The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-08-18
Weekly Letter on
Municipal Hffairs
XI.-"The Policing of a Great City"

Copyright, 1900, by William s. Crandall.)
THE AMERICAN police system, when meas.
red by results, is the best in the world.
Il And yet there is much that may he learned
from the methods Of the cities Of the Old
World The theory over there is that the po-
liceman is the servant of the public, not its
bully. The air of the American patrolman IL
too autocratic. The English pdtrolrlan is ihe
opposite lie shows remarkable sclfrcstraint in
exercising his power and authority. lie is
taught not to Interfere too much. The system
employed constantly improves the personnel Of
the department. A man is r'alc 20 feel, from
the beginning Of his official career that his
tenure of Office depends entirely upon his
record, and not uron his political pull. Politics
do not enter into the administrative control of
the London police. Moreover, a system Of
checks is employed by which it is almost i'm
possible for a patrolnan to yield to bribery anu
corruption without being detected.
The Berlin force is not slow about some things.
This department has a directory Of the city
which is actually kept up to date. 1t includes
| an accurate record Of each person giving the
most important facts as to his family life, bust
ness and movements These records cover a
long period Of years
81 should think" said a gentleman to Presi
dent Won Nndheim. Of the Berlin force, who
was explaining this feature TO him, II should
| think that much red tape would be involved
| in the keeping of such a record that its opera
| tion would be extremely slow"
| "But it is not so long task as you suppose"
| replied the president. "Selcct name, any
| name you choose, from the public directory, and
we will see how long it requires to look up the
| record Of any man."
The gentleman selected one OF the numerous
| Schnitts.
''Now" said the president "take out your
watch and sec how long it will require TO dis.
a., ,J,,l ag tl, ,;a I9Ib
The index number was given to an assistant
He walked into an adjoining room and brought
| book The president opened il and read the
mans entire record, including single petty
ofcnse, which had been committed some twenty
years previous.
GLOW long did il take?" he asked.
"Fifty.nine seconds" replied the gentleman
These and some other methods in use in Euro.
pean cities could be adopted by the American
| departments with profit.
Bur, when it comes to efficiency, the American
| police force lays over them all. The police
| patrol wagons, ambulances and telegraph patrol
| are uncqualcd anywhere in the world. BY a
| combined system Of telegraph and telephone the
| chief OF an American department can talk with
| any of his men on their beats, at any time Of
| the day or night without moving out OF his
| chair All the leading cities are fitted with
| this modern police appliance, and it is being
rapidly added TO the forces in the smaller cities
| The Bertillon system, for the detection and
| identification Of criminals, has been borrowed
| from Paris II is used with ever increasing et'
| hcency For several years there has been n
national bureau Of Identification at work with
| headquarters at Chicago. Its operation has been
more successful each year Of its existence. Its
general utility has been so thoroughly demon.
strated that a movement is now on foot to turn
| il over to the federal government.
| BY a wcll organized and carefully operated
bureau of this description, the professional thief
| who travels from one city to another in order
| to ply his vocation, will be made TO understand
that his operations, no matter where committed,
| will receive close attention by every department
and superintendent Of police in the United
| States, and that his apprehension and dcntih.
| cation will he a question Of only brief time.
| with the large amount of information collected
| and in the hands of the national bureau, il will
| be a comparatively easy matter TO keep track
Of the movements and operations OF the protcs
sional criminal. Already during the hroi time
| in which the system has had wider usc the
criminal life has been made burdcnsoue.
To illustrate one Of its bcncnts The other
day on officer brought a Suspect 10 Colonel
Deitsch, superintendent Of the Cincinnati force
The piercing black eyes Of the colonel looked
him through, and then he asked:
"Wcrc you ever arrested heforeF'
"No, sir" the man replied
After few more questions TO which the Tel
low responded with seeming honesty, the colone
said TO the officer:
''Take him w to the identification bureo,
to be measured aud report 20 me what you find D.
In about twenty minutes the officer returned
with his man and a card, handling the latter I,
the colonel
Turning 10 the prisoner he held the card beior
him and asked:
''Did you ever know that msn?"
The follow turned pale and stammered an inar
ticulate reply. lie was looking at his owl
likeness front and side vcw
The measurements Of his head, arm and s.