The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-04-11
THE NEW POLICE RULES,
How They Are Looked On by
the Main Body of the
PatrOlmen.
Satisfaction at Seeing Inside Men
in Buttons - Things OBJ
jeCted To.
The new police ordinances regarding uni

The new police ordinances regarding uni
forms and when they should be worn,
which have been passed by the com mis-
sion, are not meeting as whole gener-
Gus welcome from the patrolmen and the
patrol sergeants. There are some points,
however, which all the outside men are
quite willing to approve of, and prominent
among these is the rule which demands
that all members of the force on inside
duty shall wear uniforms.
1t has come to be the custom with the
men doing desk task or clerical work in the
head offices or in the stations to wear citi-
zens' dress while on duty. AS a conse-
quence they have, in a measure. formed a
class among themsel yes, and considerable
feeling has sprung up between these more
favored members of the force and those
whose duty keeps them upon the street.
Under the new rule, however, every man
connected with the police, with one or two
exceptions OF high officials, and also in the
case of the detectives, must wear his uni
form while on duty. This is considered
by the patrolmen to be but Justice, and
they are much satisfied with it. To con-
form to the rule some men who have not
worn a uniform in years will have to again
don the brass buttons and blue coat.
The rule which demands that uniforms
be worn at all times is meeting with a
great deal of opposition. The men form
| ing the watches which 90 on at midnight
have been allowed to wear what dress thew
pleased. The men say that when attired
in plain clothes they have much more OPP
pOrtunity to catch law-breakers than wnen
conspicuously dressed in shining buttons
and a long and unmistakable uniform coat
Any watchful thief can see them blocks
away, they say, and if the rule is enforced
a marked decrease in the early morning
arrests is predicated.
The men also object strongly to the rule
which will compel them to wear their
coats buttoned tight. instead of with the
upper two buttons, as is the present GUS
tom. Their objection is based on a desire
for their own protection. They cannot get
at their weapons. they say, should they
have to button their coats. and cases are
happening every day when an ability to
whip out club in an instant is invaluable.
The rule will compel the men to wear belts,
and to carry their clubs outside This was
tried six or seven years ago, and the result
was disastrous. The first policeman who
was caught in a crowd felt for his club, but
some quick-witted rioter had lifted
it out of the sling. and before
the policeman could unbutton his coat to
draw more deadly weapons, his own club
was used with vigor upon his head. 1t
came to such a state that the men could
not wear their weapons outside, and as
with buttoned coat they could not draw
them from inside pockets with anything
like rapidity, a compromise was finally
made on two buttons. This so far has
done we'll. The men do not deny, how
ever, that the buttoned coat will give them
much heater appearance, and with the
new helmet, which is looked on with
favor, that they will form a much better
looking body of men from a military
standpoint. But they object to the but
toned coat at all times and to the uniform
after midnight.