St. Paul daily globe., 1889-10-28
CHIEF CLARK'S VIEW
OF the Necessity for an In
crease of st. Pauls Po-
lice Force.
Numerical Strength Of the
Force as Compared With
Other Cities.
A Case Wherein Professional
Courtesy is No MoPe
a Virtue.
Minneapolis Iassi9s Who
Raced Horses on ST. Paul
Avenues.


Eastern trip fully convinced that the
St. Paul police force should he in
creased. Not that he has just been con-
vinced of the need of more policemen.
for he has long maintained and it is
generally admitted that the force is en-
tirely too small numerically, but his
visit to other cities left him without a
doubt that st. PaurS department is in
f6riOr in pOiRt of numbers to
the, force of almost any other
large city Of the United States. That the
present force does. as good work as that
of any other city OF the country the
chief is confident, but he believes much
better results could be accomplished
with a larger number Of men. concern
ing the numerical strength of the force
aud its comparison with the same de-
partments in other cities. Chief Clark
furnishes some interesting statistics.
The force. as at present constituted, is
limited by ordinance 10 rs men, the
total number now on the department
payroll. with one chief, foul captains,
seven leutendntS. ten Sergeants,
one chief detective, four detectives,
I23 patTolmen. five jailerS, five
patrol wagon drivers. three pOundmaS-
ters, four assistant poundmasters (who
are employed six months of the year,,
three police court bailiffs, two men on
the WOrkhOuse van, and one police
clerk. OF the 123 men designated as
patrolmen. one is detailed as night
iailer at h central station, one at the
city attorneys Office. one as license in
spector, one as a detective, andsive as
patrol wagon conductors, leaving but
ia actual patrolmen detailed for active
duty to patrol city containing over
fifty-five square miles, whose inhabi-
tantS number 100000 souls. On account
of sickness, or men on furlOugh,
allowance must be made for
half-dOZen s. men OFF duty.
The city is divided into five districts,
each i'll charge of a captain; these dis
trictS are again divided into precincts,
and in charge of a sergeant, where one
sergeant does not patrol the whole dis
trict: and the precincts into beats,
which are assigned the patrol men. the
size of the beats varying 1nVerSely
with the density of population. The
largest beat in, the city iSAoyer mile
square, and the smallest Is over two and
a half blocks square. The average
would be about two men per square
mile, but as the force must be
concentrated where the population
is thickeSt. the result is that such
localities are guarded by about one
third the number of men on duty, while
the outlying districts are. for the most
part, as devoid of public protection as
the Desert of Sahara. The men are
divided into three nearly equal pla-
tOOns, each of which serves for about
ten consecutive hours. The day watch
is from O'Clock in the morning until
at night. The day men are relieved
by a platoon staying until in the
morning. Another detail comes on at
9O'clOck in the evening and remains
until in the morning, thus giving
a night patrol doubiy as strong
as the day guard. The men change
about, working two weeks days and
three weeks nights. There are but nine
mounted men to patrol the outlying dis
trictS, seven being detailed at Union
Park and two at the Margaret street
stations. The central station has eight
officers, fifty-fOur patrOlmen, five de-
tectiveS. two drivers and one jailer; the
Ducas street station has four officers,
twelve patrOlmen, one jailer and one
driver; the Margaret and Rondo street
stations each have four officers, twenty
two patrOlmen, one jailer and one
driver; and the Union Park station two
,.
! These instances serve to illustrate the
fact that the force is utterly inadequate
| in numbers comparatively and is smaller
than the force of other cities. A COM
| parisOn of the population, number of
square miles and the number of patrol
men is made as follows: st. Paul, 30
square miles, 100000 population, ia
patrolman; Milwaukee, 169l square
miles, 10000 population, l4S patrOlmen;
Buffalo. 81 square miles, 242,0O0 p0pula-
ton, $50 patTOlmen: Cleveland, 2619
square miles, 25Q,000 population, 1S2
patrOlmen: Albany, 1015 square miles,
10000 populatiou.97 patrelmen; PrOvi-
dence. 10 square miles, 125.000- pOpula-
ton, 167 patrolmen; Omaha, % square
miles, 10000 population, 70 patrolmen;
Cincinnati, % square miles, 5000
| population, 353 patrolmen. Many other
! cities, the chief states, can be
| cited in support of his claims
that the ST.. Paul department
| does not compare in point OF numbers
with the departments of other cities.
! With the present number of men it fol-
| lows necessarily that the men are over
| worked and often become discouraged
and indifferent, and as a vast amount of
| duty which should be done is either
| done indifferently or not. done at all.
| There has been no increase of the force
| since 1887, and but ten men were added
at that time, though the city is rapidly
| increasing in population. 1t is fact
not generally known, but the police de-
| Dartment now numbers tWenty-SeYen
| men less lhan the fire department..