The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-04-20
CRIME TRAVELS IN WAVES.
,3roRIEs OF DEPREDAToRY ACTS
ADVANCED By POLICE.

IL. of Department, They Say,
- Advantage of Prevalence of
-. and Put False Reports in
c,.cuIation-RepOrt of Hold-up on
oc,irtx-fafth and AbercOrn Streets
,oI.e-Pubncity Looked Upon as
B.axeuttye of Crime-Motives I'm
,.,,,rr False Reports-TheOry of a
~.rate detective Not Credited.
na everything else crime travels in
as according to the police, and the
lis hear out the claim. The po-
i'' insist. too, that it is frequently
Nv oosa that their enemies put false
0orts into circulation when these
- waves are rolling the highest,
che purpose of injuring the force,
+be head of the department.
u rho report that two young white men
nesn held up on Thirty-fifth and
,bercorn streets Friday night and re-
I'D Of s17.O5, was investigated yes
NAV NAV by the police, and found to be
t,.;+bout foundation. me report was
started by friend OF the alegeo VIC
sta Sunt Reilly says that no report
ulii men r1Irnor is made at headquarters,
Oh ..so,It an Immediate investigation,
WY hat the police are as active as
anu . IN their efforts to prevent crime.
II is claimed that when these crime
II begin to form and publicity is
NdYS 70 them. persons of vicious in
sl,sa+ion are encouraged to try their
ms The result is additional opera
Us nv the criminally inclined VINO
I've been idle. In proof of this the
10, II is pointed out that series OF
.;yrolaries is followed by lull, then
Du ISrjoe of purse-snatching cases, an
o+bar rest, then a succession OF hold
ups. oN, So,
o5o+orv acts are being committed
p4tar neople are inspired and set up
tba crv of robbery, when in reality no
1--WE has been committed. 1t is al
.ot without exception, the officers
NV impossible to prove the falsity of
these reports, although the alleged vic
Tins in relating their stories say too
much. or too little, and make it, to
sav the least, extremely doubtful that
rhine has been committed. The Off
avs are of the opinion that in other
cases without design the compliments
ore prompted by an irresistible desire
Gov notoriety, although there is usually
came genuine motive behind the re-
ports
&c quite sure he knows who is guilty of
the recent holdups. He claims that
four white men who came here from
Jacksonville are responsible for them.
The police laugh at the theory and
treat II as a joke 1.-THE man Ammons
from brunswick is the only one who
claims to have been held up by white
men" said an officer last night, land
we are perfectly satisfied that such a
hold-up never occurred. In fact we
can prove absolutely that Ammons
never had $50, or any other large sum
of money, and. that he was not as
saulted and robbed by three white men.
We have this alleged victim under ar
rest now for the larceny of a diamond
bracelet in the Tenderloin District, and
he confesses that he is guilty. Mr..
George B. Elton was accosted by a. sin
gle white man, but lost nothing. In all
n Of the other cases the victims, or al
legged victims, reported that negroes
had done the work. Certainly this fact
disproves the theory of the private de-
tectve,"
While Acting Mayor Dixon volun-
teers the opinion that too much pub
lefty has been given to these depre-
ri datory happenings, those who have
taken the trouble to give the subject a
moments thought realize that the pub
lie is protected by such publicity and
the police are really benefited. 1t not
only urges the officers into activity,
when because of absence of crime they
have become sluggish, but puts citizens
on guard as we'll.