The Worcester spy., 1899-11-19
THOSE DUTY CALLS.
Police Sergeants Re-
port at Central
Station.
DO ONLY CLERICAL WORK.
Chief Of Police brennan
Comes in for Criti-
ciSm.
DO ONLY CLERICAL WORK.

Economy has always been the key
note of the head of the police depart
ment IN his attempts to satisfy the
chief executive of the city Of Worcester
and its people in having the city prop
erly patroled, and yet one of the most
glaring errors in his attempt to carry
out this idea is the keeping three SER
geants at work on the tape of the new
signal system.
When the system was first put in it
was supposed generally that a clerk
would be engaged to take the duty and
other calls off the tape and copy them
on the tally sheets, but to date a clerk
has not been engaged.
Instead, the police sergeants at the
central station have been ordered to
come into station 1 at certain time
every evening and spend hours copying
off the duty calls and other entries on
the tape, and transfer them to the tally
sheet. The reason given by the chief
of police is that he does not care to ex-
pend money unnecessarily, and yet at
the same time it is argued that he is
failing to keep his promise by having
sergeantS on duty in the station every
The system necessitates considerable
extra work over the old system, and
men who know of its workings argue
that the same force should be engaged
to run it as was originally intended
The old system had no tape on it, and
the calls, as they came in were received
at the central station, and if they were
for a team or an ambulance, the
vehicle, if in, was promptly dispatched,
MI n on aY1ly
kept for the purpose.
The man who was retained at the
Office for special duty usually looked
after the old system, and shortly before
leaving the office in the morning copied
his tallies off onto the sheet, which was
about five minutes work, and then left
for home.
AT THE PRESENT TIME,
the police sergeants say, they are need
ed for the same purpose for which they
were appointed, that is, to look after
the men, and they fail to see why the
city should attempt to enforce economy
by using them as clerks.
The new system, without doubt, re-
quires a clerk to look after it, in adj
dition to an electrician kept.for the ex-
press purpose of keeping it in shape,
and Chief of Police brennan. instead af
having a CLERK TO copy OIL IHS Ldp6ai
takes his two sergeants in off the street,
where they are supposed to look after
the men, and sets them to work as
clerks.
When the system was first put in,
officer James K Knight was taken off
his beat, and with the occasional as
sistance of other officers in the station
managed to get the tapes copied onto
tally sheet. Chief Of Police brennan
at that time decided that it would be
necessary for clerk to be appointed,
but for some unknown reason has
dropped the idea.
For a time the appointment of
clerk was to be sure thing, but one
evening the sergeants were ordered to
come in off their beats at certain hours
and spend the evening writing time
calls on a tally sheet. In the mean
time the officers were allowed to ring
in duty calls or not, just as they
choose.
II they are able to get a brother Of
ficer who has to ring in at their box
about the same time they do them
selves, it is argued by the police Off
cials they can do so and yet the de-
partment can afford to have the serg-
eants closeted at the station for a
couple of hours every evening doing
work that boy with a fairly good
knowledge of figures could do Just as
we'll
Sergts Thomas McMurray, George