New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-02
There's Plenty of Routine.
but. on the Other Hand
There's Lots of Variety.

ACT, After ten long years OF
i+ation. the policemen OF Ne"
~ work have secured unto themselves
- tbe three-platoon system
the ',,oid form the benefits of the three
III s,etern are that It gives the ponce
platoon ~ time TO himself. The law pro
man nv a., NOW system was passed IN
,Ihsny recently, and the pi"" 20 W. as
80 Commissioner WMoo "r,u "a tho
Tents worked out all the ue'd'is' .l,o
s,,ad nlan is now ticking WIZ
ootbress Of a Swiss movement VA
,rno hest way TO illustrate the'"oi ne 40
49, svstem is TO take the case oi o"o 49,,
'-S,,,on and follow his time 'aoie ''lS
~ The force Of over ten "'o"''''
u a. avoided into three platoohs A.
H'en tt,, case Of a "cop" who Is Oh 'ie
l "NV we shall call him Patrolil'a"
first platoon. we
@| |ryors reports for rollcall at , eio.N
NO''''o;,y He then takes MS oea'
~ - 80 as the policemen can - CIV
OF ~ .n,u 2 o'clock in the AFTERNOON
That IS eight hours OF worn .o,,- hours
4ha' . -, ba is excused for four houts'
Alt'i 49, can go or come as suits MN
III 49, os the wind. That brings Coiiiio''
80 : O'Clock in the evening III.
" nm repous at the station Tor elsh'
Nv ..serve duty. Reserve duty Is usu-
mus 20, II consists OF sleeping in DOR
al, =, the station house, unless can
ines in for some unusual uiS'ui , 80
ooi,. - ease of riots. strikes. murders,
go and such like are the reserves -
-. 90 change their pajamas for 'Her O'''
soots and brass buttons.
rJore by the way. IS what Is meant ~
49, tbreadbare expression OF Gaining o"'
the reserves .s ,t,ngs
=, r,re of these ultra untoward thlnsS
=. bi,, ont Of his white enamelled dorihl-
Co., he'd Connors can sleep until d. III
That Is. he sleeps If he can sleep Ihe'e
ore times. especially with green man. W.
.o6s a little initiation, when ne Wouiu
ether he out walking beat thah uoi'7
bic nouiuaHy easy eight hours Iese''N
1s,er o'clock a. m. Connors can go hoihe
% the bosom OF his famiy-the entlre IT,
,nainder of the night being his very own
clo,cing hack. you will notice that ne
,os done sixteen hours duty out OF Inc
,,.o,t,,-four Half Of this was reserve
trt he had to be on the job just the same
,5,. ,,ov+ two davs are very much easier
ON the second day Connors reports Ioi
duty at a. m as on the morning before
1lo also does his eight hours on his route
,,rtu 2 I'm the afternon. But after that he
&c III through for the day. He gives eight
hours 10 the force and keeps the remaining
eivteor 10 himself. on the third day MS
schedule is the same. on the fourth day
10 goes back 10 the first days time table.
once every six weeks Connors gets thirty
two hours off.
That is the schedule for the squads of the
first platoon.
The second platoon man goes on duty
81 I'm the afternoon and walks his beat
until II D. m. After that he has four hours
off eight hours reserve and the rest of the
day of
The third platoon is on duty from II p.
m. to a. m.. with the same relative hours
OF duty and reserve The force of each
precinct has three squads for the first and
second platoons and two squads to the
third platoon. This gives the city the pro-
lection Of twice the number of men at
night that it has I'm the daytime For after
dark Is when most of the lawbreaking
goes on. The size of a squad varies with
the precinct Ten or twelve men make up
q squad in the more important precincts
Men are constantly shifted from one pla-