Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-13
MOUNTED POLICEMAN no YIELD
TO MOTORCYCLIST AND AVIATOR
Captain Mills Formerly of Traffic Squad Predicts Edr Change
Which Wtn Send the Horse Into the Background.

THE picturesque figure OF the mounted
policeman, now familiar sight on the
central thoroughfares and along the roads
on the outskirts of the city. will be little
more than a memory within few years.
He will be replaced by the motorcycle
policeman, who. In outlying sections, VIII
be aided by aeroplane patrolmen."
This prediction was made today by Po-
lice Captain William d. Mills. for several
years lieutenant Of the traffic squad. Cap
tain Mills is regarded as one of the high
est authorities in this country on traffic
conditions
The traffic regulations introduced by
Director Porter and Superintendent OF
Police Robinson, at the suggestion or
Captain Mills, were almost wholly adopt
ed by the Detroit police after an official
made a tour of large cities to determine
which city had the best police regula-
tlons for automobiles. The semapnore
signals and the system of parking auto
mobiles in the centre of Broad street were
introduced by Captain Mills while he
headed tho traffic squad, and have since
been introduced in other cities, Including
Paris.
The tremendous increase of automo-
biles on the oity's principal highways. es-
pecially since the advent of the jltneys,
indicates that the usefulness OF the
mounted policeman Is rapidly waning.
the captain continued. Although the
motorcycle squad is larger than 1t was
originally It is not large enough to cope
with the automobile traffic problem as
ably as 1t should. much larger motor
cycle force is needed. In New York the
mounted police squad was reduced to
such a small number that uniformed
horsemen Is rarely seen of arlstocrauo
9Th avenue. At the same time the motor
cycle force was greatly increased.
The mounted policeman s of great
service In case of riot. His horse Is
trained to force his way into the crowd
while his rider makes good use OF his
riot stick. The mounted policeman Is
also useful as a parade escort or TO
guard the President, as was shown on
Monday night. The mounted squad In the
rear of the procession on its way TO
Convention Hall prevented jtneys from
rushing ahead of the escort, for the pas
sengers were urging the drivers to rush
past the Presidents car so they could get
a look at him. Had this been permitted
the result would have been embarrassing.
while the horseman can regulate the
horse-drawn vehicles in the business sec
tions, the motor drivers can best be con-
trolled by the motorcycle policemen. JOY
riders going UP Broad street at express
train speed can easily outdistance the
fleetest horse, but cannot escape from
the pursuing motor cop so easily The
motorcycle cop has also demonstrated his
ability to get to a seat of trouble in con-
siderable less time than mounted po-
liceman. Especially is this true in the
outlying sections, Director Porter and
Superintendent Robinson have been eX-
perimenting with a motorcycle policeman
In Germantown. He patrols the roads in
the sparsely populated sections or Is kept
at the police station to wait for emer-
gency calls Superintendent Robinson has
statistics to show how swiftly the motor
cop arrived on the scene of trouble.
"Snce devices are being perfected to
make aeroplanes safe, 1 venture to say
that the time is not far off when the
aviator patrolman will make his debut.
From his lofty perch, several hundred
feet above ground, he has n constant
panorama beneath him and can easily
detect a fire several miles away and can
summon help. Law-breakers who are
trying to elude the police can find no