New-York tribune., 1917-07-15
Police Say System
Must Share the Blame

] To one who has followed police work
! the delay is not as indicative of police
/ carelessness as would appear at first
glance. Nor can the entire condemna-
| tion be placed with the Fourth Branch
detectives. The system under which
] they work in such cases, the police
! point out, must share the blame.
1t is usual in handling the reports Of
missing persons to allow reasonable
| time for the return of the person, un-
less there is evidence that the missing
person did NOT leave of his or her will.
! In the average case, with girls particu-
/ larly it has been found the absence
may have been the result of an insig-
nifcant family row, or that the missing
! person decided to spend the night with
friend.
Under the system in operation at the
time of the Cruger girls disappearance,
Mr.. Brown, when he went to the West
! 125th Street station, was told by the
! desk lieutenant that it would be neces-
sary for him to report the matter TO
{ the Fourth Branch Bureau. However,
| the lieutenant took a memorandum and
/ put il on the book before him to be
! telephoned to the branch. There was
at that time no official record made of
/ the disappearance.
The records show that il was not
until 9:45 the next morning that the
| Fourth Branch knew officially Of the
| disappearance. 1t was more than
| twenty-four hours after that before
! the general alarm had been sent out
and twenty eight hours before detec-
| tive had been assigned to the case.
Under the precinct unit system abol-
ished by Commissioner Woods, Mr..
| Brown would have been met by de-
| tective when he went to the West 125th
| Street station. 1t would, no doubt, be
| or 9 o'clock in the morning before
the detective went out on the case, but
before the end of the day it would be
necessary for him to make report to
his commanding officer.
In this way, it is pointed out, the
police would have known in a few
hours that Cocchi's shop was the desti-
nation of Miss Cruger when she left
home, whereas. under the branch
bureau system it was more than forty
hours before they knew of the details
that later proved so important.
But Commissioner Woods has been
from the start an open advocate of the
branch bureaus as against the precinct
unit. His determination to reorganize
that branch of the service when he as
I sumed the Commisisonership brought
about controversy with j. Robert
Rubin, who was the Second Deputy
Commissioner in charge of the bureau.
In his scheme for the reorganization
of the Detective Bureau Commissioner
Woods provided for the deposing of In
spector John A. Faurot and the appoint
ment Of John J. Cray, then a detective
captain, to the post. Mr.. Rubin pro-
tested against the change, not because
he did not agree with Commissioner
Woods that the bureau might be bene,
fted by new commander, but because
he opposed the appointment of Cray.
Rubin's objections to Cray were two
fold. He believed that the appoint
ment of Cray, whose brother is mar
ried to the sister of Tammany Chief
Charles F. Murphy, might be construed
as a political move. He felt, too, that
if the change was TO be made, Lieuten-
ant Honest Dan" Costigan, now a cap
tain, deserved the place. Costigan
Rubin felt, was trained investigator
with enough executive ability to inspire
the respect and confidence of his men
Cray, Rubin believed, was a mighty
good detective, but lacked the person
ality necessary to successful admins
tration.
Rubin lost on the change in system
but won on the change of commanders
II was not until after he had left the
department that Cray was promoted to
an inspectorship and sent TO the Cen
trail Office Detective Bureau at head
quarters. Rubin agrees with members
of the department that the premature
publication by The Tribune of the Com
I IL - - -
main for the retention Of Faurot as
| mammal had Of the hmrean