New Britain herald., 1916-11-18

surd, actions ever taken bY.a safety
; board in the city took plaCgsTuesday
I night and under the head of efficiency;
and that is. the shifting of the four
! police sergeants every three months
/ SO that each officer takes the others
! job for that period. Is this for eff
/ cheney, as Commissioners Steele and
! Moran would have the public believe?
! Maybe it is, but it is hard to-see their
! point, While the merits of shifting
! the two street sergeants@and also the
! desk sergeant may be an open ques-
| ton, there stSs little doubt that no
! efficiency Will be derived from shift
ing the detective sergeant. On the
| other hand, it will. tend to- work
! against the efficiency of the police de-
partment and to the dem palization
; Of the detective bureau And this is
| why. The detectives job Is a: thank
| less one at the best, as most of This
! work is done on the quiet and the
PUBLIC does notsknow much about its
| The detective Carries in his head
ready for instant use, unlimited facts
! about persons, events and conditions
that stand the department in good
| stead, With these facts in his mind
the detective, the moment anything
| happens, has at least a good idea Of.
|
| and he likewise knows who are the
| best people to see for assistance If
| this man is permitted to do detective
! work but three months out of the year
| his headful of informa ton, obtained
| by years OF work and study is worth
| out very little to the city as it can
| not be applied. Also, the detective
| bureau in this city is fast developing
! into a valuable cog in the city's ma
| chinery. There are many office
records to be kept and other data pre-
! pared. When the man in charge con-
| tinuously does this work it is per-
| fectly systematized To change the
man every three months means that
| the records may be more or less
! muddled by the different methods en-
| ployed. Take another view During
| the last part of the detectives period
| on duty something happens and he
! does good work getting to the bottom
Of it. Before he has finished another
| man takes his place. What results?
| Either the officer keeps his Informal
ton to himself or he tells, his brother
| officer While there is no doubt of
! harmony in the department, every
man likes to receive credit for what
! he does and it would not be natural
! for the retiring detective to turn his
| information over TO his successor that
| the latter might finish the work he
| has started and then get the credit.
Policemen are human. Of all the Jobs
! in the police department that should
be permanent for efficiency's sake,
| that of the detective sergeant is it for
the very reason that the work is con-
tinuOus and never ceasing. His know
lodge is always being brought into
play and a fact noted today may be
Of immense value six months or a
year from today. 1t would certainly
seem the most efficient thing to do
to have the detective sergeant per-
manent and if then it is thought best
to have another sergeant familiar
with this work let him be detailed
with the regular detective for a GER
tain PERIOD
To an outsider it looks very much
as though one commissioner was try
ing to "get'' a certain officer toward
whom he has not hidden his ami
mostly.
- s. 1
The safety commissioners should at
least try and BIZ consistent. At the
recent meeting Commissioner Moran,
discussing the appointment Of q man
to be the city electricians assistant,
was reminded that it would be hard
to find a man who would care to take
the job at the price suggested, which
was $2.42 per day for the first year
The commissioner remarked that he
thought it possible inasmuch as the
man would have the powerful incen-
tive of working with the possibility
before him that in time he would sue
coed to the city electricians position
And then within a few minutes Mr..
Moran and Mr. Steele voted to APP
point Michael Butler, a man in the
| ranks of the fire department, to
| captaincy over the heads of two lieu
! tenants. Consistent? What is the
incentive for these lieutenants to work
, for promotion now? What will be the
| effect in the department?
And in this connection the civil SER
vice as applied to the police and fire
departments gets another jolt. 1t will
be remembered that when the first
police appointments were made the
positions were not given to the men
who stood the highest but were
picked. history has repeated itself.
Mr.. Butler is undoubtedly a good fire.
man and this is no criticism Of him
candidates his civil service rank
but nevertheless of the three
was the lowest, whereas Mr. Watt@.
who was cast into the discard after
thirty years of service and in addi-
ton to, being a lieutenant. was the
/ highest man in civil service, having
a rank of 90 per cent Lieutenant
| Higgins, who also has Il longer record
| of fire department service than Mr..
| Butler,. was second with 81 per cent
| And yet the low man whose average
WasE9o per cent. was appointed, The
! question has been asked repeatedly as
! to why it is chat sometimes the hiGh
! man is given the appointment rs
| has been the case in the police de-
! partnent and as would be considered