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LONDON'S POLICE SYSTEM IS LAUDED Termer Police Head Here Sees Much of Merit in Pol icies of British Force. BY FRKDKRICK A. FUNNING. Former District Commissioner. A modern police station with iruli vidual bedrooms for #5 unmarried policemen. For the further enjoy ment of these men a library, card room, billiard room, room for boxing bouts, gymnasium, shower baths and * canteen dispensing beer, ale and other iefreshments. Where? The American police officer will an swer promptly: ''Nowhere.” But such a station does exist and I attended its formal opening recently on Snow Hill in the city of London. Washington has lately built new station houses in Tenle.vtown and Brightwo<>d. I was, therefore, inter ested in what respects they and other Distiict houses resembled this new station in London. The points of like t e>s w ere few; those of difference many. And we in Washington really believe that our houses and station methods are adequate, while the Brit isher points to Snow Hill and calls it the best in the world. We built two-story buildings, lately of the bungalow’ type, while the new house in London is five stories in height and thirty feet in width In Washington an effort has been made to have new station houses harmonize architecurallv with nearby and ad joining buildings and not be unduly conspicuous. This effect was proba bly most nearly attained many years ago when the house for the fifth pre cinct was built in the southeast sec tion of the city. The same attempt has been made in London very suc cessfully, for the new Snow Hill building might easily be taken for an apartment house. Bow windows are on every floor above the ground and the entire front of the four upper floors is devoted to private apartments for the families of the chief superin tendent and the chief inspector. There *re private entrances to each apart ment on either side of the front door. Ground Floors Similar. On the fiirst floor the ground plan 1* very similar to that of our stations. The cells are lined with enamel brick and contain long, wide on which the prisoners may sleep. Each prisoner is furnished with a leather pillow and a blanket, two if desired. If a prisoner wants a bed the gaoler will make up one upon the payment of 1 shilling. Prisoners are brought to London stations by the officers who arrest them on foot and not in a conveyance. There are two exceptions to this prac tice. One is the drunken man who is unable to navigate and who is brought in on a stretcher on wheels. The other is made when the prisoner is a soldier in uniform, since public senti ment will not countenance the sight of a soldier in the custody of a policeman on the highway. A cab is therefore hired, the fare paid by the police, who will subsequently he reimbursed by the military authorities. From station house to court the prisoners are taken on foot. Auto mobiles. motor cycles and bicycles are used for patrolling, but the patrol wagon which performs such varied and constant duties at our stations is not in use in London. Policemen Get Dinners. In addition to living in the club-like atmosphere of the Snow Hill station ihe men are given their dinners. Breakfast and tea they prepare them selves. I inquired «it wa* reasonable to expect that any officer so housed •would ever marry and thus forego auch luxuries, and was told that the department made an extra rent al lowance to all married men. One point in common in the forces of the two capitals is the police school for probationary officers. Snow Hill conducts such a school, the course covering three months and in sub stance being very similar to that con ducted at the seventh precinct in "Washington under the supervision of Sergt. Hunt. I« the District of Columbia there are four police forces, the Metropoli an. Capitol. White House and Park Police; while London has but two, namely the city police and the Metro politan police. Heart of London Force. "The city,” as it is called to distin guish it from the district of London, covers a small area in the very heart of London. The city force has about 1,000 men and is directed by a com missioner elected by the city council, with the approval of the King. He holds office until he reaches the age of retirement. All officers and men are retired at 65, except under some special circumstances, when active service may be extended for not over five years. ... The Metropolitan police, -1,000 strong, cover all of London and out- Iving sections except the small area of the city. The minimum height of these men is 5 feet 9 in the city police it is 5 feet 10. In V\ ashing ton the minimum height is 5 feet 8 inches. The entrance pay for both London forces is (in United States currency) $2.50 a day, which is exactly one-half the pay of a probationer in the District of Columbia. To be sure, the London policeman receives a small rent allowance, but his pay is subject to a deduction for the retirement fund. The London officer, as is now the caae in Washington, receives an allowance for uniforms, and in addition he is given an allowance for keeping his "boots” in repair. Traffic in London is entirely con trolled by the policemen. There are no light signals