New-York tribune., 1920-12-21

an immediate and thorough investiga
tlon OF the present financial and police
conditions Of the City of New Yor,.
and of any and all city, county ane
borough departments, in order to brinr
about such improvements in the ad
mlnlstratlon or structural form Of tn,
city, county and borough governments
as may be accomplished BY action al
the Legislature OF the state''
Mayor Hylan presented and had rcac
TO the board, Commissioner Enrich,'s
letter requesting thc appointment Of
the additional policemen IL was taken
up prior to the resumption of the in
vestgatlon Of city contracts. Conn
troller Craig and Mr.. Curran, who
Withdrew from the city's investigation
early in the hearings, were not pres
ent and were sent for. Mr.. Curran ap-
pea1ed, but the Comptroller did not.
The people OF this city are somewhat t
alarmed,' sail the Police Commits
s'oner, because of few spectac-
ular and atrocious crimes which have
occurred in this city recently. and al
though our records show that serious
crimes III this city are about normal.
still believe that We should make
such immediate adequate preparations
whole world, as well as our own coun-
try and our own city. seems to be con-
flonted. There is a great deal Of un-
rest throughout the world and the re-
ports from all parts Of the country
indicate that crime is on the increase
and we must make ready to handle the
situation in this city.
Il respectfully recommend that the
full 500 men allowed in the budget for
1921 be made Immediately available, or
that. at the least, be permitted to
appoint them on probation not later
than January ]. ii they can be 80 ap-
pointed they can be trained for q pc
Rod OF sixty days in the training
school and in the evenings they can be
used in plain clothes throughout the
city,
Wants Immediate Action
81 further request that the full mum
her of men, namely, 1869, be imme-
diately allowed, and that the neces-
sary 169 men over and above the 500
already allowed be immediately grant
ed, so that they can be placed in the
training school Immediately after
January | or as soon as the names can
be obtained from the Municipal Civil
Service Commission, so that in the
early part of the coming year we may
have an adequate force to cope with
the more or less dangerous conditions
with which we arc confronted.
May | state here that the police
force of this city has not been in
creased since July, 1913, nearly eight
years ago, during which time an ad-
ditional population Of at least 100000,
or q city approximately as large as
Detroit, has been added to the City of
New York. In the meantime traffic
conditions have become very much IN
tensiied and police problems in gen
eral have become much more complex.
1T therefore seems to ne to be
absolutely necessary that we be sup
piled with sufficient force Of men to
properly protect a city of 100000
people, including its transient popula-
tion and property values estimated at
$40 900, ,000,0 coo. The money which the
city will invest in supplying this de
partment with an adequate number of
men and with adequate equipment
believe will meet with public approval
and viii be cheap insurance for the
tremendous interests involved"
MaYor llyian offered a resolution
that the application be granted, and
Borough President Riegelmann Of
brooklyn asked whore the money was
% come from to pay them. The Mayor
said they would have to iind th- money
some way after the first of the wear.
The Mayor suggested that revenue
ponds could be issued or the city de-
oartments and the borough presidents
sould take the money for the police
hat they had promised to save toward
he $2I0000 600 deficit in the school
budget, and let the Legislature find the
money for the Board Of Education. The
Mayor said it was necessary to change
he budget and that the board had the
'ower to give the Police Commissioner
he number Of men he requested i'm
neuiatclv