Evening star., 1899-03-22
POLICE FORCE TOO SMALL
Views of Major Sylvester as Expressed Be-
fore Congressional Committee.
The Men Liable to Assault When Pa
trolling a Bent AIOne-The
Bicycle BfOblem.

6eIerrlng 10 receEt assaults upon ponce
officers, Major Sylvester said today to a
Star reporter thai IL was due in a large
measure to the fact that the force was in
adequate numerically, and that it went to
verify his statement made before Congress,
in the plea for more men, that single
police officer is not secure against attack
when he must patrol large and dangerous
beat without a partner.
On the House side, when the appropria-
ton bill for the District was under consid-
GRAFTON, the chairman of the subcommittee
on appropriations, General GFout, said:
Make 1t plain to us why it ts that You
want this-fnerease in police officers. You
must expect that we will cut yau down. /
will not say we will take .awayswhat you
have. but we may not give yea all you
ask"
The superintendent Of police then stated
clearly the operations OF the force and its
needs, and the chairman asked: Why is 1t
that in some sections of the city, two men
go together, while in other places there is
only one?'
Major Sylvester replied: That is done in
the night time in order that the men may
be more secure by being together. If one
man goes into crowd he is liable to be
overcome unless he has. some one to assist
MIN. Some men are given partners In the
night time as a matter of safety. If a man
should go alone into some Of the danger
Gus alleys he might not get out alive"
The chairman then said: You have no
such set of tough fellows here as they have
in New York and Chicago" and the major
responded: I'VE have worse ones. In the
lower part Of Washington. in such districts
as Bloodfield and Foggy Bottom, it is very
dangerous
The chairman inquired as to the location
of these sections, and Representative Bng
ham asked:
What is the character of crimes they
commit?''
The major answered: "They assault and
murder. and commit misdemeanors and
petty theft
Mr.. Bingham said: 1.-The police cannot
stop petty thieving''
Major Sylvester recited the number of
murders that occurred last year. and said
some beats were eight and twelve miles in
length in the heart of the city, to which
Mr.. Bingham responded he did not think
that was a great distance for a man to
travel The major insisted that the force is
not sufficient to give the protection asked
for by the citizens. The man on one beat
must go from Massachusetts avenue to r
street, he said. If you blow the distress
call you could not get him if he were at the
other end of the beat. The record of arrests
in this District will show that there are
about as many here as in some of the
manufacturing places, with population of
four or five hundred thousand people.
Territory PatroIIed.
MI Bingham aSkedt can you give US
an idea of the length Of beats in big cities?''
"In the larger cftiesr' said Major Sylves-
ter, they are able to have squads on
streets similar to Pennsylvania avenue and
F street in this city, which are frequented
by pedestrians and where they have crowd
ed corners. We cannot do that here be-
cause the men must patrol large sections
and make circuits
Mr.. Bingham said that in New York and
Boston on greatfmany corners they have
ponce stationed to take care of pedestrians
but there is no occasion for that here.
Major Sylvester, replied: I'VE have a
great many bicycles here. which are a great
problem. Very often pedestrians prefer the
concrete street to the sidewalk There are
greater number of bicycles proportion
ately than anywhere else in the country
and the time wilIncone when it will be a
serious question as to how they shall be
regulated
The chairman here interposed: DO YOU
know that they came aear cutting me down
IN the House during the pendeney of the
last biil?"
a report on the hearings. ''They came near
abridging the force last year That's the
reason L am so well satisfied with an in
crease of tWenty-six this year. But until
we have the men l estimated for police
officers must be overpowered or assaulted
in the tough sections, or travel in pairs
and when you detail them in that wise
you double the size of a beat and give pro-
portionate reduction in protection. Penn
sylvania avenue, f street and Connecticut
avenue should have squads The bicycle
force should be enlarged and the CAPITAL
city of the United States should have a
detective corps of twice the present
strength
contention for an increase of 100 men,
which the House side cut to tWentv-six