Los Angeles herald., 1906-06-25
TOO SMALL BY FAR IS
LOS ANGELES FORCE"

ana measured. ana then told that
the best thing for him to do is to leave
tne city. BY this means many of these
yeggs do not have time to commence
their operations in the city.
The Station System
I'm Los Angeles we have three police
stations, the central station, the east
side station, which is a very small one,
and the one at University. which Is |
thoroughly equipped.
Complaints come to the station
either by letter, personal calls or by /
the telephone. When report is made
here copy of it is placed on the gen
eral file, and if the crime is something
which the detectives handle the report
is filed in their office
by state law patrolmen work eight
hours day, and for this reason we
have the force divided into three
squads: the night watch from to 4,
this watch being as large as the two
others combined, the second watch from
to II in the morning. including the
chlef. three captains, eleven sergeants,
eighteen detectives, 16S patrolmen, four
teen substitutes.
There are forty-two square miles in
this city to be patroled
"The number of patromen is made
quate. and figures compiled by the
burglary insurance company show
that such a city as Los Angeles should
have 250 patrolmen.
Beats Very Long
"Some of the beats in Los Angeles are
very long, the longest | believe on
Jefferson street where one man patrols
an immense territory.
The police many times are criticised
py the people who see them roughly
handling man on the street, and this
fIAr- 4.
the don't to the people. And there is
difference between soldier and
policeman. One has man, a superior
oif1cer, to give him instructions but the
patrolman must rely absolutely on his
own Judgment when he is on his beat.
Il remember one case where the
Judgment of policeman was a little
unusual, l think. A man reported that
MS tamale stand had been entered by
robbers and several dishes taken away.
An officer was told to keen careful
watch for the robber.
The next night about o'clock when
the officer approached the stand the
man came out and began firing at him.
The patrolman bent low and shot back
and struck the man in the leg. This.
think, Is where GOODNESS and Judgment
tell.
One Patrolnan's Efficiency
THE thoroughness with which one
man patrols his beat is illustra ted by
case here the other day. We received
letter from San Francisco stating
'that two boys, fourteen years of age,
about the same size, had disa ppeared
and come to Los Angeles With this
indefinite description they were brought
in the next night by one'of the patrol
men. | thought the case remarkable
and asked the man how he caught the
boy He said:
Well, it was after IL o'clock and
the boy was not familiar to me on my
beat, so l stopped him and asked him
who he was and why he was out so late.
l make it a point to know every boy on
my beat when they are out later than
II o'clock
lone of the reasons why there was
less crime in Los Angeles last winter
than ever before was because of the
fact that the men have long been
familiar with the ground. Paul Flam-
mer has been on the force since Febru-
ary 25, 1896 A. j. Bradish since De-
cember 81, 1894. and Capt Broadhead
since September 27, 1897
"These years have given the men
what they need for their respective po-
| sitions, an accurate knowledge of the
ground which they must protect.
Informants Should Tell All
"There is just one thing more which
l want to tell you and that is that the
people who have trouble should make
! the police force their conhdant. They
should tell everything they know about
case or a person who has disap-
peared; leave nothing in their minds
which they think we should not need
| to know.
"Many times when the work of the
force is criticised and no results are
gotten it is because we do not have
the information that is vital and
which in many cases is known by the
parties who are asking our aid"
In telling the story of the police de-
partment the chief neglected to men
tion his own ability as one of the clev-
crest detectives in the west: and he did
not say anything about the hours which
he spends now on the streets studying
the places where crime and criminals
congregate and personally watching his
mems work.
1t is these traits that make Chief
Auble the head of the police depart