The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-12-25
POLICE OF GERMANY,
Thieves as Well Organized as the
Police.
From the Review Of Reviews.


From the Review Of Reviews
To the Revue des Deux Mondes Of
Sept. l NJ. Ruffalowich contributes an in
teresting account of the German police
and of crimes in Berlin. Since the year
1912 immense powers have lain in the
hand Of the Berlin police, though its pres
ent organization was only planned and
regulated in 1882. The president of police
IS practically the project of Berlin as
well and represents the state in his deal
lngs with each subdivision of the town.
having really complete control of all that
concerns the health and we'll being of the
population. Even the Berlin munich
pality is under the direct supervision of
the president of police.
The German policeman can not COM
plain OF his lot, for he is only expected to
work during the day. After 10 O'Clock D.
m. Berlin is contided TO a number of indi-
viduals who are called Watchers of the
Night" These men wear a special uni
form and carry a whistle and a sword !;
they come on duty at 10 o'clock p. m and
walk about their district till or o'clock
a. m. Berlin is manned by $500 police
men, entirely drawn from the ranks of
non-commissionedo officers, who must have
spent at least nine years in the army be-
fore they are eligible for a post in the
police force. The policemen live on ex-
cellent terms with the townspeople, and
are liked and respected. Berlin is di-
vided into eighty-two police districts,
each Differed by lieutenant of police,
who has under him two Sergeants, two
telegraphists, two messengers, twelve
policemen and two detectives, the latter
carrying revolvers.
1t is impossible, remarks NJ. Ruffalo-
witch, to give exact statistics of the num-
Der of thieves, murderers and criminal
loafers who make any great town their
center. Germany seems TO boast of a
proud pre-eminence both in the number
and intelligence of her thieves but it is
rare indeed, that a burglary is compli-
Gated by murder. The thieves of Ber-
lin are thoroughly organized. At the be-
ginning of the. century there existed in
the province of Posnina a whole Jewish
populate who lived exclusively by
breaking the eighth commandment
and educated their children to
do the same Their greatest
prosperity was between the
middle of the century most of them found
it convenient to distribute themselves in
the various towns of Prussia. In Berlin
some of these PoSninianS found kindred
spirits, but gradually the Jewish element
disappeared, and the Berlin criminal of
to-day is nearly always either Protestant
or Catholic; yet, strangely enough, the
trace of the old influence remains in the
thieves slang, which is largely composed
of Hebrew words.
The pickpockets of Berlin (Torfdruck-
ers) are celebrated all over the world.
They find their happy hunting grounds in
great crowds, in theaterS or circuses and
in railway stations. Their victims are
generally strangers or proYincials. To
the apostles of the craft is
given the task of dealing with the
pockets of drunkards or those who fall
asleep on benches. Women make the best
shop thieves, and the Berlin female pick
pocket has an ingenious series Of little
hooks fastened under her gown, on which
she is able to hang the various treasures
she collects on her way. Another inter-
esting category are the criminal lock-
smiths but they are beaten hollow, says
NJ. Ruffalowich, by their English breth-
rem, who occasionally cOndescended to
give a benefit performance in Berlin.
Thus, the great robbery which took place
in the house of Paasch, the banker, was
executed by a gang of London thieves.
The capital of Prussia is also a great
center of false money, and some ten clever
groups nf bank note forgerS and coiners
are arrested every year. The German po-
lice, like that of Paris, make great use'of
what may be called criminal detectives
spies, who, for consideration, are will
ing to sell their comrades. They are paid
according to the value of their work, but
are never cited in public as witnesses
against their comrades. Seventeen years
ago the Photographic album system was
commenced, and in 1890 the album COM
sisted of thirteen volumes, of which three
were devoted to the portraits of
international criminals; in addition
to this collection the autographs of
all those who pass through the pris-
ons are given, and when possible list is
kept of each prisoners aliases, nick
names, birthmarks, scars, etc. In the
last ten years over 1000 criminals were
tracked down by this system; but up to
the present time no attempt has been
made to introduce the authopometric
method, said to be so successful in France.
M Ruffalowich notes one curious fact,
namely that the Berlin police have an
organ, edited by themselves, containing
matter only interesting to the force and an
up-date list of all home and foreign per-
sonageS who are wanted"