Evening star., 1924-06-12
SUPERCHIEF PLANS
TO QUIT POLICE JOB
Scientific Sleuth Blames Home
Guard For Opposition Shown
in Los Angeles.
HAD OWN PUBLICITY MAN
Criticized for Charging Personnel
Is Mentally Deficient.
By Consolidated Press

By Consolidated Press
BERKELEY, Calf, June 11.-Au-
gust Vollmer, who first won fame as
Berkeley's scientific chief of police
and who later, answering the same
call of fame, went to Los Angeles to
become chief of police there, has just
discovered that scientific methods of
crime detection, coupled with equally
scientific ways of getting front page
publicity, cannot cope with insidious,
if somewhat less scientific, home
town" politics.
3. AS a. result of this discovery Chief
Vollmer, who holds the chair of
criminology, at the University of
California here and who has intro
duced such learned things as applied
psychology, arterial reactions, sphyg-
nomanometers and amnesia- hypnosis
into the business of catching crimi-
nails, is expected to resign his Los
Angeles police job August l.
Will Return to Berkeley.
After that date, it is reliably said,
he will return to his old job at Berke
Icy, where he will be more appre
ciated. Word that the scientific chief
is not averse to being recalled" to
Berkeley leaked out yesterday. Berke-
ley city officials i'll sympathy with his
desires and also appreciative of his
learned contributions to crime detec-
ton already are said to have decided
upon ways and means of bringing
him back.
Chief Vollmer was loaned" by
Berkeley to Los Angeles almost a
year ago. His job was to put a
scientific cTusher on a lot of less
l. ,1I-
ups and two-eun movie maids who
were shooting up that popular tourist
town.
Encountered Opposition.
From the very outset, however, the
scientific chief encountered strong
opposition. The Los Angeles chief
tainship was a big political plum,
been brought in to usurp the job.
Home-guard politicians were both
Jealous and mad. Chief Vollmer went
on the new job August 1, 1923. Po-
days tenure. Their choicest quip at
that time was that September Morn
will see the last of August"
Vollmer met his enemies moro than
lieity man as chief aide. Then he
proceeded to whittle down Los An
Geles' climbing crime statistics by
getting out and doing little scien-
tIhc crime detecting of his own.
Every time the scientific chief made
a scientific catch of some underworld
denizen his trained publicity agent
saw that he had the proper 'front.'
page space in Los Angeles newspa-
pers. Occasionally the chief gave lee
lures to womens clubs and other citi-
zens' organizations on scientific Grim
inology. with a few intimate side
lights thrown in regarding the po
litical affiliations of some of his high
police department aides.
Publicity Helped Chief.
For time scientific police methods.
plus publicity, more than held their
own. Then the chief ordered a scien-
tific examination to determine with
scientific exactneSs the degree of in
telligence possessed by every man in
the Los Angeles police department.
The results were somewhat startling
even to Chief Nollmer. Some of the
tests showed that even among cap
tains and 1ieutenants the. degree of
mental development was akin to that
of a twelve-year-old child.
The aftermath has been that the
scientific chief as a publicity agent
hasn't been getting so much favor
Sble publicity for his principal. Such
lice department was also a blow at
Los Angeles civic pride.
.Homc Guard7 Active.
Since then the Los Angeles home
guard" politicians have been gaining
ground gradually in their opposition
20 the imported chief. They have
finally got him to the point it is re-
liably said here, where he longs for
his old job at Berk keley.' At the same
time he does not want to undergo
the ignominy of quitting under fire
of the Los Angeles politicians.
So, according to information avail
able here, the Berkeley city council,
which really appreciates Chief Voli-
rner and the fame his scientific meth
DDS have brought the college city,
will shortly notify him that the leave
Of absence under which he went to
os Angeles will not be renewed;
loaned" is up, and that unless he
returns by August 1 he will lose his
civil service standing and also his
chances for a police pension in his
old age