Arizona republican., 1905-07-27

tttibll SblIitlIilit= VIII Niitli bt- NAptit-s bi
 at least attempted, to trim the SO
 called duties" of constables in incor- lpoIated cities
 In most cities the duty of policing the town rests in the municipality and
 while a constable has the authority of
 a peace officer his primary function is
 serving processes and arresting men
 suspected of having committed a fel-
 ony when he has a warrant or is so directed by the proper authority. He ! is not expected to close his eyes to a
 crime or refuse to quell a peace dis
 turbance when there is no peace officer
 in sight but it is not his business to spend his time policing the town or ly-
 ing in wait for cOnvivaI persons who II before morning may accumulate sufi- cient liquor to make their legs wob-
 ble.
 But it is a matter of common knowl- edge that in Phoenix nine trunks out
 of ten are arrested by the constables. Y and that too. between darkness and daylight. The constable is a court of ' ffce-. day man as it were. Unless he has been detailed to a special duty that | detains him to late hours, or is in | search of some person for whom he has ! a warrant what better right has he than any other moral citizen to spend three fourths of his time between dark | and daylight haunting the Redlight district or the saloons? As respect able family man does he seek such as sociations that he may be known as ' paragon of morality. or does he do it for the $23O that accrues from every arrest whether his victim be guilty or l innocent?
 | IL is furthermore a matter of com l mon observation that a large percent ! age of the men arrested are not even drunk though they may have slipped the ! cup that cOols. The constables hang ] around until some member of a crowd who perhaps is bordering on peace dis l tUf bance in a neighbOrhOOd that could ! not be legitimately disturbed by any thing. finally lands a, half hearted ana unhurtful blow on some member or the 1 crowd. when MT Constable emerges and arrests as many as he can sue 1 cessfully pilot to the county jail at S2.5o ! per.
 That they are found guilty by the l iustices is no reflection on those otti- l cials for in most cases defendants plead l e,7i1tv that being the cheapest and ] easiest way out of it. If they nave money they pay a fine sufficiently large
 to defray the expenses. If they nave no money they go to the county jail as
 an illustration of the high moral man
 ner in which the constables seek to en- force the law. Rats.
 Ii is further a matter Of general ! knowledge that three-fourths or tle
 ,,,o,, arrested are Mexican laborers. In
 the case of a felony a Mexican has as eood .a chance before the law as any
 9.be. man but in a common case of . drunkenness it is fact known by any
 obsarving person that an arrest is all
 most equal to conviction owing 10 1 i1,a faot that the mass of the MeNlcalls in these parts are largely of the lower ] order. and are given to bibulous habits . These men with no standing in court
 On. anywhere else. when arrested know by cxpe. fence that a denial counts Tor ] nothing against the word of an oihcef- l They know too that they were caught
 in had company. had been drinking, l perhaps struck a blow in their maudlin ] condition. so they plead guilty and re- ! solve never to do it again.
 The duty of the police is to preserve ] the peace not to go around stirring up
 strife and so far as can be learned ! they are diligent. No one has reported i their refusal to arrest a peace disturb
 CT nor can anyone charge them with l Iaxness or fnattention to duty. It is
 true that they quiet many a man and save him from arrest as' they are sup l posed to do and as they might not do . if there were $2.3O a head in each one ] of them. They are the protectors of the . people either drunk or sober, not the 1 hunters of the populace. That any po- ] lice force in this city has ever been afraid to arrest Q drunken man is un- l true. IL has been charged however that some officers have been too diligent in the practice of constabulary methods for the sake of a reputation and any criticism against former officials has l been for over seriousness. It is the best testimonial of the good order of the city and the good behavior of it's ! officers when there are few who need arrest and the police in making arrests unnecessary are serving their highest purpose. Nor is it charged that the mo- tives of the constables are worse than their predecessors for the same oppor- tunities have encouraged all of them. IL only happens that for a few days past the constables have had par ticularly good run on velvet.
 The financial phase of the question IS the one first considered by the tax payers. Under the law it has been said by competent authority that the board of supervisors cannot refuse the fees for any arrest made though there was formerly such a privilege. This makes the constabIes amenable to nothing but their own consciences un- iii the law is changed. But the worst feature is not the taxes. These men unnecessarily thrown in jail lose from five to ten days labor each. adding that much to their poverty and also adding that much of q board bill to the county expenses. It would be cheaper for the supervisors to pension the con stables $T5 per month beside their fees in civil cases and direct them to make no petty arrests. The city would then be well governed by the police at no exDense to the county (eXcept the con ! stables pensions) and at no extra eH- ,,ansa to the city except the meals for -,ooaees,.,- nrisouprS And the fines .