Evening star., 1925-01-05
GRAND Jury HOLDS
TWO POLICEMEN IN
ASSAULT ON DAVIS
Lieut.. Pierson and Proctor
Declared to Have Beaten
Prisoner in Cell.
MOST OF FORCE UPHELD
AS OF HIGH CHARACTER
Little Evidence Found Substantial
ing General Third De-
gree Charges.

Lieut.. Joseph w. Pierson and Pa
trolman Ralph Proctor, both of the
seventh precinct, were indicted today
by the grand jury on a charge of as
sault with a dangerous weapon Bond
was fixed at $500 for both and an i'm
mediate trial ordered. 1t is charged
that the two policemen beat Arthur
A. Davis with rubber hose, blackjacks
and other weapons while he was a
prisoner at the seventh precinct sta
tion September 81.
The grand jurors expressed the be-
lief that other policemen were in
yolved in the assault as actual par
ticipants or as having guilty knowl-
edge of the affair, but their identity
was not sufficient to warrant indict-
ments. Davis, although he had been
arrested for beating an officer earlier
in the night, was entitled to the
protection of the officers on duty as
much as any other prisoner, the grand
Jurors declare.
indictments Follow Probe.
The Indictments are the outcome
of the recent inquiry by the grand
jury under Foreman George Q. Vass,
vice president of the Riggs National
Bank. into rumors that the police
use third degree" methods to extort
confessions from prisoners. The in
quiry was ordered by Justice Fred
elick l. Siddons, presiding in Criminal
Division l. The witnesses were ex-
amined by Assistant United States
Attorney Fihelly.
The grand jurors. in their report
today to Justice Siddons. exonerate
the Washington police force of the
charge of using inhuman and cruel
treatment to secure confessions from
persons in their custody
Only a stupid official would today
use any third degree methods" says
the report, "since the Bertillion and
the finger print systems of identifi-
cation and the card index records
have placed in the hands of the
police a far more effective method
of bringing criminals to justice"
Police Abuses Found.
The Davis case and others investf-
gated by the grand jurors, however,
the report points out, disclose there
are individual officers who mistreat
prisoners. not to extort confessions,
but to satisfy personal grudge or in
retaliation for supposed wrongs.
These do not constitute l per cent
of the force, according to the re-
port of the grand jury. which treats
in detail of the arduous duties of the
officers, few in number. covering a
large area and making more than
Sc, 900 arrests annually out of pop
ulation of 100000.
Two other incidents in which the
police are declared to have been
sguilty of assaults on prisoners are
given in the report. One was at the
second precinct, where a bootlegger
was severely beaten because he out
witted an officer and prevented the
arrest of some other persons. The
other was at the ninth precinct,
where drunk" disturbing the
officers with his noise was punched
on the jaw, which was broken on
both sides. In the first instance, the
bootlegger testified he was advised
to drop his charges before the police
trial board, which he did. In the
ide nifty his assailant. The offending
officers are not named in the report.
House Cleaning Urged.
A house cleaning in these precincts
is recommended by the grand jury,
which points out that 1T is a mistaken
idea for officers knowing the facts
in theese sporadic cases of assaults
on prisoners to protect brother Of
ficers through fear of discrediting e
the precinct or the department. Such
house cleaning would restore disci-
pline, say the grand jurors, who add
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