Evening star., 1933-09-10


by county sheriffs since the introduc-
ton Of the bloodhound as a back-coun-
try detective. They still use the hounds
to trail criminals, and sometimes expect
| the dogs to be able to tell the differ
ence between one rubber tire and an
other.
Find Few Obstacles.
| And so it is not hard to see that
when the bandits ride they find few
| obstacles placed across the smooth
highway by the county constabulary
Some of them have grown to be "sher-
if baiters," thinking it big joke to
kidnap a sheriff, take him for ride
| and dump him out in the woods miles
| from home.
Charles Arthur CPretty Boy') Floyd
the Oklahoma outlaw, who is said to
have bedeviled many Oklahoma sheriffs
! without running afoul Of the law, is
case in point.
Only two months after Irving Kelly,
| former sheriff of Mcintosh County
Oklahoma. was shot to death in raid
on the farm home of Ben Hargraves
| father -in-law of Floyd, the bandit held
! Sheriff Jack Killingsworth captive fol
more than IA hours, taking him for q
ride of 500 miles over Oklahoma and
Missouri back-country roads.
! Such is the predicament Of the rural
sheriff who runs afoul Of the modern
gangster.
/ And Pretty Boy Floyd. who grew up
! in the small town of Sallisaw, con-
tinues to plague Oklahoma peace off,
! GERS. With a price of $4,000 on his
| head. known everywhere as the bandit
! king" he is accused of holding uI
more than a score of banks during the
! last two years. and last Fall he swoopec
down on the bank in his home town
/ took the cashier as a hostage and $3.50
from the till and fed.
! Home,br bandits literally have Ok
| lahoma law enforcement officers "or
the ropes" Witness this plaintive state
ment of Charles Burns. superintendent
Of the Oklahoma Bureau Of Criminal
Investigation and Identification:
| They never rob bank in the level
country of the Western half of the
State All their bank robberies are In
| the hin country in the Eastern part
They we're born and grew up there and
| have a host of relatives and friends
and sympathizers all through there who
! shelter. protect and warn them"
| Gov Alfalfa Bill" Murray throws
| light on the reason for the Ineffective
ness of Burns Bureau Floyd. says
Gov. Murray, sent word twice by rela-
tives that If would save him from
the electric chair he would come in
and surrender"
II sent word back that I would not
do it. but that had instructed Burns
to get him. am hampered by lack
Of money with which to pursue these
bandits. The appropriation for the
bureau Of which Burns is the head
has been cut down until he has only
So Pretty Boy" Floyd continues at
this writing to run around the sheriffs
and even bargain with Governors.
The Office of sheriff Is anchored by
constitutional provisions in our scheme
of local government. and there is little
| hope that it can be altered to any
great extent without drastic changes
| in State laws Neither is there any
indication that the sheriff's Office will
become more effective police agency
Rather, the indications are that this
function of the sheriff will continue
| to deteriorate.
Fortunately. the outlook for rural
| crime control is not as dark as this
survey of our rural constabulary might
| indicate. New factors have entered
into the problem of rural police pro-
| lection; new agencies are beginning to
take over the duties Of policing the
sparsely settled districts. Chief OF
| units.
First Unit Created.
Back in 1885, when Texas was still
republic. the first of these State
police units was created. The Texas
Rangers, semi military force, was set
up to bring order into lawless land
These men were primarily frontier po-
licemen and border patrolmen, func-
ton they retain even today, but they
were the beginning of an idea. Thirty
years later, in 1865, Massachusetts, took
up the idea and created a Statewide
constabulary. The beginning of the
century saw the spread of the move
ment to other States, and the wal
emergency gave 1t new impetus. Al
present there are II States with CEN
tralized police forces which enforce all
These II are modelled more or less
after the Pennsylvania State police, es-
tablished in 1905. Eight additional
States have highway patrols which
have been given general police powers
and which show signs of expanding
into real State police forces.
Crime, having become Statewide
demands Statewide control. Small
enough to keep in touch with loca
situations and large enough to pursue
criminals effectively over a wide area
these State units mean the abandon
ment Of local control of the police.
Certainly in those States which have
efficient State police units rural crime
Is under better control. Bruce Smith
police expert of the National Institute
of Public Administration, says In his
book. Rural Crime Control:
I'm the Northeastern section Of thu
country the State police have thor.
oughly intrenched themselves and have
for, the most part rendered such su.
perior service as to weaken perceptibly
the long-standing prejudice against
State control"
These State police forces have brought
scientific methods of criminal investi.
cation to solve the rural crime problem
Most Of them have criminal identified.
ton bureaus and detective force.
trained in criminal investigation. Many
are admirably equipped with the --latest
in police communication equipment
the radio and the teletypewriter. They
4 AnI.% a. m