The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-09

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1900 arrests MONTH" said Chief of Po-
lice George H. BodelSer last night, "and
1t has got to be stopped. The police de-
partment of this city is not organized to
make money for the city treasury, but
for the assistance and protection of the
citizens, and that is what 1t has got to
do"
| In the last few weeks Chief Bodeker
has been greatly worried by the large
number OF arrests being made by the po-
| lice department for minor offenses. He
has compiled some figures which will be
ready for publication in a few days, and
he is planning to inaugurate a campaign
to stop what he calls "inhumn' arrests.
Chief Bodeker has been thinking over the
matter for some time, but he has now
taken action and will use means to bring
| the number of arrests and the conduct of
patrolmen within reasonable limits He
| said:
Because man ha sauthority is no
| reason that he should misuse 1t. 1 want
the citizens Of Birmingham to realize that
the patrolman on his beat Is not perse-
cutor but a protector. My men will have
confidence In themselves. They are not
ccnceited enough; they are afraid to take
an initiative In the matter and incur re-
| sponsibility.
II don't want them to take any more
| responsibility upon themselves. l only
want them to get more confidence In their
idea of Justice and act accordingly.
will take the responsibility off their
| shoulders and will answer personally for
any consequences which may develop.
man should not be arrested for splitting
on the sidewalk, for talking too loud on
the streets, for getting into a scuffle when
no one is hurt. and the hundred other
similar small offenses, unless there is
| more serious feature In the case. We are
all human. We make mistakes. If
| man forgets himself and spits upon the
| sidewalk or talks too loud in an argu-
ment, he should be warned. The patrol
| men should tell him that he is in the
wrong and ask him to stop. More good
will be done, more respect will be held
| for the officers of the law and better or
der maintained everywher. A poicmans
| duty Is to maintain order and peace, not
to see how many people he can lock In
the city jail for one days work. He
should not arrest a man just because he
can, just to show him his authority. as
many have been doing. The arrests for
one month have got to be cut down to
| 5OV on an average Inere Is no need OF
any more under ordinary circumstances.
| I'd just like to see one day pass without
a single man being arrested
The humiliation that being arrested
brings to many people and families is a
serious matter. / go into police court
some mornings and the shame of 1t fairly
burns into me. There on the benches sit
old gray-haired fathers and mothers
anxiously waiting, some crying, shrink
| Ing from the shame that they feel hover
ing over them as their sons are led out
of the cell to be tried for crime, prob
ably because the boy spirit, the youth
bubbling over In him, made him talk too
loud on the street. or, in a moment of
forgetfulness. spit upon the sidewalk
"Or there comes a brawney, muscular.
middle-aged man from the cell. He is
tried for being drunk. The evidence
shows that he was harming no one. He
| was going home at the time of his arrest.
The officer simply saw his shaky foot
steps and gobbled at the opportunity to
| make an arrest. The fellow is hard
| working man In one of the mills and has
family of children Next day at school
| when his little daughter runs out her
p,aymates say. Bah, I won't play with
| her. Her papa was arrested and put In
| jail last night Why couldn't that have
| been settled out of court by the officer?
Warn the man or the boy. The officer
| SnOulu nave lTIcIuiy Talk WIFI llIIi diiu
the result would be far different and
much better to all concerned
THE negro arrests are important.
Some people have special enmity for
the negroes and some officers arrest a
half dozen every day. was born and
reared in the south, and such treatment
has got to stop In Birmingham. Every
day | see old, broken down negro men
and women brought into police court and
| fined dollar for some little minor Of
Tense The old darkey has not got enough
| clothes on to make gun wad; he prob
| ably has not enough money to buy
crust of bread, and lives in little old
shack somewhere In an alley where he Is
barely capable Of making both ends meet.
| He has to pay his fine and costs and
probably has to borrow the money from
a loan shark who charges him % cents
on the dollar for week. The whole
| thing is wrong and Is result of i'm
properly used authority. The negro
should be advised, talked to and warned.
| OF course when advice and counsel do no
good and the same offense is committed
again, then he should be arrested but not
before. This all relates to the minor Of
lenses, as l have said and I have told
all of the captains as well as every
patrolman about what I wished them to
do l am determined to remedy the evil
and will take further action If neces-
sary."