New-York tribune., 1921-02-07
Police Ignore
Law in Stolen
Auto Records
official Reports Subpenaed
by James E. Smith Are
Found To BE Useless i'm
Tracing Cars Disposition
Six Sold for $I,5OO
Three Women Connect
Members of Squad With
Activities of Thieves


.se Criminal Courts Building examin-
;sv the property books of the Police
automobile Squad, several members of
vhirh have been indicted on charges of
,sking unlawful fees fer the return of
stelen motor cars. The indictments
were returned by the additional Janu-
.ry grand jury before which former
Governor Charles S. Whitman, special
eopnsel, is conducting his investigation
Il the Hylan administration.
The books were subpmnaed by Mr..
Smith after his request for them had
been refused at Police Headquarters
After he had spent several hours in
going over the volumes the Assistant
District Attorney threw up his hands in
disgust and declared that the books
we're "a huge joke
Mr. Smith said that one of his pur-
poses in subpnnaing the records was
z 70 check UP the names and addresses
Of the owners of stolen cars with list
be has in his possession. He declared
inst the information contained in the
books IS so disconnected and fragmen-
tary that it is practically impossible
to trace the complete history If anv
stolen car from the time it came into
possession of the police un.:l it was
finally disposed of.
Charter Requirements ignored
Mr. SIN tn seemed to think that what
be termed the studied vaguen 50 oF
the oflelal information contained in tho
two volumes was very significant. The
BOOKS VIII receive his close attention
for several days. ''0''
The Assistant District ATTORNEY called
the attention of several reporters ~
section a5l of the cit charter which
provides that all lost or stolen nron-
cry Snail be turned over TO the prop-
sFty Clerk Of the Police Department + and
snall Immediately be registered and de-
scrioea IN detail by him in q book Ken,
for that purpose. 0A AepV
!, oeruoa 35l prescribes further that
we record must contain the name of
the owner of the property, the nlaca
Snefe the article was found the date
tne name OF the officer who made the
arrest or recovered tho stolen iron
fty' the name of the claimants and 8
complete description of the cireum~
stances surrounding the case.
Mr. Smith declared that neither nf
lne BOOKS complied with Section 331,
ana that SO far as he had gone he
eouid ss not ind single entry that met
tae requirements of the city charter
IN many cases the officer making
the entry had neglected to menfion
even the make of the stolen car. its
state registration number or the name
cl us owner. In most cases the police
were content to identify the car by the
serial number of its motor.
Records Practically Worthless
fou can see for yourself" said Mr..
ssMlSh' that these records of the Lost
ia,foperty Department do not tell where
the stolen automobiles that were ra-
covered came from, and in only few
vases 40 they show what finally be-
e"Ae o. them. The records of stolen
maenlnes are so meager as to be prac
teally worthless"
r Mr' smith also called attention to
Section 535 of the city charter. which
PROVIDES that after six months all lost
OF st'ien property must be disposed
OF at public auction, after having been
adve' tised in the City Record for ten
days. He said he had been informed
ina six autom obiles were sold by the
foii:e department in this manner a
sh1H time ago and that the total
amount OF cash realized was only ST.
~. Mr. Smith also has been informed
hat the police have been holding for
many months large number of un-
CANNED cars and he is anxious to
locate the owners.
Mr.. Smith made it known that three
women, n!l of whom are in this city.
had made statements to him which ex-
posed the inner workings of what he
described as the most powerful band
oi automobile thieves ever organized.
Statements Involve Police
These statements. it is believed, di-
Ieetiy connect present and former
members of the auto squad with the
automobile thieves and throw a great
eeal OF light on the methods of CO.
operation. One of the statements.
WINCH is said to amount to virtual
eohiesslon, IS reported to show how
members of the squad were able i'm
m.eaiately to place their hands on
stoien cars Eor which handsome re-
YARDS were collected. The same state
leht Is alleged also to reveal the ynys-
sseflous rate of machines uncovered by
Insurance or for which no rewards
mad been offered.
!, mr' Nhitman's Investigators believe
snat members Of the automobile squad
I've I',, collected nearly a half million
uoAafs IN rewards in the last two
SSeafs The statements obtained by
a,: Sl,: smith from the three women are
tpseiieVed to show how this was possible
..aatoagh - working agreement between
me police and the crooks.
one OF the women questioned at
Steat length by Mr.. Smith yesterday,
- aoW prisoner serving a term of
Sue year on Blackwell's Island She
i i said to have worked with the auto
n,e,ves' .r.e,, but to have received only
sanall sa remuneration for the part she
'V0A IN the theft of cars.
woman Lured Chausfe eur away
raaIccording. to information given The
ssfs.soeae, this woman played her part
4;I ';aseI the thieves had selected thl par
i ffssular machine they wished to steal.
~ ~ was then her duty to engage the
SS;aauneur S;s IN conversation and lure
81 Tsin away from his car, thus giving
-T n, t.hieves chance to drive it away,
Daa is method was necessary, it ap-
.sats. because the crooks were a dis
ss.,aaaah1inatlng lot and did not 20 about
.sishg machines at random. They
ri ssoissaed their automobiles with care
eye TO maximum financial return.
snes. stolen st random were taken by
a~..1 Ss1er branch of the gang and were
ses'Ly ,sss Fords and Dodges. This branch
ass AhoWn, The Tribune learns. as the
snsss SQUAT. and they worked with
saesa sass and dispatch. The "flivver
Isaau ISs;u depended on quick sales for
sae5r financial ra4y,~,s- ao4L... 49,
yards. 1esuihs ra'hef lhan re-
ne woman's part in the stealing Of
sas tsas was to wait until she had received
= signal indicating that the machine
: sa stolen had been selected. This
sirs ZINE was usually handsome limou-