Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-04-03

ment. An order of the City Coun.
Gil to hold up routine ambulance
service had just gone into effect
Brentwood Responds.
At 4:10 pm, the Brentwood
Ambulance broadcast that it was
responding to the call. Brent
wood was three miles away. Al
4:21. the ambulance was on the
scene. At 4:30, it arrived at Le-
land Memorial Hospital.
The child was dead.
The case was written off as the
kind Of thing that can happen
under Metropolitan Washington's
patchwork system of emergency
services. Officials in Takoma Park
said they were sorry. They hoped
it might bring about a better
spirit of cooperation from the
Chillum district in the matter of
tax support. A doctor offered his
opinion that the boy would have
died anyway.
Stories of this kind are rare.
Fortunately, it is much easier to
find examples of good co-opera-
ton between fire companies of the
different suburban counties and
towns IN Maryland and Virginia.
Mutual support between the Dis
Etrict and suburban companies -
based on unwritten. informal
agreements-also have worked
well. But the best record can be
spoiled in one afternoon.
Anyone who sets out to tighten
up the fire protection services Of
Greater Washington will run into
Ia complicated situation. The CEN
trail city, of course, is covered by
the District Fire Department, a
thoroughly professional outfit
whose equipment and training
generally rates high. The same
is true of few of the larger towns
outside the District limits. Most
of the suburban area, however, Is
protected by volunteer units,
sometimes built around a nucleus
OF professional flremen.
Some High Caliber Units.
The suburban units are sup
ported by municipal or county
funds. often beefed up by volun-
tary contributions. The chicken
dinner, the turkey-shoot and the
bingo game have played their
parts to sweeten the kitty Of many
an area company.
The result has been a uniform
standard Of fire protection for
residents who live inside the Dis
trict limits and a widely varying
standard for those who live out
side.
To infer from this that District
residents always get better pro-
lection would be wrong. Many
suburban units are of an extreme
ly high caliber. In some cases,
their equipment makes District
smoke-eaters green with envy.
Elsewhere. however, fire companies
are poorly housed, badly equipped
and indifferently manned. Be-
cause of a lack of fire plugs,
natural supplies of water must be
relied on in large areas.
The suburban resident pays his
money and takes his chances. If
the results have been satisfactory
most of the time, they have been
|none-the-less tragic on occasion.
Minimum standards of fire pro-
lection throughout Greater WASH
Iington and the assurance that life
and property will not be sacrificed
to petty jurisdictional squabbles
Iare things still to be achieved.
POLICE.
The same lack of area uni
formity applies to police protec-
ton. The name of the Metro
politan Police Department is mis-
leading. The Washington depart
|ment has no more authority in
Chevy Chase, Md, than the Chevy
Chase force has downtown. Each
separate force in the area-and
there is an abundance of them
lis strictly limited in jurisdiction
to its special locality.
The only exception to this gen.
eral rule occurs when police are
actually chasing a suspect who
lights out for the border. The
courts have ruled that in such
cases Of fresh pursuit. the cops
don't have to call of the chase
and let the robber get away. At
all other times, however, fugitive
warrants must be obtained, and
the suspect must be arrested by
the police of whatever jurisdic-
ton he happens to be IN.
Further complications arise
from the system Of overlapping
jurisdiction that exists through
out q large part Of the suburban
area. Only two cities alexandria
and Falls church, have indie
pendent police forces Of their own.
Many Of the smaller towns have
itheir own men but are also under