The Detroit times., 1914-04-01

leares Of the police. and that the police
Justice, who H. the proper official 70
Apply Tor bali. be criticised because es
their appearance the following morn
ms: How Unfair the criticism L.!
Abe Alderman 10 but an incident.
worse than the average man who IL
caught in-raids, IL OF no consequence
TO the court; The question II, when
Abe Abe =. Aekerman or any other man - ar
pear I'm police court the following
morning. or at such hour as may be
set to answer any charge that may
rum away and should the bond be
basel upon the probability of his APP
pearance" That is the sole and only
s Arrest rne S. ea sar
guilt or innocence. The court must
simply satisfy itself as TO whether
under the circumstances, Will appear
the next morning. or will not III he
Is entitled to hall the promptness with
which the court responds TO the APP
commendation. rather than censure, IT.
as | say. the offense is baiiable.
The raiding system as conducted In
tireiy wrong. p It is vicious. Il is
principle OF legal Jurisprudence. fos-
tering a disrespect for the administra-
Instead of raiding Abe Ackerman's
place, and arresting Alderman to.
gether with SO other men, like a band
up without any semblance of evidence
OF the commission OF a crime. for | as
sumo II there had been any evidence
OF a crime committed. application
would have been made to the court for
a warrant--and there was no applica-
tion--the usual and legal methods
should have been used to find out II o
crifhe was committed. and then a war;
rant asked for and arrest had upon
the warrant.
Do they raid whole communities
when man commits homicide? DO
they raid everybody In the. city. or q
great number OF citizens when a man
commits larceny. robbery. or some OF
the wei!.known crimes? No: They
systemnt.tally set about gathering evil
dence TO bring about a lawful arrest
anil conviction of the offender.
II the police department Will use
more strategy and intelligence and not
50 much brute force. IL Will be able TO
detect the commission OF crime, and
bring the offenders before the bar OF
iSs pccs nws ney pnbciy ser
these raids. j do so now because I seri-
ousiy tbJect to being made the butt OF
the departments failures to pursue the
proper course in the detection OF crime.
There liz a growing tendency In the
large cities to hold night court. to do
the very work that we are now doing
through the release or bail system. j
am thoroughly convinced that night
court 10 advisable under the present
conditions In Detroit. where prisoners
can he brought forthwith before the
court and the merits OF the controversy
gone into. either by trial or a hearing
for bail. instead OF at home at and
3 O'Clock In the morning. where II is
possible TO hear but one side.
While We have had very rare In
stances In which men who have been
nizance fell to appear In the morning,
1t would seem that II the police de-
partmeht Intends to place the court in
such An unjust light before the public,
throwing tho burden Of their failures
upon tho court. II strikes me that in
order TO protect the liberty OF innocent
people end protect the rights OF people
under tlltgal arrest. that this court
ought To sit 1t night to pass upon
these cases Immediately. 30 that Jus
tlce can be done between all con-
cerned. Having this In view. I have
determined to hold a night court for
80 days SRs an experiment. with the
consent OF my colleagueyl commencing
Monday evening. April the sittings
q which vii, Win probably 3: a.sd from
Then when any raids are made or any
presence OF the officer. he II forth
with. under the law, commanded to
bring tho prisoner Into court. 90 that
the guilty can be speedily punished
charged.