Evening star., 1941-07-11


Capt. Little as telling the chief"
that if such situation was true he
wanted to be relieved of duty on the
gambling squad.
Sergeant and Others Relieved.
So on February 3. 1889, Acting
Capt. Little said. the complaining
sergeant together with several
Others" were relieved of their as
signments on the SQUAD Later on,
he said, eight other members OF
the squad were assigned to work
with the Alcoholic Beverage Con-
troll Board and the unit was dis
solved.
mo other reason was given for
breaking up the squad?" asked Rep
resentative Copeland.
Acting Capt. Little explained ne
was called to the majors office"
one day and told that the sergeant
had been contracting" underworld
characters. He said he followed
up" this information and learned
that a gambler had visited the
house of one of the members of his
squad.
That" he declared. doesn't
prove to my mind that the man was
wrong. I've had men come to my
house TO give me information.
Acting Capt Little had previously
stressed the Importance of MEM
bers of the police maintaining con-
tact with underworld characters to
get important information that
would lead them in solving crime.
Offer Is News to Maj. Brown.
At police headquarters this after
noon. Maj. Ernest w. Brown, su-
perintendent. told reporters he knew
nothing about the attempt to bribe
Commissioner Hazen. and said the
first he had heard of it was when
the Commissioner related the story
at today's hearing.
The police chief recalled that the
gambling squad and the alcohol
beverage control squad were con-
solidated several years ago to in
crease efficiency. Acting Capt, Lit
tile then was assigned to the robbery
SQUAD, and later was made chief OF
the pickup squad when 1t. Shimon
was assigned to the District attor-
news Office. Recently the name OF
the pickup squad was changed to
fugitive squad.
Mai. Brown also reiterated, In re-
Spouse to questions from reporters,
that he would not spend another
winter in the Police Department..
Some time ago, the police chief
said he had decided that he would
not stay on another winter while
he was in Florida early this year.
He would not say, however, when
he would ask for retirement.
Little Asks More Men.
As soon as Acting Capt. Little
took the witness stand Chairman
Schultz said to him:
AN Washington knows OF you as
the most efficient officer on the
force. You're so efficient and so
able Commissioner Hazen turned
down $4,000 not to remove you.
What can you suggest to increase
the efficiency of the force?'
Acting Capt. Little started off:
When you lose contact with pri-
Yates on the beat YOU lose contact
with some important information.
When you are prohibited from going
TO underworld contacts you're en-
tirely out of contact with the
criminal.
What We need mostly is an in
crease in the uniform personnel as
well as the plainclothes staff.
Night Inspectors Needed.
Also we need some hard-boiled
night inspectors-not men who go
out after a policeman who smokes
cigarettes in dark alley. The in
spectors should look for men who
are not doing their work"
Acting Capt. Little complained
that officers have TO spend too much
time on traffic duty and special de-
tails to get acquainted with the
people on their beats.
He also declared that reports OF
the existence of a ''Gestapo" in the
department. which spies on other
policemen. has had tendency to
break down the morale" of police
men.
Because of these reports. he de-
clared. citizens are not getting "a
fair break for their money"
If you were in our place just
what would you do?" asked Chair
man Schultz. Il believe we will
agree that the department is not
efficient
That's very true" commented
Acting Capt. Little.
Capt. Ira Keck, acting chief of the
Detective Bureau admitted in fur
ther testimony that the bureau was
only "25 per cent perfect
Favors 900 More Men.
Capt. Keck recommended at the
opening of the afternoon session
that all plainclothesmen be placed
under the direction of the chief of
detectives and that the title pre-
cinct detective be dropped. With
certain detectives assigned to pre-
cincts and under the command of
the precinct commander, he ex-
planned, it is difficult for the head
quarters bureau to get extra men
when it needs them.
Asked what recommendations he
would make to change the District
Police Department into the best in
the United States" he replied that
he would suggest first that sufficient
personnel be added to enable the
department to cope with the sit
uatlon now existing in Washington. !"
He believed the force of 400 men
should be increased to 1000 men.
Patrolman to Every Two Blocks.
He said there should be a patrol
man to every two blocks in the busi-
ness district and every 10 blocks in
residential areas. In some instances,
he reported, two policemen and a
man in scout car patrol an entire
precinct at night.
Taking over the questioning, Rep
resentative Hebert made an effort
to wiring from Capt. Keck admission
that the Detective Bureau is the
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