New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-04-28
S|NECURES FOUND IN
POLICE SURGICAL BOARD
Curran ProberS Recommend
That Doctors Give More
Attention to Force.
HINTS OF GRAFT MADE
Investigators View Conditions
Surrounding the Retirement
Duties of Board of Sur
vey with Suspicion.

In report which teens with in
ferential suspicion of the methods of
the surgical bureau of the Police De-
partment, Drs. e. G. Fray and c. Nc
Combs and F. S. Staley, investigating
that phase of the police question for the
Curran aldermanic committee, under
.he auspices of the Bureau of Municipal
Research. condemned the system Of
permitting doctors 10 serve in that bu-
reau on part time. which is apparently
never checked up to see just how much
service the city is getting.
Police surgeons should be required
to give their entire time to their police
duties, and should not be permitted to
engage in private practice" is the first
recommendation made by the ex-
aminers.
They found that police surgeons, get
ting the same pay as inspectors. So, 800
a year. put their official duties second
airy to their pr ate practice, and that it
was often difficult TO get a police sur
geon to attend to a police case solely
because they were unreachabe.
Explain Pamer's Statement.
The statement made by Chief Sur
geOn Palmer TO the investigators that
the surgeons are always subject to call
means that the surgeon is subject TO
call providing he happens not to be at
tending TO his private practice" says
the report. Note the following ex-
ample:
Ion March IA, 1911. according to
the telephone record Of the telegraph
bureau, call for a police surgeon was
received from the 9th Precinct at 4:22
q, m. which read: Send a police sur
geon TO this station.-Lieutenant Wall"
The telegraph bureau called the fol-
lowing surgeons without result: Drs
Brouner. Donlin. Nammack. De Forest,
Johnson, Jennings. Hubbard and
Schoenenberger. Or. Nosburgh was
finally secured
The examiners recommended that one
police surgeon should be on duty at Po-
lice Headquarters all the time.
Second only TO the evil of police sur
geons engaging in private practice TO
the detrment of their police duties.
particularly when they treated as pri-
vate patients the members Of police
mems families the examiners evidently
found that the conditions surrounding
the retiremest duties of the surgeons
board of survey open to the strongest
suspicion.
THE assignments OF surgeons to
serve on the board of survey should be
made by the Police Commissioner and
go arranged as TO cover the following "
says the report: "(a) The names should
le kept secret until the board assem-
bles. The doctor should be notified b.
messenger that his presence will be re-
quired at the office of the chief sur
geon and this notice should not contain
the names of the other surgeons who
are to serve on the same board. (b) Each
surgeon should serve an equal number
Of times on the board, but a schedule
should be so arranged that although
the personnel Oe the board would
change each time this would not occur
in any regular order. Cc) Each sur
geon serving on the board should be
required TO make a complete physical
examination of the applicant, and when
the report is signed each surgeon
should be hel responsible for all the
findings contained therein"
Disabled Officers Improve.
The examiners found that many Of
he police officers retired for disa bility