Evening star., 1947-09-12
Police
Continued From First Page)

duplication of indexing now car
ried on in various bureaus.
Report on Disputed Cases.
Maj. Barrett's report on the
much discussed withheld cases
showed they fell into these cate
gories:
1. OF the 6S4 cases, $40 were Of
dubious origin. They included 119
unfounded or false reports, 1859
closed by request or through lack
of cooperation on the part of
compliments, 1853 complaints made
by intoxicated persons, 65 COM
plainants who were found to be the
victims of prostitutes, 10 complaints
made by perverts and Is other cases
rated doubtful"
2. OF the remainder. many cases
and series Of cases" were withheld
from the teletype because it was
felt publication would lessen our
chances of apprehending criminals" !"
3. In other cases-exactly how
many was not specified-withhold-
ing of the cases from the public
was designed to save the victims
and their families extreme en-
barrassment."
ALI Were Investigated.
Many of the m" or miscellaneous
cases and &C" cases "a card index OF
midnight cruiser reports were cases
of the two latter types, Maj. Bar
rett said.
However" he added, "it is to be
specifically understood that in all
the cases which were withheld from
the teletype, thorough investigations
were made and confidential reports
filed"
Despite the dubious origin of the
majority Of the withheld cases, Maj.
Barrett emphasized that mo cases
were dropped as being unimportant
or unworthy of investigation" OF
the 684 cases, he said, the 318 which
remain "uncleared" are still under
active investigation.
The report showed that none of
the cases were concealed since all
we're on either the precinct books,
in the readily accessible robbery
squad files, on the daily reports of
the midnight cruisers or on the
assignment sheets of the detectives.
Many of them were recorded in
more than one of these files. A
total of 66 of them were eventually
sent over the teletype to become
q part of the statistical records of
the department.
Particulars Given to Officers.
Maj. Barrett also stressed in his
report that all police officers who
could assist in solving a particular
crime were given the full particulars,
regardless of whether the cases were
reported over the teletype.
He explained that in all robbery
cases where any kind of. description
of the culprit is available, the de-
scription is Immediately sent over
the police radio system. In addi-
tion, each case held in a precinct,
he said, is read to all personnel in
that precinct to inform them on
the details of reported crime.
To support his contention that
the practice Of withholding cases
from the teletype was approved de-
partment practice, and was not in
violation of police regulations, Maj.
Barrett quoted from orders isued
by former Superintendent Daniel
Sullivan, Ernest w. Brown, Edward
j. Kelly and Harvey G. Callahan.
These orders, he explained, were
issued because police officers found
that in many cases crimes were re-
ported as having occurred when, in
fact, no offense was committed.
Such cases arose, for example, he
added, when a person had been guilty
of a crime and tried to make it ap-
pear that he had been a victim of
a crime
Maj. Barrett stated emphatically
that the practice of Withholding
some reports from the press and
the public generally is good police
technique" He said the best proof
Of that contention was in the re-
suits attained in cases where the
investigators felt no publicity was
desirable.
viii Go Into Statistics.
On the other hand, he distin-
guished between the propriety of
withholding a report from the pub
lie and Withholding a report which
should be included in the police
statistics to give a correct picture
Of the overall crime condition.
To prevent any cases from being
withheld indefinitely from police
statistics, while giving police time
to investigate, he recommended
continuance OF an order he issued
July as q temporary measure
until the Commissioners act on the
proposed new system of communi-
cations and crime recording.
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