New-York tribune., 1920-12-15

Il X T TRIBUN e, WEI
furnishing of news to press reporters.
Aypewrltten statements are preDared
on al! matters of public interest which
may oe published without detriment TO
lne efficiency of police work and fur
1isheo 10 each newspapers; thereafter
queries for additional information are
considered with special regard to tia
effectiveness Of police action in each
case '' o00''
iou5 request, therefore, will be
treated IN accordance with the law.
RUE and policy as stated in preparine
cepy OF current press information
herewith attached, which, inter siia
SHOWS IN that the statement published in
1 ne Irlbune, and repeated in YOUR
Ietter, that 100 murders committed in
:ne Sity Of New York were unsolved
Ia'se' The truth is that onlv 2l
WI T'u.oe1s = committed in the City of New
The Department cannot djscr;n1;,,o+
IN furnishing news in favor of 49,
!r'ouhe, which is apparently vour oh-
Ject and purpose. S'0- 0'-
(s;gned, very truly yours,
>"'sNeo' K. Z. ENRIGHT,
Police Commissioner
Admits No Arrests in ~ Cases
"of the 100 murders committed dnr-
ing the year 1920, arrests have been
mace IN las cases. Ten Of the perne-
traitors have died in prison. There are
iorty-two cases in which no arrost
has been made, but the perpetrator
III eighteen of these cases is known
ana Will be finally apprehended and
In IN enree otner cases the perpetrators
nave nav, committed suicide. There are.
therefore, only twenty-one eases -
unsolved murder during eleven months
OF this year, and q comparison With
the number of unsolved murders at the
close of the last four years is shown
below: Il
II ms. year year year wear
unsolved -. Il Is Is IS is is iis -
at must be remembered that many
murders still unsolved at the close Of
the years above mentioned have since
neen solved, and after a reasonable
time TO do the necessary police work
the number of unsofved murders COM
mltted this year probably will be less
than In any previous year.
The Tribune has falsely stated that
tne ponce force is short of men due
to the fact that many men are as
signed 20 details or soft berths, Tho
truth ls that there are fewer men
assigned to such details at this time
IMAM ever before in the history Of the
department. And. furthermore large
numDer OF men who are now holding
details are men who are permanentlv
disabled, and instead of CONTINUING
them on the sick list they have. been
gwen positions which were previously
held by able bodied policemen, and
o~ofo l.
draw full salary and relieve able bodied
men for regular duty
Faurot and Cray Report
Other parts Of the QUESTIONABLE by
The New York Tribune are answered bv
the statements of Deputy Commission
ers Faurot and Cray, and their answers
to- such part Of the questionnaire as
related to them and the work they have
been doing are issued herewith for the
information of the public:
Decembe II, 1920.
From Third Deputy Police Commits
sioncr.
ITO the Police Commissioners
Subject: Information requested by
The New York Tribune.
Il respectfully submit the following
comment on letter from the CITY edi
tor OF The Tribune of December 8.
1920:
1.-THE statistics of this depart
ment show that there has been less
than 100 unsoived murders in the city
since the first of this year.
"3-lt is not true that no record is
made Of complaints of alleged crimes
coming to the attention of the police
All such complaints are recorded in the
complaint file. There has been no
deviation from this rule to my knowl
edge.
Says Changes Were Necessity
"5--The organization of the Police
Department which existed under pre-
vlous administrations has not, in NV
opinion, been broken down Changes
and reorganization have. where Of ne
cessity required, been instituted for
increased efficiency Under previous
dmlnlstrations the detective bureau
consisted Of nine branches for the en-
tire greater City of New York. This
tective division by abolishing these
branch bureaus and substituting in
their stead eighteen detective districts.
each under the command of a captain
or acting captain; and the assigning
OF detc ctlves to every station house in
the city. This, for the reasons that:
"(a) The most natural place for
person to 60 to report a crime is the
station house
"(b) 1t saves time, both for the pub
lie and the police. Under the present
system there is always a detective
available to Immediately investigate
complaints; whereas, under the old
system, persons often had to go miles
to the branch bureau, with the result
that many crimes were never reported
"(c) Having a smaller territory to
cover the precinct detectives are easier
to supervise. They are also able to
more readily obtain valuable informa-
ton through knowing their precinct
the residents, business people and the