Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-12-30
INSTRUCTIONS
GIVEN OFFICERS
OF The STATE
Attorney General Davis Lays
Down Rules for Conduct Of
Peace and Prosecuting
Officials.


c'al.)-Attorney General Davis ex
tends New Years greeting to al
peace and prosecuting officers of tn,
state who have assisted in law en-
forcement and asks them to coop
crate in tn. year to come with equa
energy. He says:
To all peace and prosecuting Of
ficers in Nebraska:
u am glad to take this occasion
TO extend Nest wishes for the new
year to all of the law enforcement
officers OF our state, and to thank
you for the loyal cooperation thai
we have had from all with whom
we have had business relations.
Ready to Advise.
1T is the desire of this depart
ment, and under the recent act which
was passed by the 1919 legislature
it is our power and our duty to act
as advisory counsel to the county
attorneys aud the peace officers OIL
Nebraska whenever we can be Of
service to them. This service we
are glad to perform; and we want
10 assure each and every one that
this department stands ready to ad
wise them as to their powers and
duties and to support them in the
execution Of any lawful duty.
Watch Blue Sky Law.
"May call the attention of the
county attorneys to the fact that
there are constantly occurring, vi
olations Of our blue sky law, in
: which people are endeavoring to
sell bad securities in our state with
out the approval of the securities
commissions? We wish that the
county attorneys would make an
investigation Of all of these peo-
.rle, who are selling stock to see il
They have a permit and if not aft.
err a report of the facts to the state
authorities would make arrests and
vigorous prosecution. !,
"Second. We notice, and 1T is
constantly called to our attention
that the state law regulating the
headlights ON automobiles is dis,
obeyed. except where this, that OF
the other eounty makes temper.
airy strenuous attempt to correct
this evil. We feel that the matter
is of vital importance to the safety
Of trffic and the public highways and
deserves more attention from the
prosecuting officers and the Local
law enforcement officials than it re-
ceives. ......
Report Bolshevists.
third This department is CIV
irg a great deal of time and is EN-
rloying special assistants to keep
out of our state, and to control
while within our state, all OF the
disturbing revolutionary elements
that are attempting to interfere
with the ordinary processes OF gov
eminent. These revolutionary rad
icals, we are glad to report, are not
numerous in Nebraska, and we have
reason to believe that large part
of this is because of the vigorous
stand that local officers all over the
state have taken toward their imme-
date arrest and prosecution in case
they violate our statutes. We would
recommend, however, that all coun-
tv attorneys carefully study the de-
tailed instructions which are sent
ont secretly sometime back before
making arrests in these cases, as II
il necessary that the correct evil
dence be secured in advance OF an
arrest.
Keep Instructions Secret.
"This office has in the last two
or three months, issued several COM
munications to county officials IN
regard to the enforcement OF the
criminal statutes, which we con-
sidercd Of a very confidential nature,
that is, they contained information
which we did not desire to have
reach the class Of people against
whom later prosecutions were to
be directed. We have been sorry to
note that several Of these communi-
cations have been placed in the
hand, Of the very people from whom
thew were supposed to be kept, with
the result that it has made it i'm
possible to secure considerable evi-
dence which might have proven
valuable. We sincerely hope that IN
the future communications in re-
gard to the prosecution of criminal
defendants will be treated as we
feel they ought to be treated, in the
strictest confidence as relating solely
to law enforcement and as having
no public interest. Unless we can
deliver these communications with
the knowledge that they will be KEEP:
from the suspected defendants, it is
almost impossible to conduct state
wide campaign Of law enforcement
Work in Harmony.
"Finally. let me say that our idea
of the connection between the state
law department. and .the foregoing
peace and prosecuting officers is
that they ought to be fused as one
department, with the local officials
RELYING on us for some matters Of
general policy and our being able tc
call OF, them for assistance when
ever it is necessary. Under the De
partment of Justice act, we have the
same powers in each county that the
county attorney has. We do not ex.
pect to use this power frequently
but at the same time it ought tc
make a complete and harmonious
system of law enforcement and pros.
ecution from the lowest office in
the state to the highest executive
Authority.
again expressing our good wish
cs and onr desires for future har-
mony and cooperation. | am, very
truly yours, CLARENCE A. DAVIS