Evening star., 1946-04-19

iff'"5s'sss's''
CLAUDE O. BOTKlN,
Dismissal Recommended.
visiting and correspondence priv
ileges, receipt Of packages, in
spection Of prisoners, assignment
Of prisoners to work details,
searching OF cells, operation Of
commissary, etc.
5. ESTABLISHMENT OF DE-
TAILED PROCEDURES FOR
HANDLING ESCAPES, DIS
TURBANCES AND OTHER
EMERGENCIES.
6. IN COOPERATION WITH
FEDERAL SYSTEM INAUGU-
RATE AT ONCE A SYSTEM
ATTIC COURSE FOR TRAINING
PERSONNEL:
This would include training In
handling of prisoners, use Of
firearms, jiujitsu and defense
methods, control of keys and lock-
ing devices, and attitudes toward
prisoners. In this connection an
immediate request should be
made Of the Federal system and
its director for the loan Of an ex-
perienced ofIicer to Immediately
institute such training as indi-
Gated.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR
LONG-RANGE ACTION.
In addition to the foregoing
Recommendations which should
be implemented Immediately,
there are q number Of steps
which should be inaugurated for
future consideration by the Con-
gress. These would include:
/. THE APPOINTMENT BY
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE DIS
TRICT OF COLUMBIA COM
MITTEE OF A sUBCOMMIT.
TEE TO STUDY AND FORMU-
LATE A PLAN FOR THE AD-
MINISTRATION AND DEVEL-
OPMENT OF THE DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA PENAL SYS-
TEN AND DRAFT THE NECES-
SARY SUBSTANTIVE LAWS
FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF
THE CONGRESS:
This committee should be COM
posed of q member Of the Dis
trict Of Columbia Committee, the
chief justice Of the District Court
Of the United States for the
District of Columbia. q represent
alive of the Attorney General.
preferably the director of the
United States Bureau Of Prisons;
4 representative of the District
Commissioners, preferably the
corporation counsel. and q private
citizen Of the District, preferably
the chairman Of the Board of
Public Welfare.
It Is suggested that this COM
mittee be Immediately appointed
to consider seriously the estab-
lishment by law of q separate de-
partment Of corrections for the
District, reporting directly to the
Commissioners, and being directly
responsible to the Commissioners.
The law should carefully but In
fairly broad terms define the
powers and duties Of the depart-
ment Of corrections, but within
this framework the director Of
corrections should be given broad
general administrative response
bility for all operating details.
Should Consider All
Correction Plans.
In considering the structure to
be recommended for the District
the committee should consider
not only the policies and Or
ganizational pattern followed by
the different States, but also the
corrections plan recommended by
the committee of senior United
States circuit judges for the Fed
eral Government and incorpo-
rated in the bill (H. r. 2445) now
pending before the Judiciary
Committee. 1t is of the utmost
Importance that the committee
should clarity existing statutes
relating to the payment by the
Federal Government for prison.
ers held in or committed to Dis
trict institutions.
The committee should define by
statute who are District prisoners
and be handled and supported by
the District penal system, and
define by statute those who are
to be charges Of the Federal Gov
ernment, and provision should be
made for compensation by the
Federal Government to the Dis
trict Of Columbia for their
custody.
The committee should also con-
slider as within the purview of
its activities the need for organ
izing the Districts penal faci-
tiles, methods Of treating alco-
holic cases, a prison employment
and vocational training program,
the application of the indeter-
inmate sentencing procedure for
misdemeanants, the Integration
Of the probation and parole sys-
TENS. and specialized procedures
for handling young, reformable
offenders, similar to the youth
correction methods followed in
California and other States.
Proper Legislation
Should Follow Report.
A definite requirement of this
committee should be that it
makes report on its findings
in a period not to exceed two
weeks from the time of its ap-
pointment. Your committee then
strongly urges that the proper
legislation, as recommended by
the committee, be Immediately
prepared and introduced into the
Congress for prompt action.
Your committee feels strongly
in regard to obstacles placed in
the way Of the ef1icient opera
ton not only Of the penal insti-
tutions, but Of the metropolitan
police, by misunderstanding and
misconception of the functions of
the Civil Service Commission.
While your committee appre-
ciates the value of the protection
of the individual under the civil
service laws of the Nation, 1t
cannot escape the fact that the
most efficient and effective police
force in the world today is the