The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-02-16

| during their absence, and L am salts
fled the result will be a great benefit tt
| them, and also a credit to this de
partment.
The city is quite clear of all forms o
| gambling with the exception of som
policy playing and that is so conducted
that it Is a very difficult matter to oh
| tain evidence sufficient to convict thos
| engaged in that miserable business TIL
| writer's and runners here do bushes
| with regular customers. These writer's
| however, are well known to the polio
| and are frequently arrested, but TIN
several cases taken to the city cour
have not been very successful as the
court requires positive evidence tt
| make a case. The vigilance of the Of
flcers although for time not entirely
suppressing the evil was successful II
keeping it confined to those who are
| personally known to the police. The
| slot machine gambling devices have
been driven out of our city entirely
| The closing Of liquor saloons on Sunday
has been vigorously enforced by the
| police force of this city, and the mem
| bers of the department are continually
on the alert, determined to catch anc
| bring to justice all parties found volat-
! ing the law in that respect. / an
| pleased to state that such viola
tons are very few compared with for,
| mer years, and that by continual Wig
| lance on our part in that respect they
will be fewer still The judges and
prosecuting, agent of the city court has
rendered this department valuable SER
vice in this respect A vigorous prose
cution and strict justice at the hands
of the city court has had the desired
effect upon those found guilty Of violat-
ing the Sunday liquor law.
During the year ending December 81
1898, the number of arrests made by
this department was six thousand
seven hundred and twenty eight (6,72S)
for all offences. Quite a number of
those arrests were made for burglary
and theft While the burglaries were
not of a very serious nature as to the
amount taken, still they were very an
noying to the police department. Those
arrested for the crime Of theft were of
a much more serious nature. The larg-
est amount taken by any one man was
taken by the Rev. James Britain Mil
| Ter, who was arrester December %, 1898,
who 1t is alleged succeeded in stealing
or taking about five thousand dollars
($5, 100000 worth of property from our
citizens and who failed to appear in
court when his cases were called con-
sequently FORGETTING his bonds and thus
escaping the punishment he justly de-
served. The efforts made by certain
wouldbe respectable class of our mis-
guided citizens to shield this disreputa-
BILE fellow, is not calculated to improve
the moral atmosphere of this commun-
ity or any other Every good citizen
should aid in bringing to justice any
person who attempts to hide his rascal
ity by drawing the cloak of religion
around him thereby bringing all relg-
ious associations into disrepute, in the
minds of many good people. 1t was in
this cas-, as in a great number of other
cases where the members of the detec-
tive bureau did good service. And in
this connection, / am pleased to state
that the members of the police depart
ment succeeded in arresting almost all
of the offenders and recovered a very
large amount of the property stolen and
had 1t returned to the owners.
During the year this department has
been called to mourn the death of three
of it's most valuable members. Sergeant
Frederick H. Bissen, joined the force
April %, 1873 and died September 8,
1888. Detective John F. Spang joined
the force June 2, 1896, and died April
49, 1898. William Kearney, who was on
the retired list joined the force Decem-
Der 81, 1872, and died November 5. 1898.
The records of all three of those Off
GERS were of the highest character and
well worthy of emulation They were
highly respected by their superior Of
GERS, by all the members of the de-
partment, and by our citizens general
ly
The Esprit de Corps of the depart
ment during the last year has been
constantly improving and from what I
can learn from citizens who are well
qualified to speak and give their opin-
ions on such subject matters as well as
from my own observation and from an
experience of thirty-two years of con-
secutve duty in this department. I
think I can say without fear of being
considered egotstical, that this de-
pdTlIleHL is III DelIef condition and
more ffiecient than it has been since it's
organization. And it is my purpose to
maintain this efficiency and endeavor
to improve it while / am it's superin-
tendent. The men. from what I can
see and have been able to learn are
satisfied with the mode of discipline in
force in this department While the
discipline of offenders has been some
what severe, the men who have sought
to discharge their duties faithfully,
have the utmost confidence and respect
for the good judgment and impartial
justice of the honorable board of police
and feel themselves Sc
cure in their positions.
I have no doubt that the merit sys-
tenn which controls all promotions in
the department since the adoption of
the civil service law has acted as a
spur to the officers and patrolmen of
the department to more Jealous work
and more faithful attention to duty.
The successful Administered ton of a DO
lice department must necessarily de- |
pend to great extent upon the efficien-
cy of the men appointed as subordin-
ates, and concerning this, I want to re-
fer briefly to some points which APP
pear to warrant considerat ton. I be-
lieve it will be admitted that the envi- |
able reputation gained by many police |
officers of this city will prove to have |