Evening star., 1947-09-12

immediate superior, IN these in
stances:
Where there is reasonable doubt
on the part of the investigating
officer that a crime actually occur
red; where public disclosure of the
complaint would subject a person
of previous good character to pub
lie humiliation and disgrace or
where disclosure of the crime would
tend to impede orderly investigation
and the ultimate apprehension of
the criminal.
Maj. Barrett said he would insist
on strict compliance with his order.
To that end, he said, he has di-
rected his district inspectors to
require that every case marked
held" be reported to the Statistical
Bureau within 80 days after the
occurrence of the alleged offense.
Robbery Squad Praised.
While freely conceding that the
684 robbery cases were not sent
Immediately over the teletype, Mai.
Barrett pointed out that the rob-
berry squad investigated 664 cases
that were sent in on the teletype.
OF this number, he reported, 512
cases were cleared.
He said he could find nothing
but praise for the splendid record of
the Detective Bureau and particu-
larly the Robbery Squad. Many Of
the cases they handled involved
prominent firms and business places
and many other cases concerned
citizens from every walk of life. In
every one of these cases 1 personally
feel that the robbery squad rendered
prompt and efficient service"
To illustrate why certain types of
cases were withheld from publica-
ton via the teletype, Maj. Barrett
cited the following four cases:
u. The case of the 'stop-light'
bandits, who committed a series
of hold-ups on Rhode Island avenue
NV, where motorists driving cars
with Maryland license plates were
held up and robbed by a colored
man while stopped at traffic light
There were five victims, with three
cars actually involved. These re-
ports were put on the books at the
precinct station, and were later read
at roll calls to every officer on duty
in that precinct. At the time of each
report, a description of the holdup
man was flashed over the radio Sys-
tenn to all police cars and police
stations in the District of Colum-
| bia,
"A detail of four men from the
Robbery Squad was sent out on
these cases and they worked on this
assignment only, using two private
cars with Maryland license plates,
working from pm. to 4 am. At
the end of week, two colored men
came back to the scene of the pre-
vious hold-ups and attempted to
rob Detective Sergts. Joseph H.
Hunt and Ernest P. Jefferson of the
Robbery Squad. Detective Sergt.
Hunt was shot through the chest
and seriously wounded. The two
colored hold-up men were also shot
and later captured. One was iden-
titled and admitted to the five pre-
vious victims that he had committed
those hold-ups, and both admitted
the hold-up in which the shooting
occurred.
Returned to Scene of Crime.
"One of these holdup men, Charles
Armstrong, stated that he returned
to the area because there had been
nothing in the newspapers about
the previous cases.
%. Another series of cases which
demonstrates the value of withhold
ing reports from the public occurred
in November, 1916, in which a COL
ored man held up several white
women at the point of knife and
robbed them of their pocketbooks.
A large detail from the robbery
squad was sent to the vicinity. The
second night after the detail was
started, they arrested one Charles
Scott, colored, Is years. The Off
GERS recovered from his room prop
erty taken from the victims in this
series of robberies.
Scott was identified and admitted
all these cases, and stated that he
had returned to the vicinity be-
cause he felt that the cases had
not been reported as there had been
nothing in the newspapers about
them.
g. Another example of a case
that was withheld from the public
in the interest of better law en-
forcement was the case of rape
of a young white woman about 9
pm. January 10, 1947. The victim
In this case was walking on the
street near the Library of Con-
gress and she was accosted by an
unknown colored men, dragged into
the shrubbery of the Library of
Congress grounds, beaten and raped.
"As. this report was not made
public. the vicious perpetrator of
this crime returned to the same
vicinity the next night and was
promptly apprehended by the de-
SSSSA'So oAAN S4ACS4o doS1S1lCO W GI1lS
case. This man was convicted in
court and received a sentence of
from 10 to 80 years.
Police Work Praised by Victim.
a. On June 26, 1s47, a young
white woman was awakened at 4
o'clock in the morning by a man
who was in her room and attempted
to rape her. She succeeded in fight
ing him off and knocking off the
telephone receiver and frightened
him away. No publicity was given
this case and on June 27 a young
white man was arrested as suspect
who lived in the vicinity where the
crime was committed. He was
placed in a lineup at headquarters
and was identified by the complain
ant in this case as the man who had
entered her room and attempted to
rape her.
THE victim in this case later
wrote the department a letter of
appreciation for our work in ap-
pretending this criminal and for
the fact that she was spared un-
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