Evening star., 1940-05-10

Justice Stone Urges
Increase in Capital 5
Police Force
Letter to Nye Inserted
In Record at Senate
Herring on D. c. Bill
Justice Harlan r. Stone Of the
Supreme Court joined other resi-
dents Of Washington in urging .
larger police force to combat crime
in the National Capital, it became
known today with publication Of
Senate hearings on the pending To-
cal supply bill, to which the Senate
committee added funds for 25 more
patrolmen.
Senator Nye, Republican, Of North
Dakota placed in the record . letter
he had received from Justice Stone,
In which the jurist said 1T Is indis-
putable" that the police force has
not kept pace with the population
and added that the boldness and
frequency Of crimes indicate pres
ent police protection is inadequate.
Jurist's Letter.
Justice Stones letter follows:
Supreme Court Of the
United States,
Washington, D. C.,
April is. 1910.
Hon. Gerald p. Nye,
United States Senate,
Washington, D. c.
Dear Senator Nye: I am
writing this letter to you as .
member Of the Subcommittee
on Appropriations for the Dis
trict of Columbia.
The recent alarming increase
Of crimes Of violence, robbery.
burglary and the like in the city,
and particularly in this neigh-
borhood, has drawn my atten-
ton, and that Of many others,
to the inadequate policing of
the city and to the necessity Of
making some provision for an
increase In the next annual
budget Of the District.
Il understand that the chief
OF police recommended an In
crease Of 100 men for the COM
Ing year; that the Bureau Of the
Budget recommended, think
upon inadequate consideration. q
reduction to Is; that the District
Commission acquiesced in this
recommendation, although later
commissioner Hazen, when some
OF the facts and circumstances
were brought to his attention, IA
vored the increase as recon-
mended by the chief of police.
1t is indisputable that the In
crease in police force has not kept
pace with the increase in popu.
lation more or less permanently
residing here, to say nothing Of
the floating population which
mas drifted to Washington since
the depression. And, judging by
the boldness and frequency Of
crimes in the city, the police
protection Is Inadequate.
Il recently asked the WASH
ington Association of Criminal
Justice to give me some informa-
tlon about the policing and state
OF law enforcement In the Dis.
trict. I mclose excerpts from
the statement, which indicate
pretty plainly the necessitv of
= substantial addition to the DO
lice force Of the District.
Yours respectfully,
HARLAN r. STONE"
S2 Police Added in Decade.
Ihe data he referred to from the
association showed that during the
past decade the population has in
creased by approximately 16s O00
persons which has been met by an
increase of only 81 additional men
Tor the police force, or one police-
man for every 2,048 persons in the
general population.
The associations summary Of the
crime situation closed as follows:
Last September when the semi
annual report of the association was
issued, attention was called to the
direct relationship between the in
crease in HOUSEKEEPING charges and
other crimes of violence and the
widespread use of narcotics by per-
sons who had no visible means of
support"
Answering query from Senator
Nye as to why Washington needs a
larger force than other cities, Police
Supt. Brown replied
Il am an officer Of THE Interna-
tional Association of Chiefs of Police
and frequently confer with other
chiefs, and in no American city do
they have a condition similar to
Washington's, because of the fact
that we are the seat of the Fed
eral Government. We are called on
every day to perform duties that
only occasionally come to them.