New-York tribune., 1920-12-23
Unfit Leaders
Disrupt Police,
Woods Asserts
''Incapab.e Officers Breed
Contemptuous, Shiftless
Men, Says Ex-Commis-
sioner, Urging Reforms
Present Method AssaiIed
Simply Promoting, Without
Preparation, Shown as
System i'm Vogue Now

Writing in the current issue Of The
Weekly Review on "Thc Making OF
Good Police Force Colonel Arthur
Woods, former Police Commissioner of
New York, emphasizes the necessity of
having the force ohlcered by men
whose training and ability fit them to
direct others.
1t was during the administration OF
Colonel Woods that the New York de-
partment attained its highest degree Of
efficiency, largely as the result Of
eliminating political considerations in
promotions and placing the men best
fitted in responsible positions.
"incapablc officers breed consemptu-
Gus, shiftless men," says Colonel
woods, who adds that the practice Of
SIMPLY promoting men from one rank
TO another without special preparation
Tor the new work" has been reverted
to IN New York under the present
regime.
Training OF Policemen
Iao article follows in part:
" hcn General Bingham was Police
Commissioner in New York. litt1c
over ten years ago, he told me '':'s as
deputy Commissioner to take charcn
OF tne training school and try to ret
results with it, 1t was evident that
results We're not being attained ar thot
llilie' Inc school occupied itself on]v
with recruits; no instruction was civen
10 men after they once had become
polcemen. There was only one class
IN 1t We're all the recruits, whether
'neJ had become probationers that very,
uay or had finished 20 days of Their
course and were supposedlv roadv -
go on duty the following morninc
TN starting to make over the schooI
l sat down at my desk with blanj[
p'ece OF paper in front Of me and wrotr
down the various things that occurred
TO me which policeman ought 10
Know. A number of members Of t6e
1orce, representing all grades. were
asked also to send in lists Of such
thlngs. AS result OF this and OF
many subsequent consultations, we got
together list of a few hundred differ
ent cases. These were classified and
course OF instruction laid out TO
teach policemen what was the law in
such cases and what were the hest
methods Of securing compliance with
the law ''N-
Inc curriculum was developed, ex-
tending the course from one month TO
three, and providing fer the most prac-
tlcal Kind of instruction; it consisted
OF study, recitations, lectures, freuucnt
written tests, mock trials, street dem
onstrations, etc. Great pains were
taken to secure The right men for
teachers and they we're carefully
taught how TO teach.
Need Of Good Officers
''''"' ffc multiplicity Of our laws and the
infinite variety Of situations with which
q policeman may be confronted make
it vital to good police work that patrol
men be capably ofhcered. The ripper
knowledge Of higher officers must be
relied on, but such knowledge will not
and instruction. The need Of keeping.
patrolmen up to date and the need
of having all superior officers thor
oughly versed in all aspects Of police
service mean that training school
must furnish instruction to all mem
bers OF the force, as we'll as to re-
cruits: SO far as ! know, there is now
no police training school in the coun-
try that provides for this, though it
may be that the example given by the
New York school Of few years ago
has been followed elsewhere In New
York it has been discontinued, an
told
"Another most important duty Of q
training school is To fit men who arc
about TO be promoted for the work Of
the higher grade The duties of each
rank are OF course different from those
Of the others, yet ordinarily men are
promoted from one grade to the other
without having been instructed as to
their new duties and without having
had any chance to learn them, except
what they may pick up by observation
and by occasional substitution.
''As man is promoted he must learn
| how to meet the increasing require
lncnts of leadership over larger bodies
of men.
"1he practice Of simply promoting
men from one rank to another without
special preparation for the new work
is one which is certain TO produce many
inefficient superiors s-yet this practice
prevails over the whole country and is
now again followed in New Yorl: City.
Incapable officers breed contemptuous.
/ shiftless men.
How to Decrease Sick List
MANY police forces are too small,
One OF the best ways 10 increase the
force 10 TO decrease the sick list. In
the training school there was an clab-
crate course designed TO develop in Tie
policeman the best physique that each
man vas capable of, TO give him an
understanding Of how to keep himself
in good health, and to teach him how
to handle resisting criminals effect
lVeiN yet without unnecessarily dam
aging the criminal.
"But even physical proficiency and
sound understandins Of his duty will
not make the kind Of policemen the
public needs: To render high service
the men on the force must be dominnt,
ed by the desire 10 work SO we'll for the
public public that they shall be highly
thought OF. Their very physical Skill
and Il clear realization Of their powers
might make them 50 much the moro
(dangerous to the public welfare un-
!ess they were governed by the spirit
OF service and took satisfaction in do
ing good work and receiving deserved
APPROVAL
%8l 500 Checks and Cash Stolen