Evening star., 1933-05-21
Gangs to Battle Crime


Instructor Is Tic CIAule prevention
officer.
The practical side of the story is
that there hasn't been a case of ju-
venile delinquency referred to the bu-
reau from this neighborhood in sew
eral months. There are fewer chain
store burglaries, and, most important.
there Is an extra large crowd of rowdy.
well-adjusted happy youngsters at the
boys club who are going some " here
and they are not going to Sing Sing,
either.
Although it is daily converting en-
bryo gangsters into worthwhile citi-
zenS, the bureaus activities are not con-
fined to growing good gangs. There is
the work with the delinquent girls as
we'll. Take the case of Ella, whose name
Is fictitious, but whose condition was
almost nauSeatingly real to the crime
prevention policewoman who took her
from shack on one of the beaches
near the city where she had been the
constant companion of a gang of BOYS
engaged chiefly in holding up filling
station attendants on the outskirts of
the Bronx. Ella was a complete wreck.
in the full sense Of the word when ap-
piled to human dereliction. She was
only II. but she hadn't been home all
Summer
There had been some difficulty With
the family. She was foreign born and
had been in high school for two years.
She was trained in American ways; her
rules of life differed from those of her
parents. and since they themselves
didn't understand very well how to get
along in foreign country, the break
between the girl and the only secure
thing in her life. the family, widened.
Presently she was staying out all night
and with the Spring she had taken up
her abode on the beach. There were
no glittering jewels and fine silks for
this gunman's "moll" There was a
deserted shack on the beach and a dirty
arm Of the sea nearby, where she could
wash her one and only dress.
She was taken to headquarters. She
was asked about her parents. An ef-
tort was made to reconcile them, but
| 1t availed nothing. She had left home
and she could stay away. A physical
examination showed a pronounced
glandular disturbance and, therefore,
emotional instability. An intelligence
test showed average mentality. Still
the policewoman worked. She obtained
job for Ella in laundry. She looked
up Elias sister, who was married and
had good home, and finally persuaded
her to take the waif. Ella is there now.
She still goes to the clinic for treat
ment. and her condition is greatly i'm
proved. She writes the bureau that
she wants to go to night school and
study to be dental hygienist. This
is only dream. but it's better than
dreaming of being a gunman's "moll. -
Thousands of such cases are on record.
A Brighter Spectacle.
Turn for a moment to a brighter
spectacle. Last Fall $4,000 youngsters
were gathered from one end of the city
to the other, in busses chartered by the
police, at the Yankee Stadium to wit
ness ball game between the winning
team OF the PAL and the team from
st. Mary's Industrial School at BaIti-
more. I have forgotten who won, but
that isn't important. Babe" Ruth was
there, and so were the cops and kids, -
rallying round as good pals should.
Babe Ruth played an inning with the
Baltimore team and the youngsters
squirmed and figeted on their seats as
each ball was pitched to the mighty
batsman. Little Johnny Spivack, from
up in Throg's Neck, grasped the hand
OF policeman standing near and said ::
Do you think he'll sock one, pal? Do
va. huh?"
This "par' idea really works, and
while it is the primary purpose of the
Police Athletic League we must not
minimize the benefits the Youngsters
get from playing in the open air and
engaging in healthful competition with
their associates, for activity of this ma
ture makes them less liable to fall
under the influence of neighborhood
gang leaders. Last Summer 4,483 BOYS
played base ball in the PAL. There
were 221 teams, made up of regulars"
and s26 matches. All the team mem
bers were lads whose only Fairgrounds
were the crowded city streets. At
tendance at the games was estimated at
3SO, O,00O-some parents but mostly street
associates of the players.
In the Fall there were 104 PAL foot
oall games and during the Winter in
Vulnerable basket ball matches. A po-
ice Lieutenant has been going from
precinct to precinct giving boxing les
sons. He is a former amateur cham
plon. This Summer the league is get
ting the permission of swimming pool
managers to let the boys in free during
two hours of the day.
IL is heartening to know that the
arena in which the forces of prevention
are hehting against crime is larger than
New York City. AS mentioned, IL cite,
nave crime prevention bureaus-most of
tnem probably not SO elaborate as that
In New York. but quite effective. In
score OF others delinquency surveys are
being made, looking to the creation of
such agencies. More and more are
crlmlnologists telling those interested in
public welfare that shooting gangsters
is not enough. The root of the problem
lies deeper.
No one realizes this more than Miss
Addition, who might be speaking for
the group of enlightened municipal Off
Gals when she realistically says:
L do not assume that the Crime
Prevention Bureau can prevent all crime
in New York City, but neither can pre-
ventlve health work prevent all disease.
1t has been demonstrated, however, that
an intelligent, aggressive campaign will
reduce infant mortality and contagious
diseases. An equally energetic attack
on causes can, I am sure, show a SINH
lar decrease in juvenile delinquency and
ultimately reduction in crime and in
the loss of life and the expense and
suffering (which crime entails"
Crime prevention is vet in its swad-
ding clothes, practically speaking. But
it shows signs of going the way of pre-
ventive medicine and preventive fire
fighting and growing up into the giant
that will deliver the knockout blow to
the crime monster that yearly gobbles
up so much of our wealth and so many
of our Young