Evening star., 1937-01-18
AMPLE POLICING
CLAIM DISPUTED
BYDATA0F CITIES
Area Basis, Rejected in Re.
port, Reveals Capital Force
Below Average.
MAI. BROWN CONVINCED
TOTAL OF 1900 NEEDED
Jacobs Committee Findings Note
That District Is Lacking in
Modern Equipment.

BY one method Of statistical COM
parison, the Jacobs Fiscal Relations
Committee found that the District
has fewer police than the average for
II other cities-and far less than
some of them.
BY another method of calculation
Of bare figures, 1t was found the Dis
trict has more than average. The
first was on an area basis and the Sec
ond a population basis. The COM
mittee disregarded the first method,
selected the second as more "signifi-
cant" and concluded that the District
has liberal police man power.
This has intrigued police officials
here no little, particularly since they
insist that the size Of the force should
be increased. The committee ex-
planned its choice in the figures on
the ground that the area test of police
numbers shows violent fluctuations.
It does. The District was reported
to have % police per square mile, as
against 79 in Jersey City. So in .Bos-
ton, rs in Newark and 4 in New
Orleans. The reasons for these f1uc-
tuations was not explained.
The same exemption of fluctuations.
incidentally, was not made by the
committee when it measured recrea-
ton facilities. For instance, it ac-
cepted in its tables such cities as
Rochester, which hires no recreation
leaders, and failed to include play
facilities of Kansas City. which are
under the parks system there, rather
than being charged to recreation"
Brown Denies Force Sufficient.
Denial that the method favored by
the committee as to police man power
was necessarily the better test came
from Police Supt. E. w. Brown, even
assuming that statistical comparison
was a true test Of the needs of the
National Capital.
I'VE should have no less than 1,5O0
uniformed police" Maj. Brown de-
clared. I'VE now have but 1852. In
1885, the date chosen for the COM
mittee analysis. We had 1906 uni
formed men. That number was in
adequate. The number today Is in
adequate"
Police officials generally are con-
vinced the committee experts turned
a deaf ear to statements of the spe-
cial conditions that exist here and not
elsewhere.
For one thing, the amount Of an
nual leave granted to members of the
District police force, 26 days, is great
er than at least the average in the
cities chosen for comparison. they ex-
planned. This is provided by direc-
ton of Congress and is in keeping
with the Federal program for leave.
The effect is to cut down the number
of policemen available for duty on q
yearly basis.
Federal Demands Made.
For another thing. District police
frequently are called for service at
Federal and diplomatic functions, for
guard duty in connection with condi-
tions that develop here because this
is the National Capital and to handle
the recurring marches" on the Cap
ital. The w. P. A. workers and rep
resentatives of the Workers Alliance
are a current illustration, requiring
the assignment Of about 100 police
Notable occasions of the past were the
bonus army" and the hunger
marchers."
As against these conditions, there is
the committee finding that the Dis
trict police have less modern equip
ment than the average for the other
II cities. For instance, 1t had in 1885
but 81 police cars with radio equip
ment, whereas the average for the
other cities was 80.
In other words, while the District
had fewer police per square mile than
the other cities, it had less modern
equipment to provide coverage.
The number of police that Wash
ington has available for regular duty
at one time is pertinent question,
regardless of the comparisons with
other cities. BY records of the Po-
lice Department it is found that in
1885 there were 1906 policemen. Di-
viding this number into three shifts
brings the number available for duty
at one time down to 435. Allowance
for the 26 days annual leave further
reduces the number to 420, or about
6 police per square mile.