or other automatic traffic controls. From my own close personal observation I am far from be lieving that the regulation of traffic in London would be improved by the In stallation of automatic devices. In the last analysis, a machine is a ma chine and lacks the human element. It is tliis human element as exempli fied hv the quiet, alert and intelligent policemen that keeps the enormous traffic of such a city as London on the move. Os course, the officers are aid ed bv regulations which prohibit downtown parking and otherwise limit parking to two hours save in certain outlying sections, where a maximum of four hours is allowed. Incidentally, these regulations dispose of the ques tion of all-night parking, since four hours is the outside limit. Cruising Is Banned. Cruising of vacant taxicabs is re garded as an unnecessary use of the public thoroughfares and an interfer ence with traffic—so is xtrohibited, the occasional violator promptly arrested. Honking of horns is considered an un necessary noise and only permissible in an emergency. In a number of places, the Mall for example, busses travel between paint ad lines and are not jiermitted to weave in and out among automobiles. The proportion of motor accidents is low, except with regard to those of motor cyclists. In November the pre mium rate on motor cycle insurance is being increased 25 per cent, and the large companies are discouraging young and inexperienced drivers from applying for insurance. As in Washington, in London the subject of woman x>olice is a frequent topic of discussion and argument. There are none on the city force and but 50 in the Metropolitan department. These 50 women,are not centered in one station, as at the House of De tention in Washington, but are scat tered throughout the police district. Perhaps this is the reason why the ■woman police in London have not MODEL BRITISH POLICE STATION ■ i i I ! —— ■ Upper: Snow Hill Building, which houses M unmarried police. Ixiwer Sir William T. F. Horwood. oonimis sioner of police of the metropolis. been more conspicuous. It is reported that the home secretary is about to in vestigate the question as to whether or not a force of women is a useful ad. junct to a police organization, t’hief constables in other large cities in Eng land have recently expressed them selves as opposed to the appointment of women to the force. It must be added, in fairness, that these views have come from cities which have had no experience with woman police Police Have No Guns. The London policeman carries no gun. When I asked a sergeant why this is so, he replied that he could do enough damage with his stick. The baton is somewhat shorter ttian that carried by members of the Washing ton force and is carried in the hip pocket. I pursued the inquiry fur ther and asked ranking officers of each of the forces if their men might not. sometimes at least, save their own lives if furnished with automatics. The answer from the metropolitan of ficer was that there had been one in stance in nine years in which it was at all likely that had the policeman been armed he could have saved him self. And the chief officer of the city, of over 40 years’ service, recalled only one instance that period, adding that the men who did the fatal shoot ing came from America. I . 11 ■■'■■■■ Traded-in and Shopworn I CONSOLE AND | UPRIGHT [4§p^° Leading Makes $ J MP VICTOR - BRUNSWICK SONORA SPettJ COLUMBIA IK )1 ■ VOCALION Fjjyn All Style t, Sizeg and Woodt | in Thiu On&Day Sale | B Every traded-in phonograph has been placed in this sale—prices cut to rock-bottom —to be sold in one day—phonographs for every purpose —some adaptable for radio. Prices good for one day—tomorrow. Early shoppers get the best bargains. ALL VICTROLAS ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE NEW TONE REPRODUCER One Day Only—Tomorrow—Nov. 14th H1..1 $27 sl9 s3l $39 S9B $43 Club a Club pi,n 'PIANO V®/ COMPANY Pl «" G Street, Corner 13th lHßraraHte^^MraHraMrarararanraranraMrarararaHrararaHmpraqHnl THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON", D. C.. NOVEMBER IS. I9J7—PART 1. || " Hl———— I jBHf ISSBm $ If* >gm : 3&r irtvo&tzwooP. Several privates told me that if they were furnished with pistols they should likely never use them for fear of shooting innocent bystanders. Pos sibly the real reason why a gun is not an accepted part of a London police man's equipment is that the popula tion. being English, has an inborn re spect for the law and its representa tives. Moreover, judicial processes are swift and punishment sure, espe cially to an offender who fires on a man known to be unarmed. If there is reasonable ground for believing *, ! foreigner to be dangerous, he Is! promptly handed a deportation order. Foreigners of antisocial tendencies know this and govern themselves ac cordingly. It is difficult to conceive of a more ' independent administration than that j of the commissioner of police of the ! metropolis, which is the title of Sir William T. F. Horwood, in charge of ] the metropolitan police. He is ap : pointed by the King, on recommenda ! tion of the secretary of state, and j holds office until he reaches the retire j ment age. The London County Coun ! oil