The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-10-27
POLICE SYSTEMS AT NEW YORK
AND ELSEWHERE.

The disclosures which the investigation
by the Lexow committee is bringing to
light are startling every one. The New
York Police Department is honeycombed
with corruption. All forms of vice and
crime have been licensed in the largest
city in the Union; not by virtue of law.
but through regular system Of blackmail
and intimidation practiced by members of
the force. from the Commissioners to the
natrolmen. People who do not live in
New York are asking each other whether
it is different from other cities in this
respect, and whether all over the United
States the force which is hired to prevent
crime and suppress vice is not in many
cases an accomplice of both.
Within the past few years extensive I'M
provements have been introduced into our
police systems. Rules-which it may be
hoped are obeyed-require policemen to
concern themselves for the injured. the in
sane, or the iEtlrm: the patrol-wagon has
put stop 10 the dragging of prisoners
through the streets; prisoners are no
longer herded together regardless of sex,
age and criminality; graduated system
of responsibility has been adopted by
which improved discipline and better SER
vice have been secured. But in New York,
as in some other cities, the whole benefit
of these improvements has not been real
lied, because appointments Oh the police
force have been controlled by political
considerations. Where boss politician
controls appointments and removals in his
ward the orders of the superintendent are
sure to be neglected, abuses winked at.
Ill Shn yhar
ever the guilty can exercise pull on the
powers that be. The practice parayzes
the usefulness of the best intentioned
officer, and inclinss him to consider
whether be should not follow the example
of his comrades aud look out for himself.
A memorable trial which took place iu
this city few months ago taught the les
son that no police department should be
suffered to sit In judgment on itself. In
all police bodies there is an esprit de corps
which inclines the sergeant to shield his
men, the captain to agree with the ser
geanI, the Commissioners to stand by their
captain. An impartial inves tigation can
not be conducted before such court. 1t
was this conviction which led to the ap-
pontment of the Lexow committee by the
Senate of New York. and it is safe TO say
that no other body could have elected the
evidence which Mr.. Golf has brought out.
The lesson should not be thrown away
here. The next time public attention is
drawn to charges of completely between
the police and the lawmakers the Legis-
lature should take the matter in hand by
appointing a committee of men who can
6e trusted, with instructions to probe the
matter to the bottom.
In the meantime it is instructive TO note
how thoroughly the New York police had
systematizsd crime in is various forms
as a source of revenue. Every phase of
vice was taxed, and as the income of the
police rose or fell with the increase or
decrease of the tax, it was the interest of
the force to encourage vice. Hence efforts
to close gambling-houses and other re-
sorts of immortality met with its deter
mined opposition. 1t derided the attempts
of reformers as sickly sentimentality. 1t
set traps for benevolent men who were
endeavoring to curb crime. Mem bers of
the force stood ready 10 whtewash GRIM
inals on their oath. AS the chief source
of criminality is juvenile delinquency, the
New YORK police win ed at misdemeenors
among boys, and were careful not TO ex-
ecute the law prohibiting the sale of iq-
uors to minors. The picture is immensely
Instructive, al showing how a well-meant
law can be diverted from its purposes by
the perversity Of corrupt men in pursuit of
gain. 1t ought to serve as beacon light
for us; not the least of the lessons it should
teach us is that police system, like bank.
ought to be inspected at least once year
by persons who are not connected with the
force and who are animated with an hon.
orable purpose,