The Washington times., 1922-05-14
RADIO TOHELP
POLICE To TAKE
! B|GCR|M|NALS
Maxim and General Thompson
Perfecting Combination for
Use in Some Cities.
GREAT HELP IN PURSUIT
Letters Exchanged by Inven-
tors Show Value Of co-opera
ton to Wipe Out Banditry.

hOiI " NvipO Sut So''Ney
NEW YORK, May 13.--Radio
telephones and light. portable ma
chine guns are regarded as the
necessary combination to cope
with criminals. Two widely
known men. each representing
the best of expert opinion in
their respective fields. are now
perfecting plans to frustrate the
escape of desperadoes. They are
Hiram Percy Maxim and Briga-
dier-General J. T. Thompson.
Wave Length for Police.
Mr.. Maxim is president of the
American Radio Relay League. Cen
eral Thompson was director Of ar
senals of the United States during
the recent war. These men have
been in conference on plan to as
sure police departments OF acceler-
ated communication and command
of the road" following the commits.
sion of crimes.
Secretary Herbert Hoover, at the
served a special wave length for
police departments. In explaining
the scheme worked out by Mr..
Maxim and himself, General Thomp-
son said yesterday:
THE modern criminal conducts
his operations in many ways COIN
parable to a battle. There is the
element OF surprise in most cases,
and both in attack and subsequent
retreat the criminal has made OF
himself by the use of the auto
mobile, an extremely mobile force.
Communities and their departments
of police can no more counteract the
organized banditry of today by the
defense and pursuit methods OF
twenty years ago than the great war
could have been won by the methods
employed in the Spanish-American
war"
General Thompson quoted from a
letter written him by Mr.. Maxim. en-
phasizing the need of police auth ari-
ties for a command Of the high
ways by radio" The letter added
that encouraging tests had been had
In Hartford, Conn, along that line.
Touching on the combination of radio
and rapid-fire guns, Mr.. Maxim's let.
ter as made public by General
Thompson, continued:
Your rapid-fire gun fits into the
scheme of things so perfectly that we
really must have your cooperation to
complete the outfit. 1t Is my idea
that we should establish ut certain
strategic points on our highways,
radio stations from which we may
transmit to the entire police force
OF the State. or even several States.
q police alarm"
Value to Police Explained. =.
Mr.. Maxium's letter explains the
value of police" radio in cities,
whether large or small. and gives
an illustrat ton as follows:
You remember the Portland bank
was robbed and a man killed and
another man seriously wounded. and
the robbers made a getaway in an
automobile and came north, passing
through East Hartford on their way
to Springfield, Mass. At East Hart
ford the local police had been noti-
fled, and they ran around the auto
mobile, and in spite of twenty shots
having been fired by the police at
the automobile from revolvers not
one single shot took effect The
thieves made their escape and sepa-
rated, and all track OF them was
lost. Had the police been equipped
with a rapid fire gun of large cali
bre such as yours it would have
been a very simple matter indeed
TO have absolutely stopped that car
At East Hartford"
The gun is one of the many inven-
tions of General Thompson. 1t is in
use by about fifty metropolitan
police departments. 1t has received
q great deal of attention in scientific
journals under the name of the
Thompson suh-machine or Anti
Bandit Gun" 1t is capable of firing
J 900 shots a minute which would
tear up an automobile at a distance
of 500 yeards; or in congested areas
II can be so charged as to restrict
its effectiveness to a radius of 100
feet. II weighs less than nine
pounds and has only thirty parts.
A motorcycle with sidecar
equipped with one of the Thompson
guns is to be a part of the police
f1arada Nav IA