The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-02-21
A STUDY OF POLICE
PROBLEMS IN EUROPE
Interesting and Illuminating Book Issued Under the Auspices
of Bureau of Social Hygiene, by
Raymond +. Fosdick

A stuas 81 police problems in Ell
ropean cities by Raymond II Fosdick,
former Commissioner Of Accounts Of
the city of New y ork. was issued yes
tetday by he Century Company, under
the title European Police system.
The material for Mr.. Fosdick's book
was drawn from extended personal
inquiry and observation iu Londan,
Liverpool. Manchester. Birmingham.
Glasgow Edinburgh. Paris, Lyons,
Berlin. tIamburg. Bremen, Dresden.
Munich. Stuttgart, Cologne, Vienna,
Budapest Rome. Brussels. Amsterdam
and Rotterdam. To the investigation
~ the subject and the preparation Of
the book. SIR Fosdick devoted nearly
two years
/ Looking AT the results Of his studies
from the standpoint of American in
itefcsts the striking fact disclosed is
the uniform integrity of European
policemen Nowhere in Europe il
there any such phenomenon as We in
America call system" General cor
Eruption and favoritlsm are absolute
unknown.
Scandals infrcquent.
'On the whole says Mr.. Fosdick.
"thc police forces OF Europe bear an
excellent reputation. Scandals are in
frequent. with few exception. both
officers and men have the confidence
Of the public. 1T ~ only occasionally
that enc hears of dishonesty. Even
suspicious Of dishonesty are not com
fuun. The police are not associated
with dishonesty in the public imagi-
nation, The citizens of community
are confident of the ability of the com :
missioner both to discover corruption
il II exists and TO deal with Ii effec-
lively when found, With a trained
commissioner, whose personal char
acter Is above suspicion. and whose
powers Of action are large, the public
IFS satisfied that the integrity of the
rank and file viii be rigidy main
tanned. 4 European city. therefore.
II claimed to taken the honesty Of
It's police force asa matter OF course
For this state Of affairs, there are,
i'm Mr., Frosdick's judgment, several
reasons First the head Of a European
refined man, armed with adequate
power European police ndministra-
ti0n rs distinct profession. ii Is
seldom that a man IL chosen from an
unrelated line OF activity 20 head a
police department. Y'he chief of 1t
gepartment-the president. the COM
missioner. the director, the project.
whatever his title---fs generally
jarist trained In government work.
lies military experience. is not the
sine qua non Of police management.
OF itself il does not constitute q suf-
ficient guarantee OF effectiveness or
Intelligence In supervising the COM
p4ex and extensive affairs Of n police
department SO, TOO. q man who has
made a record az All efficient engineer,
or who has esta bllshed a reputation as
a physician or health expert is not
necessarily equipped for the task. A
police head must be specially trained
Tor his work Ordinarily. the man
whom the Continental authorities Sc
lect as commissioner has served his
al apprenticeship either as an assistant
in the same department or as a COM
missioner In a less important city, or
as an official in another government
raj branch"
Disciplinary Powers
AIR Fosdick emphasizes particularly
the power OF the head of the police 10
discipline his men as he sees tit,
The usual attitude Of 81 European
city towards it's Police Commissioner
is one Of trust. when, after careful
selection. 1t chooses a man to head
Its police force, it endows him with
ample powers and expects him to use
them wisely. Only In few of the
provincial cities of England, in the
Dutch cities, aud In the smaller NUM-
cipaiities Of Germany, IL there any dis
position to tie the hands Of the Com
missioner. or to prevent his exercis-
ing free and almost unrestricted con-
tr0l over the men who constitute the
uniformed force. Seldom lis there an
attempt 20 surround him with any sys.
tem Of checks and balances or to
rect barriers against he possible abuse
Of his powers Thus. In London the
Commissioner is the final and abso~
lutte authority on ali matters Of dis
cipsne, and while occasional endeav-
ors are made TO SECURE from the
Home Secretary reversal OF the Conn
nisaioners decisions such attempts
have invarlbly proved fruitless The
Commissioner may levy fines, make
reductions In rank or n rate OF pay,
or dismiss uniformed members OF his
force, and no court, tribunal or other
external body. has power 10 review