Evening star., 1941-07-01

-SIdT OLdl fIlOlU.
forced upon qualified men by the
activity of those who seek prefer
ment by this means. Each vacancy
which is filled by "selective meth
ods' inevitably starts a storm OF
political activity which is a disgrace
and a scandal TO the department.
Those charged with making the Sc
lection. however honest and con-
scientious they may be, are sub
jected to almost intolerable pres
sure.
Much effort and time which
should rightfully be devoted to the
public service is wasted in seeking
out connections and influence in
high places. Members of Congress,
influential. businessmen, cabinet Of
flcerS, even the President of the
United States are importuned, ha-
rasSed. bothered and Waylaid by po-
lice candidates seeking TO advance
their own interests. All too fire.
quently the ultimate result is that
the selection is finally made with
out regard TO professional oualifi-
cations. fitness or merit but sole
" upon the imposing array of sup
port which the aspirant is able TO
summon on his side MeritoTious
service. professional training. abil-
ity or fitness have no chance against
tactics of this kind; the person hav-
ing them has been made too PAIN
fully aware unless he can assemble
an array of influential people who
insist on his consideration he will
not even be thought of in filling
the vacancy that is to be consid-
cred. Much embarrassment to those
charged with making a selection re-
suits, and all too frequently some
utterly incompetent person is ad-
vanced over men much better quail
flied. All Of this is definitely op-
posed to efficient functioning of the
department.
Attacks Promotion Barrier.
The assinine arrange
ment which presently exists. that
the second in command at the de-
tective division cannot hold any
permanent rank above that of lieu
tenant, although while so assigned
he bears the title and draws the
salary of a captain, should be
changed. Experience shows that
many well-qualified men are ineli-
gible for assignment for duty as
second in command of the detec-
tive division because they have
been advanced TO the grade Of cap
tain, and the only assignment avail
able for them commensurate with
their rank is in the uniformed
force. This silly provision of the
rules has the further disadvantage.
when a vacancy in the position of
chief of detectives occurs. of max
ing the second in command, who
should be the logical successor, in
eligible tbecause he is in fact only
a lieutenanD for advancement to
the vacant post and makes it nee
essary to limit the selection to men
of the rank of inspector or captain
who may not have had previous
plain-clothes experience; or it all
TOO often results in juggling, 'phe-
nagllng' or evasion of the plain pro-
vision of the law in order to ad-
vance an ineligible lieutenant to
the post of chief of detectives with
the rank of assistant superintend-
ent of police
The type of men being appointed
to law enforcement work today is
much higher from an educational
standpoint than it was 80 years ago
Many of the older officials of the
department, with many years of
service behind them, have achieved
promotion and success by virture of
years of experience rather than
through any professional merit,
They have held tenaciously to the
habits OF speech and manner that
were in vogue among policemen at
the time that they were appointed.
Strangers contracting officials of the
department for the first time gain
very poor impression of its
efficiency or intelligence when they
are greeted with a flow of ungra-
matical language and crudeness
worthy of a backwoods country
constable. The younger men, better
educated, cannot help but contrast
the performance of their superior
officers unfavorably with that of
their associates; and while this in
itself is bad enough, the situation is
further aggravated by the fact that
few, if any, of these comparatively