Evening star., 1944-10-14
Bridges Fayors Move
10 Consolidate Park,
Metropolitan Police
Representative Hebert
Plans to Sponsor Bill;
Old Issue Is Revived
BY DON S. WARREN.

Senator Bridges. Republican, oi
New Hampshire today joined two
members Of the House in declaring
Washington had "too many police
forces" and recommending legisla-
ton to consolidate the Park Police
with the Metropolitan Police De-
partment.
The recent Hains Point case OF
criminal assault and murder of a
young Government girl worker late
yesterday moved Representative
Hebert, Democrat, OF Louisiana to
announce he would take the lead, as
soon as Congress reconvenes, in
sponsoring bill for merger of the
Park and Metropolitan Police.
Such a plan was debated many
times in earlier years among civic
groups, Government officials and In
committees of Congress but was
shelved after direct opposition came
from Interior Secretary Ickes, who
has supervision over the Park Police.
Division of Authority.
Hearing of the revival of the
issue, Senator Bridges, member
of the Senate District Committee,
declared, There is bound to be over
tapping or lack of efficiency when
you have more than one police de-
partment. While the several agen-
cies mayco-operate as best they can
there still remains a division Of
authority.
II am not condemning the work
of the Park Police, as such, but I
do believe that where you have one
system, under one head, there
should be greater efficiency. I can
not understand why, as to routine
patrol work, we must have one
police department to serve the city
generally and another, under a
separate authority though paid from
the same tax funds, separately in
charge of policing the parks. 1t
doesn't make sense"
Comm mission John Russell
Young, under whom the Metropoli-
tan Police Department operates,
said he favored the merger plan.
He said he did not advocate the
plan as a criticism OF the Park
Police, but declared the Park Police
should be under the city govern
ment "in the interest of crime
detection and crime prevention"
Lacks Detective Bureau.
Here, it was pointed out the Park
Police force does not have
trained detective bureau like the
Metropolitan Police and that when
a crime such as the Hams Point
murder case occurs it is necessary
for Metropolitan detectives to step
into the picture.
Representative Hebert, who was
instrumental in bringing about a
reorganization of the Metropolitan
Police Department three years ago,
said he. felt the Hams Point mur-
der and others of recent times in
the park areas demonstrated the
inability" of Park Police to meet
the situation alone. A shortage of
authorized strength may be one
reason, bat greater efficiency should
result If Park and Metropolitan
Police were under one head, he said.
Representative Harris, Democrat,
of Arkansas, another member of
the House District Committee, also
took the view there is too much
divided authority"
Often debated in public and civic
groups, the question of merger OF
the Park and Metropolitan Police
came before Congress five years
ago in the original Griffenhagen
report on proposed reorganization
of the District government, but the
plan, even as embodied in the Ken
nedy bill, passed by the House,
died in the Senate,