Pueblo chieftain., 1921-01-12
A NATIONAL POLICE SYSTEM

7 operation between tho various police
departments, and 1t is this lack of CO.
operation. of any national system for
combating crime, which tho proposed
federal bureau would seek to remedy.
The Travelling TeE
| For the travelling criminal has be-
como tho typical ono in this country.
The realiy cnterprising burglar op-
| crates not in ono city but in thrcc or
| four. He travels freely by rail and
dashes across state lines in high
powered motor cars. Ho has asso-
ciates and hangouts in all OF the points
on his circuit Tho criminals have
| taken fun advantage of modern rapid
/ transit facilities. and of the possibili-
ties OF cooperation 1t opens up. but the
police have done nothing adequate to
checkmate this development
There is no other important coun-
try. whether its police system consists
' of national organization or of n
series of local onee. that has not at
least established national bureau of
| Identification. Even Canada leads US
in this respect
In, this country tho neeG for such
cooperation has long been felt. and
some efforts havo been made to meet
tho need. In California thcro is a
state bureau of Identification. and "A
I
havc a voluntary cooperative orEani-
5stion by which they exchange idenu-
| fication data. Finally. a National
Bureau of Criminal Indenufication
was recently establish in Wash
ington by tho International Asso-
citation of Chiefs of Police. and 1t is
hard at work today gathering identi-
fication data. II is sound in principle
and useful, but 1t is merely n private
enterprise which cannot command
adequate support. 1t provides tho
nucleus for national police depart
mont. such as has been recently sug-
Gcsted in authoritative quarters.
1t has been suggested thai such a
national organization might bo n new
3 Government department with a
Cabinet Member at its head. or clsc It
might be merely a bureau of tho Dc
partment of Justice. A man of largo
cslibor with a scientific knowledge
and practical experience OF police
methods. such as Arthur Woods or
Raymond r. Fosdick, would be placed
at the head OF 1t.
Not A Federal Police
This department would by no means
constitute n Federal police force. 1t
is recognized that especially in this
country. the police problem is local
problem. The national organization
NpuIu DC an
bureau clearing house by which
tho photographs. finger prints and
Eertillon measurements possessed by
each police department would be
available to all. II would also prob
ably catalog descriptions of stolen
property. and distinguishing charac-
teristics of various major crimes. SO
that q criminal would bo recognized
by his work whenever he committed
"A crime.
II is evident that such bureau
could do an immense amount OF good
without IN the least interfering with
the autonomy OF local police forces.
For example, today many of our
smaller police forces have two sys-
tens of Identifying criminals-thc
finger print and tho BcrtiIlon mea-
surcment. Furthermore. In many of
the smaller cities. neither of tho sys-
tens Is correctly uscd--thcro is no
cne in tho force who understands
thom. Tho national police bureau
could see to 1T that ono standard sys-
tom was used everywhere, and that in
every police force there vas man
who understood the making and
keeping OF those records. This one
comparatively inexpensive move
would do much to mako life harder
for our leading criminals. Tho dang
erous professional criminal who finds