Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-07-16
LONDON POLICE ARMED
WITH RUBBER CLUBS
Special Correspondence of The Star.

| LONDON, July ), 1911,
EOR years it has been notorious that al
though the London police are in many
respects the best in the world, they have
| been sadly handicapped in dealing with
roughs and crooks by the fact that they
| were inefficiently armed, their only weap-
on being a short pocket baton. which
they are allowed to use only in circum-
| stances of extreme danger.
| After the Houndsditch ARRAY with
armed foreign burglars an agitation was
| raised for the arming of the police. The
agitation was fruitless but now the police
are arming themselves in secret. Fire
arms. on account of the cost and diff
Guilty in concealing them. have not been
adopted, but weapons which can be used
to quite deadly effect and leave no
mark are now carried by the police in
| rough neigh borhoodS. This dangerous
weapon is Just few feet of loaded gutta
| percha. such as is used for carriage tires.
/! 1t is even more dangerous than sand
bag, and in the hands of large London
bobby ii becomes quite q formidable
weapon, and will lay a rough out before
| he can get time to draw his pistol or
knife And the constableS use 1t freely
now: they are beginning to realize that
their superior officers are extremely short
sighted and hold views entirely too Ito
plan to be put in pra ctice on White
chapel beat.
It's like this said a constable the
other day. We are armed with a short
truncheon about a foot long and we've
got to keep II out Of sight in our pockets.
We are supposed never to use IL unless
we are practically in danger of our lives.
The authorities don't allow us any lati-
tude-they tell us We are intelligent fell
lows. but all the same they don't allow
us any private judgment at all Now
every magistrate who has court in a
low-class district knows, or ought to
know, that the police are always being
damaged by the hooliganS. Yet. II a
hooligan is found with bump on his
head we've got to go through what I've
read they call the third degree in
America. That makes us Shy of using
what bit of a weapon we have got, and
so we have either taken to using the bit
Of rubber on the quiet, which leaves no
traces, or taking the chance-really it's
more certainty than chance-of get
ting maued now and then.
Now. if we had a good. stout stick, or
something like that, fairly effective and
dangerous looking, IL would be lot bet
ter for everybody. In the first place. it
would make the roughS afraid Of us, and
IL II Qldn we cOulu make THEM
with 1t, and at the same time the public
wouldn't have to pay for the upkeep of
so many men on the sick list-which, OF
course, means the damaged list.
What we want is to be put on the
same level as the police in New York.
Not only with regard to arms. but with
regard to uniforms and general treat
ment There is lot of discomfort all
through the force. because We don't get
light enough clothes for summer wear.
They give us uniform for hot weather,
but it's hardly any different from the
winter one, and naturally these hot days
II makes us feel pretty wild with the au
thorities. Inside the ranks Ne look on
our administrators with a great deal Of
respect for all of know that as or |
ganizers they are first-rate but on this |
question of arms they seem to have mud |
died badly. We are having to solve the |
problem for ourselves, and We have done |
it as we'll as any commissioner of police |
with a title as long as my arm would |
have done. These swells who boss us gen. |
orally come from the army, and they
really haven't any idea how to clear a I