Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-01
COWARDLY OFFICER
PUBLICLY DEGRADED
MEMBER OF NEW YORK POLICE
FORCE STRIPPED OF UNIFORM
Commissioner Bingham Orders Craven
Subordinate Dismissed and Dis
honored in Presence of His
Comrades
BY Associated Press.

| Ry Associated Press.
NEW YORK, July 31.-A remarkable
scene, closely paralleling that mem
orable one in Paris when Captain Alfred
N. Dreyfus was publicly degraded be-
| fore the French army, was enacted In
the trial room at police headquarters to-
| day.
For the first time in more than thirty
years a patrolman had been adjudged
guilty of cowardice. He is Stephen s.
Walsh who, according to the charge
made against him, last week fled from
an armed man who had shot and killed
a woman.
The keen interest with which the un-
usual case was followed rose to point
of dramatic intensity when Police Com
missioner Bingham, who had presided
personally at the trial, announced in a
voice choked with emotion that the
charge against the unfortunate man had
been proved.
Then the commissioner turned to In
spector Richard walsh, in whose dis
trict Stephen Walsh was a patrolman,
but who is no relative of the dismissed
man, and directed the inspector to strip
Walsh of his shield and uniform but
tons, so that he might not even leave
the trial room with the emblems of his
former position as a policeman in good
standing on his person.
The crowd looked on in wonder and
excitement as the inspector advanced to
perform his unpleasant work.
Publicly Degraded
The dismissed man stood still and Of
fered no resistance as the shield was
unpinned from his breast, but when the
inspector started to detach the buttons
Of the uniform Stephen Walsh stepped
back and appealed to his attorney
against any further humiliation being put
upon him in the presence of his former
comrades.
Commissioner Bingham who was labor
ing under great excitement, then inter-
posed and directed the inspector to con-
duct his former subordinate to the steps
of the police building and eject him.
Stephen Walsh offered no resistance and
went with the inspector to the outer
doorway, where he was formally di-
rected to leave the building. Through
out the unusual proceeding Stephen
Walsh maintained his composure.
AS Walsh was being escorted from the
court room, Commissioner Bingham,
with wave of his hand, indicated that
he desired the other men in uniform to
Come up close in front all
of YOU men in uniform said the COM
missioner in a voice husky with feeling,
while his eyes brimmed with tears.
have a word TO say to you ALL but 1
can scarcely say 1t. My cheeks have
burned with shame here even TO think
Of a charge of cowardice being preferred
against a man in this department.
at has been our pride to say that
whatever other faults there may have |
been, there was no cowardice in this de-
partment / gave the accused in this |
case every chance to defend himself, but
1t has been clearly proven that he failed |
at the moment when he should not have
failed.
This thing must never happen again
while you and l are together. You |
must forget this, but you must remem-
Der the proud record of thirty years be-
fore when not one man in the many thou
sands failed to do his duty in the face of
danger
Overcome by Fear
Stephen Walsh was one of the two
men against whom a charge of cowardice |
was made last week when Frank Warner
was permitted to escape after killing
Esther Norling. Before Warner was
captured he shot and mortally wounded |
John c. Wilson and terrorized hundreds
Of persons
Patrolman Roosa, the officer whose name
was coupled with that of Walsh in the
cowardice charge, was exonerated after
a full hearing before the commissioner.
Warner. who once was prosperous
halter, but had suffered business re-
verses went to store where Miss Nor
ling who had formerly been his cashier,
was employed, and shot her to death.
When he dashed from the store Stephen
Walsh and several pedestrians started
in pursuit. Warner outran them and |
took refuge in a nearby building and
darted UP the stairs toward the roof. |
Walsh at that time was only a short |
distance behind the fugitive, but it is
charged that when Warner turned and |
aimed the revolver at him he turned |
and fled to an office on the lower floor |
of the building. Other policemen, in |
Roosa, soon arrived on the
scene, but Warner escaped. Two hours
later he walked into Wilson's store and !
shot him in the back.
Wilson died several days later in a |
hospital Warner was struck down and
captured as he ran out through the front |
door of Wilson's store. He is now in a
hospital in a serious condition from the
wound inflicted by his captor.