Evening star., 1942-07-05

It's almost an everyday occur
renee in Alexandria, Va, for one
or two auxiliary policemen to appear
in Police Court to help the regular
force prosecute cases.
They are among the nearly 1000
civilians in nearby Maryland and
Virginia who are being trained by
law agencies to lend assistance dur
ing the wartime emergency.
The degree of training received,
as we'll as the difficulties encoun-
tered in covering their beats, varies
in the Metropolitan Areas of Mont
| gomery and Prince Georges Counties
in Maryland and in Arlington and
Fairfax Counties and Alexandria, in
Virginia.
Fairfax County, for instance, has
an auxiliary force of 80 men. but it
has a beat" of 416 square miles
to guard. On the other hand, the
dense population found in other
communities in the Washington
Metropolitan Area does not exist in
that large territory.
208 in Alexandria.
Local businessmen, retired serv-
ice men and several city officials
comprise the auxiliary force of 208
policemen in Alexandria under the
command of Police Capt. Edgar
Sims.
The police chief is highly pleased
with their work. A course of prac-
tical training is given the more
enthusiastic auxiliaries, who come to
police headquarters nightly and are
assigned to the various police scout
cars
They participate in liquor raids,
help make arrests in street fights,
take accident victims to the hospital
and handle drunks.
The law vioiator often finds more
than the usual one or two policemen
! appearing against him as prose-
cutting witness. The auxiliaries who
assist the regular force also testify
and thus are given valuable train
ing IN court procedure which they
may be called on to employ when
they operate on their own during
blackouts or air-raid tests.
Six Emergency Squads.
There are six emergency squads,
each containing two cars equipped
for blackout driving In Alexandria
One Of the two cars is police
cruiser and the other is supplied by
the auxiliary police, for it is they
who man the squads with only three
regular police assigned to each
squad.
First aid. handling of incendiaries
and regular police duties are all
part of the training these men re-
ceived.
One of the most enthusiastic vol
unteers IS Henry T. Moriarity OF
the Defense Housing Registry. B. D
Mills, tank wagon driver for ar
oil firm, is another volunteer who
rides the police cruise cars.
Roger Sullivan, city treasurer, is
one of the older members of the
auxiliary force. Morgan thinner
man and Hubert Bryan, clerks o1
the Police Court, and Earl Sullivan
deputy clerk of the Corporation
Court, are other members.
300 Aid In Montgomery.
Approximately 300 suxiliaries aie
the regular police force in Mont
gomery County, where the auxili.
aries have been organized under
tn direction of Police Chief Andrew
Newman. Their duties consist chief
ly of directing traffic and guarding
vital points during air raid drills
They also cooperate with the air
raid wa-dens in enforcing the bar
against illumination during black
outs.
Unlike some of the other com
munities. Montgomery County aux
iliary policemen are not used TO
regular police work. In case add
tional police are needed, the Boar'
of County Commissioners is author
lied by law to appoint as many a
so SPECIAL policemen for periods VI
to so days. They are not armed bu
n &c ha lc