New-York tribune., 1920-11-29
594 Men Cover 7@:G3 THogts
in 70 Precincts, ~ in
Manhattan, From Mid
night Until 8 A. M.
One PatrOls1lan to
Nine or III Blocks
155 on Leave, Special De-
tail or at Meetings of
Band and Clee Club
Is the city underpoliced?

In an effort to obtain an approxi-
mate answer to that question The
Tribune twice last week sent out a
staff Of reporters to check up on the
number Of patrolmen turned out on
the midnight tour, which comprises
the hours from midnight to a. m
and which is conceded to be the
most important tour of the day.
The Investigators counted the
number of men as they left the pre-
cinct stations. The figures were
then checked against the number Of
posts, or zones Of patrol, into which
each district was divided.
Twenty-six precincts were covered,
twenty-onc Of them in Manhattan. 749
posts included ir those districts were
being patrolled by 594 men. In other
words, in twcnty-six precincts alone
out of the eighty-seven in the city
there were 155 men short on the mid
night tour. The survey showed:
Only one precinct-the West 1b2d
street station-reportcd full quota.
One precinct was short one man.
One precinct was short two men.
Two precincts were short three men.
One precinct was short four men.
Eight precincts were short FIVE men.
Three precincts were short six men.
One precinct was short seven men.
Three precincts were short eight men.
Two precincts were short nine men.
One precinct was short ten men.
One precinct was short twelve men.
One precinct was short thirteen men.
Reasons Given
The question arises, What becomes
Of the men who would, under normal
conditions, complete the midnight tour
The answer, SO far as it NAV be oh
tanned from reticert police officials. is
that they are on special duty, on de-
tail, or, for some reason or other.
have been granted leaves Of absence.
All such assignments or leaves are
granted by the Police Commissioner
or the chief inspector.
None of the precinct commanders
would say why it was found necessary
for the Commissioner to assign men
to duty considered more important
than the midnight tour. All admitted
that the midnight tour was the most
important part of the departments S
crime prevention system. as most of
the violent crimes, the loft robbie ries
and the hold-ups. occur between mid
night and daylight.
Several of the desk lieutenants, who
are, in the absence of the captain, COM
manders Of the precincts. said that
there was too much OF the leave Of
absence privileges. They said that
members of the Police Band, members
of the Police Glee Club and members
of various other police organizations
who had to attend meetings, rehearsals,
etc, were excused from active duty
from a p. m. to 8 a. m. It was said
outside work up until midnight and
still do their regular police work.
On the special detail assignment
none Of the men would talk, referring
all inquiries to headquarters. One
man said he took his cue from the
attitude assumed by Commissioner En-
right and Mayor Hylan, when Enright
asked for 500 additional patrolmen be-
fore the budget committee Of the
Board of Estimate.
At that time Henry Fl. Curran, presi-
dent of the Borough of Manhattan, in
sisted upon knowing the number Of
men the commissioner had in special
Continued page thrss)