Evening star., 1937-09-05
Statistics on Crime
in This Country
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

detectives, by watching the scene, have
been able to get their man. In great
many other cases it is not true. state
ment which would come nearer the rule
is that the culprit returns to his type OF
crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
OF the Department of Justice now Is
reputed to have the largest collection of
flngerprints in the world. Through
cooperative system which covers the en-
tire country, local police, sheriffs and
all other peace officers send copies of
f1ngerprints they take to the bureau at
Washington. In that extraordinary
crime laboratory these prints are classi-
fed catalogued and filed. Complicated
machinery which gives the impression of
thinking for itself can, in few minutes.
discover whether the prints of a man who
has just been reported arrested have
ever been taken before
Before this elaborate system was
worked out, 1t is certain that many a
man, arrested on suspicion, talked his
way out of predicament and went free
to prey upon the public Now an inquiry
directed to Washington can ascertain
within brief space of time whether the
man has previous bad record. This rec
ord is not evidence so far as the present
offense is concerned, but it is useful as
guide to finding fresh evidence Also the
print may show the man is a fugitive
from Justice
This fingerprint system has revealed
to what an extraordinary extent crimi-
nails return to their own type of crime.
This has nothing to do with the profess
sional side of crime. 1t is understand
able, from the point of view of crafts
manship. that man who has learned
the trade of safe-cracking should con-
tinue cracking safes. That is his bust
ness. One would not expect bricklayer
to take up telegraph operating.
~ *
The matter rests on another basis. a
psychological basis. There seems to be
a definite type of criminal. who. after
serving sentence, will return to the
same type of violence which caused his
first conviction. Psychiatrists might sav
that he had developed passion for that
particular offense. For example. the bu-
reau reports that in the first half of the
present year, it was shown that IA per-
sons charged with homicide had been
previously convicted of that crime. The!
had received comparatively light SEN
tences, were paroled or pardoned. and in
spite of conviction before and the
shadow of the galloWs, returned to mur.
der again.
The latest siX-month record Of the
bureau shows a return to some sort OF
crime OF astounding proportions. OF
course, the fact that an individual is ar
rested on a given charge does not mean
that a conviction has followed. but it
does mean there has been sufficient sus-
picion to cause the arrest.
During the first half of this year. then.
1t is shown that 637 persons arrested on
charge of homicide had previous con-
victions. The previous convictions were
not all on that charge, but there had been
criminal records. 1t was shown that
2.915 persons arrested on a charge of
robbery had previous criminal records
Persons charged with assault, numbering
3,739, had previous records. For bur-
glary the figure is 1865: for larceny and
related offenses. 1928l for arson, 90;
for forgery and counterfeiting, 2408;
rape, 528: narcotic law violations. l l,49l;
unlawfully carrying weapons. 800. and
driving while intoxicated. 1881 The bu-
reau says that in most of these categories
the previous convictions had been for
the same type of crime.
While the fingerprintS in the bureaus
files constitute the worlds largest single
collection, that collection is far from
complete It is doubtful. for instance.
whether in / 900 readers of this column
is person whose fngerprints have been
taken. 1t is believed by bureau officials
that, as the collection grows. 1t will be
found increasingly that criminals return
to the same type Of crime.
The figures giving percentages, classi-
fled by crimes, of those arrested in the
first half of this year. having previous
flngerprint records. are Illuminating At
the top stand the narcotic violators and
this classification would include sellers
and addicts. This category should be
viewed somewhat differently from other
crimes, as dope addiction is a disease,
primarily. The percentage here is 641.
Commercialized vice shows the high fig
ure OF B per cent. Robbery has a per-
centage of 51.6 and forgery and counter
feiting. 1916. The classification of forgery
and counterfeiting belongs in the skilled
class. Here the recidivists. the men re-
turning to crime. are but men returning
to their professions, likely the only pro-
fessions they know.
There, obviously, is moral twist In
volved. One of the most famous counter
felters OF earlier days was known as Jim
the Penman. He was several times con-
victed and served sentences of varying
lengths. Before conviction. however, he
successfully passed currency so skillfully
executed merely with pen and ink that it
escaped detection for while. Now 1t is
evident that man so skilled in handling
pen and ink could have made an excel
lent living in a legitimate manner But
he preferred. apparently, to match his
art against the Government operatives
He always lost.
Arrests of men outnumber arrests of
women by very wide margin as to most
crimes. For example, in the first six
months of 1887 there were 1878 men ar
rested charged with homicide and only
32l women. However, of all the men
arrested on all charges only 1.3 per cent
were arrested on the homicide charge
while of all the women arrested on all
charges the higher figure of 1S per cent
applied to them.
The early age at which arrests are
made for serious crimes is astounding
The age groups leading all others are 81
and % years. The 10 and the % wear
groups almost match. It is surprising
to find out that 5000 arrests of 16-year-
old boys and girls were made in the first
six months of this year. More than halt
the arrests for the month period were
OF persons under Is years of age. This
includes all age groups and all crimes.
Ntvof faI po.t,,