Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
thick MARSHAL
WINNING PRAISE
Mai. John |. Miles of Kansas
City Brings Discipline
to Police Force.
ny Consolidated Press.


KANSAS CITY, Mo-, September IT,
Belittled by his critics as thick
marshal" Maj. John L. Miles has mixed
a little Army discipline and O rural
training to give this city Of 100000 q
taste OF law enforcement that Is the
talk of police oficers from coast to
coast.
Before Maj. Miles took once as chief
;ia had been sheriff Of Jackson County
snd generally had been recognized rs q
small town" officer. His home was in
Independence. Mo-, q small community
Is miles out in the country.
Appointed Last March.
Miles was named chief last March
when the old police board went out and
Gov. Henry S. Caulfleld, new Governor
Of Missouri, named new commissioners
for Kansas City. The governor selected
Berst S. Kimbrell and Russell Field as
commissioners and suggested they for"
get politics. The selection Of the COM
missioners was against the wishes OF
the Republican machine OF Kansas
City, as was the subsequent selection
of Miles as chief.
When Miles took ONCE there must
have been at least 500 saloons doing
business, for five months after he had
been in command one near beer dis
tributing company complained 1t had
lost 800 customers. Actual police fig-
ures show 1876 speakeasies closed their
doors on orders Of the chief. The other
1O4 are said to have folded zip in the
fact of strict enforcement Of the dry
law by the police department.
But the enforcement of the dry law
has been a secondary task with Maj.
Miles. First of all, he has instilled dis
niVa IN fho oNarfpNanf IN \ =
to that of the 129th Field Artillery Of
the 35th Division in the World War.
Maj. Miles served that Missouri OUTFIT
in France from April. 1918. until the
Armistice. Previously he had served
with old Battery C Of the Missouri Ma
tional Guard and had seen service on
the border when Pershins went after
Villa.
A Stern TaSkmaster.
Maj. Miles came out Of the World
War with the reputation of being q
stern taskmaSter but one who would
hold out to the limit In behalf Of his
men. That attitude was summed UP
by Wallace Cameron. who was Secre-
tary to Miles as sheriff and now is his
chief aide. 1.-THE major can bawl you
out like the worst Of them" said
Cameron, but no other officer in
CNCA CIV away WIN o0yA8 -
harsh word to a trooper under Miles
command"
In his demand for Army-like dis
cipline. Chief Miles has dismissed pa
trolmen and captains alike for any
violations Of the police code. While
sheriff he once testified before . grand
jury against two of his own deputies
who had been arrested In an extortion
plot against bootleggers.
IF the men know their Job and I'M
derstand they must do It," asserts Chief
Miles, "they will do it and do it right. !"
Several departmental shake-ups have
convinced the 500 police in Kansas
City that the chief means business and
apparently he is to retain . free hand
in combating crime.
When Miles took ONCE 1t was agreed
by both political factions in the city
that law enforcement was ut q low
state of efficiency. The most open sign
of law violation was the Speak-easy and
it was the first to 60. But with the bar
and its spiked beer have gone the
gambling houses and all varieties Of
vice Just now the bookmakers are
fighting q losing battle to keep open
in afternoons.
One of Chief Miles first steps was to
meet the challenge Of the bank bandit.
Numerous hold-ups had placed Kansas
City burglary and hold-up insurance
at the top Of the scale. To combat this
situation Miles installed branch of1ces
throughout the downtown district where
headquarters could dispatch two pa
trolmen on q seconds notice. The re-
suit is that the city has not had Q
major hold-up since March.
One element has complained that the
Miles administration Is making the
city unpopular as q convention center
and even driving people out Of town.
Miles reply always has been: 81 be-
lieve the people want the Law enforced"
tCopyriRht, 1927