New-York tribune., 1920-12-20
Vacations Cut Short, Men
on Sick Leave Recalled
ndFullForce Modified
to Crush LawIessness
Reserves Called
To Aid Campaign
Enright Seems Prepared
To Stake His Reputation
ON Success of Campaign

Under the personal direction Of
Commissioner Enright, the Police
Department began at midnight last
night an intensive drive to rid this
city of its criminal population. The
warfare against crooks and poten-
tial crooks is to be waged until the
crime epidemic, the existence Of
which Mr.. Enright finally has ad-
mitted, has been stamped out, &C
cording to information given The
Tribune at Police Headquarters yes
terday
The campaign designed to stem
the crime flood is the most elaborate
ever conceived in the history of the
Police Department, and it was ap-
parent last night that on its success
Commissioner Enright was prepared
to stake his reputation.
Every available man in the Po-
lice Department has been called into
action. All vacation periods have
been cut short and the force has been
brought in twenty-four hours to it's
maximum strength. Even the men
on sick leave have been requested
to return to work unless actually
bedridden.
Checking Up All Crooks
Yesterday was the busiest Sunday
Police Headquarters has known in many
years. Orders were issued which are
4 expected to lead to the checking up OF
every crook in the city who is known
to the police and the listing of those
persons who are found to be mis- asso-
cates.
The crooks themselves are to be
urgently requested to take themselves
elsewhere, unless the police have sufi-
clent information to arrest and hold
them. If they hesitate to grasp the
profered opportunity to depart from
the corporate limits of the city and
state they will be escorted to railroad
terminals by the police and placed ON
trains that will carry them at least be-
yond the city limits.
The preliminary moves in the bio,
roundup were made Saturday by Com
missioner Enright when he sent ont an
official order to all precinct command
ers to round up all suspicious persons
and hold them until they had given q
satisfactory account Of themselves. Fol-
lowing the issuance of this order. Conn
missioner Enright made a tour of every
manhattan precinct and arranged to
Drlng the various squads assigned to
1hem up to maximum strength.
Activity on the part of the police
preilmlqary to the intensive roundup
vas begun early yesterday morning. In
lac., inc questioning OF suspicious per
sons, especially those using automo-
olles, was started in every precinct
within few minutes after Commits
s!oner Enrght had made his fyinp
visit and given the officers in command
an idea of what moves were to be
made.
$50 Arrests in CITY
A large number of arrests, figured
roughly at Police Headquarters yes
terday as being in excess of 1870. wers
made throughout the city. Nearly all
the persons taken into custody were re-
leased after being sharply Questioned
and IN few instances they were
escorted to railroad terminals and put
ABOARD trains taking them out of the
city. ihose who objected to leaving
We're given physical assistance and in :
formed that their next appearance in
any one OF the five boroughs composing
the greater city would lead to their
immediate arrest and almost certainly
to a jail sentence.
The drive launched at midnight las.
nlght was directed particularly at
orJo
are known to the police. Every pre-
clnct was furnished with list of shady
characters known to be at large and
the extraordinarily large number OF
men turned out on the midnight tour
had explicit orders to hand these per-
sens an ultmatum giving them but
two choices. One vas to get ont of .he
city and stay out and the other was to
remain here and be arrested with the
certain prospect of being held in pro-
| hibitlve bail.
The regular midnight patrols turned
out IN every precinct in the five bor-
oughs were supplemented by squads Of
police reserves that were modified as
result OF an emergency call sent oue
yesterday. In order to eQualize the
available strerg'1 OF the department,
the police reserves were mobilized at
one point and sent in automobiles 10
the precincts where the late tours were
short of men, owing to sickness and
special details
Enr ght Leads Crusade
Commissioner Enright, realizing
that drastic measures were absolutely
necessary to meet the rapidly risinc.
tide of crime, organized his roundup
in Manhattan on Saturday night and
early yesterday and devoted last night
to planning the camnaign in BROOKLYN.
An hour before .hc m;duirht fo,rs
were turned out last night. every pa-
trolman and detective in the five bor-
oughs had received instructions as To
the course he was expected to follow
IN Kidding his precinct of thugs, gun
men and other types Of criminals.
:. Keeping in constant touch with Pm.
nee Headquarters, the commissioners
the police throughout tho city and +.