ill-repute
are in full blast in the most thIcklY pop.
ulated portions of the city and they are
allowed to exist By the night police ON
condition that the officers may visit them
when they please.
The time has come when the public are
justified in proclaiming their righteous
at this shameful state of at
fairs, and no newspaper can allow such
things to go unnoticed and fulfil its mis- |