New-York tribune., 1912-01-29
NEED MORE cops -WALDO
Police Commissioners Annual
Report CritiCiseS Courts.
1894 FREED BY JUDGES
14S Murders, 13 Convicted,
None Executed, He says-New
Districts Lack Protection

M. ...r, ~ Commissioner Rninelandei
Waldo on the work Of the Ponce pep'''
rnent for the year 1911, as lecenul SUI
rottted TO the Mayor. was made puoH' l'S-
t.rdsv The Commissioner drew pdTu'"
lar attention 10 the inadequate humeilcdI
strercth OF the force 10 furnish Prop'I
,rctection 10 the city, as compared WI"
cther large cities. He suggested polhteuS
that the various courts had failed slgndIy
10 uphold the administration OF jusuce d
affecting the enforcement Of law by lhe
Police He said:
During the year there we're as murders,
FOR which 70 persons were arrested ana
seven committed suicide prior 10 pOHy@ d., a,
tion. Not one has been executed toI 80 90
of these murders Only thirteen nave Lee"
Sentences have been suspended and con-
yicted men freed by judges IN Oh cases Nd I'D
felony, 1870 cases Of miSdemeanoI on
j. ssS cases Of juvenile delinquency or
total of 1884 suspended sentences
The report contained complete tables IN
suppo,t Of these figures, and several speclnc
cases were cited where in the Comnhs-
sioney's opinion, justice had miscarrled. III
,ne case a young man was arrested three
tin1ss within eight weeks in the act OF
burglary, in the first instance WITH re-
,olyer in his possession. In the first two
cases he was found guilty and paroled.
The third time lie was sentenced to the
House OF Refuge
The Commissioner deplored the fact that
d period OF twenty months passed before
the execution Of Albert W Wolter, VINO
IL 20 pay the death penalty at Sing sing
prison at daybreak this morning for the
murder Of Ruth Wheeler. Referring 10 the
case OF Paul Geidel, the bellboy who killed
ana r. bbed the aged broker William Jack
son. in his apartment in the Iroquois Hotel,
the Commissioner pointed out that Geidel
was sentenced TO only twenty years im-
prisonment for the crime
In almost all cases where roulette wheels
and other gambling apparatus have been
seized in raids" the Police Commissioner
said. court orders were obtained requiring
the return Of the property to the gamblers.
Under the caption of The Numerical
Strength Of the Force" the report set forth
that London, with a population Of approXi-
matcly 100000. lad 2l0DO policemen, or
about one policeman to every 333 inhdb-
itants: Paris. with an approximate popula-
ton Of 2,S00COn, had about one policeman TO
every 332 inhabitants while New York,
with over 100000 population, had l0,2)S po-
ucemen, including men detailed TO plain
clothes duty and other special duties, or
about one policeman to every .49 inhao-
itants one rapidly growing precinct in Inc
Bronx had one policeman to about 2,4V IN
habitants. The report continued:
In the newly built up sections Of the city,
especially in the vicinity of flatbush, South
Brooklyn. washington Heights, in Manhat-
tan. and in The Bronx the population mas
increased so rapidly within the last teW
years that the Police Department has been
unable to assign for their protection the
number of mon which il is believed are re-
auired to properly guard these districts.
In line with the doctrine Of Mayor Gay
nor of police brutality and unnecessary ar
rests. tho Police Commissioner said that
brutality in making arrests had ceased,
the police having been taught TO exercise
the utmost care that the innocent may not
be the victims of injustice. The number OF
arrests for felonies has increased, while the
number of arrests for minor offences mas
decreased.
Referring to the vaudeville shows recently
featured i'm several of the big restaurants
In the city the Police Commissioner point
ed out that they differed I'm many instances
in no way from those at music halls ana
theatres and as a matter OF public safety
these places should he required to take out
licenses and conform 10 the fire and build
ings laws enacted for the protection Of the
puhtC