Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-09
A District Secret Service. :"

There is merit in the proposal to form
q special squad of trained investigators
as a part Of the Municipal Government,
responsible only to the Commissioners
and qualified for the extraordinary
tasks that heretofore have been as
signed to some Federal agency. But 1t
Is understood that the chief difficulty
confronting the Commissioners now lies
in the lack Of funds, and an appeal
must be addressed to the Budget Bureau
ration Of such funds.
This is unfortunate for the reason
that no special authorization of funds
ought to be necessary, and If the Com
missioners take the view that they
must have extra money allotted for the
formation of such a squad, hope of
realizing the plan is somewhat dimmed
at the outset.
The plan for the special "secret serv-
ice" within the District Government is
probably suggested by the secret service
squad of the New York police. Severa!
years ago the New York authorities
selected from the force a number CT
bright young men who had net yet be-
come known as 'coppers" and who were
unfamiliar with the routine work of the
uniformed police. These were given
special training in the work of investi-
CATION. They worked independently
and secretly. They were unknown, as
individuals, to the public and even to
the lower ranking members Of the police
force. According to a recent article,
the work of this special squad of secrer
Investigators has more than justified
its existence.
Even without the authorization Of
additional funds the Commissioners
ought to be able to select the nucleus
Of q special squad from the members
of the force. Their qualifications, at
the outset, should be intelligence, ini-
tiative and education. Department Of
Justice Investigators lay no special
claim to being super men" as the word
Is loosely used. They are hard-work-
ing fellows with training in the law
or accountancy and they work behind
q closely drawn veil Of anonymity that
Is one Of their chief assets
One of the disadvantages in the pres
ent system OF selecting police detec-
tives Is that such selection is made on
the basis of promotion, rather than on
special qualifications or specialized
training. The man who becomes q
headquarters detective with the rank
of sergeant has put in many long years
as a uniformed policeman. There is
no secrecy attached to his identity.
Everybody, more or less, knows who he
IL and his appointment as a detective
Is duly advertised.
The Commissioners obviously have in
mind the creation Of a special bureau
Of investigation that could be utilized
In such cases as the recent investiga-
ton Of the third degree, or the nu-
merous investigations of District agen-
cies undertaken by the Bureau Of Eff
ficiency. Whether the squad could ever
assume the role filled by these agen-
cies is doubtful, because in the natural
order Of things there would be a de-
mand that the squad itself be investi-
gated. But without hoping to accom-
plish too much at the outset or counting
too heavily on a generous supply OF
funds for hiring trained men, the Com
missioners certainly should be able to
form the nucleus of their special squad
from material at hand. The need for
additional funds could best be demon
strated by experiments in the utiliza-
ton of this squad. And the less said
about the men who are chosen for the
work. the better.