The Washington times., 1925-01-05

WITNESSES
LIED, Il
HOLDS
Continued from First Page)

Continued from First PageJ
cue to let alone, or possibly to dis
tinguish himself further in the eyes
Of the gang which hung out at lne
scene OF the assault made by Davis
However vicious and unpardon-
able the assault of Davis may
have been, IL was no lawful justifi.
cation for what followed later in
the evening. When he was taken
to No. Z he was entitled to the
protection Of the officers on duty
Just as much as any other pris-
,t they failed Of their
duty. there 10 no doubt In our
minds"
re report further stated that
there was a lack OF discipline in
the, Police Department, and that
i Is frankly admitted that higher
officials are nowerless under the
ions and law pertaining to
the Police TRIAL Board, to enforce
adequate disciplinary measures.
Change in Trial Board.
In this respect the jury sug-
gested the possibility Of altering
the composition Of tie Trial Board
by having only one police captain
eH~ve instead OF two, and stlpplant--
ing the relieved members with q
crested individual.
This suggestion, It is stated, Il
not made lightly or as an insinuar
don against the integrity OF the
members Of the trial board.
The Investigation was ordered in
November by Justice Siddons and
was conducted by Assistant Dis
frict Attorney John w. Finely.
The cases investigated did not
include the third degree confessions.
alleged to have been extracted from
Ziang Sun Wan, charged with the
murder Of three u the leaders OF
the Chinese Educational Mission
several years ago, and on the basis
Of which a death sentence was re-
Gently stayed.
In reporting up the specific cases
ported to Il, the Jury, In q pre-.
liminary statement, declares that
there is no denying the fact that .
great many people believe such
methods are employed.
Accounts for Belief.
They accept the third degree AZ
"a reality ON the theory that II 1t
did not exist there would not be SO
much said about it. They have read
about it in the Sunday papers, in
the magazines and in books; they
have seen it vtsualized on the stage
and on the screen, with all It's the
Gtrical accompaniment. They have
even seen with their own eyes a
policeman handle q prisoner rough
~ on the way to the patrol box.
And that brings Us to accounting
for this widespread belief"
Although admitting that third-de-
gree methods were prevalent In
years gone by. the jury stated that
there is no longer the occasion to
use the third degree, because better
and more humane ways have been
devised for obtaining the desired
Information.
"A great step forward in police
methods took place twenty years,
or so. ago. which resulted in the
When the BertiIIion and the finger
print systems OF Identification come
into use. along with the modern
Card.index system Of keeping rec.
ords, a weapon was placed In the
hands of the police which has been
Tar more effective in bringing crirni.
mails to justice than any third de-
gree methods could possibly be.
Records Trap Criminals.
To-day the criminal is photo
graphed, measured, card-indexed and
broadcasted. Business-lilse cross.ref.
srences and elaborate clasSifications
succeed today, where the old time
methods would prove failure. The
present third degree is a battles of
wits between the detectives and the