Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-09-22

The Gear, Gilman squad will
speed to the scene of every accident
so that similar crashes may be pre-
vented in the future. A secondary
aim will be to determine who is at
fault and bring him or her to justice.
Previous Practice Cited.
Heretofore, the investigation of
non-fatal accidents has fallen hap
hazardly on any officer who hap
pened on the scene first. If it were
a cruiser. the two policemen ques-
toned the driver of the car and any
witnesses and then presented their
case before member of the corpora
ton counsels Office. The latter de-
termined whether or not the evil
dence warranted taking the case
into court.
If the accident involved a pedes-
TRAN and he or she died as result,
q member of the homicide squad
began his investigation. But by
then the trail might have been cold
and there was little coordination
between the first investigation and
the second.
When the evidence concerning the
fatality was presented at coroner's
inquest, this lack of coordination
was often apparent, it was pointed
out. Lack of comprehensive charts
often hampered the prosecution in
Police Court, if the driver was held
for Police Court by a coroner's jury
action, court attaches explained.
With the new setup, however, one
man on the accident investigation
squad will follow the case all the
way through from the moment the
accident occurs to the final DISPOSE
ton of the case The homicide squad
will be relieved of investigation OF
any traffic fatality.
Inspector Arthur E. Miller, head
OF the bureau, has divided the city
into six accident beats to be covered
by the six traffic cruisers"
Beats Are Listed.
The first beat will consist OF the
seventh and eighth precincts; beat
No. 2, the sixth and tenth precincts;
beat No. g. the ninth and twelfth
precincts; beat No. 4, the fifth,
fourth and eleventh precincts, and
beats Nos. and 6, the first, second,
third and thirteenth precincts.
Four of the cars will patrol their
beats from 8 am. to pm; four
from 4 pm. to midnight; two from
midnight to s am; two from 10 am.
to s pm, and two from pm. to 2
m. Thus, the inspector explained,
there will be constantly overlap
ping of the cars so that they will be
on the streets every minute of the
day and night.
Charts covering every conceivable
accident location, whether it be at
an intersection, circle or between
intersections, will be carried in each
of the cars. In addition, findings on
each accident will be sent to the
commanding officer of the precinct
where the accident occurred so that
preventive measures, if possible, may
be taken, such as stop signs, traffic
lights or stationing of additional
police in the area.
Raises City's Status.
Organization of the special squad
will place the District in the ranks
Of the top 80 per cent of the cities
of comparable population, practically
all of whom have similar accident
investigation bureaus. 1t also meets
criticism recently leveled at the city
by Paul F. Stricken, director of field
service of the National Safety Coun-
Gil, who declared that Washington
lacks sufficient manpower in its po-
lice force to promote a satisfactory
program of highway safety.
1t was Inspector Miller's original
aim to have at least 60 men assigned
to accident investigation work. This
number would compare favorably
with Cleveland, which has "a and
which last year had the best record
in traffic safety among larger cities
in the National Safety Councils
traffic contest. Due to lack of funds,
however. only 81 men are to be used
in the work.