New-York tribune., 1920-12-02
From Lahey to Leach to
Enright'' Is Circuit in
Suppression of Crime
News Throughout City
AZ Robberies Kept
Secret Last Month,
Transfer or Demotion for
Policeman Who Dares
to Speak of Lawlessness

Since January in Ncw York Citv:
There hare been more than 3S5
"oM-ups, robbcries and thcfts.
me property loss lnrolued is more
than S3,500,OO0
The unsolucd murders alone totol
more than 100.
Police Commissioner Enright and
Chief Inspector William j. Lahev have
employed system of official secrecy
TO screen the present operation of the
Police Department. An ar-tight ban
has been placed upon all news that
might reflect dscrcdit upon ahe police
administration.
facts concerning many of the hun
dreds of crimes that have been COM
mittcd in this city since January /,
1870, have reached the public only
after they were made known by insur-
ance companies, the victims themselves
or private citizens who happened to
know Of them.
Inc number of crimes unrevcaled
through the successful application Of
the system Of news suppression en-
pioyed throughout the department may
never be known.
More Robberics Become Known
The Tribune prints day list Of
robberles in November alone which
were either not reported at all bv the
police CT were admitted by them from
three to ten days after they were com
mltted, when facts concerning the
Dc y ri Il l.
The policy of secrecy is peculiar to
the ght-Lahey regime; no other
administration in the history of the
department adopted it to such a sweep
ing extent
In previous administration there were
Two classes OF news which were with
held from the press in accordance with
the city charter. They were:
l. information which might involve
the city in q civil suit.
2. Inform alton which, if made pub
nc, might tend to defeat the ends Of
Justice
The Enright-Lahey method Of news
suppression is predicated upon the sec
ond clause, which has been used as
an excuse for conccahng facts that, on
becoming public, might react unfa*or-
ably upon the record of the admins
tration.
Open Policy of Woodc
Under Commissioner Arthur Woods
a cr.me was entered in the precinct
"squeal book" Immediately upon it's
being reported to the police station.
It's entry there made it matter Of
public information.
Under the Enright -Lahey system no
entry or record is made until after
an investigation has been undertaken,
and even then it is not recorded unless
there are obvious outward signs that
d crime las been committed
Robberies that are accomplished
without fcrcible entry or all actual
"break' frequently are listed in the
police records as Investigations" and
all facts concerning them are withheld,
although the loss involved may be
very large.
Under this system the giving out Of
news is largely discretionary with the
commanding officer of precinct, and
his discretion is carefully guided by
the powers at headquarters As a re-
suit of this method there is wide
discrepancy between the number Of
crimei actually committed in New York
and the number shown on the official
police records.
When Commissioner Enright first
took Office it became apparent that the
gathering Of police news was to be
made as difficult as possible From
the very first there was a. obvious
antipathy toward publicity ON The part
OF the police administration and this
was encouraged throughout the depa.t =
ment until the present system of OF
ganlzed secrecy WAS developed.
AS matters stand to-day transfer or
dcmotion awaits the officer who violate
or fails to adhere to this system. AS
a consequence, it is almost impossble e
to obtain police information
Precinct Commanders Silent
A request for such information from
A precinct commander, even though it
may relate to the most trivial matter
is usually met with this repY:
'If you haven't cot an order from