The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-02-08
FRANK TALK.
Chief Bowen Discusses Proposed
Charter Changes.
he Says That the Chief of Police is Get,
ting too Much, and the PATROL
men Not Enough.

of the proposed changes in the salaries
and duties of the police force as rec
commended by the Judiciary committee
of the charter commission. In speak
ing of the matter Friday, he said:
The cut in the salary of the chief
to $50 a month will be nearly one-half.
From an examination of the books in
my office I have ascertained that the
chiefs of police of Mankato have been
receiving on the average, year in and
year out, $125 month. If this is cut
to $50 month, and it ought to be,
good men can still be induced to take
the office. Considering the labor and
responsibility which falls to the lot of
the chief of police, $75 a month is
enough salary.
''As regards the salary of the patrol
men, $50 month is not too much for
good men. At present they are paid
$40 a month and their fees bring this
up to between $50 and 500 month on
the average, and this is not enough. If
the city would cut the Tecompense of
the chief to $75 month and give the
patrolmen $50 month it would come
out about even so far as the expense
is concerned, one about offsetting the
other if all fees are turned into the
city treasury.
Il am in favor of turning the fees
over to the city. The police should
not serve civil papers anyway. Execu
lions and attachments are the only
processes that a private citizen cannot
serve, and it would create no hard
ship if the police were not to serve
papers, for the attorneys can just as
we'll have their Office boys do it. If
the chief of police goes out of the city
to serve civil paper he should be
given the fees or his expenses should
be borne, for he might be obliged to
spend a months salary on one trip
IF the police are paid straight sal
aries there will be no temptation to
arrest men simply for the fees that
there will be in it for the officers The
time has been in Mankato when some |
of the officers made it a practice of |
farmers and everybody else
and pulling them into the city hall
when they were violating--no law, but
simply to get the fees. 1t is the prac-
tice of the chief to allow the police
man making an arrest one dollar in
cases where the costs are paid by the
prisoner. If arrests are numerous the
officers have more money. This prac-
tice is all right when the officials are
honest, but the new charter should
wipe it out just the same
sit has been proposed that the police
be paid on the graduated scale, begin
ming with $50 month the first year
and gradually increasing to $50 a !
month. This would be sort of civil
service and am in favor of such a
plan. l would suggest that $50
month be paid to new men the first |
year only. and that the second and |
third years they receive 500, and after
that $50. This would be something |
for them to strive for, and if they |
were good men it would give more
permanence to their positions, as an
incoming mayor would not like to |
displace a man who has been workin g |
for low salary and was about to re-
ceiye an increase of pay on account of |
his experience and faithfulness.
THE proposition that the poll ce
officers be freeholders does not have |
any merit, it seems to me. l think
that officials who handle money, such |
as the aldermen, mayor and a few
others should be freeholders, but I can
not see why such restriction should
be placed on policemen. Appoint a
good man to the force, give him $50 a
month, and he will be a free holder
in course of time.
81 like the proposition to empower
the council to employ eight policemen
if necessary. We need seven police
men now, and five of these should be
on at night With such complete
telephone system as we have in Man
kato two policemen can be of as much
service in the day time as three or
four formerly could, but at night it is
different, for there is wide territory
to be patrolled. There should be four
men out all the time, with one in the
city hall, and the four should report |
once an hour to the man at the hall by |
telephone, one of them every fifteen
minutes In this way the officers
would be constantly on their beats and
still one could be secured with very
little delay by notifying the man at
the city hall
''Mankato has been very fortunate |
in the matter of robberies. Over in |
Faribault they have been having rob-
berry after robbery until the people |
don't know who is going to be robbed |
next. -
Chief Phillips believes that the fire
men at the central station should re-
ceive as much as the police officers,
and will have something to say on
this at the meeting of the charter
commission Monday night Said he
today:
'The firemen are on duty seven days