Evening star., 1936-01-24
THOMPSON Slated
TO Be INSPECTOR
Second in Command of De-
" =.
tective Bureau May
!, Succeed Burke.

I Capt. Bernard W. Thompson, for
] several years second In command OF
the Police Department Detective Bu-
.reau, appeared today to be slated Tor
promotion to inspector In charge OF
/ the bureau, to succeed Inspector Frank
Is, w. Burke, who is headed FOR retire.
ment at the end Of this month.
w The Board Of Commissioners Is ex-
pected to approve within few days
the retirement of the veteran Burke.
who about a week ago applied for re-
tirement, as revealed yesterday when
the Police and Fire Retirement and
Relief Board held special meeting to
consider his case.
sss- Inspector Edward ]. Kelly, formerly
commander Of the third precinct and
for years prior to that ace investigator
of the Detective Bureau. appeared to
be in the running with Capt. Thomp-
son.
Keck May Get Promotion.
y Lieut.. Ira Keck, police aide to Com
missioner Hazen, who formerly was
one of the headquarters sleuths, has
strong backing for appointment to the
present position held by Capt. Thomp-
son as second in command OF the De-
tective Bureau.
Commissioner Hazen. 1t was said, Is
prepared to approve the application OF
Inspector Burke for retirement. the
other two Commissioners, 1t Is unoes-
stood, will agree with Ha1en.
Burke has been on sick leave for q
month, Recently, but without public
announcement, he appeared before the
police and fire surgeons. They found
3 him incapacitated for further service,
: It was reported, although the oncial
report was not immediately mace
public.
The disclosure Of the plan came
Yesterday when Inspector Burke ap-
peared before the Police and Fire Re.
tirement and Relief Board. That
board also approved his retirement. al
though there was no announcement AZ
the time.
Would Become Asst. Superintendent.
Whoever i. named the new head OF
the Detective Bureau will hold the
rank of assistant superintendent Of
police so long as he is in that position
under departmental rules.
Police Supt. Brown has not COM
mitted himself as to q recommendation
on Inspector Burke's successor, but he
said yesterday that "allthings being
equal, I favor promotion Of man who
has had worthy service in the Detec-
tive Bureau"
Capt. Thompson, Inspector Kelly
and Capt. Richard Mansfield fall IN
that class. among others.
Inspector Burke Is said to be suffer-
ing from a bad bronchial and heart
condition. He was advised recently he
should take an extended leave ot
absence in an effort to improve his
health. Instead, he decided to file ar
application for retirement.
Inspector Burke is 81 years Of age
and has been in the Police Depart
ment "a years. During the last four
and half years he has been in COM
mand Of the Detective Bureau.
He has had a colorful career in the
department and more than once hal
fought OF efforts to denote or remove
him from the force.
Brig. Gen. Pelham D. Glassford, who
was superintendent Of police at the
time Of the invasion Of the bonus army
attempted to force his retirement or
demotion. The police and fire surgeons
then refused to say that Burke's con-
dition was such that warranted his re-
tirement. Previously Gen. Glassford
had sought to have Burke replaced as
head of the Detective Bureau by Kelly,
then captain of the third precinct.