Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-10
.DEVERY ON DOG COPS
Will Not Succeed In New York,
Declares Ex-PoIice Chief.
CONDITIONS AGAINST EN-"
Discusses Faults and Failings of the
Four Dogs and Decides They Won't
Do-Misht Work All Right Up In
tho Adirondacks, He Says.

\
tho Adirondacks, He Says.
William s. Devery, New York's for
mer police chief. whose knowledge o.
police ways is great, has poor opin
ion of the experiments being made
with the New York police Department.
dogs.
! mo, l amt got no opinion about the
dogs" he said recently to reporter
of the New York Post as he seated
himself on the front third cr a gilded
Louis Quatorze chair in his - home
Except just this. It's all rot II
stands to reason they can't succeed
Conditions here is all against 'em
Here's congregation Of 100000
souls, settled down at a seaport, with
ships sailin' 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 goin' on
ev'ry minute that no dog could hold to
one scent moren block or two. S'pose
dog goes after crook, for one thing.
In ten minutes he'll get his scent dis
tracted by another and then another.
It'll 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 II he did get real
hold on 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 bridge jam or drowned off
ferryboat or run down by scorchin'
automobile every time he was on duty.
II 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 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.
can 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
been talkln' so much about them that
every ones thinkin' they're goln' TO
settle the problem of ferretin' out
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
dogs knows that there is tricks that
can get around them.
I'D be willln' to bet a hundred gold
backs against a button that could 90
over TO Parkville an take them four
dogs away from their masters In no
time. You just give me start of a
block or two. an they could call ont
the reserves an set 'em all whlstlin',
an the pups'd stick to me. Any ami
mails that could be got to desert like
that amt TO be considered very valua-
Bile for police duty. II Just amt like
dogs TO be reliable under such ener-
gencies.
''It's just like this. This life is a bat
tie OF brains. An IL stands to reason
when YOU match a dogs brain against
mans brain the mans goin' to win
out every time. A brainy crook could
always outwit the dog. an a brainy
cop could find an keep a clew better
than he could an wouldn't be fiustrat-
ed by every cross current he come to.
'Now. s'pose one Of them dogs vas
poundin' the road some night an he
spled a man tryin' TO get into a win
dow. An s'pose that man was some
fellow who'd stayed out late an lost
his latchkey an that was his own
house an his wife had gone to bed an
put the lights out. Now. what's that
dog goin' to do; He can't rap on the
fence with his night stick an say.
Hey. what you doln' thereT
AN then s'pose one Of them dog
cops sees a man snatch a bag from a
woman an run OF down a lonely
street. He's learned TO chase after the
runner. hut what's he goin' to do when
be catches him; Maybe he'll trip him.
hut the thief can climb fences. an the
dog can't The dog can't make an ar
rest. an be can't take his prisoner
round to the station house an have
him entered on the bIOtter. q
NO. sir. I tell you circumstances Is
I'll against these DOGS. They used 10
use dogs IN the middle ages to catch
slaves an robbers. but times Il differ.
,nt nov. an onless you have q dog to
70 out with every Ofioer-SOoo of EN-
you won't Ind them much good In a
fraternity q 10000 people.
But Tn = strong believer In kind /
ness to dumb animals. an Bingham