The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-29
BIRMINGHAM. NOT IN NEED IF ADDITIONS
Civil Service Commission De- tonates Bomb At Board Meeting Friday Morning With Its Annual Report
 WOULD HAVE A FORCE SCH00LED BY AN EXPERT After Being Revived, Cloe Contradicts The Adverse Criticism Of His Officers Reiterating Need For More

The annual report of the civil serV- ice commission, submitted to the city commission Friday and containing sharp criticism of the police depart ment, immediately drew heavy fire from w. B. Cloe, commissioner ot public safety, who dec1ared he would not swallow a report that is inac eurate in many respects"
 After giving high praise to the fire department and recommending the imm ediate employment of b addl- tional men, the report unloosed an attack on the police department which concluded with the recommendation that no additional men be added at this time.
 ''The board is forced to the con- clusion that there is no urgent neces- sity, or rather no overwhelming ne cessity, for additional men, says the report. "The urgent necessity IS tor we'll equipped, thoroughly trained men in police work, and for discipline and organization. This would result in intelligent, unified and proper con- cert of action. To considerable eX- tent the members of the police de- partment have been acting as in dividualS.
 The board served notice that an expert police instructor soon would be brought to Birmingham to help promote organization and efftc1ency Dissatisfaction and 'jealousiesY m the department are fast being ironed out, but considerable work along this line remains to be done, said the re- port.
 The report added that more police men would be desirable but that IL would be best to properly train and equip the men already on the force; The suggestion was made that all members of the force should be kept t,,f oft iytaft allowing some men to work two or three miles in outlying territory
 In conclusion, after discussing the work of the department at grea length, the report said: The board wants it distinctly understood that ii is not criticizing members of the police depa a-tment as individuals
 Commissioner Cloe was displeased that the report denied the immediate need for more men.
 O O O City Knows Need.
 Almost every person in Birming- ham must know" he asserted, that we have the smallest force of any southern city, although our area IS much larger than that of any other city. We need more policemen padly and l expect to get them in 1924. Just mi that down in your little red book and then watch and see.
 "I must take issue with the inier . ence that our policemen are not well trained We have the best set or men of any southern city and l challenge any man or body of men to prove otLer wise. The force is efficient, as our annual reports show. We are doing our utmost, and our big handi- cap is the lack of men.
 q deny emphatically that 'dissat- isfaction and jealousy has been pre- velant in the department. The of- WI l,lete harmony ever since 1 took oi- fiee-and that was before the clNit service. board was created.
 Another thing: We are not going fo bring any so-called expert doWn here from New York or Boston to show us how to run our police de- partment. We have experts rlght here in Birmingham, and they are wear ing their uniforms every day.
 q regret that cannot swallow whole the civil service report. AS inc head of the police department of the report. The police department is all right and doing efficient work. If needs just one thing, and that IS 50 or 100 more men.
 AS for the recommendations con corning the fire department. l agree thoroughly with the poaru. l aiso agree that the firemen have done great work during the year. It IS a nitv that the report did not give the same praise to the policemen. They certainly deserved it."
 No other members of the commits sion had any comment to offer on inc report It was merely filed with inc commission, and will not be read until a later session, President b. E. McLendon announced.
 In view of the widely divergent views of Commissioner Cloe and the civil service body, city hall observers look for frequent clashes over police administration politicies during the forthcoming year.