Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-12-14
POLICE ATTITUDE CHANGES AND
PAROLED PRISONERS WILL STAY
ROCK ISLAND FOR THE PRESENT
What Officers Say
About Paroled Men
and the Crime Wave
viii CoIrin.' Superintendent Of

viii COIvin. superintendent of
PardOnS and par0ieS.-"It is the de-
sire of the state board Of paroles
TO have all paroIed prisoners in
this community abide by the parole
regulations. and we desire to be in
formed if any serious and numerous
violations have taken place"
John II. Liedtke, Commissioner Of
Public Safety for The City Of Rock
ISIand.-A"I do not desire to cause
any hardsnips to be placed on par
oiled prisoners as a whole, and | am
in favor that such men should be Civ
en- a chance to again become good
citizens. Regarding the crime sit
uation in Rock Island as Influenced
by the presence OF paroled prison
ers, l will leave the explanation of
this matter to Detective Tom Cox
of the police department"
Detective Tom COx.-"There are
2 per cent OF the 600 paroled men
who have committed crimes. l
have seen more serious crime waves
in Rock Island with much less IN
warranted agitation. Citizens have
begun to fear TO be out at night on
account of publicity given the pres
ent situation. This is unWarranted.
l give no opinion as to whether To-
cal talent or other than paroled
men are committing crimes with the
idea that their depredations will be
laid to the paroled men. 1t might
be well to have stricter supervision
by the sending Of more parole
II, hr.
are held up are more likely to re-
port 10 the newspapers than TO the
police station
Commissioner Martin Rudgren.-
Il know nothing Of statistics re
garding the participation of parOted
men in crimes in this city, but | do
believe that this city should not
have TO take more than its share Of
parole prisoners. They should be
distributed equally throughout the
state. The idea that so many are
here. together with the crime that
is being committed. cause many
people to believe that all parole
men might commit crime, and this
Of course causes many to fear more
til II the situation may entirely war
rant"
n .yor Clarence Trevor Of N0-
line.-"I know little about the real
situation, as l have had but limited
experience in my present capacity.
am of the positive opinion that
strict supervision should be put
into effect In our city few nights
ago one aged man was successful
in disaTming a holdup man. The
only reason he did not capture him
was because the gun was not load
ed. We know that this holdup man
man was not a paroled prisoner,
and we know that prisoner holdups
carry guns that will shoot"
Police Chief Ben DeJaeger Of
Moline said that he had not the
least idea of how many OF the GOO
par0led prisoners are in Moline or
where thay live. He said. Il have
requested parole agents to give me
full data. but this / have not re
ceived A man was held up in our
city some time ago. officers search
in the locality found five men VINO
were later discovered to be par
oled prisoners, but Of course could
not identify them as such at that
time as no pictures. were had by
Us. The men escaped and they
we're out later than parole Tegula-
lions allow"
Sheriff Jake WiCerS.-'I believe
that all departments Of public safe
" should be furnished full means
whereby the paroled prisoners can
he identified and that strict super
vision should be put into effect"
Edward L, Z gle, Assistant St3ta's
Attorney am in favor of Civ
ing every man his due, but believe
that we should be furnished with
ample aid in looking after the sit
uation."
Representative Of construction
companies stated in substance: we
have found the parolcd prisoner
workmen highly efficient. They are
always on the job. They DO work
that it is difficult to get other men
TO do. 1t is hard to get pick and
shovel men. It would be a hard
ship if they were removed sooner
than three or four weeks. They
give better satisfaction than other
workmen. They are not as tough
and do not cause near as much