Evening star., 1943-01-10
Auxiliary Police
Activities Confined
To Raid Test Duties
Commissioner Young
Praises Their Work in.
Keeping Down Crime


The Districts auxiliary police,
whose night patrol of the streets
has been hailed as deterrent to
crime, have been relieved of all
duties outside of actual air raids
and air raid tests.
While the decision of the Com
nissioners yesterday to curtail
auxiliary police activities was
unanimous, Commissioner John
Russell Young said he probably had
been taking advantage of the
auxiliaries by allowing them to
serve nightly with the regular force.
Expressing reluctance at curtail-
ment of their duties, Commissioner
Young said they had contributed
immeasurably to keeping down
crime and had done "a great lob"
Pensions a Problem.
The auXiliaries, he pointed out,
had no guns to protect themselves.
and the District wasn't prepared to
take care Of families with pensions
II auxiliaries were fatally injured
while performing their duties.
He said he also had been in
formed that the law did not permit
such widespread use of the aux
1l1aries. The men volunteered for
civilian defense work and that is
what they will do in the future, he
explained.
The Commissioners instructed
Police Supt. Edward J. Kelly to re-
organize the auxiliary police,
creating such Offices as may be
necessary to the proper performance
OF the duties of the auxiliary police"
ana assigning no rank higher than
captain to an auxiliary officer. Some
auxlllarles now carry the rank of
inspector.
In their official statement, the
Commissioners declared the duties
OF the auxiliary police as contem-
plated by the Blackout Act are to
augment and supplement the duties
OF the members of the regular police
during either actual or practice
blackouts.
Training Period Ends
THE service in the several police
precincts from the date of organiza-
ton until to date has been a train
ing period and necessary to training
this organization to that high state
OF efficiency which is now possesses"
the Commissioners said.
This training period having been
concluded, it is the opinion of the
Commissioners that this fine group
Of citizens should no longer be called
upon to assume the hazards which
by the very nature of things attend
the members of the regular Metro
politan Police Department.
1nsomuch as this war is the
war OF all the citizens of this COM
munity as we'll as the United States.
the Commissioners feel that this
organization will continue to func-
ton in the high, efficient manner
heretofore attending its work"
The practice of putting auxiliaries
on street patrol and stationing them
at places of public assembly grew
out of the auXiliaries' own demands
Tor more training. OCD requires %
hours of training.
At first, auXiliaries Travelled with
the regulars in scout cars and
walked their beats with them but
as the auxiliary force grew to double
the size Of the regular force, auxil-
1aries started going out by them
selves, patrolling the main streets
while the regulars took care of the
back streets demanding more at
tention.
Maj. Kelly recently appealed for
1000 more auxiliary police to VOL
unteer. The present strength is
3,541 men.
Average 10 Hours Week.
While the auXiliaries we're not re-
quired to serve any given number
OF hours, they averaged 10 hours
each week and some of them were
accustomed to serve double that.
Police captains, who are sparing
with their official praise, have
turned in nine written commenda-
tions because of unusual chores per-
formed by auxiliary police.
These nine Communications were
for the arrest of man who was
cutting woman's throat, the ap-
prehension of a burglar with his
loot by a cab-driving auxiliary po-
Iceman, the capture of Guy Eklund
who escaped while on trial for mur-
der; the arrest of two men for at
tempted robbery, the arrest of the
murderer of an elderly man outside
the Little Sisters of the Poor home
and the giving Of information that
led to the captures of a man who
had assaulted regular policeman,
4 hit-and-run driver and two tire