The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1912-09-28
WOMEN AND POLICE
By CARL HovEL, in The metropolitan
Magazine.

By CARL HOVEL, in The metropolitan
Magazine.
Woven seldom feel their need of the
vote more keenly than when brought into
unexpected personal collision with the
police department. In such a case the
individual without vote is usually
pretty completely fattened out by the
ponderous police steam roller, and left
with nothing to show for her experience
except a feeling of ranking injustice
and rage. The following incident hap
pened in New York; it might have hap
pened in any large American city.
Two settlement workers, whose names
1t is unnecessary to give, but who are
well known sociological students, both
holding university degrees, were on then
way home from the night court where
they had been Watching the magistrate
dispose of the cases of unfortunate wo-
men. AS always, ii was a dull machanl-
cal process first the fly cop mutters
the charge, the prisoner then says some
thing nobody listens to, the judge names
the amount of fine or gives ten days on
the Island, and the bridge officer calls,
next case! So these two serious
minded women had left the court room
with no specially kindly feeling toward
policemen or the stupid questionable
police routine. But when they found
themselves in the deserted streets at
about half-past one in the morning, they
naturally thought of the men in uniform
as at least their protectors.
They hurried on. few men spoke tp
them, or tossed some joke in their diit.
rection. This was annoying, but iti
didn't really matter. ~
Two policemen were standing on u
corner, chatting They looked across
the street at the two women, and ONT
called out, Hello, baby, aren't yor
afraid of catching cold?' The othe!
said to his brother officer in an under.
tone, you don't know her, do vou?" Al
this, the younger of the two workers, be
ing suddenly filled with an amount q
righteous Indignation which erased he
feelings of timidity, darted straight u
to the two policemen, eXclaiming, ND
he doesn't know me, AID what is more
he knows he doesn't know me-" ShN
took the number of the officer who hat
spoken to her, and promised him that
she would surely take the matter to the
commissioner and have n:m up on
charges
This was as it should be. Neverthe-
less, the sequel proved a joke, or what
ever you prefer to call it. The various
steps We're these-one, two, three. The
young woman saw the police comm.s-
siol:er (who was not the present incum-
bent; that gentleman was very busy
signing his name, as commissioners al
ways are, but he referred her somewhat
discontentedly to the comp:anI, clerk,
who wrote down the number of the ac
cused policeman's shield. As matter
of fact the figures he wrote down were
not the figures the woman gave. She
was sharp enough to notice this, and
drew his attention to the mistake, but,
as she knew afterwards, the number re-
manned as he first wrote it-wrong Step
number two consisted of q note from
the comm SIS oner, stating that the Off
GER would be placed on trial. But tner.
was an additional sentence informing
the complainant that she must know
and understand that she could not ex-
pect to go on the street, unescorted, dt
such late hours, without fear of insult.
Perhaps this was unofficial masculine ad-
vice; it was a strange thing to be writ
ten over the signature of a New York
police head
When the trial, which Is stage three,
came off, the steam roller appeared in
full action. Glorious was the scene; the
dense array of blue coats, standing to-
gether with easy, invincible air. the
rapid work in handling cases and deci-
sive voice of the trial deputy. young
officer was called to the front, Look
at this young lady" he was told, and
say when and wher you last saw her
The young cop gazed stolidly at the wo-
man student. II never saw her before
in my life he answered and truthfuly.
1t was not the man she had complained
of, but another. The owner of course,
of the wrong number which had been
entered in the book After receiving
little lecture on her carelessness in not
getting the officers number correctly,
she was allowed to pass on and OUT
The police are always right. If il is
true that complaining citizen with
vote and a potentiality of political in
fuence finds 1t difficult to get any ac-
ton, it is doubly true that woman or
a woman's organization has practically
no show at all. Observe the striking
success of Mrs Blatch and her commit
tee when they went to headquarters to
complain OF the bad police arrange
ments for the recent suffrage parade.
Perhaps the world might be made to