Evening star., 1947-07-15
Senator'S Study
Young S Stand
In Police Inquiry
Will Determine Need
For Further Hearings
Before Asking Funds

Testimony of Commissioner Johr
Russell Young and police official!
will he studied by members Of spe.
cial Senate District subcommittee K
determine whether further hearing.
will be necessary before the Senate
Rules Committee is asked to pass
on a proposed $4,000 Investigation
Of the Districts police administra.
tions,s Senator McGrath. Democrat
Of Rhode Island. said today.
Senator McGrath, chairman ol
the special subcommittee, empha.
sized that If an inquiry is ordered, il
will cover the Park and Capito
police as well as the Metropolitan
police. .-....
The testimony now being studied
by members of the subcommittee
most of whom attended a prelimi.
nary hearing yesterday afternoon
included these highlights:
/. Commissioner Young described
the present system of official crime
reporting as a routine matter,
denied the existence of secret police
files and announced that he had
ordered his new police chief to cor
rect any abuses that might exist in
the procedure of Withholding certain
cases from the police teletype.
" Barrett Testifies.
Z. Nal. Robert j. Barrett. the Dis
trict's police chief, asserted that
every case in the departments con-
fidential file of complaints is thor
oughly investigated, that radio
lookout is issued to alert all police
men to apprehend criminals in every
case and that no case is closed until
an arrest has been made.
3. Maj. Barrett charged that the
Washington Post stole police rec
ords, photostated them and pub
lished the records. He said he had
just learned that drawer had been
jimmied in the Detective Bureau
His charge brought prompt denia,
from the Post.
4. Spokesmen for the Park and
Capitol police assured the subcom.
mittee they had received full CO.
operation from the Metropolitan
Police. Capitol officials. however
pleaded for a larger force.
Plans No witch Hunt
At the outset of the hearing, Sen.
ator McGrath told crowded com.
mittee room that his group did not
intend to engage in. witch hunt
and thought it was dangerous tc
implant ideas that the Police De-
partment is not doing good job.
He made it clear that he pro.
posed an investigation in which not.
ed police experts would be imported
to go through the Police Depart.
ment thoroughly, work with its of.
ficers, study the entire system and
report to Congress what they find.
Commissioner Young told the sub
committee he would welcome such
an inquiry. Maj. Barrett said he hao
a fine department and doubted il
such an investigation was needed.
Committee members during the
hearing based many of their ques-
tions on long statement submitted
by the Post in which the newspaper
charged that the Police Department
had "misrepresented and distorted
the number of crimes committed
here by failing to enter complaints
on the complaint book, by withhold
ing complaints from the police tele-
type circuit, by maintaining conf
dental and secret files and with
holding complaints from the statisti-
cal bureau.
Secret Label Contested.
Asked about these charges, Com
missioner Young, said he had ques-
toned Maj. Barrett and told him
that If the present practice of re-
porting crimes is abused, it should b.
corrected.
In answer to question as to his
familiarity with the present practice
of crime reporting. Commissioner
Young said as a longtime news
paperman he knew that some cases
were withheld from the police tele-
type but he described the procedure
as routine matter"
Would you consider concealing
half the robbery complaints rou.
tine" Senator McGrath asked, re-
terring to newspaper charges that
half the cases were withheld from
the teletype. .
Specific Examination Urged.
Commissioner Young suggested
that the Senator examine specific
cases withheld. from the teletype
rather than deal with general
figures.
When the same question was
posed to Mai. Barrett, he told the
committee he was sure the figures
quoted by the Senators represented
many Implications Maj. Barrett
explained that when detective
marks a case hold" on precinct
book, he may later make an arrest
and send the case over the teletype
but forget to have the precinct erase
the hold" mark: In this way, he
explained, counting the number oi
cases marked hold" on precinct
book may give the wrong impression
Mai. Barrett told the committee
that every case marked hold" on 9
precinct book is reported to the rob-
berry squad. He said he could answer
for every case in the files of the rob.
berry squad, except those that have
been taken out"
When the Senators questioned
him further on that point, the new
police chief said some records art
missing from police headquarters
He said he had learned the night
before the hearing that desk in the
Detective Bureau had been "jim.
mied."
"Are you making the charge that
the Post stole those records?" Sen
ator McGrath asked.
Saw Published Photostats.
Maj. Barrett said he was. He
added that he became aware of the
missing records when he saw photo
stats Of them published in the Post
and knew that no permission had
been given to have the records re-
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