Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-10
Draft Will HeIp
Control Crime,
DR.. Nolan Says
IS Pct. Of Offenses
Committed by Men
Of Military Age


made in Washington during the first
six months Of the year we're COM
mitted by persons of draft or volun-
teer age, DR.. James A. Nolan, di-
rector of the Washington Criminal
Justice Association, last night pre-
dicted that crime control should be
improved by operation of the Selec-
tive Service Act.
Many youths, idle and with no
set standards in life" he said. will
learn to live with right thinking
young men, and will adopt their
standards of respect for the rights
and property of others"
This appears especially true"
said DR.. Nolan in a special report.
since more than so per cent of
those arrested in Washington were
between the ages of l8 and 25 wears
and are yet in a modifiable stage,
No one can foreteu at this time the
effect the Selective Service Act will
have on general crime trends
throughout the country. It is cer-
tain, however. that fewer incidental
offenders will become involved in
criminal activities"
Volume in ID. c. static"
The volume of crime in Washing
ton during the first six months Of
thls year as compared with the SINH
lar period in 1899. DR. Nolan said,
mas remained almost static" There
was an increase Of only 10 offenses
for a total of 2,7l3 actual founded
reports of crime in which the asso-
citation is interested.
Two OF the sharpest comments IN
the situation, however. DR.. Nolan
ulrecteo against the sentencing pro-
cedure and the percentage of con-
victiOnS.
10 long has inadequate punish
ment of habitual offenders been a
part OF our criminal process" de-
cIareo the report. This may be due
10 the appalling lack of knowledge
criminal court judge has of the
felon whom he must sentence. It
may be due to other causes.
statistics on the major crimes
IN which this association is inter-
eSted indicate a breakdown in the
machinery of justice in our sentence
ing procedures"
8 Studied Hundreds of Cases.
! In support of this. the report said
the association had reviewed the
sentences imposed in District Court
IN 253 HOUSEKEEPING cases. $50 rob-
oery cases and 43 grand larcenv
cases during the first six months Of
1870 IN only one instance, said the
report, a robbery, was the maximum
sentence pronounced. The sentence
imposed most frequently for grand
larceny was l to years. for house,
breaking l to 2 years, and for rob-
berry. 2 to s wears.
charging that only one out Of
every three criminals is appre-
hended and convicted. DR.. Nolan
/ said that lin solving only one
third OF the offenses reported. it
would appear that the machinery of
criminal justice in Washington
might we'll be geared to greater
efficiency. 1t appears that an adult
criminal in Washington still has two
out OF three chances of never being
apprehended. and four out of five
chances of not being convicted or
punished.
The strongest deterrent to
crime" he declared. lis sureness of
apprehension; the greatest asset
of the criminal is public apathy.
Until the citizens of Washington
insist upon an efficient program OF
crime prevention and repression
they must remain satisfied with one
out of every three criminals being
apprehended and convicted"
Crime in Crowded Areas.
An analysis of the crime problem
/ geographically shows that one
third Of the population lives in one
/ tenth of the area, where there
Is a heavy concentration of delin-
quency"-in the first commercial
section of the city and along the
fringe of the business area.
Thus" explained the report,
precincts l, 2, and Is Can area
extending from the Mall to Euclid
street NV. and from North Capitol
street to Rock Creek Park account
of over 81 per cent of the crimes
reported. These four precincts con-
tain an area of pproximately 78
square miles or about IL per cent
of the total area of Washington"
Precincts 5, 9, 10, and Is had more
cases charged to juveniles than
other precincts. Among these four
precincts there were 1873 cases
charged to juveniles. Precincts 4
and solved 80 and 70 per cent
respectively of their offenses. a
much higher percentage of solu-
lions than other precincts.
Precincts 6, 7. 8, and IL had the
lowest crime rate for the first six
months of this year but solved a
smaller percentage of cases than
other precincts.
Robbery Cases Increase.
Discussing the volume of crime in
detail. the report said the 2,713 &C
tual founded reports of crime for
the first half of this year was an
! increase of only 10 crimes over the
first six months of 1899, or a gain
of less than one-half of ! per cent
The number of cases reported for
the first half of this year was an
increase OF lit per cent over 1898
but decrease of 800 per cent be-
low 1887 and 15.4 per cent below
1896.
While the volume Of serious
(See CRIME, Page BID.