Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-06
CENDARMES FOR THIS CITY?
A QUERY WORTH PONDERING
Why Should Philadelphia Adopt a
Method Which Has Failed in Many
Other American Cities?

OF the control of the municipal authOri-
ties because certain inspectors or clerks
| had been engaged in pernicious political
activity, the cry would Immediately arise
| that good local government is made Of
| other stuff and that the Legislature
! should give the city the machinery to
work out its own salvation. but not de
| privc it Of the right to conduct its purely
home affairs
When the charge is raised that the
polio" have engaged in political activity
many earnest rcformcrs and good cItl-
zens seem to lose sight of their belief in
democracy working out its problems and
seek for relief in that patcrnalism which
they are usually prone to condemn.
We have to recognize that there is a
fundamental hngoi difference between
policemen and other municipal employees
for numerous courts have held that the
po.ice officer, while employed and paid
by municipality, is primarily the agent
Of the state in his law-cnfOrcing Duties
and with these decisions we have no quar-
rel. But as a unit of local administra-
tiOn and aS human proposition, the
DOllCt utpdI lIlltIlI - no NlI'IpIl from
any other group of municipal employees
1t is argued that, although home rule is
desirable in theory and in practice, an
exception should be made in the case of
the police because they represent such
enormous power and because their evil
use may pcrpetuate an iniquitous admin
it ,,f fri,, ~, h., 6
local affairs. Like many similar dangers,
this has been one of the problems that do
not seem to disturb autocraccs, but
which do present themselves to self
governing communities. And yet. isn't
it better for us to work out the problems
under a democracy than to choose the
seemingly easier way of an autocracy?
Those who favor police force under
state control for Philadelphia, and who
thereby oppose the express views of
Governor Sproul on the matter, often
point to the state constabulary as an
illustration Of the efficient local police
that we could secure under state control.
They forget that the constabulary is not
a local police.
Do those who use this argument ac-
tually favor a military or scmimlitary
police for Philadelphia? Do they realize
that military police force for cities is
violently in conflict with American trad-
tions and that American urban popula-
tions would find it difficult to reconcile
themselves to such proposal?
American working people, and citizens
generally, have long thought of the
Prussan centrally controlled gendarm-
erie as the epitome of the oppressive
European system, and have contrasted
our own civilian police as Americas CON
tributiOn to the maintenance of law and
order by nonmilitaristic means Per-
haps the time has come frankly to exam
inc the question of whether we should
change our practice in this respect and
copy Prussia.
We believe that such a reversal Of
policy would be a mistake. We have cX-
amined the history Of previous move
ments in this country to correct the evils
that attended local control of police bv
turning them over to the state and the
summary of our findings is somewhat as
follows:
First. Thut aside from "HcOreticoI"
considerations of home rwle, the polii-
cal mor0is Of the police force are H,,-
proved by such atep only 1rhcu the
politics Of the state is on n distinctIy
highey plane than the politics Of the
city.
Second. That the priuciplc Of
"cbeck" ,rorks out ouIy ,rLeu II lc DoT-
tire of the state is ,,pdcr djforeot coo-
troJ iran, the DoIitjcs Of ibe cjjy le -
,rbeLc ovc Dayty is dominant j., Jbe cjj,,
no ooojoet the opposjte nortu d, jbo
Stote o., ,rbere difeyrni toctjo"s m ~.