Evening star., 1932-03-26
TAB TO Be KEPT.
ON WORLD CROOKS
Rogues' Gallery Here Would
Exchange Data With
Foreign Nations.
BY REX COLLIER.

An international rogues gallery" is
being established by the United States
Bureau of Investigation.
The international fugitive will find
his avenues to freedom closely Scruti-
nized by police of America and Eu-
rope, under a plan for regular inter-
national exchange of criminal identifi-
cation data arranged by j. Edgar Hoo
yer, director of the Bureau Of Investi-
cation.
Scotland Yard and national police
agencies in France, Belgium, Italy and
Havana have notified Director Hoover
of their willingness to cooperate in
the enterprise. The proposal also has
received the Endorsement of many of
the leading law enforcement officers in
this country, the director disclosed
today.
The program now being developed
under leadership of the United States
calls for an exchange of fingerprints
of all alien criminals, or persons be-
lieved to be natives or citizens of a
foreign country and who run afoul of
the law.
Data to Be Forwarded.
Thus, the fingerprints and other
foreign nationality whose record is filed
with the Bureau Of Identification will
be forwarded to the country concerned.
The foreign agencies, in turn, will send
to America the records of nationals of
the United States
Prior to the present consideration of
this problem" Director Hoover an
nounced, the International exchange
mas been limited to cases Of particular
or special Importance, but the present
plan provides for a definite elaboration
on this policy
The directeur du Service d'Identifi-
cation Judiciare at Brussels, the con-
troleur general des Services de Rech-
erches Judiciares, minister de LIN
terieus, at Paris: New Scotland Yard at
London and the national identification
bureaus at Rome and Havana were
asked for their views relative to ex-
change of fingerprints of Americans
arrested in their countries and to de-
termine whether they considered it
feasible to receive from the bureau
here the fingerprint cards of individuals
believed to be natives or citizens of their
own countries who were arrested in the
United States.
Plan Heartily Favored.
THE officers in charge of the bureaus
named heartily indorsed this proposal
Many of the peace officers throughout
the United States who had been con-
suited for their views have expressed
themselves as strongly in favor of this
important move.
1T is felt by the Bureau of Investiga-
ton that development of the interna-
tional exchange of f1ngerprints should
prove to be further step in the cause
OF effective law enforcement, should in
sure the regular receipt by the bureau
OF the criminal records of Americans
arrested in the countries cooperating
and should provide for the completion
OF records of citizens or natives of the
designated countries who may be taken
into custody in the United States.
During initial stages of this work
flngerprintS of persons who, it is be-
lieved, may have records in any of
the countries mentioned will be re-
ceived by the bureau from the chiefs
OF police Of cities in excess of 100000
population, as we'll as from the war
dens Of penal institutions and the su-
perintendentS of the "a State Bureaus
of Indentif1cation.
1T is planned ultimately to include
in this program all of the bureaus
4,393 contributors Of criminal identifi-
cation data"
The bureaus Identification work has
experienced a muShroomlike growth
since 1924, when the fingerprint COL
lection was begun. Approximately
1000 fingerprintS are received each
day from all parts of the country.
More than half a million prints will
be filed during the next fiscal year.
Identifications are effected in nearly
40 per cent of the cases About 200
fugitives are, located each month
through the services Of the bureau.