New-York tribune., 1920-11-29
Tribune Survey Shows
;. City Is Under Policed
tcsatsnusd frsm pase sas)

details before he would vote for IN in
crease In the force. He charged that
several details could be abolished and
the work done by civilian clerks at a
xreat saving to the city. Mr.. Curran
also said that there had been, he un-
derstood, big increase in the number
Of details under Enright as compared
With the number under the Woods ad-
ministration.
Enright's Excuse
The Mayor instructed Commissioner
Enright to furnish the Borough Presi-
dent With the information requested.
Then the Board of Estimate, at the
suggestion of the Mayor. granted Com
missioner Enright's request for the ad
ditional police.
Commissioner Enright went on his
vacation to the Panama Canal Zone and
20 Cuba without complying with the
orders of the Mayor. Mr.. Curran is
frank in saying that he never expects
70 get the figures on the number Of
men who should be on patrol, but who
are on what is known in the depart
ment as soft details.
BY authority of the Board of EST
mate, Commissioner rnright can ap-
noint 250 of the extra men after jan
uarv /, 1921. the other $50 can be ap-
pointed by April l, 1921.
The survey made by The Tribune in
dicated 500 more Policemen scattered
through three tours will be insufficient
TO cover the midnight tour unless the
Commissioner or the chief inspector
eliminates many of the special details
and the extra leaves of absence.
Commissioner Enright before the
Board of Estimate and in public ad-
dresses has justified his request for oO0
additional patrolmen by stating that the
men were needed in the outlying sec
tions of the city-the sections which
have recently been built up through the
extension of the subway and 81" sys-
TENS into Brooklyn and Queens. He
has never touched on the necessity of
more men to cover the precincts which
we're checked by The Tribune.
The Tribune reporters who conducted
the survey asked the lieutenant, or cap
tain. first the number of men on patrol
and then the number of posts they had
to cover. In many of the precincts the
commanding officer gave out incorrect
figures on both. Confronted with the
discrepancies, the officials would admit
the error and give out the actual figures.
Herewith is given an analysis of the
figures in the important precincts:
The Old Slip This district covers the
entire section below the old dead line
al Fulton Street to the Battery. In it
is located the jewelry district Maiden
Lcne), the financial district, the offices
of most of the big corporations and the
shipping district, in which every night
thele are piled on the piers millions of
dollars worth of goods consigned to Eu-
ropes n, South American and coastwise
ports.
The precinct is divided into twenty
seven patrol zones or posts, each, &C
cording to the Police Department regu
lations, to be covered by one patrol
man. The patrol system is so arranged
that once every hour the patrolman in
each zone is brought III contact with
the patrolman covering the adjoining
zones or posts.
On the night Of the survey by The
Tribune the twenty-seven zones or
posts were covered by twenty two men.
One of the ranking officials of the
precinct said that it was not unusual
for the district to be covered by only
half that number or eleven men.
There have been several safe and
office robberies committed in this sec
ton in the last year with q boldness
that startled the city and brought up
the questions: what has become of
the deadline?" 1t no longer exists, say
the police of the section.
Mercer Street recinct-There are
located here many of the manufacture
ing plants containing millions in goods
to each block. 1t is divided into
twcnty-eight zones or posts. On the
night of The Tribune test only six
teen patrolmen were on duty after
midnight. Several patrolmen, ques-
toned as to how they covered the
posts. said that one man took either
two or three instead of one. One man
said his post ran eleven blocks along
an avenue, with a half block on the
intersecting side streets.
Gives Thieves Plenty of Time
This man asserted that it would be
possible for thieves to learn, by check
ing him, that it took long enough for
him to get from the end of his post to
permit the crooks to break into loft.
They could then have plenty of time to
pack the loot and simply wait until he
started another round of his eleven
block post. Another man had nine
block post or three zones, to look after.
This district takes in the exclusive
section on the north of Washington
Square and the business and bohemian
sections on the south ana west. On the
night of the survey one patrolman was
assigned to Washington Park, compris-