Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1908-06-18
O[vERY ON DOG COPS
Win Not Succeed In New York,
Declares Ex-PoIice Chief.
CONDITIONS AGAINST EN-
Discusses Faults and Faiiines Of the
Four Dogs and Decides They Won't
Do-Misht Work All Right Up In
the Adirondacks, He Says.

/ SHc AGFCfo&SkSp TIC Gays
| William S. Devery. New York's for
faer police CHIEF, whose knowledge of
| police ways is great, has a poor opin-
/ Oh of the experiments being made
gi'i the New York police departments
! o.S
No, amt got no opinion about the
| og2,' he said recently to a reporter
# ihe New York Post as he seated
Himself ON The front third OF gildcd
ouis 9uu1orze chair in his new home,
e,g2.a just this. It's all rot. 1t
! stand To reason they can't succeed.
Conditions here is all against EN-.
| Heres a congregation of 100000
! souls, settled down at a seaport, with
ships saitin' for every port in the
world every hour of the day an rail-
roads comm in an goin out in every
direction all day long. Everything
helps CROOK to cover up his tracks.
Dogs might work all right up in the
Adirondacks or some other rural neigh
\ borhood, where they don't have nothin'
but highWaymen to deal with an there
amt nothin' but woods an fields to get
away over. But here there's so many
| heenous crimes of all sorts gon' on
ey'ry minute that no dog could hold to
one scent moren block or two. S'pose
a dog goes after crook for one thing.
In ten minutes he'll get his scent dis
tracted by another and then another.
ltll be all criSscross, an he'll get SO
mixed up he'll be followin' a trail back
to the station house before he really
gets started. Even if he did get real
hold on a scent, before he knew it it'd
lead him into the subway or the Singer
building or some other place with a
NO Dogs Allowed sign nailed up, an
all his trouble would be wasted. An
he'd stand a good chance of bein'
crushed in a bridge jam or drowned or
a ferryboat or run down by scorchin'
automobile every time he was Oh duty.
Il guess | know somethin' about
dogs, an | know somethin' about the
force, too, an this amt the first time
policemen has used dogs in their bust
ness. But they amt never been off,
cial before. It's just like this: Some
officer sees some poor NUT of dog on
his beat tryin' to find a crust in a ash
! can. An he speaks to him kindly an
buys him some bones, an the poor NUT
follows him home an becomes his
friend for life.
AN then whenever that officer goes
out ON beat the dog goes along. He's
handy for smellin' things in dark arey-
ways an spyin' people in back yards
where they don't belong. He JUS adds
to the eye an ear power Of the officer,
an he's valuable so FAIRS he goes. But
he amt official, an he don't cost the
city nothin'. He works for love.
There wasn't nothin' new about
these kind of assistant policemen an
no one expected anything of 'em. That's
the trouble with these big imported
, dogs. They've been trained so care.
: fully an the people an the press has
been talkin' so much about them that
every ones thinkin' they're goin' to
settle the problem of ferretin' cut
: crime in this city for all time to come
If they rely on them too much they'll
be fooled, that's all. Any one knows
q dogs knows that there is tricks that
, can get around them.
> 'T'd be willin' to bet hundred gold
. backs against button that / could &C
o over to Parkville an take them -four
, dogs away from their masters in nc
c time. You just give me start OF q
O block or two, an they could call out
the reserves an set 'em all whistlin'
y an the pups'd stick to me. Any ami
r mails that could be got to desert like
a that amt to be considered very valua
8 BILE for police duty. 1t just amt like
n dogs to be reliable under such emer
4 gencies.
Its just like this. This life Is bat
e tie of brains. An it stands to reason
s when you match dogs brain agains
e a mans brain the mans goin' to wiz
out every time. A brainy crook could
e always outwit the dog, an brainy
d cop could find an keep a clew better
:. than he could an wouldn't be fustrat
), ed by every cross current he come to.
/ Now. s'pose one of them dogs wa:
S poundn' the road some night an HI
e spied man tryin' to get into a win
S dow. An s'pose that man was some
t fellow who'd stayed out late an los
d his latchkey an that was his owl
d house an his wife had gone to bed an
!. put the lights out. Now, what's tina
e dog goin' to do? He can't rap on thu
u fence with his night stick an say
I Hey. what you dom thereT
e "An' then s'pose one of them dos
n cops sees man snatch a bag from ,
?, woman an run off down lionel.
e street He's learned to chase after thu
q runner. hut what's he goin' to do whel
e he catches him? Maybe he'll trip him
. but the thief can climb fences. an tn,
I dog can't. The dog can't make an ar
= rest, an he can't take his PRISONS
round to the station house an hav'
= him entered on the biotter
mo. sir, tell you circumstances i
g all against these dogs. They used t
use dogs in the middle ages to catcl
9 slaves an robbers, but times Is differ
y emit now, an onless you have a dog t
e go out with every oficer-S,000 of zen
! you won't find them much good In
I fraternity of 100000 people.
But I'm strong believer In kind
ness to dumb animals, an Bingham
10 deserves the thanks OF the communit.