Evening star., 1955-02-25
Monpower Shifts

Monpower Shifts
The committee found numer-
Gus types Of police work where
men in two different units were
responsible for solving the same
crime.
The proposed reorganization
would make the patrol divi-
sion-the men of the precincts
the "heart of the force" with
full responsibility for crimes in
which the precincts now have
concurrent responsibility with
headquarters squads. Where
the main responsibility goes to
the precinct, the headquarters
squad would be reduced in size
and would be given an "aid-and-
coordination" responsibility to
advise with the precincts and
attack crime that crosses
precinct lines and takes on CITY,
wide aspects.
The committee therefore
recommended:
l. Detective division This
division would have primary
responsibility for cases inyolv-
ing homicide, forgery and
counterfeiting. embezzlement and
fraud. safecracking and special
Investigations. It would also
deal with fugitives and missing
persons. It would have an aid
and-co- ordination role in rob-
berries. HOUSEKEEPING and auto
theft, but the prime respon-
sibiiity for those crimes would
rest in the precincts.
Thus, from IL squads, the
detective divisions would be re-
duced to four squads with
primary responsibility and two
squads with an aid-and-co-
ordination role.
AAAS iCoOOIl1LlS Ill. IlOllliCIuSS,
the extreme importance of the
crime tends to give them spe-
cialization, and they also require
the most complete and scientific
type of police work. Check and
fraud, safe cases and special in
vestigations also require spe-
cializcd talents and frequently
contacts with other cities. On
the other hand, robber.es and
housebreakings are usually local
in character and the precincts
have the advantage of famili-
arity with their area, it's people
and their occupations and police
records. Where robberies get or
ganized OF show city-wide pat
tern, the robbery squad in it's
aid-and-co-operation role would
be free to concentrate on plan
ming and mobilizing the pre-
cincts for city-wide attack.
2. Morals division-This divi-
sion would have prime RESPONSE
bility for combating dope traffic
and perversion. but the prime
responsibility for coping with
gambling, liquor law violations
and prostitution would go to the
precincts. The division would
have solely aid-and-co- -ordinat-
ing functions in dealing with the
latter crimes
r The reasoning: Narcotics is a
highly organized crime which
requires a centralized squad
working closely with other law
enforcement agencies. Perver-
sion is a peculiar psychological
problem and "the average po-
liceman feels somewhat i'll at
ease and handicapped in his
ability to deal with it."
In Washington, prostitution,
gambling and liquor law viola
tions are primarily individual,
local, unorganized offenses which
flourish in the same environ
ment.
3. Women and Juvenile Divi-
siOn-This would be composed of
the present juvenile squad, sex
squad and bicycle squad as well
as the Women's Bureau.
The reasoning: The juvenile
and sex squads and the Wom-
ems Bureau have much in COM
mon since all deal with juveniles.
A large part of the sex squads
work is devoted to cases where
children are molested. All three
units require special aptitude
for handling children and police
attached to this work should
have special qualifications. cat
present, only the Women's Bu-
reau requires special training.)
The Police Department now
tends to deal with boys differ
emily than it does with girls.
The committee makes the point
that the department should
have one philosophy, one ap-
proach and one procedure for
handling both boys and girls"
4. Traffic Division-Prime re-
sponsibility for enforcing traffic
laws would be shifted to the pre-
cincts along with some of the
Traffic Divisions present
strength of more than 200 men.
Three sections Of the Traffic Di-
vision would remain substantially
as at present. These are the
Traffic Violators' School,, Public |
Vehicles Unit and Accident In
vestigations Unit. The division |
would be assigned and aid-coor-
dinating role of advice and |
leadership on traffic control and .
enforcement. The unit set up ,
with the new Central Violations
Bureau to process and serve
traffic warrants would be made
unit of the Traffic Division.
The reason: Traffic enforce
ment should go to the precincts
because they are at the location
of the problem. Augmenting
the precincts with personnel
from the Traffic Division will
provide the police chief with
greater flexibility of his force.
1t will be easier for him to shift
emphasis from traffic to crime
and back again any day or even