The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-02-04
NJ CRIME WAVE I'M B|RM|NCHAM,, SAY. IF TIGERS 0F LAW.
Shirley and McDuff Main. tain People Not UnduIy Alarmed About Spor-
 adiC AK Murders


 mingham as result of ax murders which are being published in other
 cities are not only unjust but they are untrue, according to Sheriff T. J
 Shirley and Chief of Police Fred Mo Duff. Both officers maintain, and
 their assertions are apparently borne out by the official records, that Bir- mingham has less crime than any other city approaching its size in the south. The people of Birmingham
 understand the nature of the ax murders and are not unduly alarmed by these sporadic crimes, according to the officers.
 Sensational handling of the news of crime is one of the. causes of the
 crime waves being experienced In other cities because it creates in the
 minds of certain persons hysteria
 tEat leads them to attempt the same thing, in the opinion of Sheriff Shirley. This is one reason, MT Shirley believes, that Birmingham is not in the throes of crime wave as some of her neighboring cities. In discussing crime MT. Shirley de- clared certain classes of people are driven crazy by the sensational handling of crime stories until they undertake to commit the same sort of offense that Is receiving undue publicity. MT. Shirley bases this ob- servation on his long experience as police officer and his long service in combating crime.
 You may take an ax murder, fol example," he said, "and play it UT | until some crazy person is driven tc commit a similar murder. A sort oi 1 hysteria is created in their minds | by constant reading of a crime. This is especially true in the case of robberies and holdups, and ap- plies more particularly during times | of unemployment. Men out of work read of holdups and robberies unti 1 in their impoverished condition they | attempted the same thing" | MT. Shirley stated that he believed l crime was being curbed in Birming-
 ham as we'll if not better than in most cities. The situation is rela- l lively quiet, he declared.
 T read number of papers from l other cities" he said, "and it seems that Birmingham is experiencing | less lawlessness than they are McDuff Has Statistics Chief McDuff had statistics show 1 ing that Birmingham has less crime | than Memphis, Atlanta, Nashville oi many other cities of it's size, ant 1 which is the direct result of the pro- l tection given by the police depart ment.
 The influx of hobos and the crimi- nally inclined people from the north | into Birmingham has been unusually heavy during this winter, Chief Me Duff said, due to the mildness o1 | the climate. This element it is with | which police have to contend. These | nomads are responsible for the ma | jority of burglaries and hold-ups l After perpetrating their crimes, the
 shifting element is gone, and chances of recovery of what artictes are
 taken Is one in one hundred, ant l the possibilities of their arrest about l the same or smaller.
 1 "Consternation now exists among
 suburban merchants from the recent
 ax murders, which is natural, to some | extent the police head said, "al- | though their fears would be mini. l mixed by less sensational newspaper | stories. I don't blame reporters fol
 
 | when some incident that is of minor
 importance, is embellished and fact. exaggerated, they do great harm, al I though the author of the article may | be ignorant of that fact.
 "The police department has beer | severely censured by some people for not arresting within few days the 1 assailants of Luigi vitellaro and hi.
 wife, Josephine, both of whom diet ] at local hospital from wounds re | ceived from blows with an ax ol l blunt instrument, when they wer, l attacked in their store, 2431 Eightf | avenue, north, the night of Janu. ary 2S. v No Cooperation Given "The people who have been fret 1 with their criticism are those who | know only that about the case whicf | has been contained in the newspa. ] pers. They don't seem to heed tht | fact that the police have not beer | given. even the cooperation of tn, victim himself, prior to his death nor since have his relatives ap l peared to show any concern in what l progress was being made in the case by detectives assigned to it's inves l tigation. When relatives of vitel
 laro were approached by detectives 1 they were given no satisfaction ant l the statements that were forthcom ing from them were vague and in l definite.'
 Chief McDuff pointed out the in. stance when Vitellaro was visited by I Deputy Sheriff J. V. Lauro, master l of the Italian language. Lauro was | practically ordered from the room | by Vitellaro when he attempted to | obtain an interview from the vic. tim on how the assault was perpe, trated. City officers who visited Vitellaro were accorded the same treatment, according to Chief Nc Duff.
 Police are nothing but human, Chief McDuff declared, "and if they do not receive the cooperation of the people as whole, their efforts
 will be unfruitful in clearing up any arime.''
 Chief McDuff requested that in-
 stead of, knocking the. police depart
 ment in the future, that the public
 as a whole, including it's enemies
 aid it in every conceivable way and
 the results will be highly satisfac-
 tory.