The New York herald., 1922-06-25
Crime Waves and Radio Waves
Trying by Wireless to Teach the Careless to Guard
Against Criminals.
BY WILLIAM J. FLYNN,
Former Chief of the United States Secret Service.

The long arm Of the law has been
heightened q thousand fold by a new
mysterious. unseen and unseeing but
myriad cared agency that is at COM
mand at any minute to reach out
through countless leagues Of space and
halt the lawbreaker. The crime wavo
az last finds its conqueror in the ether
wave. Radio 10 the Canute that bids
this wave subside-and is obeyed.
will risk being accused of stating
the obvious when / say that the very
best police work consists in the pre-
vention Of crime rather than in its de-
lection, for tho statement forms an i'm
portant premise to any estimate Of the
value OF the radio. the most modern ad-
junct of the forces OF law and order.
II q reincarnated Gaboriau were liv-
ing and writing to-day he would have
to revise his technique. Instead OF max
ing NJ. Lecocq his master sleuth. in Or
der to be strictly in step with the times
he would fnd 1t necessary to invest one
NJ. Audion with that distinction. For
the old order has changed; the time
honored detective methods that once
kept US up all night in the spell OF hair
raising mystery thrillers are being sup
planted by the devices OF modern science
applied to the purposes Of the up to date
Nemesis OF lawhreakers.
The possibilities OF radio as master
sleuth had long impressed me; in fact.
even before the marvellous and. as 1t
seemed TO me, almost overnight rise OF
its latest and Sreatest development, the
radiophone. But before the radiophone
had induced the millions TO take to the
ether I had regarded radio as merely
very great improvement on the tele-
graph and the cable. which, while in
calculably valuable in reaching out after
criminals and fusitives. necessarily had
limitations to their effectiveness as pre-
ventives Of crime.
The tremendous and instant vogue
that attended the perfection Of the ra-
diophone and tho installation OF broad
casting stations impressed me. I do not
hesitate to say, as the greatest single
aid to those who are engaged in crime
prevention that the world has known
since the invention Of printing made the
worlds Inhabitants realize what inter-
communication meant and thus con-
tracted the circumference OF the globe.
During my long career with the United
States Secret Service a large part OF
my activities had to do with the opera
tions OF that type OF lawbrcakcr who is
the aristocrat OF the underworld. 1
mean the counterfeiter. forger, penman.
check raiser and. generally. the man
who through some unaccountable mem
A. - IT. l., Ia
considerable wits to dishonest ways
rather than to use them legitimately
whereby ne could probably earn greatly
more without risking his liberty.
He is no brutal type Of criminal. no
thug, sneak thief or murderous law
breaker who depends for his success on
mere force and the terrorizing effect Of
lethal weapons. but the far more dan
gerous type who by arduous and pains
taking study has developed his tech
nique 20 the point where he Is the de-
spair Of the best minds in the organized
protective forces Of society. He thrives
through ignorance. carelessness and lack
OF information-not his own. but that OF
his victims.
1t seemed to me that an invaluable
public service could be rendered by
means Of the radiophone through broad
casting a warning against the ways and
wiles Of men and women OF this kind. the
devious manner Of their operations, the
means that have been devised to circuni-
vent them and the cardinal points OF
defensive measures against them. When
I arranged with the Westinghouse sta
ton at Newark to broadcast little lee
ture of this sort on Sunday night. May
2s, thought, and l believe 1t more
firmly now than ever. that the radio
phone was q singularly useful instru-
ment to put an end to the harvest of
gangs whose operations are exacting
yearly toll Of some $4o,oo0.o0o from
their gulls In the United States.
For, as told my silent listeners that
night, the pen in the hands Of the expert
forger is mightier than the wickedest
Jimmy ever toted by a burglar. And
this is so because the great mass OF tho
check using public--whose name Is le-
sion-are either careless or without cx-
act knowledge Of the means OF prevent
ing this staggering raid on their purses
by clever thieves.
OF course 1t is not possible for any