The Detroit times., 1909-04-12
POLICE SWEATBOX
. IS POPULAR MYTH
Prisoners Questioned As To Crime
But Stories of Torture Being
Resorted To Are Absurd.

surrounded by steam pipes. where
prisoners are tortured by heat
until they confess.
This is the definition Of the sweat
box" once given on the witness stand
by a defendant In the recorders court.
Nothing could be farther from the
truth, yet II expresses quite accurately
the popular conception Of that myster-
ious and oft-quoted adjunct OF the po-
lice department. II IL can be called an
adjunct.
AS matter OF fact the sweat box
has no actual existence as far as the
Detroit police department is concern
ed. IL is a myth. The term had its
origin In marine circles and Webster
defines 1t as IA small closet In which
refractory men are confined" The
newspapers probably are responsible,
in large measure. for its application to
the police department. Decades ago
some writer, more enterprising than
the rest saw ut to apply the term to
the process OF questioning suspected
prisoners. The phrase stuck, and,
though used only in a metaphorical
sense. locally, at least, II has been ac-
cepted literally by many readers. Not
few persons believe that prisoners
are actually and literally sweated into
making confessions. and many an ac-
cused person, whose guilt had been
established beyond all doubt. has been
given his liberty because the jury la
bored under similar delusion.
1T Is true that prisoners often sweat
when we are questioning them, but it's
not due TO the condition OF the room, "
said Capt. James Mcdonnell. the vet
eran chief of the central detective bu-
reau. who has been instrumental in
securing more confessions than any
other man IN the department. IF a
man Is guilty II doesn't require steam
pipes or any other artificial means to
make him perspire. His own con-
science is sufficient
IF man is innocent he has nothing
to fear when questioned by the police.
A man wrongfully accused OF crime
can almost invariably free himself by
d frank statement, while any state
ment made by guilty man is bound
to go against him on his trial. IL a
man Is telling the truth his state
ments, as a rule, can be readily veri-
fed. and IL | am satisfied man is
telling a straight story | will not hest
tate to discharge him. From my ex-
perience with men I can usually tell
whether a prisoner Is lying, and con
duct my examination accordingly.
"A medical student was brought In
here once, charged with serious OF.
tense against little girl. for which
the extreme penalty is life imprison-
ment Though he was a young man
of excellent family connections. things
looked pretty black for him when he
first came in. But he told a straight
forward story, which I verified. and
half an hour later he walked out OF
the office a free man. A guilty man.
on the other hand. will drift from one
lie into another and the more he talks
the deeper he gets in the mire."
II has been charged against the po-
lice department that coercion Is often
used in obtaining confessions. IL that
were true il would show In the record
taken by the stenographer, who is al
ways present during socalled sweat
boy" examinations. Time and again
these records have been introduced In
court and they fail to substantiate the
charge.
The "sweatbox" figured prominently
in the Percy Bowin murder trial and
Bowin's claim that the confession was
forced from him on promise Of leni-
ency doubtless had bearing On the
verdict, but the transcript OF the state
ments taken In police headquarters do
not bear out any such state OF facts.
Persons familiar with the case know
that Bowin confessed Of his own ac-
cord after he had been identified by o.
Kersten a jeweler. as a young man
who had shown pair OF earring In a
taloon the morning after Mrs. Welch's
murder. Bowin had told various
stories TO the police previous TO that,
all of which were proven to be tissues
of lies. After the Identification he
broke down and told freely of the muir
der. OF his disposition OF the property
he took from the old woman and his
movements after the crime, and all
his statements were easily co-robor-
ated
Confessions are usually taken In the
large room where the detectives of the
central bureau have their desks, and
always In the presence OF several per-
sons. There Is no torture box" re-
served solely for sweating purposes.
That exists only in fancy.
81 believe the police are justified in
securing a confession whenever they
can" says Judge Connolly. "In some
communities. no doubt. the presence OF
sweating prisoners, as It is known. is
undoubtedly abused, but not so in De-
trolt. Here prisoners are accorded
every courtesy to which they are en-.
titled. and then some, to use n slang
expression"
As former secretary OF police.
Judge Connolly has been present az
more than lone confession in police
headquarters and knows the practice
thoroughly.