Waterbury Democrat., 1901-01-16

reply Commissioner Hull moved an adjournment. and accordingly the board adjourned to February ,.
 The seventeenth annual report of -Chief-of- Police Egan was read at the meeting of the board of public safety last evening. It is q very readable document and made up differently all together from tine usual way in which municipal papers are prepared and therefore it was neither tedious to listen to nor difficult to take" It shows some research on the part of the chief, a good deal of contempla- ton and perfect knowledge of the value of appreciation. Substantially
 the report is as follows.
 After remarking on the resignation
 regular and supernumerary forces
 The report states that dur
 ing the last year there was no cause
 against any member of the force to
 bring him for trial before the board of
 safety. And 1 venture to say" con
 tlnues the report, that the same can
 not be said of any other police de-
 partment in the state as large as ours
 Is. Your words of advice" he is ad- dressing the board of safety remem-
 ber and encouragement whenever
 soo ou1 were ALWAYS
 appreciated and such visits show the
 interest you take in the welfare and
 good of the department Then he
 remarks on the different conditions
 that prevailed years ago and at pres
 ent. There was a time when it was
 difficult to get young men to apply for
 positions on the force. This was be
 cause the term was only two years
 and at the close of that period q po-
 liceman might be dropped for no cause
 whatsoever. A man kept his position
 through the influence of his friends.
 This tended to de,noralize the force
 Now the situation is different, as the
 number of applicants will shbw To obtain position on the regular force to-day q man must be sound in body
 must have been resident of the city three years and be able to read and write the English language. His term
 of office depends solely upon his own
 conduct. he must be under B years of
 age and must have served an appren-
 tlceShip of one year on the supernum-
 erary force. Under the old system all the policemen were paid alike. 5000 year. Under the present one they are paid according to grade. A member of
 grade \ is paid $2.25 a day; B, $2.5O
 a day, and C, $2.75 a day. Further
 more, the pay is higher than in any other city in the state excepting New Haven. Again there is q pension fund from which men who have honorably served 20 years in the service or have been disabled in the discharge of their duty will be paid one-guarter or one half of their regular pay as the board or proper authority may direct. All these attractive inducements serve to attract young men to the force who
 are not able to obtain an education or | q professional life. The chief then | takes up the work of the department during the past ten years and this | is shown in a table attached to the
 report. He says that during this | period of ten years the city has in
 creased in population 60 per cent and | the number of saloons 24.9 per cent. Yet the total number of arrests last | year was lower than the average for 1 the nine years preceding. For intoxi- | cation the number of arrests was l lower by per cent and for breach of | the peace and assault, 21 per cent less. | These are the most violations of the | law. Ut is hard to determine the 1 cause for this,'' the report says. Per 1 hapS it is because the younger genera
 ton to do indulge in intoXicants to as | great an extent as the old generation
 did. Yet it is but fair to assume that
 the licensed liquor dealer of today | derives as much profit from his busi-
 ness as the liquor dealer of years ago
 did. I am of the opinion that the prin-
 cipal cause is the fact that malt | liquors which produce q milder form l of insanity are indulged in to-day to
 a much greater eXtentin proportion to l the total quantity of liquor consumed than a few years ago"
 The next feature remarked upon is l the proposed innovation of the police signal service, which the chief expects 1 will greatly assist the department in | giving a more efficient service. The | concluding remarks are thanks to the board addressed in the report, the board of aldermen and the officers and men of the department.
 The following table shows the com parison in the number of arrests made during the past ten years. and tue expenses of the department.