New-York tribune., 1920-12-04
Police Laxity
L Oll11d I)lleto
Men at Top
Rank and File Generally
Efficient, but Heavily
Handicapped by Defects
of Enrislat's Regime
influence Is Vital
TO Win Promotion
Blow Is Struck at Morale
of Force by Elimina.
ton of Merit System

A. ~ StCuA
Since JaaNa1y 1 IN New York
City:
There hare been more than $50
hold~ups, yobberies and thefts.
The property loss involcvd is
more than $500 900.
1he unsolued murders alone
total more than 10O
The defects in the police administered
ton disclosed in the series of articles
which began in The Tribune on Mon.
day have added greatly to the burden
OF the uniformed patrolmen, the men
who pound the pavement" everv dav
or night for eight hours.
Ihe tribune articles have shown that
the machine built up by Commissioner
Arthur Woods has been broken down
but they have not in any way reflected
on the rank and file of the force. On
the contrary, competent observers
agree that the great majority of the
uniformed force on the street are
falthtuL efficient and trustworthy.
Reporters have found that in every
precinct men on midnight duty are
compelled, under the Enright adlninis-
tration, to cover two, three and four
posts. In one case in lower Manhat
tan one man had a post of eleven
blocks to cover. This man, former
detective who had been reduced.
pointed out the ease with which
thieves, by checking the length of time
1T took to cover the post, could break
into building, gather their loot and
escape before he could get back to the
starting point.
One man in an uptown residential
section had seventeen blocks to cover,
with half block each side on the in
tersecting streets. A Brooklyn patrol
man was found to have a fourteen
block post They all agreed that they
could not possibly protect the people
on the posts.
Patrolmen Held Responsible
But if something does happen-if
burglary is committed, if there is hold
up. or if a fire breaks out-and the
patrolman is not on the scene, he must
face trial on the charge of improperly
patrolling his post and in ali probabil-
ity pay a fine of from one day up.
Another blow at the morale of the
force is the belief that the "merit
only" system carried out by Commits
sioncr Woods counts for nothing now.
Conversations with patrolmen from
every section Of the city indicate that
the average patrolman feels that with
out the political influence to reach
"hi igher-up in the department it is
useless to expect promotion.
Under Commissioner Woods some
unusual feat was rewarded either with
d citation that helped considerably IN
an examination for promotion or with
promotion to the Detective Bureau and
the chances for further advancement.
The attitude of the policemen indi-
Gates that the district political leader
wieds something of his oldtime power
over them. The weak-willed patrolman
falls an easy prey to the threat OF the
politician that failure to handle case
in fashion dictated by the leader
would bring disciplining by transfer to
the suburbs or a long distance away
from home.
AT Police Headquarters desperate ef-
forts have been made since the first #
the Tribune stories was printed to keep
New York patroled after midnight.
There appears to have been no at
tempt made to increase the patroling
force by reducing the number of de-
tails or special leaves of absence. but
there have been issued series of Sc
ere, orders which have made the work
of the patrolmen less pleasant.
"Shoo-Fly' System Returns
What appears to competent observ-
crs to be an attempt to plug up all
leaks. and thereby to halt the Tribune
investigation. is the recent order prohib-
iting patrolmeh from talking to clti-
zens and from discussing the situation
even among themselves. Various pre-
cinct commanders have warned the pa
trolmen that to be found talking with
a citizen will mean trial Oh charges,
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