New-York tribune., 1907-01-09
REFORMING THE POLICE.

Commissioner Bingham may be oversangune
when he says that our police problem is not
really difficult Of solution" Yet it is refresh
ing to find head of the police force discuss
ing it's reformation not a beautiful dream
as distant as the wholesale regeneration of So
ciety, but as a practical possibility even III
these days of rudimentary civic virtue. Gen
eral Bingham must certainly be credited with
an appreciation of the evils of the present sys-
tenn and with an intelligent desire to remedy
them, for he blurts out some unpleasant but
wholesome truths which in our experiments Mt
municipal self government have been too
slow to recognize. The cardinal vice of our
police system has been It's interreation with
the game of politics. We first tried TO mini
mize this evil by creating bipartisan police
boards, hoping 10 balance the power and in
terests of one party organization against the
power and interests of the other But this de-
vice simply made both parties partners in the
profits arising from the commnglng Of politics
and police administration. Then we tried the
experiment OF single police head appointed
by the Mayor and responsible to him and the
voters who elected him But. whether under
Van Wyck or Low or Mcclellan, this scheme
of single and direct responsibility has failed to
raise police standards or eliminate the evils OF
favoritism purchased protection blackmail and
underground collusion with politicians. AS
matter of fact Police Commissioners, with how
ever good intentions have found themselves
unable to control the machinery committed to
their direction.
General Bingham frankly admits that under
the present law he Is poweress TO command
respect or enforce discipline That law sought
TO protect the higher officials against summary
removals and political persecution. But in Civ
ing them rigid status It created body
of upper officers with permanent tenure. able
TO thwart and defy the Will of n commissioner
with a tenure of two years even of four.
1t is about as hard nowadays to remove q cap
tain and compel him TO stay removed as II is
to punish criminal who has money enough
TO carry his case through the appellate courts.
SO long the captains and inspectors stand
together with any degree of unanimity they
can successfully nullify the policy Of Il reform
ing commissioner The Commissioner must
choose between fighting for real power or re
signing himself TO being mere iigurehead IN
his own administration.
The present head of the force seems disposed
TO assert himself. and public opinion will sus-
tain him in asking the Legislature for the au-
thority which he needs TO compel obedience
He says truly that If he could reduce inspect
ors, their rights as TO pay and pensions being
properly safeguarded, they would fear him and
take orders from him instead of laughing at
politicians who protect vice ana live off the
gratitude of the vicious
with detective bureau organized so as to de-
tect no Irregularities which the higher officials
wink at the Commissioner is again estoppad
from enforcing discipline and wedding out cor
ruption. General Ringham's suggestion that
he be permitted to dsband the present detec-
tive bureau and enlist a new detective force
half or 1t from outside the regular service is
an emnently sensible one, and the creation of
such body would be the first positive sten
toward emancipating the head OF the force ana
putting him in position to know what Grim
lnals IN uniform as well as out of uniform were
doing.
We have hitherto treated the police force rs
IL we were afraid to divorce il from poljtjcS
1t IS time to try the experiment of admins
terng this most important branch of the mn
nlcipal service in the sole interest of tbo nuh
hc Until police corruption is stamped ont and
genuine discipline is restored we can hone for
no general spread of respect for law or of
confidence in our capacity u meet the mn
nlcipal problems of the future