Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-04-11
Byy. Theodore Crown


guard in the corridor, keeping
The sightseers out. This time,
Capt. Covell had beat him to
The scene.
tits all yours, Chief" said the
precinct boss.
Once again. Flaherty got down
TO his serious work.
Work. That's the way it's al
ways been for Jerry Fr!aherty,
whose retirement on April 80
with the rank of inspector will
close one of the most remark
able careers in Washington po-
lice history.
Work. day and night. Work on
and holidays. Ceaseless
work. That's how "Chief" Fla
herty compiled a record that may
never be equalled. It helped him
earn the complimentary SOU
briquet, "Mr. Homicide"
Policeman 80 Years.
But in 80 years with the Met
ropolitan Police Department, In
spector Flaherty earned much
more than a nickname. He won
universal respect, both for
achievement and for personal
conduct.
Personnel files at the depart
ment show he retires with a
spotleSs record-one devoid of
even a single complaint.
Jerry Flaherty is a native of
Washington. He was born De-
cember 80. 1892, in the South
west section. son of an Irish
couple. His father, Michael, was
a brickmason.
Jerry attended the public
schools here-for a while. But
circumstances forced him to quit
short of high school. He took a
job as boilermaker and spent
nine years working at the Ivy
City roundhouse. When World
War I erupted. he went to the
Navy Yard.
At 80. he decided to change
careers. He Joined the Metro
politan police and was assigned
to the old No. 6 precinct, then
located on New Jersey avenue
NV. near E street. This later
became headquarters for No. l.
After that, the station house was
RACED.
Pvt. Flaherty's first captain
was the late Robert Emmett
Doyle. His first beat was the old
Chinatown sector of Pennsyl-
vania avenue. from the Peace
Monument to Sixth street NV.
Federal Prohibition Agent.
In a couple of years he got
plain clothes duty with the pre-
cinct vice squad. At the same
time he was sworn as a Federal
prohibition agent for which he
received no extra pay.
II was a liquor and vice man
on team with Mike Dowd. now
captain of the Capitol police"
the inspector recalls. That's
where I got my first real ex-
perience. 1t was a lot of work
and no money"
In that zle-dazzle era he
kept busy. raiding opium dens
and nabbing hip-pocket boot
leggers.
He became a detective in No.
2 precinct in 1927, working under
the command of the colorful
Capt. Guy Burlingame, whose
exploits chasing liquor-laden cars
made frequent headlines.
AS a Government prohibition
agent, Pvt. Flaherty had learned
a lesson he never forgot.
1--WE had to prepare our cases
completely" he says. "We got
the evidence, labeled it, recorded
the time of the buy. listed the
names of informers and then
took the cases to court.
This lesson stood me in good
stead for years afterwards"
1t began to help asa detective
for the District Attorney also re-
quired complete preparation.
Revenue Agent Slain.
One of his first murder cases
involved the Staying of a revenue
agent in Brooks Court, an alley
near First and N streets NV.
The agent was shot dead while
attempting to arrest several men
a load of illicit whisky,
Officer Flaherty found that
contact with shady characters
turned up valuable clues. The
information he obtained en-
aOle0 the neauquarCerS HOMICIDE
Squad to break the case in two
days.
Most of the precinct murders
were of the cheap variety.
deaths resulting from fights be-
tween members of the "Sneaky
Pete" fraternity. Nevertheless,
they had to be solved. too. and
this work gave the young officer
some priceless experience.
AS Detective Sergeant Flaherty,
he was assigned to the head
quarters bureau from 1880 until
1882. Then he transferred to the
Homicide Squad In . shift that