Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-01-11
GREAT POLICE FORCES.
THEIR CONTROL AND now THEY ARE
ORGANIZED.
Those OF London and Paris Controlled Each
by u Single Commissioner. who Is Di-
rcctiy Responsible to tho state
The system Satisfactory.

to the fact that IL Is so difficult In this
country to bring the central. general au-
thority ~ to bear upon municipal
body. The relationship of the police force
of an American city to the state Is rad
ically different from that sustained by the
forces of the greatest European capitals
to their chief state authorities. The DIFF
ference may perhaps he understood. says
the New York Advertiser when 1t Is
stated that in Great Britain, for instance,
every person on the police force of the
kin ngdom, from an ordinary constable up-
ward. islands in the direct position of
servant of the crown. This Is not n theo-
retlcal allegiance, but a practical one.
which may at any time be insisted upon
In the most absolute way. ON admission
to the service the policeman makes
promissory declaration that he Will serve
the sovereign. and 1t Is upon the fact that
a police constable has the powers, duties
and privileges of peace officer of and
FOR the crown that many of the incidents
of his service depend.
The English state has, ever since the
invention and perfection of the modern
police system kept a whip hand over
London. 1t exercises a thorough super
vision of the police of the metropolitan
district-that great tract which Is con-
stantly enlarging and closing within its
bounds cities and towns, varying in char
aCter and in custom. The commissioner
of police of the metropolis of London tsin-
gle head of the commission. bear in mnd)
is appointed by the secretary of state for
the home department, who acts under his
immediate direction There is also at
present, and will he until Greater Lon
don" IS recognized by act of parliament,
the commissioner of police of the city
Of London'-that Is to say. of the old
city" the medieval corporation, with its
guilds and its ancient and time-worn priv
ileges and perquisties. This commissioner
is in constant communication with the
corporation which appoints him, but the
secretary of state for the home depart
ment has power to crticise and is ex-
pected 10 agree or disagree to even the
city's police regulations.
When Greater London comes in, and
its creation is now thought to be probable
within few months, the state will reserve
to itself the right which it at present pos
sesses of appointing the single headed
| commission for control of the metropolitan
| police The old "city police" will disappear
| or be merged into that of the new and vast
| Babylon, which is to cover so many thou
| sands of acres and absorb so many flour
| ishing cities and towns In the counties of
| England the appointment of the chief con-
| stable Is by the county magistrates, sub
| iect to the approval of the secretary of
| state. But in municipal corporations out
| side of London the police, including the
| chief. are appointed by committee of cit
izens known the watch committee"
| The secretary of state leaves the control
OF llls nbIltt III an cases tulSllt
| tropolis to the local authorities and dis
| claims responsibility.
In Scotland the appointment of the chief
constable is subject to the approval of the
| secretary of state. In Ireland, of course,
| the great authority vested in the lord lletl-
| tenant Is due to the exceptional character
| of the relation between England and Ire
| land. BY the distinction which it draws
| between the position of the police force in
| London and that of the other police forces
| sI.aN
| sty of making the body in any sense mill
| tary, while at the same time it is as re-
| sponsble to the state as If 1t We're actually
| a part of the army. 1t is curious that in
England the army always calls the police
"civilan" and the police thinks and speaks
| of itself as .; body distinct from the "civ-
| ilian mass"
As the business of the police has grown
| in London, there have been from time to
time alterations in the mI nner of control.
Before 1856 there We're two commissioners
| appointed as above mentioned. But the
| experience of the metropolis was against
| the continuance of this double-headed au-
| thority, and in 1856 the singe-headed plan
| was adopted. TO this single commissioner
| were added little later two assistant
| commissioners, purely as delegates from
| his authority, and in 1884 n third assistant
| commissioner was given, the work growing
| enormously as the population OF the vast
center increased.
| The Dublin police is to-day under the i'm
| mediate direction of one Commissonerwho
| has an assistant also appointed ana dlrect-
| ~ responsible to the state. The Whole po-
| lice force of the British empire amounts
| to about 10000 men. OF this force 5l,Om
| mon are in the United Kingdom and the
rest are distributed throughout India and
| the colonies.
| Paris furnishes an excellent example of
| the effectiveness of a sinSle-headed COM
| mission over the police OF n vast city which
| periodical turbulence
| and revolutionary tendency. The project
| of police is at the head of the whole force
| of the French capital, amounting in all us
| branches to some ll,OO0 men,and is aided by
| so-ralled "commissaires de police VINO are
| appointcd by the president on the nomna-
| ton of the minister of the interior, to act
under the orders of the prefect These
| commissaires are practically magistrates.
| They have, In fact, both administrative
and judicial duties. There is one in each
ward or quarter of the city, and he has
| power TO send for any person without ar
| resting him or her, and to have a prclm-
| mary examination which may or may not
| result in definite arrest. They are also
| auXiliaries OF the prosecuting attorney in
| all correction and criminal actions.
| throughout France the police duties are
| exercised under the control of the minister
| of the interior, in the departments and
municipalities, by the projects and sub
/ prefects who are appointed by the presi-
|
| missaires of police, and other officers also
! appointed by the president.
This is more complete Capitalization than
| would be necessary or possible in this coun-
| try. But it is impossible to escape the fact
| that the single headed authority in Paris is
| the source of the wonderful efficiency,
| probity and general good character of the
| large forces. Divided into two branches,
| the administrative" and "iudiciary" po-
| lice the various corps work well under the
| delegates who report directly to the pre-
| feet. To the administrative police falls the
| ordinary duty of maintaining the peace,
| tranquility and cleanliness of the streets
| and the enforcement of petty regulations.
| To the judiciary police quite distinct in its
| operations is allotted the task of follow
| ing up and arresting suspected or incrim-
| mated persons, conducting prisoners before
| and after conviction and assuring the
| safety of the state ana the welfare OF So
| ciety by the suppression of crime, The
| cost of the Paris police Is about 2iGlO, ,OOQ
francs annually, or SiSOO,OO0, Of which the
| state contributes about one-third.
| 1t is possible that some day the citizens
| OF Paris may convince the state that they
| have the right to elect their own mayor,
| and that he must be allowed to appoint his
| own police commissioner. But for the pres,
ent the republican state adheres rigidly
| 10 the system of direct control by itself OF
the city police the old imperial dynasty
| did. II never fails TO pay its proportionate