Douglas daily dispatch., 1927-07-03
And N ORDER
in DOUGLAS IS
WELL SECURED
Police Force Founded On
Honesty Protects City
Through Cooperation

las is rated as one of the cleaneSt
spots in these United States. There
is a lot behind this moral cleanliness.
In the first place, one must list the
fact that the city administration Is
conducted with the understanding
that graft is not to be considered in
any light except that given it under
the definitions in criminal law.
Branching off from this city adj
ministration there lis to be found a
little group of men who hold the title
and authority of police force of the
city of Douglas. What a little police
force it is for a city of more than
10000 people. There are only ten of
them counting their chief.
This force is built on something,
however, beside size. The men who
go to make up this strong arm of the
law are not ordinary men in any
sense of the word. They are profess
sional officers. Most of them are
past middle age, and all of them are
trained to- their work.
From the chief on down they have
records in their profession around
which some of the most thrilling
stories of the southwest might be
written. The chief, Percy Bowden,
started his career as soon as he got
out of Short pants and was deputy
sheriff under the late Captain Harry
Wheeler, often reckoned by old timers
to have been man who did not
know fear. It is apparent that
Wheeler picked men to work with
him who possessed some very high
qualities themselves.
Percy Bowden set a record for ar
rests of desperate men and convic-
ton of them that has seldom been
equaled anywhere and never by one
so youthful. He is a. little man, be-
ing short and slender, but he almost
never carries gun and does not use
a club. "He's good little man with
his hands," That's what they say
about Percival
Men around the police station can
/ tell some hair raising stories of the
! gambling dens, smugglers' hangoutS
and other places that his man has
1 raided single handed, always getting
his man or men and always landing
them behind the bars. He has been
known to tackle, heavyweight and
! batter his face to pulp while the
big man was trying to land on him,
but could never catch up with the
fast stepping little officer.
That familiar argument, "You can't
put me in JAIL" has been tried ON
this bunch of officers many times.
These men insist that there is no
such thing as can't when it comes
to making an arrest, and those vio-
lators of the law and the peace and
dignity of the city of Douglas who
have tried force on these officers
have lived to regret it bitterly.
Yet there was never Jail or
bunch of officers in the world with
/ better reputation for making
/ friends, even among the criminal
/ element who are supposed to hate
officers with a$deadly hatred. There
are several instances in the past few
years of bank robbers and murderers
captured here who, while spending
/ weeks in the city jail came to respect
! and like these officers so much that
on at least one occasion man
charged with seven. bank robberies
| and several murders wept when he
! came to say farewell to Chief BOWden.
AIuOI1S OllC ICc1 O1NA O1AAACAO OAA VAAS
force, while many of them have not
served so many years on this force
there must be mentioned Sam Hay
hurst of the night patrol, who has
packed gun for so many years that
it is jokingly said he could not walk
straight with that weight removed
from his right hip. He has rec
ord of % years as peace officer.
He is rated as a first class tracker.
and at one time tracked gang OF
raiding Apache Indians over the al
most bare rocks of the high Chiri-
cahuas in an effort to recover herd
of stolen horses and cattle.
Sergeant A. B. Murchison of the
force is pioneer whose father was
a pioneer before him. He it is who
maintains with the cooperation OF
Chief Bowden that system of inter-
national relations with Aqua Prieta
and Mexico in general that puts
trained displomats to shame. This
district has a bad reputation among
crooks. They have learned that to
flee to Mexico is to flee into the
hands of law enforcement squad
that might well be considered to be a
part of the Douglas police department
! An Aqua Prieta police officer will
work with Douglas officers on any
sort of a case and to the full measure
of his ability, and the same is true
for this side of the border.
Another great aid to the interna-
tional aspect of the local department.
is Miles L. Pollard, who wrangled
horses in Oklahoma and the Indian
Territory in the very early days and
who has now an interest in herds OF
cattle in Sonora. Pollard is an in
ternational figure, man who can go
into the interior of Sonora even in
revolutionary times without fear. He
is reckoned to have as many friends
in the southern republic as he has
here.
Under the caption of Things You
Never See," an exacting critic places
this police force. With all due respect
to honest officers and to honest ad-
ministration of justice and law en-
forcement, the common belief that all
/ Continued on Page Seven)