The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-06-16
Jingle DEATH
FORCES Police
HEADS TOQU|T
Russell and Siege Step Out
of Offices Under Fire
of Chicagoans.
BLAST AT PERFORMERS
Prohibition Blamed by Re-
firing Commissioner for
Over 100 Gang Murders.
BVUnited Press

By United Press
CHICAGO. June 16.-Police Com
missioner william F. Russell and
Detective Chief John Siege resigned
under fire today, swept aside by the
pressure of public indignation over
the gang murder of Alfred j.
Lingle, police reporter for the Chi
cago Tribune.
Under the terms of their reSigna-
tions neither Russell nor Siege
leave the police department, al
though surrendering the positions
of high command.
Russell becomes a captain, as
signed to civil service and Stege's
dem7tion makes him captain OF the
Irving Park police district.
John Alcock, deputy commissioner
of police, was named acting COM
missioner pending reorganization
of the executive personnel of the
department, and John Egan, deputy
detective chief, was appointed as
temporary successor 10 Siege.
Bitterness Expressed
Russell announced his own resig-
nation in his office at the city hall,
expressing bitterness against the
circumstances which had forced him
ont Of office
"Stege and 7 are stepping aside so
the reformers can have their in
ming" Russell told the United Press.
I'VE have worked our hearts out on
this lob since we came into Office
the first of August in 1928. but the
refcrmers wanted red meat and we
are it.
we defy any reformers to come
in here and show us where We have
made any mistakes.
Chicago is the safest city in the
country and has less crime than
any other city CT its size anywhere. T"
Killing Week Ago
Capitulation of the two white
haired police executives came one
week after the assassination of Lin
gle in a pedestrian subway under
Michigan boulevard, and climaxed
seven days of agitation by newspa-
pers and civic organizations for a
new deal in law enforcement for
Chicago.
Editorial the papers of the city
united in a campaign to expose al
liances between gangsters and police
officials, raising more than $4,000
in rewards for Information leading
to the capture of Lingle's killer.
Russell blamed prohibition and a
shortage of police funds for the gang
wars which caused more than 100
murders here in the year before
Lingle was killed.
Business Leaders Meet
Prohibition is an insurmountable
obstacle to law enforcement and ]
don't care who knows it." Russell
said. we haven't had enough
money to put up the kind of battle
we wanted to, but we have done
mighty we'll under the circumstances
and we don't have any alibis. The
reformers can come in here and
smell around as long as they like.
I'm going back. to the captaincy
from which worked my way up to
commissioner and I'll be on call
when I'm needed again"
The Russell-Stege designations
we're the first break in what promised
to be a momentous day in the
campaign to run the gangsters out
of Chicago.
At noon sixty business leaders
met at a secret luncheon with
Colonel Robert I. Randolph, head OF
the Association of Commerce.
Rumors were plentiful concerning
what this powerful group of mer-
chant princes, bankers and manu-
facturers would do.
War on Mayor Rumored
One rumor was that they would
demand that Mayor William Hale
CBig Bid Thompson step aside in
the interests of setting up a new
government to purge the city OF
crime in time for the Worlds Fair
in 1888.
It was reported also that the
business leaders would subscribe a
large fund for the support Of what
ever program of action they might
adopt.
In other parts Of the city clergy
men. civic bodies and political or
CARNATIONS were gathering to take
action in the crime crisis. Although
the meetings were separate. their
effect was to be the same as the
town meetings of Colonial days
when leading residents gathered to
plan war on common enemies.
nFATn nlrc TAI Dill DIT