The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-03-06
FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSION
AGAIN.


BY taking the necessary action to
! drop ten men from the police force,
as ordered by the city council; and by
! certain recommendations made to the
I legislature as amendments to the fire
| and police commissioners bill, the fire
and police commission, and the law
! which created it, have become once
more a chief topic of conversation.
As to the selection of the Rnen for
dismissal, it is charged that the men
who had most won the confidence of
Chief Pratt, and upon whom he had
/ most relied. are among the men dis
missed; and to say the least of it, there
is good ground for wishing that the
recommendations of the chief had been
more considered; for, after all the
efficiency of the police department de-
ponds upon the confidence existing be-
tween the men and the chief: and to
dismiss the men in whom he had
especial confdence-unless they were
actually incompetent men, was to
weaken the police force, a thing, in
view Of the fact that it is necessarily
weakened by dismissing ten men,
which ought to have been carefully
avoided.
OF the recommendations proposed at
the meeting of the commission yes
terday, some Of which were finally sub
mitted to the house committee on mu-
nicipaI corporations, the one intro
duced by Mr.. Jennings, to place the
power to appoint the commission in
the hands of the governor instead of
leaving it in the hands Nof the mayor
and city council, is not to be thought
Of It is a direct reproach to the
cities affected by the law. and equiva-
lent to saying that they are not ca
pable of self-government; that local
self-government is not attainable in
our cities. Let not Utah for very
shame say that by any act of legis-
lation
The chief point of attack by the
commission upon the bill pending be-
fore the legislature is that part which
confers upon the chief Of police and
chief of the fire department the power
to make and enforce the rules and
regulations. suspend without pay, fine
or dismiss any subordinate officer,
member or employee, with the condi-
ton that they report the reason there (
Of to the board of commissioners. 'aThis I
is but the same power" says the COM
mission, heretofore vested in the
mayor, or council, and an obtrusive
evil the present system was designed to /
obviate. The machine, so constructed, /
is none the less powerful for evil, be-
cause the manager is a chief of police (
or engineer of the fire department. /
than if he were the mayor Is it not /
apparent that this feature of the bill /
eliminates the very life of the system?'' |
We think this is not Just criticism (
of the section Of the bill comforting !
upon the chiefs this power, for the Z
reason that it fails to recognize the (
fact that the chief is amenable to the I
board Of commissioners while the +
mayor and city council were amenable (
to no one, except to public opinion.
Nor does The following remark of the
commissioners meet fully the criticism
we have made of them:
while carefully providing for this
power to be vested as above stated the
bill does not contemplate the exercise
Of like authority by the board over
the respective chiefs That is, in any
practical way. The power of the four
eoncurring-to remove, is
not practically operative
The trouble with this is that it does
not state the whole fact. The bill pro-
vides for the board to arbitrarily dis
miss the chiefs by unanimous action,
without trial, and even without stat
ing a reason for their act, further than
that the good Of the service demands
that action; and it also provides that
for cause upon decision of the ma
iority of the board, after trial, the
chiefs may be dismissed, a fact which
The commission ignores.
OF the amendments recommended by
he board, we think the one which
makes the suspensions and dismissals
If the chiefs liable to be overruled by
action of a majority of the board.
ought not to be accepted, for the rea~
son that it would destroy the efficiency
If the force; for if the chief should dis 1
Mss or suspend a man and then by !
lction Of the board that man was
brown back upon him, the foundation
# INSTRUMENTATION, mistrust, hatred, de- ,
to get even, and lack of
is laid, and with that in the !
orce, efficiency is gone. :
So, too, the recommendation that
hree members Of the board have now ,
T to remove the chiefs without trial. =
,ught to be rejected. It is better. and ,
is enough, that the chiefs be removed
Without trial only by unanimous ac-
ion of the board and by three mem
Ders for cause and after trial. In fact,
he bill pending before the legislature
would be much better without the !
suggested by the com
nissioners, and we hope it will soon
'ecome the law.