New-York tribune., 1905-06-11

Before a New-Yorker realizes what is nap.
,.n;,, he n,av be arrested nowadays ano
6rspea6 IN a no,toe station Here he may Dc oe'
tanned sometimes for a day and night "ilno
food and as was shown recently in Ihe ait
ss the result of a personal mspecuoi "a -,
station houses he is liable not oniy " 80 -
degradation but also to physicai contasio -,
cells are dark, damp, dirty ana iii.e0
sernl-breeding diseases The melhou 0A
ing them is little better than the open civ
.er,er They are contaminated with the nlth 0A
the lowest outcasts that have been thrown ~
them for no prisoner, howsoever olrly' 20 w.
made N hattie before being locked up
II matters little whether a prisoner Dc iiiiio
,.,, or not There have been frequent cases io
centIy of innocent citizens being put u1iu "
rest accused of being criminals, LED thTo0eA u.
-. ,,o,,6oune5 and as occurred in one IN
stance being shut up in jail oVerLie"' "7
,x,th dr1nlzs disorderly women and IeioAs
r,ha. s,,ch things happen is not renafhaplo'
when one considers the character oi sOii7 -
men ON the police force. 1t has become ho'oii-
ae ,o+A Years that certain policemen are as
c-o,ked as some of their prisoners who are sent
70 Sine Sing There are some policemen VINO
even un6er oath are accused by judges OF Ut
.sr;ns lies who have been convicted Oh O4eD
mail and extortion and dismissed from 'iie U
partment, only to be reinstated.
es,cb being the case. what is a man to do' on
finding policeman suddenly taking hold Oh ms
collar and saying, Come What are A-S
,5sbtsq In what ways may he assert them!
How NAV he prevent the police from practisiiS
the extortions recently described by one pris-
onsr such as taking 81 10 for messenger fees'
and ..otber slight services? His innocence
may sooner or later be discovered ana ne De
SCI at liberty but in the mean time unless ne
knows what he is legally entitled 10 do' ne may
have TO spend day or a night III Jali' anu
have his name published throughout the length
and breadth of the country as an alleged PICK
pocket. burglar or highwaymaH
IT is not hard TO explain why such laise al
rests are likely at any time to occur. They are
moi all due 10 the sheer stupidity Of the police
In many instances officers are accused OF prac-
.ising 1v;1ful deception There are many po-
licemen in the same class with plain clothes
man vino was publicly censured by Justice
Zeller the other day in the Court OF Special
Sessions, and was charged with not telling the
truth under oath.
He was the principal witness against Clara
Weismann, arraigned for conducting an al
legged disorderly house in West Thirty-second-
ST. After he had left the stand Justice Zeller.
who was presiding with Justices Wyatt and
Hinsdsle turned to his associates and said:
MY experience with this man has been such
been on the ma gistrates bench for several
years, and on this bench few months. and
have had considerable experience with the
oSnss oSaeer Ten you 'f8nAiS 40 not De-'sSe inns
The woman was discharged ~
Into the hands of men OF this stamp inno-
cent New-forker may fall at any time How,
then, shall he best conduct himself under. the
circumstances?
BE RESPECTFUL.
Let him. first of all, no matter how angry he
may be, remember that at time is it wise for
citizen to treat officer discourteously The
law has given the policeman certain powers
which must be respected He has a right to
arrest any one he sees. or thinks he sees, COM
mitting any sort of offence, from the most
trifns misdemeanor to the most heinous fel-
ony. And although he cannot arrest man on
his own initiative for nlisdemeanor which he
old not Witness yet he may make the arrest on
the complaint of another. In the case Of an
alleged felony, however, he may arrest any one
whom he thinks is guilty whether or not he
was present at the time the alleged crime was
committed, and, in order to catch his man he
may break down doors and smash windows
prisoner, therefore no matter how wrong
y LuI may be his arrest never gains anything by
making a scene" The first result of such a
course generally is that the officer clans on
handcu1s So common a sight it is p see
policeman talking walking with one of his
friends when he should be attending IN his
duty, that by quietly going along with him one
may escape notice altogether whereas q nnarrsi
and the sight Of wrist irons will jrnmedis telv
draw crowd, which believes of course thai
the accused man is some dangerous sort of
officer
MN with an excuse for drastic treatment
When the detective who arrested Mr. Reohr
was asked to explain why he Inundated him in
crowded thoroughfare by putting handouts
On him, he replied:
i did it because he got fresh"
NeFertneless, q prisoner has the right 10 learn
SerTan things before turning his heel and
waking on to the station house. If the officer
Is IN pain clothes ne has the right to see his
shield II the policeman comes with a warrant
ne is entitled to see the warrant. II there is
tba ~S5aant oe5 ne can refuse to stir step until
lhe oI1lcer explains what the arrest is for In
case the officer does not explain what his nris
oner is accused of doing, and uses force to drag
ms man of, the latter has the right If he careS
10 use ii. of defending himself with Iil-a foroa
II the ofhcer pulls gun the prisoner NAV do
likewise just as If both were EVERYDAY ci+izene
onS OF Whom Is trying to coerce the other
whenever policeman does abuse the privi-
eges OF his office il is we'll for a prisoner 10 re-
nlnd MIN that he is liable to prosecution tha
same as any citizen. ~
There are potent reasons Uhv n oi+fzo, lo,z
know such facts concerning his arrest Otbar
wise ne may be grievously imposed upon II he
.eaIns. Tor example that a policeman is trying
70 arrest him for a misdemeanor he hos the
right TO question his authority I,ndar car+o;c
conditions If the officer did not see the aIIeeed
crime done, and did find his man aIresdv
saesteo py bystander who did see it done
the cltizen may challenge the officers power
saying that the policeman should first go and
OBTAIN warrant. If the officer seeks 10 mako
b ar.esI aIler sundown or on Sunday. unless
ne actuaily saw the misdemeanor perpetrated
the citizen has Q. right to resist arrest IP the
policeman however announces thar fba ,1on
ne wants is accused OF felony the citizen must
SO a.ohg' no matter what day or hour it is or
whether or not the policeman saw the deed IN n
case of a felony officer may arrest on sus
picion. ~ ~
TO DELAY IS WRONG
After the policeman and prisoner have star,aa
Tor the station house the latter has the right
10 object TO any delays on the way IF he bas
Nhe money ana wishes 10 hire cab for himself