The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-08-19
CAT AND MOUSE.

| due TO the fact that fro'iuehce aho VI
cinity have been the scene OF an nnusu-
aIIv large number of bresks and burg
laries in the last 6ve or six months
AT the same time We have deprecated |
| the tendency evidenced in certain quar-
ters TO express this feeling by attacking |
the police department beyond the meas
ure OF their blsma bleness, and regard
less OF the splendid record and known |
efficiency OF the force. OF course, the
police department is TO be held respons-
| ible, directly responsible. No one else
| can be held responsible. They are the
paid guardians OF the public peace.
Their duty is to prevent depredations and
to find and arrest persons who commit
crime. But, at the same time, TO merei-
lessly assault public servants OF good rec
ord without a due hearing and opportun-
| ity TO demonstrate that there Is no lapse
| i'm faithfulness, IL unjust and tends
neither to the efficiency OF the servant
nor to the public interests. And in the
case Of the police, such natural outbursts
Of public feeling do real injury because
they are taken advantage OF by that class
in the community which, for political and
personal reasons, is always malevolent
1 opponent of the police department and
its chief officers and welcomes the oppor-
tunity thus afforded to secure endorse
ment for its yindictive cause.
The best protection for a community
from criminal acts is police prestige. 1t
can but be plain TO the average citizen
that every night in the week and every
week I'm the year it is very practical
possibility for burglaries and robberies to
be successfully prosecuted. Our police
force is too small, but II it were twice as
large, the mere numbers would not serve
to guard every doorway in the thousands
of residences and stores in the city. The
recognition OF this makes the storekeeper
and many householders take precautions
OF their own, such as the automatic alarm
service, and we take II il there were po-
licemen enough TO camp out on every
front door step the householders would
not neglect TO fasten their windows Sc
curely on retiring.
But security lies not In bolts ana bars
or q force Of policemen big enough to
stand watch constantly on every block.
That community Is best guarded whose
police force is known for persistent vigil
ance and whose courts are recognized for
prompt and severe punishment OF crime.
Your expert at thievery is rarely caught
red handed, and to be 80 captured is the
least OF the danger his profession imposes.
But he is wary about committing his de-
predations where he knows that justice,
severe and certain is pretty sure to over
take him sooner or later, even though the
opportunity may be fairly open to him TO
do the actual business of thieving. The
prestige of the United States government
is due to the fact that it Is a merciless
and tireless pursuer. No establishment
gives better returns for such an easy job
of robbery as country postotfice. Even
in some sizahle towns the postoffice is
rich and easily tapped. But the prottc-
tion of these thousands OF postofflces lies
In the fact that capture Is almost certain
to follow, though years may elapse be-
tween the crime and the capture. Money
and time are not objects Of account with
Uncle Sans detectives. Thousands Of
dollars and years of watchfulness
are often spent to secure the rob-
ber of few postage stamps and small
change from postofice so that it is an
axiom OF the professional thief that you
! might as we'll commit suicide IL Uncle
captured II you live long enough.
The prestige OF any police force is made
in this same way. III is no assurance 10
J the thief that he can practise his proies-
sion on occasion unless the community
, in which he works is notable for relaxing
: its vigilance and dropping the chase after
the squirt that Immediately follows the
discovery Of crime. That the Providence
| police force has enjoyed so high a repu-
e tation has been due TO the tirelessness,
the never tagging industry OF the depart
r ment in the pursuit OF crime We could
characteristic. The city is.kept free from
evil characters They are not permitted to
. show their faces and remain long in
: town. And II they succeed in jumping in