The Savannah morning news., 1901-07-14
DETECTIVES AS JAIL BlRDs
now VALUABLE INFoRMAT,ox
OBTAINED FROM CRIMINAIs y


Vic's IN the Hope of Getting a pa,
for Future Enterprises, or r.,
Boastfulness and Love of Taui.
From Tit-Bits.
1t might be thought that when tbo
lice have arrested a criminal and -
tanned for him suitable term of ,r,.S,
onment their interest in him lanse. -
| at least so long as he is safely iro,.
cerated. Buch such is not ALWAYS -.
case. Sometimes the police arrest -
get convicted man who might be- ,h,.
to give them most valuable informa,,..
| concerning other crimes and criri,a,s'
and there is no time at which q felor =
more frank than when in prison. and 80
| person to whom he so readily con6aaS
| his deeds in the past and plans for ~
| future as a fellow felon.
| In France every advantage is taken =.
| this, and detectives are sent to nrisor
becoming for the time common jailbirds
for the express purpose of meeting Grim.
! inals and obtaining their confidence I,
is also done, less frequently, in this coun.
| try, and from time to time the porco
secure in this way most valuable infor'
nation which could not be obtained NV
any other means.
| Scotland Yard has a staff of detective,
| who form one of the most nysteriops
| bodies of officials in the world, so mystA
| rious that not one person in a Thousand
| knows more about them than that thew
| exist. They are employed in cases whera
| absolute secrecy is required. They never
| make arrests, they never give evidence in
| any court-in short, they never do anv.
| thing which would imply that they have
| the rprnhfact connection with Tho raft-
Yet they execute most important duties
SO close is the secret kept that none Of
| the ordinary staff know by sight or name
| any of this mysterious body of detectives
| They are totally unknown to each other.
indeed, the probability is that the only
| person who is acquainted with them and
| could say how many there are is the head
| of the criminal investigation department
1t is these men who, among hundreds Of
other difficult and dangerous duties, have
from time to time become jailbrds and
worm themselves into the confidence Of
criminals whom the police believe could
render very valuable information. For
| famous thief catcher to attempt to dis
| guise himself in prison dress and insinu
ate his way into the trust of thieves
would, it is manifest be the sheeres
| stupidity; prison dress is about as bad
disguise as any one could possibly as.
! sumo, and clever rogueS make it one Of
| their first tasks to learn the personally
| of every Scotland Yard detective.
But the jailbird who at labor yearns to
say nothing to some one else than the
members of the prison staff, and babs
out that he wants a pal for a job he
means to work when he gets out or some
other equally interesting item of infor-
nation, may, for all he knows or sus-
poets, be whispering in the ear of a gov
eminent spy, who is living like felon
simply on the chance of elciting the in
| formation then being freely accorded MIN.
Detectives often have put before them
| clues and other matters, the source Of
which they cannot conceive, and not a
little of it is supplied to their chiefs by
innocent men who wear prison dress and
eat prison fare because it is a part Of
| their duty.
1t may have been noticed that some
habitual criminals are arrested for
crimes committed or contemplated short.
ly after being discharged from prison
The reason often is that in prison they
have confded their doings and plans to
fellow-convicts-in the hope, perhaps, Of
getting pals for future enterprises, but
generally from boastfulness and love Of
talkng-who have duly reported such
conversations to Scotland Yard.
For example, a week or two since
| man was arrested in a West End gar
| den for being on enclosed premises with
| intent to commit felony within week
| of his discharge from prison, where no
had been for a burglary committee at
Norwood. Now, the fact about this al
| fair which would strike most people as
| being stranger than any of the others Is
that for three nights prior to that 90
which the man was arrested a plain
oil hoe off moe inc in garden
without any apparent object. The simple
explanation is that the police were In
| structed that an attempt would be made
| some time after a particular date 0nd
on which this criminal was to be dis
charged) to break into and rob Ger
| tain West End house, and some one
should be ordered to see that the at
| tempt failed and the burglar arrested
| Thus the man found himself captured
ere he could commence operations. He
of course, knew he had been given
away by some prison pal to whom ne
had told his plans, but he could hardly
have guessed that his 'pal' was one oil
the mysterious men hailing from Scot
| land Yard, which was the case. Inc
| pal was, however, not doing time
| for the purpose of discovering contem'
plated burglares, but to endeavor to ex-
| tract some information, not from the
prisoner whose confidence he did Obtain,
| but from one who was i'm Jail for crimes
committed by him in company with otn-
er men, whose identity the police desh'
| ed to know. Many a criminal escapes I'M
mediate arrest only to be betrayed by an
indiscreet and less lucky companion !"
| crime. many more than the man IN ths
| street would suppose.
But 1t is not only to elicit Information
from the prisoners that spies are put 10
prisons. There are black sheep in every
! fold, and not every prison warder IS NJ
corruptible. Sometimes there arises NJ
| official minds vague suspicious that n
certain prisons warders are smugsDns
| food. tobacco or letters into cells iot
| prisoners possessing means of paying iol
| such favors. How are such suspicious
| to be confirmed or dispelled? ConVlcs
| can hardly be relied upon to DeuSy
warders who have rendered theln
services which the law forbids. Hence
4 the Imprisonment OF a spy has TO De re-
sorted to as the only means OF ge'l"e
at the truth.
In such cases it is not infrequently CON
sidered expedient that the spy shoulu ~
through the regular stages which leau
| the prison cell-arrest trial and comm :.
| tal-to obviate any suspicion I'm the iiii,us
| of the warders of the prison he Is ue
| tined to enter and when this is done ~
one connected with the charge-eXcepu" s
the innocent accused is aware OF the ~ ~,
| character of the proceedings. but w ~
course is never adopted when II can 40
safely let out, as 1t approaches a traFces
| 81 f,,.tgoa ..ybfob tho iapal and pOllCe hh-