New-York tribune., 1910-06-22
BAKER AD0uSHES ALL
PLA|NCLOTHES MEN
Sends Every Man So Detailed in
Police Department to Patrol
Duty at Once.
BLOW STUNS THE FORCE
Captains Say They Cannot Main
tain Order in Their Precincts
if Deprived of Aid of
Men in Mufti.
New York City. June 81. 1910.

New York City. June 2l 1910.
special Order No. 16e: The following
--onsfe-s are hereby ordered, TO take
efect on June %, 1910. at p. m. All
-ssrolrnen renanded from duty in plain
Iofhes and transferred from inspection
sts+ricts 20 precircts indicated.
WILLIAM F. BAKER, Commissioner
This simply worded order, copies OF
which were sent to every precinct and
;renecfion commander in the greater
ci1r Yesterday, spread CONSERVATION and
confusion last night in the ranks OF the
men affected by ii. Patrolmen, SER
ceants. lieutenants, captains and inspec-
rors all had something to hazard In the
Way of a guess as to the true import Of
-he order and what its affects would be-
On one point there was a unanimity
If opirion: everyone in the department
pas certain that the order would cause
: state OF chaos in the ranks of the po-
lice The number OF men affected by the
order is 203, and the great majority of
them have never been in the confine-
r,ent Of uniform Men who entered
.he department as plainclothes mei.,
and have never been anything else. were
as far "up in the air. last night as any
aviator ever got.
The mere idea Of patrolling the streets
IN the regulation blue uniform of their
heretofore less fortunate brothers was
4 mighty blow TO their sense of right
and justice. All they could do was to
talk in dazed whispers, one to the other.
The order, which virtually wipes out
of existence the plainclothes man, il
believed TO be the direct result of the
conference held with Commissioner
Bsker about three weeks ago by Mayor
Gsyror. On that occasion the Mayor
,olc the Commissioner that he thought
there were too many men in plain
clothes around the station houses. He
suggested that they might better be en-
ployed in doing patrol duty, and that
he wanted detectives who could de
tect" The responsibility for sleuthing,
he said. should be put up 20 the Detec-
tive Bureau
After this conference between Mayor
Gaynor and Commissioner Baker, the
departrent experienced the throes Of
mild upheaval. and. having gone through
this with safety, thought that the mat
Ter had ended there. Just how far these
men erred IN their definition OF the true
import OF the Mayors conference with
the Police Commissioner. was proved
by yesterdays order.
In every precinct throughout the
greater city il was the same story
Captains. when asked what they were
going 10 do about ii. shrugged their
shoulders, spread their feet and looked
out Of the windows. One or two among
them were more communicative. and un-
loosened sufficiently to say that they
could not properly police their precincts
without plainclothes men. What could
be done in the numerous cases of
"squeaIs'' which come to every captain
ard complaints OF fat robberies and
other work requiring the assistance OF
e man in citizens clothes, was riddle
which the precinct commanders could
not fathom.
In the memory Of the Oldest member Of
the department the plainclothes man
has been an institution. His loss will
b. hard blow to inspectors and cap
tains. These men have always had the
absolute right to place any Of their uni
formed force in plain clothes, and have
generally carried them along with them
when they changed TO new commands.
AS for the men themselves, who will
con uniforms for the first time tonight,
II many cases, they are already sending
in applications for sick leave" with the
hope that the trouble may blow over
before they report back for duty. Sew
eral Of them confded TO friends last
night that they had forgotten how TO
DO patrol duty Others hustled to get
fitted for new uniforms, since they had
far outgrown those that were formerly
only q loose flt-before they landed their
Jobs as plainclothes men.
One Of the old guard of police inspec-
tors, who has Witnessed many changes
In the department, dissented from the
general run Of opinion last night When
he said: Il think the new order Is a
gooG thing. Il viii be the first time IN
twenty-five years that the responsibility
Tor suppreSsing gambling and dlsoroeriS
houses has been lifted from the shoui-
Gers Of precinct and inspection district
commanders. Now we can devote our
whole time TO doing regular police duty
and LEI the Detective Bureau take care
OF tbs rest Of The criminals
The same inspector said he understood
Mayor Gaynor intended TO establish dlf-
terent squads at Headquarters, the DUTY
Of which would be to take charge OF Ger
tain crimes. Each squad VIII be Specldi-
ly trained In the work to which II Is
detailed. This plan viii not take eIIect
Immediately, the inspector SAID, put as
soon as possible the necessary aooilioiiS