The sun., 1908-12-13
GIVING THEN Il NUH SFLRF
JERSEY CITY POLICE Plan 20
HELP YOUNG CRIMENAES.

Detective Bureaa's chief TFyfns 70 Eepn
Ex-COHviots Out sf Mischief ~ Einfl-
Eng Employment Ser Tlleia-1Tha Kxzs
peFiment Has Worked s1ell ee Fpr.
People ell over the country are Natoll-
ing with interest an experiment. which
lie being made by Capt James !. LagktEls.
chief OF the Jersey City detective bureassss
He Ii trying to find out whether It =
possible to conduct an employI18at
agency for OK -oonvtots. Since 90 acgounE
Of this project appeared in THE Sun n5I
November IS Capt, LarEins has reoeiff3
letters from Pittsburg Clevflara.
Chicago, st. Louis and many other Nitse5
in the middle West from business men Aa
we'll as police officials asking for l4QIS
information about II end wishing hin
success in his undertaking. ~ II r.
The plan has been ii, operation onlx
about q month. but the detective nhltf
has been Eble to secure employment f95
six men with prison records.
The employers who have given thec8<
men jobs know ell about them sna
are willing TO give them another star
in life. The men themselves know tlaaf
their bosses have their records. tht1Is
realize that they are having. anobhar
phance. and every one Of them seems 70
be eager 10 make good. .s..sss,s;.g sss
Most OF them are working In factories
doing manual labor where they recaiae
on an average from So to 80, 2 wees
All that the detective burea1 EssSs Of fl
employers is thst the ether ,ernploypea &
shall be kept In ignorance OF the feet tie
the newcomers are ex-convicts .5K ~ =
The idea originated when Capt. Lsrkigs
and some other officers were sitting ~
police headquarters one night dlseusslp
the best means Of dealing with tine gfeak
number. of petty criminals In Jerssy Elt
There We're great many boys betWee -
the ages Of Is and 81 who had LOST tiieif &
Jobs, had fallen into bad habits and ssi;[s ~
giving the police trouble. Many OF the
had been arrested for trivial ofanqess.,
and when they we're found lettering ab9ps
the streets late at night often, tney vera
locked up just on suspicion. !
rNine times out Of ten they woui he
the next morning. Eaii Eet
Larkins in describing such cases. sbsf
anyway we knew that they couE Q
get into any trouble that night II Hs
police passed such men UP and then.if tsat
committed any orimes We wouii 5be u.xt
against it, sis ssaif;fTi'k J
When boy had been convicted and In ~
served a term in the State refornator.fis
or the State prison his chances Of avoiirft
ing arrest were even less Usually kaaoSS
boys had been convictel of burglafiask
In which small sums were involved. hlt
xhen they came out Of. jail tbeY were Il
vi xatohed carefully by the police. EveRf
4 they had made up their minds toake4as4
put of trouble after having had q tasseel 8
of prison life, these continual arrSsfs
vhieh the police were forced to nlhl3
Tor their own protection tended TO mats
the bows think that there Was very iittie
10 be gained by keeping straight and ths 3
result was that they W ould soon fali bAnk
INTO their old habits and company at
Capt. Larkins goes on the assaifhpt tieA
hat very few Of these young hrinhillel
IRE really bad at heart and that jp0s
them would be glad to start over ai1ail
4 they saw their way clear. He dsolafe4
that there was very little chance for a.
sx-conviot to hold q job unless, hB hacli
whispered In factory that certain masss
aad been In prison, his fellow wofkefe4
y ould brand him as thief and b<ff<S;7ses<
ong the report would reach the, supeEr z
Then With no enc tq slseak &
'or him the boy usually would find hil,isalz.
TO makSthe plan work successf July tl1a
had to have the cooperation uf Il, J.
number Of reputable employers who Wefe g
broad minded enough 20 be willing 10 give
the scheme trial In their own factotle4
As soon as such q man was found the
rx1IInAed thrFa sf1r ff4f#
young men who hadreoeptly been releases
from prison and asked them wheth
they would be willing to take q Fesn
lob and stick to It., The understand
10 the police exactly as II they were on
probation until sufficient. time nMl7its
elapsed 10 prove that no further troEh,e s
would be had with them. ~
Although four weeks 10 not long euonsk
10 form q positive estimate OF how ts'5
to know that there has not bean . siIlEA
up to the present time regass4H
ing any OF the six men for whom employ-
ment has been found. The sicoeea Of
the undertaking. according TO Capt.
Larkins, depends solely upon the flzesf
80 disposed. for at the psesent rate the des
mand for Jobs soon VIII be far IN ex6e%S
Of the available opportunities,
As yet there has been no phano6 ts
discover how widely the plan may slea
in dealing with other piassef Il
Of criminals. So far Il has had to Id
only with men convicted OF small bufaieI'8
or petty thieving OF other sorts. But tho
bureau Is willing 70 be OF Service n
In finding employment for men Of hieheb4
as well, men who have been
convicted OF embeznlement. for exan1pIe.
All dealings with the department are ,of Il
course treated oonfdentlally. 4s,..5s. s sl'
OF course many people have been Hy&
ing TO take advantage OF the bureau
Dffer to secure jobs. One woman la New
York wrote Capt. Larltins n persenafa i
letter the other day requesting him tej
and employment for her five sons, az
Of whom are out of work. The JERSEY
City detectives think they have enough
10 do TO handle the cases which till oo>l1e1
10 them on their side Of the riytrns
but they see no reason why the polioo'.
II other cities should not take mp tho
scheme.
The conditions In Jersey City seem 81 "a
Do particularly well adopted To the sifs1z
,eseful operation Of the plan, bit Ia
MANY cities, especially those IN the AyeAt
which are of about the same size, a. Jef1ts,s
City. Capt. Larkins thipks the ,syste;ss
,ould be followed to advantage. IS b
The detective chief was asked whethcf
ae would try ~ secure etnploylnanf fdtl
who came ont Of prison. Win s.
them. he said, the CASE was sonlev.aatif
Most of the arrests OF WonefbS