The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-10-18
SHOWS EFFECT
OF HORSE THIEF
DETECT|vELAW
County Has 317 Who Have
Permits to Wear Garb
of Officers.
1000 COUNTY MEMBERS
Only One in Clothes of Con-
stable Is Needed in Raid
ing Parties.
1000 COUNTY MEMBERS

lily ! al liVos
The robbery of D. j. Murname.
Greencastle, Ind, of a 5000 diamond
ring by man in uniform and two
others with badges has disclosed the
workings of the law passed by the
last LEGISLATURE under which Horse
Thief Detectives function as con-
stables.
Murname and a girl were parked
on the Allisonville Rd., four miles
north of the city when accoSted by
three men, one in uniform.
He tells the police that he paid
them IS as a peace offering to es-
cape the humiliation of being ar
rested on some charge, they threat
ened to make and that then these
men, who pretended to be officers,
stole his valuable diamond.
Easy to Get Uniforms
The incident is but one of many
instances of activities of the Horse
Thief Detectives since the last Leg
islature passed a law which on its
face was intended to curb their &C
tivities but in reality gave them
greater license to stop cars, inter-
fere with citizens and otherwise
usurp the functions of the regular
police.
Sheriff Omer Hawkins says that it
is possible for the detectives and
other officers to buy uniforms for
$11. In that he errS to the extent
of IS cents. The uniforms cost
$3.50 with an added charge of $2.75
for the cap, and are furnished by
H. L. Sanders, 218 Indiana Ave.
Dress Prescribed by State q
The law provides that no peace
officer shall make an arrest on pub
lie highways for violation of motor
laws unless he wears a distinctive
uniform and badge.
But there is also the generous pro-
vision that this does not apply
when there is a uniformed officer
present.
The law provides that the secre-
tary of State shall prescribe and
approve the type of uniform.
AS soon as the law was passed,
Secretary of State Frederick Schort-
emeier approved uniform for the
Hor,se Thief Detectives which is
very similar in appearance to that
of the State police who are under his
jurisdiction.
Loophole In Law
The Stephenson Legislature in
1925 already had legalized the
carrying of revolvers, not only by
the horsethief detectives, but by
any one of the Khan members if he
wished to say that he was on his
way to or from a meeting of that
organization.
The approval Of the uniform by
Schortemeier set the stage for the
incidents of which the robbery of
Murname is the latest.
The thrift of the organization,
which has 1000 members in Ma
rion County, of which only a little
more than 800 have given the re-
CURED bonds, is shown by the fact
that it takes advantage of the loop
hole in the law that requires the
presence of only one man in uni
form.
The raiding squads are formed of
one man in uniform and as many
of his companions as he wishes to
take along on the raids on highways
which, in this case, resulted in
robbery.
Bonds Given by 317 Men.
The uniform is almost identical
with that of the State police who
are employed to patrol the roads
There are BIT men who have given
bonds In this county and are enti-
tied to wear these uniforms. The
large number makes it somewhat
difficult for police to discover what
member. and both police and
sheriff are convinced that the rob-
berry came from this source.
There are two kinds of horsethief
detectives in this city. One is
headed by Oren Davis and is called
the Marion County Council It is
this branch which patronizes San
ders. There are eleven other COM
panies of detectives which do not
affiliate with his group.
Seek Makers of Uniform
Sanders says that in all he has
made not over fifteen of the uni
forms and in each case he had re-
ceived an order from Davis. It is
not known who builds the uniforms
for the so-called dependent group
or how many are now being worn
on the night raiding parties.
Davis says that he will make an
investigation to discover where the
men to whom he gave orders for
uniforms were on the night that
Murname was first blackmailed and