Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-16
POLICE PENSION
BILL DEFENDED
BY THIS OFFICER

and PIT il on the merit system" de
Clares q police afficeT. referring TO
the police department of Honolulu. in
a letter to the speaker and members
of the house Of representatives in
which he boosts the bill providing
pension system for police officers
The letter. which was handed the
Star-Bulletin for publication by Speak.
err r. L. Holstein, is as follows:
Honolulu. I. II March Il. 1917.
TO the Honorable Members of the
.s House of Representatives
May il please your Honorable Body:
Il beg to state that | read in the
local papers that some real wise Rep
reseRtatiye with more than ordinary
sense has introduced a bill TO pension
police officers
To the foregoing proposition,
please allow me TO state: To you
honorable gentlemen and more par
ticularly to the Representative who in
troduced the bill in favor of the po-
licemen, | have this much to say:
Il as police officer who has been
on the Honolulu police department
more than 10 years, am in a position
to state that every police officer is
more than glad to hear the news.
Since you honorable gentlemen are
taking into considerable nthe fact that
there should be some attention paid
to policemen, have the honor to re-
quest you to listen to the following:
Il respectfully request you to put
the police department purely on
civil service basis If ii is to be main
tanned. What ! mean is to get rid
of every bit of fayoritism, and put it
on the merit system. As II is today,
a police officer who has been on the
less salary than the man who has just
come on the force, when that new man
knows no more about police work
than an unborn baby and is absolute
ly unqualified. How would a man
who has been on the force so years
feel, when he sees a new man get
more pay and have more show and
he has to be steered by greenhorn?
Will you gentlemen consider this jus
tice and civil service? Is not the
present system of civil service a huge
joke? This is no lie, because II you
will look in the police pay roll of the
Honolulu police department you will
no doubt find that the longer the po-
liceman stays on the force the less
pay he gets. As It is today, whoever
makes the better sucker, he is the
best officer whether he makes any
arrests or not or whether he gets sus-
pended about half dozen times
year for bad behavior.
AS to the police. department OF
Honolulu today you cannot find bet
ter police department in the whole
world, but the whole failure is that
head officers do not give the inferior
officers square deal and favoritism
always rules. AS 1t Is today, 1T does
not matter how faithfully one may
work or how long one may have been
on the force, he will always get less
salary and always be turned down I'M
less he is good sucker. Will you
consider all these as justice and
civil service?' VIII you honorable
gentlemen give US a fair and square
deal? Whether pension or no PEN
sion, we are all good If you put
the police force purely on the civil
service basis like the federal govern
ment. And want to call to your at.
tentio nthat it is not the politics. but
the suckerism that always works.
For the foregoing reasons, uni.
formed officer or detective will not
appear in court in the morning to pro.
secute the arrests he made the night
before because he feels that he does
not gain anything by the conviction of
his prisoner or his discharge. II you
do not believe this statement please
ask Senator Chillingworth and he
will voucIi for my statement because
he has been prosecuting officer
long enough. Many time that prose
cutting officer has had to send spe.
cial officer to call the arresting Off.
Ger to come and testify against his
prisoner Who loses by this farce but
our government?
You honorable gentlemen. res
pectfully request that the foregoing
facts may be taken into consideration
and give US our square deal and see
that the older men receive more pay
than the new
Il respectfully beg to remain,
"a POLICE OFFICER.