El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-04-22
The Police And the Public
Providence Journal.

} Other cities than New York cal
learn something from the Mazet in yes
tigstion. One lesson that must have
, impressed itself upon the minds O.
many who have read the reports of the
testimony can be found in an extrac,
therefrom. 1t is but one .of many such
that drive home q point that ali cities
can proftably study. The following
bit of dialogue is q series of question:
put to the innocent Chief of Police De-
very in regard to pool rooms by Mr..
Moss, who is conducting the investiga.
ton:
the w aggb lSes
plants against it.
Q:IWhy. there were plenty of complaints
pFecin net is n neld responsible for that.
rooms running ali around us: and that I
have in MoD my pocket 9Sb, money which my men
,Q.SsBut how is it that, the rooms are run
about them. Have you ever complained
me the number of place and I'll send out
my men and get warrantn.
ways necessary for citizen:to do the work
that your men are paid to do.
Mr.. Moss bit upon the weak spot in
the police work of other cities than
New York. OF course few municipali-
ties are disRraced with a chief of po-
lice like Devery. He and all that he
stands for are parts of the Tammsny
regime and New Workers. preferred
them to Roosevelt police force. 1t
seems like an odd choice, but there Is |
no accounting for t1stes. Yet there |
are evils in scores of our cities that |
flourish openly because the officials, |
like Chief Devery, wait for some citi-
zen ID take the initiative and make the
complaint. It is not pleasant for e.
l1cemen to make enemies. They get
tired of it very quickly and often con
clude ii the law is not violated too
dagrantly, to let matters take
their ordinary course With
Devery no violation is too
1agrant. With the average police
officer, days work is hard enough if
ne grapples only with what duties are
If the way to find evils for that entails
effort and the making Of enemies. Once !
q while an official with some ideas :
# practical reforms gets out Of this 1
aisser faire rut and cleans up his dis r
riot somewhat. Sometimes he finds
he opposition too powerful. Some
lines he deems the courts TOO lenient. q
nd oftenest he loses heart. puts aside s
lis reform theories and becomes an in c
ifferent officer of the law, looking n
cors that are left open, restoring lost C
hildren to their homes, carrying off o
he drunkards who fall asleep in door s
rays and giving the rest of his time to
routine. He never
roubles trouble until trouble troubles y
i'm. If some citizen makes CON- +
laint, as Mr.. Moss says, then some "
hing may be done. The police too Of y
en- look to the public to take the mi. y
iative. The public pays the police to q
ecure offenders against the o
NV. When neither acts, nothing is
one. !,
Itsmay be said that there are city Of -
ciaIs whose duty it is to supervise the
olice. In places the mayor has that t
uthority. In other places there are l,
whose duty it is to over {
se the work. But too often q police 81
,rce is inefficient and sleepy because a
wv citizens pay any attention &
, it. A capable and hard working po- A
ce captain or sergeant or patrolman a
ill welcome a little notice from the q
.xpayers An incapable man will C
ince under it. So. while the police
re often to blame for not branching a
at to secure evidence without com II
laints from the citizens, the citizens Ii
re often also to blame because they p
D not cooperate more readily. Police +,
en- are paid to do a certain work. "
hey ought To do it. But like all 9th r.
mortals they need credit for their N
pod work and censure for their poor W
ork. There would be fewer police
,ptains willing to shut their eyes to
i kinds of law breaking, if there were tt
wer citizens who would tolerate such 10
1ndness. d,