Evening star., 1952-07-25
Chief Tightens Rules
After Two Shimon
|ChargesA Are Killed

A new code Of conduct fol-
policemen is being written, Police
Chief Robert v. Murray revealed
today after a special civilian trial
board dismissed two of the five
charges on which it is trying 1t
Joseph w. Shimon.
The board of three lawyers said
police regulations are too vague
to support charges that 1t. Shimon
violated them by tapping tele-
phone wires and accepting in
vestigative jobs to which he had
not been assigned.
It was the second time in as
many weeks that a special civilian
trial board had rebuffed the Police
Department. Last week another
special board acquitted 1t. Jacob
Wolf OF gray marketeering and
reported that police regulations
failed to support the charges that
had been made against him.
Manual Being Rewritten.
Maj. Murray said the entire
police manual is under study now
and will be rewritten to close gaps
exposed by the special trial board
hearings.
The .Shimon trial board. COM
posed of Attorneys Albert E.
Steinem. chairman; H. Clay Espey
and Louis Urow, ruled that the
accused lieutenant must offer a
defense against three remaining
charges. These accuse him of max
ing an untruthful statement to his
|superiors by denying he had en-
gagged in wire tapping, violating
a Federal law against wire tapping
and failing to disclose fully his
activities before a Senate Investi-
eating Committee.
The Board ruling handed down
late yesterday was in response to
a defense motion to acquit the &C.
cused officer of all five charges
chairman Steinem said the Shi-
mon trial will resume sometime
next month.
Conduct Charge Attacked.
The board was especially criti.
cal of the Police Department TO,
charging 1t. Shimon with conduct
unbecoming an officer in connec.
ton with his wire tapping activi-
ties. The charges alleged 1t
Shimon had been specifically di-
rected to refrain from" wire tap
ping and that he knew wire tap.
ping was contrary to the policy
OF the Metropolitan Police De-
partment."
The Board said it could find nc
evidence the department had q
policy against wire tapping which
could be binding on 1t. Shimon
Ihere is no evidence" the
board reported, that such a pol
ICY, IT it can be properly so
termed, was ever communicated
orally or otherwise, to the re-
spondent or to any other officer in
the department, or that the re-
spondent, or any other officer of
the department had knowledge of
1t. The board is unable to find
IN the evidence a departmental
policy against wire-tapping bind
ing upon the respondent"
Grew From Hughes Probe.
The overlapping charges
stemmed from Investigations 1t
Shimon allegedly undertook fo,
Senator Brewster. Republican. of
Maine. while Howard Hughes
multi-millionaire airplane manu-
facturer and motion picture pro-
ducer. was under fire before q
Senate committee in 1947. 1t
Shimon allegedly tapped the
wires of Mr.. Hughes and his aides
at the Mayfower and Statle1
Hotels.
The second charge dropped by
the board accused 1t. Shimon o1
violating the police manual by
accepting an outside job to which
ne had not been assigned.
The board reported that it could
md nothing in the police manual
forbidding officers to perform
police investigations without spe.
|cif1c assignment.
Neither the charge nor the
specifications allege that the in
vestigations were improper" the
board reported. The three LAWYERS
added that all the evidence they
had heard indicated 1t. Shimon
had properly carried out all the
assignments he had been given by
H..