The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-09
Nine Officers Down for Retire.
ment When the New Year
Comes.
PLACES ON THE PENSION LIST
About Forty Policemen Will be Sub.
jected to the Same Heroic
Treatment.

The members of the Police Department
who have seen twenty years continuous
service and are over 90 years old are in a
state of excitement over changes scheduled
TO take place about the first of the new
year.
Every member on the force has reason
to remem Der the shaking up of July last,
when Captains Douglass, Stone and Short
Sergeant Thorn and Patrolmen Asher.
GaIleger ana Harold were retired on half
paw 1t was given out then that there were
some forty or fifty men subject to retire
ment at any time. President Tobin of the
Board of Police Commissioners said, how
ever, that to retire this number in a
lump might temporarily demoralize the
entire force, and TO obviate such a posi-
bility the men would be pensioned off in
small lots. Section of the ''act to create
police relief, health, life insurance and
pension fund, as amended March 81, 1891,
reads as follows:
Whenever any person, at the taking effect of
this act or thereafter, shall have been duly APP
pointed and sworn, and have served for the
period of twenty years or more as a member in
any capacity or any rank whatever OF the regu-
larry constituted department of any such
county, city and county, city or town, which
may hereafter be subject 10 the provisions of
this act said board shall be empowered to Or
DER and direct that such person shall, after be-
coming 90 years of age, and his service in such
Police Department shall have ceased, be paid
from such fund yearly pension equal to one
half the amount of salary attached to the rank
which he may have held in said Police Depart
ment for one year next preceding the expira-
ton OF said term of twenty years.
1t appears now that the Police Commits
sioners have determined not to take adj
vantage of the right given them in this
act to retire the men in single lots, but to
make clean sweep of those who come
within the conditions of the law. Mr..
Tobin admitted as much last night, though
he declined to give the names of the men
who are down for half-pay, beginning jan
uary l next.
carried out nine officers and between
twenty-five and thirty patrolmen will be
retired on half-pay. This includes five
sergeants one property clerk, two detec-
tives and one captain.
Captain Dunleavy of the Harbor station
is said to be down for retirement, though
it is barely possible that he might be con-
tinued for few months. Sergeant Brown,
in charge of the North-end station, is
booked for the pension-list; with him go
Sergeants Lindheimer, Shields Houghtal-
ing and Cornelius Martin. Property Clerk
Cullen must also give way to younger
man, while the two oldest detectives on
Ine IOTCS. except captain Lees, must con-
tent themselves with half a loaf. They
are Detectives Ben Bohen and Bainbridge
All these men are over so wears old and
have served more than twenty years.
1t IS more than probable, however, that
an exception viii be made in the case of
Detective cambridge. No man is of more
value to the department and there is no
one to fill his place. He has the extraor-
binary gift of remembering faces and rec
ords for years back, and he has only to
study the features of a prisoner for few
minutes when he can recall his name and
when and for what he was arrested In
view therefore of his peculiar value to the
department it may be that he will be re-
tanned.
In addition to these changes the several
department captains have been instructed
by the Police Commissioners to make a
list of the men who are drawing money
from the City Treasury for supposed SER
vices. but who really perform no actual
work. 1t is the purpose of the Commits
sioners to weed out all those patrolmen
who are more jealous in displaying their
stars than looking after the Clty's interest.
If this programme IS carried out there
will probably be twenty or thirty more
vacancies to fill with the beginning of the
new year.
In the midst of this there is more or less
wire-pulling going ON for the vacancies
about to occur, for it is not thought that
the Commissioners have yet agreed on the
men for these positions