Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-01-30
WORK OF THE POLICE
Report Made by Chief of the
City Force.
TOTAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS
Variety of 0ffenses Ranging From
Grave to Trivial.
RECOVERED PROPERTY VALUES
Duties and Responsibilities of
Guardians of the Peace-Rec-
ord of Year.
TOTAL NUMBER OF ARRESTS
RECOVERED PROPERTY VALUES

Maj. Richard Sylvester superintendent
of police. in a report to the Commission
ers calls attention to the work done by
policemen and detectives in the matter of
making arrests for crimes and misde-
meanors. In cases of all kinds the police
made a total of 3d. 1O arrests in a year,
1907 white and 1S 103 colored.
"These cases." the report states. were
those in which the persons were either ar
rested or notified to appear in court for
a hearing, or in which collaterals were
deposited and forfeited. The charges EN-
braced the outgrowth of trivial offenses.
such as violation of the several hundred
police regulations, cruelty to animals.
habitual drunkenness, fugitives from re
formatories, homes or institutions, lntoNl-
cation disorderly conduct. vagrancy.
threats, petty larceny and the like, all
embraced under misdemeanors. making a
total of .''.SS4 cases. and assault with
dangerous weapons. endorsement. false
pretenses. housebreaking. forgery, grand
larceny and kindred offenses of a criminal
character, aggregating 1907 cases of ar
rest.
Cases Dismissed.
In this connection it should be remem-
bared that $3.50 cases where intoXication
was the charge we've dismissed, the in
dividuals being allowed to go upon re-
covery. OF the 1905 vagrancy cases 3lo
were dismissed, and a great many of the
simple assault cases were likewise dis
posed of, where wives or husbands re-
fused to prosecute. Many hundreds of
cases, in fact, are disposed of for want
Of prosecution after arrests are made.
1lrc -
held for assault as against 1000 in 1908
but for carrying concealed weapons in
1909 there were 1S6 cases sustained. while
in 1903 there were 211, showing de-
crease in this particular. There were 800
charges of contempt of court made, as
against 269 in 1903, and in the latter year
1159 cases of cruelty to animals were
held, while in 1909 there were but $40.
Increased Over Previous Year.
.'Disorderly conduct, which covers a
multitude of sins. resulted in 9,317 cases
being made. 795 more cases than for the
previous year. Habitual drunkenness de-
creased from 361 last year to $50 for 1909
Indecent exposure of person resulted in
a42 cases. ID arrests were made for keep
ing bawdy houses and 30 for keeping dis
orderly houses. There were - cases sus-
ia aimed against keepers of gambling tables,
81 for keeping open bar on Sunday. as
against IA the year before, and 65 cases
were made on the charge of unlicensed
bars, while in 1908 there were 1913. There
were 791 cases Of non-support held, an
increase of 191 over the prior year.
Seven arrests were made for selling
liquor to minors and .aJ7 sustained
where petit larceny was the offense. In
1908 vagrancy was sustained against 500
1,1N1
violating the police regulations 1854
cases were upheld by the courts. while
934 were likewise disposed Of under vio-
lation of the speed law. There We're
many other charges, all, however. going
to show that with a limited. hard-worked
police force there was decrease in many
offenses. while but a slight percentage of
increase in disorderly cases.
Crimes of Gravity.
las to crime" the report continues,
there were twenty-four arrests where
murder was the charge. OF these twenty
were held and none of the guilty escaped
apprehension This was an increase of
three cases over the preceding year
There was q decrease in the cases OF
assault with a dangerous weapon from
eighty to seventy-four cases; decrease
/ of two under attempt at robbery, and
decrease in the number Of arrests for
forgery and embezZlement
"In 1906 there were 400 cases Of grand
larceny reported. in 1907, 4aO cases, and
in 1903. 392 cases, and in 1909, 424 Thus
it will be observed that the number of
these complaints average about the same
for each year. Last year there were 124
arrests on this charge, in 1909 there We're
III. There were three cases of larceny
from the United States reported and five
convictions had. Eighty cases of robbery
were recorded in 1909. ffty-two arrests
followed and thirty-uve convictions. In
1906 there were ninety-fve such cases
in 1907, 100, and in 1905, los. This dis
playing a decrease in crime and an in
crease in arrests While but twenty
eight cases OF -embeZZlement were re-
ported al headquarters, the arrests on
that charge sustained In fifty-four
cases, the police by endeavor making ar
rests far beyond the number of COM
plants.