Evening star., 1923-07-22
POliceSch0OlS SinLatin America

! launches with which they do a GER
tain amount of patrol work.
There is not a republic Of the Amer.
icas that does not have a complete
Ifinger-print system, and most OF them
have cards OF Identification. These
are of great benefit to the public as
we'll as to the authorities, for in
| maAy cases they prevent the wrong
perSsn being taken into custody.
On these cards are photographs. They
are properly signed and sealed In many
| instances they take the place Of pass
port. They are far easier to carry than
the average document that is handed TO
one who desires to travel in foreign
lands. The police Of these countries
say that some who objected to this
method in the days when IL was first
adopted are now warm supporters
of the plan.
In Uruguay there are nineteen de-
partments of police, there are sub
divisions, and these have a political
chief, but one that can be removed.
| There Is also q commissioner in each
division. All Of the branches come
under the direct supervision of gem
eral head. who in turn Is respon-
sible to the chief executive OF the
nation.
In Montevideo there Is an investi-
cation division of police, and accord
| ing to authorities on police matters
this division has some Of the keenest
minds found among the police Of the
southern countries.
| In the Pearl Of the Antilles, Cuba,
| the national police are among the
things that a Cuban points to with
pride. They are very well equipped
| and very well trained. The result
Is that it is a perpetual duel between
| the police and the lawbreaker. Much
has been written about the use of
disguises and the majority of these
| narratives were largely dosed with
poetic license, but an American on
visit to Cuba saw a man who was
pointed out to him in the morning
at police headquarters as one OF the
smartest sleuths in the island. A few
hours afterward, while he was sip
ping coffee at one of the hotels. this
friend and guide pointed to a waiter
and asked IL the American had ever
seen that man before. Upon his say
ing that he did not recall ever hav-
ing seen the man, the friend laughed
heartily and informed the visitor that
this was the detective they had
looked at that morning. In the mat
ter OF changing. without artificial
| means, the appearance, he was
wonder.
IDOwN in the Dominican Republic
~ they have a force Of rural
guards that numbers somewhere be-
tween 1900 and 1000 men. They are
good policemen, are excellent horse
men, and are likewise proficient In
the use of the bicycle. They are
under continuous training, and from
the ranks have risen many men who
have given an excellent account OF
themselves in police work. They are
called the guardia nacional, which,
translated, means national guard.
] The policen n who guard the Andes
act as train guards and the majority
of these men are of the keener type.
| In Bogota, Colombia, is another
school that was founded in 1919, and
this school is conducted under the
|direction OF teachers from overseas.
| Perhaps the most interesting of all
the police schools IN the world Is that
at Sac Paulo. Brazil, for It is at this
point that the aerial police are given
instruction. There Is an aviation.
school that would be credit to any
| nation for it is the only place in the
world where souadrons OF fiiers are
trained for the police service. In
this institution they have some Of
the best airmen in the world, and the
Brazilian government, when 1t went,
into the business of training police.
men to fly, spared no expense for ex-
perts in aerial work. The students
are given every course that the pres
ent-day flyer has to take and in add
tion the instructors put them through
extra PAGES that make them espe-
cially valuable in this line of work.
In Argentina they have a policeman
to every 100 persons; in New York
there is one officer to every 500, and
in London the percentage is about l
to 500. It Is not that the republics to
the south of us have any more GRIM
inaIs per capita. but they are deter
mined that the rights of the citizens
shall be protected to the very greatest
degree possible.
In some parts of the Americas, the
policemen still observe the old Gus
tom that came from Spain, namely,
the crying out of the hour. and the
call runs as follows: Eleven Cor
whatever the hour happens to be)
o'clock and all is serene" This cry
10 responsible for the name given to
the policeman-"serenos."