The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-08-24
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

About the only time some peopIe ever
 think anything about a body of faithful uniformed men upon whose shoulders fall the policing of this great city is when they hear the cry, Police! Police! Po- lice!
 I hardly know how to analyze it, but
 somehow there IS silent antagonism
 which, in many cases, almost amounts to
 an antipathy of many of our citizens to-
 wards the police force; and policeman | is looked upon only tso frequently as an
 enemy, rather thaa friend of the pub-
 lie
 ! am nc novice hen it comes to know
 ing the condition of some of the police
 departments in the large cities of this
 country and on the continent; as for
 years l made special study of penol- ogy, and that long before it became a
 fad and stunning parties were taken over by satiated and curious society peo-
 lle who were merely looking for a new 1 sensation
 am aware that the corruption in some 1 Of the great cities has been a scandal and shame aud called for a house cleaning, ard even when man with the force of Roosevelt became police com missioner of the city of New York 1t was hard to get the force respectable. The police department, however, be i. remembered, is always a shining mark for would-be reformers and a sensation- al press
 There are times when the citizens of community have to arouse themselves to purify the police department, but in most
 cases the great trouble with citizens, criticism is that most men think they
 can do the work of an officer better
 than the men who are doing it; but I daresay that the 150 public-spirited men
 who took upon themselves the responsi- bility of putting q. stop to speeding will see how great the difficulty is and be
 more charitable in their censure of the regular police for failing to relieve the situation.
 
 One student of the police systemA of America well says: Whether his rehu- tation be inherited or acquired. the po- lceman is often suspected of sympathy Tor. if not collusion with, the exploiter of vice and the violator of law.h It is true that investigation of the force" In some of our large cities has revealed A.
 time and time again. widespread corrup- tion, partnership with vice and crime, petty oppression and sordil tdranny. It's an off year in our great metropolis when the police department is not being over hauled and mauled My friend Dr. John Roach Stratton, being the last to stir up the aggregation in New York city.
 Now, I believe in exposure when it be- comes necessary and do not advocate resting quietly under maladministration but I do claim that it pays to have rather than a oppressive pol ! icy in dealing with the police depart 1 ments It's mighty easy tc gain a lot of ! cheap notoriety as being a fearless re- 1 former by bounding police officers with | and in calling the rank and | file of policemen traitors to society; but | it requires patience and work and knowl- edge to try and understand the tremen- | lous difficulties under which they oper- ate.
 Brand Whitlock, when mayor of Toledo, aid: "The average pastor thinks that an efficient police force is one that SUD- presses saloon Keepers, drives the dis orderly houses out of business and en- orces the Sunday laws. The minister dea is onA of force Police clubs, jails x are the weapons he wants lsed. As matter of fact neither the |, 'olice nor the mayor can make people good I realize tkat this is the state- nent of but a partial truth and is to be accepted with reservations, but I have given it because there is reason"
 What I wanted to do was to show hat there ousht to be closer co-opera- ion between the police department and he Pastors Union, and the first step for he ministers to take is to try and better understand policeman's job, and the powerful temptations unGer which they york, for they are courted by the pow ITS that prey. and when honest and eariess, arouse bitter hostility in quar- CTS which, usually have powerful busi- ess and political pulls. Say what you I, lease it takes a man of grit and grace o be policeman In a large city on a mall salary whel it is easy to make honey on the side by winkng at abuses f the law Ii I may give wrong interpretation of he famous epigraa of John the Baptist. poken to the soldier a large part O. { those duty was the preservation of civic rder ta- kind of Jerusalem poiceman) 6 Do violence to no man, neither accuse ny falsely. and be content with your | ages Now the thing I am going to y bring may get me into hot water with c Dme Biblical exeegcses. for do not be- eve that the wilderness preacher was C them from an economic side t , rest under poor pay without com C laint, but he was warning them against | rafting on the side.
 Is it too much so ask that the police de. artment make it easy for the pastors [ get into closer touch with them and .eir beats and more popular in the pub | 2 eye? Fer I believe that policeman is ore than mere arrestiag officer: that if he magnifies his office, and that :. becomes in his district a power for ! s ,od in controlling the boys of the neist- ! . ,rhood, in speaking a warning word to T ,ung men who are getting into evil +