Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-08
AS A CASE TN POINT
NEED FOR AN INCREASE IN THE
POLICE FORCE.
Major Sylvester Discusses the Escape
of the Hillsdale Murderer-FaciH-
ties of the Department Strained.

Elm discussing the apprehension Of Of
tenders against the law the facilities in
the hands of the police Of this or any other
city must be taken into consideration in
proceeding along reasonable line Of argu-
ment," remarked Major Sylvester this
morning to a Star man. ''-'-'
1.-THE Hilsdale murder may be taken as
an instance, and since 1t is fresh in the
public mind. let it be given as case to
show the needs of the police department
and to assist In the proof Of the claim Of
the department that the latter is seriously
undermanned. While this is a fact so well
known locally that it seems almost super
f1uous to advert to it. police duty is never
theless police duty which requires an ade-
quate force of men to properly perform.
The District detective force amounts to
but fourteen men. In the average commu-
nifty Of 100000 people this little force would
be entirely inadequate, while in COM
munity like that Of the capital OF the ma
ton 1t is SO very small as to be out OF an
proportion to the demands made upon it
and the great responsibilities 1t safe
guards.
"A detective force of twenty men would
be more in proportion, but the full compile
ment Of the detective force Of the District
should be not less than twenty-five, and
ought to be thirty men,. When 1t is taken
into consideration that at the seat OF gov
eminent there are as many and more diver
sified cases to be looked after than in most
of the larger cities, 1t borders on the ludi-
crous to think that full service can be
afforded by so small a detective force as
has been employed here for number OF
years .f ....,
Force Depleted by assignments.
TT should not be lost sight Of for mo-
ment that the District embraces seventy
square miles Of domain, wherein are sit
uated the cities Of Washington and George
town, the streets and avenues of which. in
GLIDING those Of the thickly populated sec
tons Of the country, comprise $40 linear
miles, while there are 40 linear miles OF
roads traversing the less denseiy populated
portions of the District.
Upon analysing the police situation In
the District from these figures and facts.
and those which / will give you. IT will
be- considered strange that the force has not
been augmented to q proper complement OF.
men, A detective force OF fourteen men.
with nearly 100 miles Of stretch to patrol
the demands and interests Of 3OO0e0 per-
sons to protect and respond to. ana sew
enty square miles of territory to cover
can a more striking comparison be drawn
or a greater incoagruifH ibeseheWn!
Our police force is 20 sor cover ef the
city of st. Louis numBerg about 1.3oo men.
and 1t is required to c8Vefeonfy 40,OOO acres.
1870 acres less than thaJoptstrict force.
I ct we are expected te6c91fF tnac .. 0eNe ~
ritoriaI extent with only 6Q men, In which
are included our fourteen. detectives, and
our force is seriouslyTsd e9ieted by court,
Jail, work house and p4heodetaiis ana as
signments. 4s q sra -.
''rhe city of Baltimare,, with only 2O.2aO
acres to police. or less than one-half the
acreage of the DistrfGtv Has police force
of over 1000 men. Bheealof with only b.
4S4 acres to cover. haaIaoposice force IN ex-
cess of our own. while, tCinQinnat1, with but
22,ooo acres, has fqEfe .s about the size OF
our own.
The Force U1dsrRanned.
Many further iAstanees, might be cited
and figures multiplied to support the yearly
recurring claim of the police department
that it is undernanned: - that more men are
imperative to property police the city and
perform detective duty; but these few COM
parsons well sustain the argument for an
Increase. But it must not be lost sight of
in this connection that even MtIWaukee,
with one-third less the acreage Of the Dis
trict. has more than one-haif as many police.
Detroit, with onelhalf the acreage OF the
District, has a force which approximate
that Of the capital. Jersey City. with one.
fifth the acreage, has force twe-thirds as
large as our own The 5pelice force Of Ros-
ten covers one-half the area OF our own
force and numbers over LOO men. It takes
five times the number of police In Chicago
to cover an area only three times greater