Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-03-02
PLAYED ON THE POLICE
TRICKS PRACTICED BY SLIP
Perry PRISONERS.
When They Want 90 Escape they Try
the GarrOter's Clutch or tho Cayenne
Pepper p"dge-A Coat That Comes
to Pieces with the Gang.

men by attempting to rescue a
prisoner on his way to the station
house or police court
Usually members of gangs are the
veriest towards when alone, but
when together in half-drunken
state, armed with clubs, sknives,
pistols, brass knuckles and other
weapons, they become a dangerous
enemy to the peace of the community
The records OF the police department
show that seven policemen have lost
their lives in defending themselves
against the. attacks of rescuing gangs,
and hundreds of others have been
injured
The gangs when intending to at
task a policeman usually hold a con-
sultation prior to making it. when
the leader lays out the plan. Some
one, usually the leader of the gang,
strikes the policeman blow on the
head with a sandbag or piece of lead
pipe. and the others close in and at
tempt to break his hold upon the
prisoner The officer, il he is taken
unawares, is in very dangerous
position. and must relelse his hold
in order TO defend himself from the
wholesale attack.
An alert policeman will. il posi-
BILE. strike the prisoner blow with
his fist or club hard enough to rem
der him unconscious. and will call
for assistance while beating off his
assailants.
A practice which was formerly
very common among thieves was the
use of red pepper to throw into the
eyes of q policeman and disable him,
go that escape would be compare
lively easy. Since the shooting Of
Peter Draper and Andy Milligan for
playing the trick upon Policemen
Reynolds and Porter pepper has fallen
into comparative disfavor. Thieves
formerly carried at all times a pack
age Of cayenne pepper wrapped in
tissue paper, which could be broken
easily, and the custom among the
policemen OF putting the "nippers"
or handouts upon tho right wrist OF
a prisoner to prevent him from using
pistol or knife which is usually
carried in the right hip pocket gave
the thieves an excellent opportunity
to use the pepper, which was carried
in left-hand pocket.
There are few policemen p!uclly
enough TO retain hold upon pris-
oner after receiving a dose in the
eyes.
The pain is terrible and the in
flamnation has caused more than one
to lose his sight, and others have
been forced to retire and go on the
pension roll Criminals in running
away from policemen invariably take
a zigzag course il tho policeman is
gaining upon them, as they seem TO
know by instinct that the policeman,
being the larger man, will not be
able to turn as quickly as they can,
and also for the purpose OF disturb
ing the policeman's aim if he should
shoot at them. One of the favorite
methods OF escaping when on the
chase is that which was practiced
upon Inspector Steers years ago.
when he was a sergeant in the Ninth
precinct, since which time he has
walked with decided limp.
1t is very simple trick. The
thief. IL he sees the policeman is
gaining upon him waits until they
are separated by about six feet, and
then suddenly throws him self. like a
foot ball player trying to break up a
mass wedge play at the feet o. the
fol- ~
back. and may be so badly injured
that he cannot continue the chase.
The thief must time his fall to a
nicely, for If the policeman has q
chance to check his speed before be-
ing tripped he is able to administer
vicious kick and bring the wrong
doer TO terms without any further
sprinting argument.
Another method used by thieves in
connection with the tripping trick is
that which is commonly known as
the strangers hold. It is murder
Gus grip. and when once the arm is
firmly set it is practically impossible
to break it, and the victim, being IN
able to breathe. speedily loses all
power of resistance. The attack is
usually made before the nippers are
placed upon the wrist of the pris-
Oner, the right arm being the imple-
ment OF torture The prisoner APP
pears to be very submissive and
crouches as If he were afraid OF the
policeman. II the policeman is
thrown Off his guard the thief Will
have an easy time. He moves to one
side quickly, springs at the officer
partly from behind. throws his right
arm around the policeman's neck so
that the wind-pipe will press against
the inner side of the elbow, closes
the arm quickly, grasps the right
wrist with his left hand and jerks
with all his might II this hold can
not be broken within a minute the
policeman will be at the mercy Of
his prisoner In the school of .a-
struction for policemen they are
cautioned TO be ever on the watch
for this sort of an attack. and thieves
rarely have an opportunity TO sue
cessfully carry it out
A trick which makes n policeman
feel more like a fool than anything
else is the one which enabled little
L. noo-lIoo. 80 oaoaV., mama o.0