New-York tribune., 1905-03-21
THE REPORT ON THE POLICE.

LIE hEIOh4 ON 1AE S4@ASA'
The tone of the report on police conditions
and requirements submitted by the Committee
of Nine is excellent The committee does not
even family suggest claim TO infallibity, but,
as the result of a laborious and open minded III
vestigation. offers various recommendations or
a tentative character which may reasonably De
thought likely, If carried into effect. TO nave
useful consequences. The controlhng purpose
of the committee has been to indicate improve
ments Ia the police service which tne puDhc
has a right TO demand, and then to furnlsn the
Commissioner with such additional powers ana
facilities as he presumptiyely needs to accom-
plish them.
Some of the committees proposals clearly
seem iudicious and we are not disincEned TO
see the whole scheme adopted without substan-
tiaI changes as a hopeful experiment Every
such measure of reform is necessarily expert
mental and it is not wise either to expect great
things Of 1t or to be cast down IL, in practice,
il fails TO bear out its promise. Able men are
often deceived as TO the results of governmental
changes The Charter Commission was con-
vinced that a local legislature Of two branches
would be a valuable institution, and produced
a pleasing argument IN support OF the theory
that men Of talents and high character would
be drawn into the service OF the city in that
capacity After brief trial the deliberate be-
lief of the commission was found to be erro-
neous and as little time as possible lost In
getting back to the old system, which now in
turn Is generally thought to be in need of serious
modification. There is no great discredit at
tachng to such miscalculations and the Com
mfttee Of Nine could not fairly be reproached If
one or more important features of its plan
should not prove on trial TO be eficacious.
The committees most important recommends
tions are, first that chief executive officer of
the department be appointed by the Commits
sioner, TO whom he shall be responsible for the
regular work and discipline of the force, and
by whom he may be removed at any time; sec
ond. that the duty OF detecting violations of the
law relating to vicious resorts, from which
graft" is chiefly derived, should be separated
from the duty of protecting life, property and
crder and making arrests, and assigned to a
special bureau The former of these proposals
is a reversion to the arrangement from which
the community recently thought TO have
made fortunate escape; but that is not neces-
sarily an objection The reason for calling the
committee into existence was the almost uni
versal acknowledgment that police conditions
needed to be radically changed, and no apology
is required for making any change which offers
q fair hope of improvement. 1t is a fact, we
believe that the Commissioner has too much
to do, and it is therefore advisable to lessen
bis labors without diminishing his responsible
ity. He would not be expected to indulge in
fussy interference with the executive chief, but
be would be held accountable for the shortcom-
thgs or misdeeds of chief whom he retained
The most original of the committees propos-
ais is that which relates to the division of
police functions Designed to break the chain
Of corruption, 1t would at least be an interest
ing experiment. I'VE propose" says the report
'to take away from the captain that power to
protect which gives him the power to exact
/
1t would be in a measure attained, we think,
by the committees device. But the power to
exact would be transferred from the captains
to the special bureau charged with the duty of
and considerable faith is required
to believe that the power would not be exer
cised after an interval sufficient for the forma
ton Of new connections had elapsed. To break
the continuity Of the system which is believed
TO foster vice and corruption may be quite
worth while, but it would be rash to assume
that the committee has found a permanent rem
edy for deep seated disease.
There is much to be said for other parts of
the committees scheme Unless general opin-
ion is strangely at fault the Detective Bureau
as IL now exists is about as bad as possible
and almost any change would be at least q
temporary improvement. 1t is probably advis-
able, therefore, to go back to the system Of as
signments and displacements at will. A longer
term for the Commissioner has been urged, but
there is practical sense in the reply that the
present term of five years is seldom served out
AS for the familiar demand that the Commits
sioner should have final power of removal, the
Court Of Appeals in recent decision is under
stood to have held that his power. when prop
erly applied, Is ample to secure the dismissal
of an unfaithful subordinate. He might, how
ever, make wise use of the proposed author
1rV reduce the grade Of on
intermediate punishment between fine and re-
moval.
On the whole, we think the committees
scheme is worth trying. Clearly something
ought to be tried, and we do not know where
to look for anything better by way OF expert
ment