New Britain herald., 1927-07-16
COUNT NO CROOKS
 UNTIL CUFFS SNAP
DttGtiys NeVer Certain of Sue. ...': : :. cess in Their Pursuit

brinfs to the minds of veteran po- lice officers memories of numerous instances of well laid plans going for naught just as easily and speed lily as the Sound View coup was ex- ecuted. The fact that the informa- ton which resulted in the capture was furnished by the local police, who, in turn. obtained it from a local resident, added to the highly interesting circumstances of the criminals presence in New Britain the day before he was apprehended, caused & great deal of public atteL- ! ton to be focused on the affair and incidentally gave rise to considerable discussion of the unsuccessful coups-to-be in which New Britain policemen took part.
 It Is difficult to state percentage rating on the plans of policemen, but it is safe to say that even the raids and scouting parties which appear to be certain Of successful ending are likely to go wrong, and
  gin to prepare their report or re- hearse their court testimony until quarry they seek is safely in their clutches. In many instances. the po- lice say. 1t is apparently safe to an- tieipate certain results, including arrests. yet the simplest upset may occur and send the case so far from solution it can never be reached. } In fact, none of the planned moves which are frequently found neces- sary in police work can be positive ly.. counted on to produce the de- sired results although many police men have found it necessary to have this fact proven to their satisfaction before they would admit it's truth.
 In the Sound View capture. for instance. the detectives were about ready to cease their vigil when their man happened along. Had he remained away another day they would have made other plans, &C., cording to their own statements, because their long experience in ! hunting criminals impressed on them the probability of an unex- z pected upset and in this instance . they feared their man had been in- formed that the trail was getting hot and had gone to other quar- CTS. Yet, when they went to Sound View on the information given them here they were optimistic as there seemed to be nothing left for them 10 do but secrete themselves and await their man. Fate or fortune, good for them and bad for their man, decreed that the game should end just at time when the repre- sentatives of the law were about to deviate from their tactics.
 r Since the work of enforcing the prohibition laws has become an im- .portant feature of police duty, members of the local department "have had many disappointments, H. frustrating very thoroughly the un- certainty of planned movements. Naturally. information in large quantities finds its way to the de- tective bureau and 1t is a difficult matter to discern the good from the bad. Consequently it IS necessary for the officers to spend some time on practically every tip" or "squeal" that comes to their attne- ton. There are instances on record, tho police say. where very valuable lvAR n11C ssform but for the most part the identity of informers is known to rthe police although not to the gen. eral public.
 Several months ago, policemen on the hunt for liquor spent several nights watching one of the prin- cipal entrances to the city and despite the seeming authenticity of their information, there vigil was unrewarded. They had reason to believe they knew the make of the car that was said to have been used to deliver the liquor and every other detail including the hours between which delivery would be made, was in their possession, yet nothing de- veloped, and the reason for the fail .ure of the well-laid plans has never been learned.
 s A few years ago. two policemen who had worked all day were de- tailed to do a night trick" on the outskirts of the city and in a pour ing rain they lay in wait for the truck that never came. Before leav- ing the station they were confident of making one of the most sensa- tional clean-ups that had been put across up to that tme but all they saw throughout the night was rain and mud.
 Time after time, policemen have watched houses and other buildings where violations of various kinds were reported only to fail entirely to observe the merest semblance of the thing they were after. Not infrequently have they stood watch flor several successive nights only to be informed later that the night following their last watch the of- fences for which they had been looking, were committed.
 Various explanations are offered for the collapse of carefully laid plans but 1t is believed that one of the most common reasons is the ab- sence of foundation in many reports that lead to night watches. Well meaning informants have been known to exaggerate either through ignorance of the true conditions or failure to make proper observations before Jumping at conclusions. It Is also true. however. that through some Inadvertently given signal the police plans became known and the activity which was being watched 2 for suddenly ceased, or, as has been known to happen, ended entirely. In other cases, the police believe the intervention of fate at the oppor- tune time gave the "break' to the