Evening star., 1952-02-04
By chorIes G. Brooks

a fair but hard hitting policeman,
definitely tossed out the possibility
Of continuing former Police Chief
Robert ]. Barrett's policy Of har-
RAISING gamblers as he began
work whipping his department
into shape to fight vice.
I'm not going to back the
wagons up to a place and make
newspaper headlines" he de-
clared. "That should be done only
as a last resort and then only
after conferring with the United
States Attorneys Office.
What we want Is convictions.
The Federal gambling tax laws
has caused the big gambling back
|ers to close up, he continued, and
whether they will start up opera
tions again is any ones guess.
Inspector Lutz's guess is II don't
think So"
Questions Involved.
But people are governed by their
own consent, he continued, and
most seem to want to gamble. The
Inspector declared he must have
the support of the decent people"
in town to do an effective job.
And that brings up questions
like these:
How many people will back In
spector Lutz if he raids charitable
events where forms of gambling
violations are often made? How
many convictions do they make
that way?
Not many, the inspector seems
to helieye-and that means most
of those raids will be, as before.
confined to actual cases Of de-
frauding.
what I'm chiefly concerned
with are the commercial gam
blers." he declared.
Switch to Other Fields.
Half Of the anti-vice work tho
Inspector is engaged In is psyche
logical, he thinks. Keep them
guessing" If a man is mixed up in
one form of vice, he's going to be
mixed up in them all sooner or
later.
when things get hot in one
field, they switch to something else
for a WHILE" he continued.
That's why Maj. Robert v. Muir
ray, police superintendent, COM
Ibined the several vice squads un-
der one head. There will be more
|undercover men in effect because
they can easily be moved from
squad to squad as circumstances
demand.
Get Them In Time.
"Well have a close liaison with
the United States Attorney" In
Ispector Lutz said. Although in
many cases we won't make arrests
because we feel we don't have
|enough evidence under the law. it
will all fit into a general pattern.
ut often takes time. But sooner
lor later we'll get them"
Inspector Lutz Is hampered,
however, by special problems in
the police department.
Recently, he said, three uni
formed men turned down vice
assignments in plainclothes be-
cause sit costs them too, much
money"
"Of course, that happens often
and every one who takes the job
does it reluctantly"
Even the inspector admitted he.
too, once used to be reluctant
about accepting vice assignments
in his precinct days.
Extra Pay Isn't Enough.
| A probationary detectives pay
| is small, he said. and the extra
$3.50. go a year designated to COM
pensate for use Of their own cars
and clothes isn't enough.
"It costs them over $50 a month
of their own personal money in
many instances to work on vice
assignments" Inspector Lutz as
serted.
He pointed out that men go
into plainclothes work on the
chance that they might hit some
thing big and get promoted faster.
But many Of them" he went
on, "just can't afford to take that
chance. It costs them money"
Examination System Urged.
Vice men can't depend on police
department cars even when
they're not marked because of
the i've number license plates and
the tell-tale radio aerial. They
usually have to use their private
cars and that means gas and oil
bills. added insurance and general
wear and tear. ..
Friday. a special police board
recommended a system Of exami-
nations which would put uni
formed men on a similar to detec-
tives In effect for promotions.
The same board soon will take UP
the question Of adequate com.
|pensation for probationary detec-
tiyes and other undercover men.
But then the suggestions have
to go through the District Com
missioners to Congress.
Inspector Lutz doesn't expect
his administration to be spectac-
ular In noise and color. He does
sxnect tn wage a stiff wS& on vice.