Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-29
LEGISLAfION NEEDED
TO Ho1n cAooKs AS SUSPICIOUS
PERSONS.
Maj. syl<SsteA Tells Of the Work Of
the Detectives, but Says More
aaLa# is Required.

| Law ID 0sS4uAA0Ns
| %. gs -
In police circles and In other quarters
where the desire to make the District a
place which criminals and shady characters
will give wide berth It H. hoped that a
suitable Law may be enacted at this session
Of Congress which will give the police the
necessary authority to hold and the police
| Judges the power to convict persons OF sus-
| picious character who come here with the
| intent to commit crime. and otherwise who
| are fugdtives from Justice who resort here
| to escape arrest
| Major Sylvester has for several years en-
| deavored to secure the passage OF an act
| along these Hines, and the necessity there
| for has from time to time been pointed out
/ in innumerable instances In The Star.
| There Is ut present bin before Congress
which In substance allows the apprehension
| OF these undesirable individuals az sus-
| picious characters the act permitting the
| chief Of police to issue q permit under GER
| tain conditions which viii give these per-
sons circumscrtbed police survei!ance.
but as II likewise gives them their liberty
| 1t Is a question whether the end sought to
| be accomplished will be attained.
It La thought that more definite law
which Will hold these persons as Migrants
and permit their punishment as sucn might
be more radical in its effects In graduating
a permit to a known thief to reside among
| us. In the nature Of a ttcket-of-leave man.,
may be considered to be open to some OBJ
lection for many reasons. and among
LEGGED class OF very undesirable persons,
who, once the permit was Issued and they
were at large. would be free to do and go
| as they pleased.
The District Criminals.
A good object lesson as to the urgent need
| Of such a law was afforded q few nights
ago, when Detectiye Horne brought into
police headquarters three suspicious charac-
| ters in the shape Of two race track touts. or
.1eft-overs," who had been hanging around
town since the close Of the BenniTrg races,
three weeks previously, and one morphine
fiend who had been found in their company.
This fine trio OF would-be crooks had no
visible means Of support. did not work.
and were undoubtedly awaiting their op-
portunity to commit a theft or worse
crime. and to rely upon getting out OF town
before detection by the police. Ihey arc
out Of town now to the good Of this conn
munity, but unfortunately there was no
specific offense which could be lodged
against them which would have sent them
to the confinement where the protection OF
society demands that such parasites upon
the body polite shall repose.
This Is but one of thousand Instances
and well illustrates the activity Of the de-
tective force In Kidding the city OF undesira-
BILE characters. 1t is also in striking con-
trast with the conditions as they prevail
in New York and some Of the larger cities
where, as In the metropolis, a gun discharg-
ed on upper Broadway haphazard would
bring number Of these gentry to earth.
The lounging Of known criminals IN WASH
ington Is not permitted, and in discussing
the matterdthiss forming with a Star man
Major Sylvester, superintendent. Of police,
said: 81"
Kidding the City of Crooks. v3,az.
1.-THE police department would be glad to
have a law ample enough in Its PROVISIONS
| to reach Suspicious characters who come
here at all times. and especially during such
events as the ipaugurations. G "A. R. en-
| campmentse and, other similar occasions
| which attract large crowds.
while We corral these persons We can
not send them down except upon some spe-
| cific charge which will stand in court, as
| carrying concealed weapons. etc. During
| the last encampment out Of six Of these
| arrests. for instance, five of the men were
| armed with reyofvers, and we were ena-
! bled to prefer the specific charge Of carry
| ing concealed weapons against them, sent
them to jail. where they still remain. But
| for this fact we would have been obliged
l to have let them go. yet we knew that they
| were desperate men. who came here with
| the intent to commit crime. and might
| have done 30 but for their timely arrest
| When they are released our men will favor
them with their attention, as 1t Is the in
tention Of the department not to allow
| these characters to abide with us.
1T is hard to make the vagrancy charge
I stick when man will exhibit to the Judge
J a. roll Of money, and state though he has
| no visible means Of support he has an in
| come and money. and produces the latter
| to substantiate his claim as to being a re-
| spectacle citizen. The police know that
he Is not what he claims, but 1t is the COM
hitting magistrate who decides the ques-
| ton. In some jurisdictions money shown
In this manner is taken as evidence of self
! maintenance, IN others the judges accept
| other evidence and convict
1T will surprise many to know that the
possession OF burglars tools on q man is
| not sufficient evidence to hold him, but
| such Ia the case in this city. No man with
| burglars tools on him, once he Is, luckily
for the community, in the hands of the
| police, ought to be let go without Jail
| sentence. In New York this is an offense
| against the law in itself, and many are the
| convictions Of thieves on this charge who
would otherwise go free.
The Fugitive From Justice.
Nov think Of this" continued Major
! Sylvester. under existing conditions a
| burglar or murderer may take refuge with
| In the District of Columbia. and a member
| Of the police force. without he be armed
with a warrant originating at the place
| whence the felon fed. arrests him at his
| peril.
Such provision should be made as would
permit the detention Of fugitive from JUS
| tice for at least ten days upon Information
| being filed with the local authorities after
! the receipt Of an authorized statement from
| another Jurisdiction that q crime has been
| committed there and for which a fugitive
| warrant should be issued. In other words
| legislation should be secured which will
permit the authorities of the District to
4 hold for reasonable period fugitives who
| have taken refuge therein.
This difficulty does not prevail in other
| well-regulated communities, and It Ia quite
important that the deficiency should be
| remedied here.
This Is especially true since Washington
| at ceremonial events il made the dumping
ground Of crooks from all quarters. These
men come within our gates for but one pur-
pose, an evil one, which Is just as likely as
| not to eliminate IN murder These trans
| lent erookts are ut all times willing to take
| the most desperate chances to make q haul
and quite equally as, desperate chances to
get away, and the shedding of blood would
not deter one Of these hardened men an in
slant IL he thought that his chances Of es-
cape weresin the least improved.
washington has already earned among
the crooks of the country the name of being
an unhealthy place in which to live, but
the department would welcome some en-
| - S-f,f N1,