New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-09-29
Systems Coils Crush All Cops" Ideals Save That Keeping His JOB
Views from Top and Bottom
of the Police Ladder Show
How the Cangrene Per-
meates Far and Wide.

meates Far and Wide.
be a captain, let alone an inspector, III
get mine. and III get 1t just as quick az
I can collect it, There's no use wasting
time, cause you never can tell what time
some fool reformer might get after the
force, so it's me to get il quick and lay IL
by for any stormy day that might come
along"
That man, Inspector y. Is now one OF
those whose names are most frequently
mentioned to District Attorney Whitman
nv his investiga tors when making theii
reports. He has a safe deposit boy In
three different banks that the invest
gators have so far traced down. How
many more safe deposit boxes ne mas re-
mains TO be seen. He has bank accounts
in more banks than Becker had. He mas
a few modest pieces OF real estate, but
from what Mr.. Whitman now knows o.
him he seems 10 have taken warning from
the federal sleuths who told Captain Ober-
lin NJ Carter that the only safe way I"
cover UP graft was to bury the grart
money in the ground Even in private
dwelling house in New York there is but
little chance 10 actually bury 1t In the
ground, but the nearest approach to tha'
is the modern safe deposit box.
Captain Donahue, who dropped dead
several years ago while at his desk, In the
West 47th street station house, didn't
even trust a safe deposit box. \ search
of his desk Immediately after his sudden
death disclosed handbag containing s4S,-
goo in $1,000 bills, besides valuable jew
elry, mostly unset.
Any number Of our police captains and
inspectors own and live IN homes in the
sections OF the city in which real estate
is most expensive. And yet these men
for the most OF their lives as police Of
fcers receive less than $4,000 year.
THEIR SCALE OF LIVING.
Draw a comparison any time between
the style of living INDUCED IN by a rolice
captain and a battalion chief in the Fire
Department The latter gets a trifie more
salary than the police captain, but in nine
such comparisons out OF every ten II will
be found that the police officer Is running
along under a seals OF living that would
bankrupt the Fire Department man IN
less than year.
Our friend Inspector y knew what he
was talking about when he said that
there were mighty few such fools on the
police force as 20 endure the name with
out the game. only he differed from most
Of them in that he talked about 1t openly
and frankly.
nn Ia q
one great weapon OF commissioner, by
which he may. in some measure, control
the forces OF the system beneath him, is
transfer.
Transferred for the good OF the ser
vice" is the explanation that goes with
almost every transfer made. The trans
fer carries one captain from, say the
Tenderloin to q station in the far reaches
OF Queens.
Does the ordinary citizen, the taxpayer.
WHO supports this body of more than ten
+ thousand men, know and appreciate the
real significance 20 the cop Of that
| transfer"
| The talk one hears about such transfers
! is all to the effect that the great wrong
done the police officer is In making him
travel daily for his works sake from his
, home In upper Manhattan or The Bronx
to that station in queens, for instance.
Bus underneath that lies this bare and
ugly fact-that a transfer from station
in Manhattan in or around the white
light" district to station in the lots.
as the outlying stations are known means
the taking away Of an opportunity for
big and rich graft. which is always east
est to get in the sporting districts.
AS cold fact It is an axiom with Ger
tain kinds OF police grafters that any
district In the greater city can be made
to pay" but the white light centres
, are the places that are coveted.
| New Yorks Tenderloin. a descriptive
word that has now come into such gen
eral use that ii has been adopted In cities
throughout this country. got its name first
| from a frank police captain, who on re-
ceiving his transfer TO that district de-
clared that tho rest Of you car pick
around the bones now. but It's me for tho
tenderloin."