Evening star., 1934-12-17

"The third degree" in q new phase
is brought to public attention by the
order of Police Commissioner Valen-
tine of New York that rough treat
ment should be given to known men,
bers of the gangster world. The COM
missioner said: II don't want these
men coming in here looking as If
they had just left the barber chair.
Don't be afraid to muss 'em up"
Critics of the order hold that the
police may sometimes be mistaken,
and that brutality is unjustified. De-
tenders of Commissioner Valentine
point to the shoot first" policy that
has brought an end to many criminal
careers.
Professional criminals have be-
come so ruthless" says the Youngs-
town Vindicator, that when the po-
lice set out to capture them, they
often have no choice but to shoot
first and ask questions afterward.
The Vindicator concludes: Most OF
the professional bad men have dis
appeared from the scene and the
sight of one after another Of them
being shot down like rats has tended
to- destroy the glamour Of their career.
Stern methods are reviving q whole
some respect for the law. When the
country returns to normal 1t will be
time to consider whether these meth
ods are too rough"
Strong criticism Of the police Of
fetal Is voiced by the Portland
Oregonian, with the statement: Give
to the police the right to decide who
is known gangster' and who is
not, and give them the right of un-
limited brutality on those deemed to
be law violators, then you will have
chaos. Certainly you will build up
q police force no better morally than
the thugs. Society soon would have
to suppress the police force which it
had assigned to suppress the crimi-
mails. When police head orders bru-
tality, 1t Is q confession Of his own
failure under the ordinary methods.
1t is time for . new police head. Even
from the purely practical standpoint,
the order is folly. Experience has
shown time after time that juries Will
COklNICt y AAhA WAAO 40 o1AS w.
prove that he has been subjected to
deliberate violence by police"
There Is a question" according to
the Denver Rocky Mountain News,
whether such talk from o high police
oficial is not more dangerous than
crime itself, for when the law turns
lawless, civilized society is in danger"
The News quotes from the report Of
the Wickersham Board the opinion
that "the fight against lawless men,
If waged by forbidden means, is de-
graded almost to the level of q strug-
gle between two law-breaking gangs"
The Waterloo Qowa) Courier suggests
that some day the Gotham police will
'muss up q law-abiding citizen"
The New York Times treats the in
cident facetiously, remarking that "by
mussing UP the CONNIE IL faut crooks
the police will only be making it
harder to distinguish q crook from q
peaceful citizen. Take q college pro-
fessor, or an architect with whom
times are not so good, and his trousers
are apt to lack the perfect razor
edge"
Strictly speaking" remarks the
New York Sun, 1.-The end of John
Dillinger was not attended by all the
formalities dear to the legalistic mind.
But, as the Sun remarked on that
occasion, If the Federal agent had
been restricted by the routine which
marks an arrest for murder in Eng
land, it would have been the agent,
and not the outlaw, who died in the
street.
"The police order contains untold