The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-01-03

general security felt by the peo-
pie OF the city. OF course there
IS another side 10 this. and 1t
is the fact that the population is a quiet
and law-abidlng community that provides
little work for the police 20 do. In the
East there IS ss.ll lingering feeling that,
4 a man comes 10 the far West, he must
be armed and take MS chances OF some
r0wdy inhabitant drawing a murderous
weapon before he does. IL was SO once
on time In some parts OF the West:
never in Seattle
II the Fastener viii pause for mo-
nent 10 consider the expenses Of our po-
Ice department as compared with those OF
any city OF MS acquaintance III proportion
TO population, he Will ar once conclude
that We must be very quiet and law
abiding community. To maintain order
over population of 60.0o0 people there are
only 81 patrolmen, four detectives, two
Jailers, two patrol wagon drivers, one
herder for .mpounded cattle. one clerk.
three sergeants, two captains and the
chsef-.n all force Of 4s. and yet, as the
records show. crime and d.sorderly con-
duct are kept down TO a lower point than
IN any other city of its size.
The force was reduced eight men in Au-
gust last. and the salaries have also been
reduced this year. Chief Reed was ap-
pointed May % al a salary of sl,aO0 year.
his predecessor The captains pay was
reduced al The same time from $50 TO $50
per month, the sergeants from $50 TO S65
and the patrolmen remained at $50, be-
cause that was figure that could not pru-
IDENTIFY be cut.
The payroll of this force for the past
year (the last two months being esumates)
amounted to sS5.4 SIS. and other expenses
10 So, 1881. For leso, the payroll was s3s.-
81
showed a saving in both items and total
saving during the year OF ss.l27 1t shows
a greater saving over the year preceding,
1884 Then the payroll and expenses ran
up TO SOL .5s7.07, which IS $l3,201 above the
total for the current year.
The Gamewell patrol system is used,
with q signal boxes so arranged that, in
many cases. one box can be used by the
patrolmen on two adjoining beats. The
patrol wagon is found TO be OF great SER
vice. During the past year 1t was called
out 1.662 times and made a total distance
OF 1.459 miles. Many prisoners were
brought in by II, and the total number OF
prisoners arrested during the past year
was 2.52S. The receiving Jail at police
headquarters has Ave stone cells on each
side of main corridor, and a steel tank
divided into three cells. The chief Of po-
Ice and board Of public works are now
considering plan for working the prison
ers on the city's boulevards.
The official record OF crime of the city is
shown TO be far below the average by the
following figures for 1895: OF the 2, SOS ar
rests made, there were only for murder
or attempted murder only for robbery
and attempted robbery. 16 for burglary
and attempted burglary. 1e6 for various
degrees of assault, $50 for the various de-
grees OF larceny. 50 for vagrancy, Z for
carrying concealed weapons, Is for gam
bling. and GO for vagrancy This is a to-
tai OF $40 only. The 2,502 remaining ar
rests were for trifing m!sdemeanors.
drunk and dlsorierly. men put in the sta
from school, arrests on suspicion and so
on.
OF the whole number OF persons arrested
only i42 were women. and only 80 OF the
men were entered as of no occupa alton.
The nationality OF the prisoners shows
that IN the lower walks of our city life
We are somewhat cosmopolitan. There
were 1900 Americans. So colored people.
goo Swedes, the same number OF Irish, $50
Bng.sh and Canadian, 20 Norwegians, IS
Chinese, % japanese, Sc Indians. In all
"a nationanties were represented among
the prisoners. To sum up, the exceeding
~ small number OF serious charges shows
the good moral tone OF the city; the num-
Der OF arrests as compared with the num-
Der OF serious charges shows that the po-
Ice department is doing its full duty. San
Francisco, which. IL is Claimed, has five
times the population OF Seattle, records
about as many arrests monthly as this city
does annually.