Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-12
National Police System
py Frederic ! Ua-bia

~ Tho crime wave which is sweeping
the country.
The present reign Of banditry hss
had AZ least one good erect IN thst " /
has awakened the American people 20 l
uufue extent 20 the f8et that their no /
lice syateme are utterly inadequate. /
THAT ma ior urifnas such Sc murder ana 1
robberv are many times as prevalent ~ /
the United Htaten as IN any ~ the I
principal European countries. that lfs /
and pfopefty Isre today ieaa safe m !
soue Of our principal cities than they |
were IN the far weat IN pioneer DAYS,
are unsavofy facts which are jpH' be-
ginning 70 cume nome ~ ~.
There are q number ~ roasons TOT
.bia aot,1e Of which have been dis
cnssed IN previous HaRhin Letters.
ore If them IL undoubtedly the fact
that our statute books are numbered
with enforceable laws 1hich bring All
Ia 8, ,uto contempt and which tend 20
make Of the policeman sort ~ moral
.ansor instead ~ criminal ratcher
Another season ~ that VIZ have
beteroreneous ana shifting popuiation,
,,.hirh praaenta ono ~ the rnDat diH
cuIf notice problems in The world
nut aoe ~ the noat important
reasons is that ws have always put NJ
,Yifh inefficient polite forces They are
largely dominated by politics and are
urualtv run bv ffen who have nn 'ratn
lpg aa poiiue executives, hii' are rh"sen
for reasons ~ political expediehry
Furthermore. these men usually h'Id
naira onlv fnr brief periods, en nat
tbav have ~ opportunity fo learn ~
,vpa,isn,a the difficult profession
witch thev approach without training
FINALLY. tharc ia little 80 operation 'e
tween tho various police deTa r'rnen'
/ and gt f= fhia lark ri ro- operation. ~
| any national system for c"'nh. uIng
! crime. which the proposed Fe1N~s
/ bureau would seek 20 remedy
rhe Travelling veg.
ror the travelling criminal hes be
/ rerna tho tvuical one ln this orIr'rv
/ .rha raai1v enfarrrlsirg bure-r oprr
| qtoa nuf IN one citv bot n three ~
fu,r he travels freely nv raI End
! da=heq across sfata lines IN high
powered motor oars lie hrs asecf Il 'es
! and hangouts in alI ~ the points ~
/ nia circuit The criminals have 'aken
fuH advantage ~ modern rapid transit
Facilities and ~ tha rosqihiN'ee ~
H. operation II opens m hu' me priirs
have dork nothing adequate r. herF
rrata thia Development
There Ia ro other important country
whether lie police system consists q
! a uatioY7af 0rga ni7a+fon nr - r 7rr'n'
~ lorai onea, that has not ~ leas 81 r.
fattIehea national bureau - idertih
cation Even canada leads us r hn
respect
~ thia country The ne4d for such ~o
operation has long been felt. and -o-n'
efforts have bean made ~ meet th
need rn California thern II stst
t,traau III iH0ntiratiou and p number 2
tho western coast cities have
,.y.i,lntav, ,,e,- operative organ niyation p
r,bleh the.- exchange identiAoafio
date Firallv. a National Euraa" 2
Criminal Identification was reoanN
! aata hlf4had In Wa ashlnRton by 'he IN
tarnationsI Association ~ Chiefs
Police and # is hard at work toda
gathering Identification data III
sound ~ principle ard useful hu' u
merely private enterprise which rsn
not command adequate support
erov,aa= the nrfsiens Tor a nationa
police department such as has nee'
recently suggested IN authoritative
quarters
IT has been suggested hat such
Government department with Cshine
member as its head or .else il nigh
be merely a bureau ~ the Department
~ Justice. man ~ large cslibr
with a scientific knowledge and prac
ticaI experience ~ police methods
! surh - Arthur Woods or Raymond T
posdirk. would Re placed az NE heai
of it.
Not n Federal Police.
7 This department would ~ NJ mean
Constitute a Federal police force.
is recognized fhat especially in mi
: country. the police problem Is a ioca
problem The national organizatio
. would be primarily an identihoauo
burpau-a = clearing house nv which n
? photographs. finger prints and tie'
, fillou measurements possessed ~ faC
police departuent would be avaiiab
to all Il would also probably rata
iogue descriptions of stolen propert
l and DISTINGUISHING characteristics
: various major crimes, so that criminl
: would be recognized by his work wheE
= ever ne committed n crime
II il evident that such a bureau cnu
do an immense amount Of good witno'
4 in the least interfering with q
{. autonomy of local police forces. n
example. today many of our amaih
z police forces have two systems
: identifying criminals the dnger prt
Il and The BertiIlon neasuremeT
Z Furthermore. in many Of the small
cities. neither Of the systems IS 20
rectly used-thcre is no one on q
= force Who understands them III
national police bureau could see 70
that one standard system was -
everywhere. and that IN every Qoi
force there vas a man who understo
the making and keeping 81 the
records. This one comparatively 8
expensive move would do much
make life harder for our LEADING erin
nails. The dangerous profession
criminal who finds it too hot for hi
in MS favoritc large city. such as "
York or Chicago. is now very apt
ruSticate for a while in some small
town in the knowledge that he
probably quite safe there. II z
police do take him UP on some min
charge, the chances are that they "
never find out who he is. lie may s
into iail on yagrancv charge and 81
there comfortably, with little chan
that he will be sent back 70 New fo
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