The Washington times., 1935-01-25
FRENCH POLICE
REPORTSTRAP
CRIMINALS
BY EDWARD HUNTER
International News Service

International News Service
PARIS, Jan. 25.-Police rec.
ords Of France reveal that
fraction more than 81 per cent
Of stolen automobiles are re-
covered. That is an indication
of what French police can do
when they want to. Many au-
thorities on police matters
throughout the world give the
French the credit of having the
"Slickest" and most efficient force
Of any country.
Yet they do not look with favor
upon new-fangled gadgetS and
other products of the industrial
age, They have only begun to
put radios into police stations.
Radio autos for police are al
most unknown. They have just
started motorcyclist corps, and it
is hardly a secret that almost
any good auto can OUTRAGE the
best police motorcycles.
They have, however, begun to
experiment with ultraviolet rays
in reading the erasures on letters,
checks and documents. This,
however, is as much a "black
chamber affair for military
counter espionage as a police
measure. Even where a magnify
ing glass fails to even hint Of an
erasure, the ultraviolet ray can
show the exact writing under
meath which expert criminals or
spies have eliminated with acids
or other chemicals.
ANY Kind of Gun
The police are declared by left
wing newspapers to have recently
obtained supplies Of tear gas, but
this is not so much a measure
against criminals as against pol
itical disorders.
French police are armed, while
English "bobbies" usually are not.
The individualist tendencies OF
the French are further indicated
by the fact that a policeman
does not have to carry the regu'
lation pistol. He can equip him.
self with any his fancy favors.
This goes also for detectives.
One reason the police have not
moderniZed as in America Is be-
cause the French criminal has
not modernized himself as the
American criminal has done. No
French bandit carries machine
gun in his armored car. So the
French police don't have to use
them as Counter-me2SureS.
An Apache might take a shot
at a "cop" once in a while, or
use the traditional dagger, but
usually he goes in for kicking,
the French form Of boxing which
has been advanced to a cruel and
high pitch.
The French police therefore
have had to go through a course
Of training in this "savate," as
the French way of boxing with
hands and feet is called. But they
are not noted as good shots with
the pistol.
Foreign observers are particu.
1arly struck with the elaborate
crime reconstruction which police
go through in France. Every de-
tail in no matter what crime, from
killing to spying, has to be re.
hearsed over and over again as
in q theater, with each grimace
and Screech repeated. Women who
shoot their straying lovers have
to go back to the scene and do
1t all over again with a pistol in
their hand. The only detail lack
ing is the bullet in the gun.
The suspects are held for long
periods, sometimes a year ana
more, while crime is reconstructed
to theatrical perfection-to the
very climax when it is solved.
They are put under intensive grill
several times weekly. The exam.
lining magistrates show no haste.
They do not descend to third de-
gree measures. They are more
patient. They have more time on
their hands.
Know Every Move
Every commissar of police
throughout France, who can be
compared to police captains in
America, is Surete rationale
(secret service) man as well. In
villages without police, the mayor
has to do the surete rationale
work.
Every concierge, as janitors or
house superintendents are known,
has to make out full reports of
departures and arrivals, etc., for
police use. Hotel and pension"
keepers must report the name of
every guect and If he is a for
eigner give police the facts on his
passport.