iias nothing to do with his appoint | ment or his tenure of office. Likewise, j the ronpinissioner is in no manner sub- I servient to members of Parliament. ' The commissioner has four assistant | commissioners in charge, respectively, !of the blue force (uniformed men). ! traffic, criminal investigation (Scotland ! Yard) and legal matters. Ttius it is ■ that the Metropolitan force is not only * wholly divorced from politics and not jin any way affected by political I changes, hut also has its own complete and compact administrative organiza j tion. The single obligation of the com | missioner and the 21,000 men under ' him is the enforcement of the law. Made Intensive Study. With a general knowledge of police systems-in the United States and an intimate knowledge of the organiza tion. personnel and functioning of the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia, I have just spent a week in an intensive study and critical oh servation of the police departments of London. I have had audiences with I the commissioner of police of the me | tropolis and the acting commissioner ! of the city police, talked with officers and men by the score and visited many of the police stations. For hours I have traveled the streets of London —sometimes alone and at others with members of the force — watching traffic control and observ ing the personnel of the two forces. And I have discussed the police with citizens and with the police reporters on the*, large daily papers. I believe that from every point of view London is wonderfully policed. It may well be that certan practices, such, for example, as the housing— will never find favor in the minds of the American people. Taken by and large, however, in the future develop ment of the police system of the Cap ital of the United States there should be much food for thought in a study of the excellent system that has been developed in the capital of Great Britain. ALUMNI TO HAVE DANCE, j Central Dramatic Group to Frolic Next Month. The annual dance of Tha Masks, the alumni club of the Central Dramat ic Association, will probably be held in the ballroom of the Press Club next month, it was announced follow ing a meeting at the home of Frederic ,T. Haskin, jr., at the Potomac Park Apartments. The dance committee is composed of J. T. Hare and Miss Nell Childs, Miss Erma Steiger and Miss Dorothea Lewis. Repair § for FURNACES & BOILERS Fries, Beall & Sharp 734-736 10th St. N.W. J BANDIT ELUDES POSSE IN MOUNTAIN SEARCH Reading Hold-up Man Continues to Escape Net After $22,000 Theft. By the Associated Press. READING, Pa.. November 12. Hiding in the wooded thicknesses of the Welsh Mountains, a lone "black faced” robber, who Thursday black jacked a Birdsboro postal clerk and stole a $22,000 payroll, last night still eluded some of the cleverest officers of the postal service, a squad of vet j eran State itolice and 300 heavily armed citizens who were spurred on by an offer of $5,000 reward “dead or alive." Except for once Thursday night, when a group of State police were fired on. not a single trail has been found of the man who. when closely pressed, disappeared into the Hope well Hills and left behind a ditched automobile. $15,000 of the loot and a can of shoe polish that he had used to cover his face. Officers stood guard all day at the Plowville home of Frank Glass, 30. whose automobile was used by the bandit and who was in Birdsboro the night before the holdup. Glass is missing from his home and police re ported he had not shown up at the ice plant near Coatesville where he was employed for several days. Descrip tions and pictures of him have been broadcast by the State police. Capt. Samuel W. Gearhart of the State police said tonight he was sure the fugutive was still in the depths of the mountains and would come out when his supply of ammunition was exhausted. mr AGAIN THIS YEAR, FOLKS! 11TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR '^LXr ™ JOIN ARTHUR JORDAN'S GREAT* s ihl , ; *ii ’ )i *sstT • 1 1Wmt *r w I I The Greatest of A MEMBER All Piano Clubs immediate Delivery Now in Full Swing If You Choose Every year hundreds of prospective piano purchasers anxiously The pianos are ail ready in our await the announcement of our $2.00 Xmas Club. This year tha stock and can be delivered inune- advantages to Club Members are greater than ever. First, the big sr'A'lst I ' VpTrtnnto of tEVar to saving in price-made possible only through quantity buying for this own a beautiful new Piano-Player great club. Then the very easy terms. Every home can afford a or Baby Grand on very easy terms. Piano, a Player or a Baby Grand now! Don’t wait until Christmas Investigate this great dub offer im- to jj. Inay t OO j ate Come in tomorrow and make your selec conaecutive year* of* this clubhand tion. We can arrange for immediate delivery—if you choose. th. valuea art greater than arerl Please send me full details of your '******j&*, $2 Xmas Club. I am interested in a gSg*!""**!-"—y » Piano D Pt.„r o Grand 0 PIANO COMPANY G Street Corner 13th J a \ j ! | I I ■ 1 | Star Readers Are Buyers Advertising in The Star has become an ally of modern business —an accepted factor in the achievement of any success dependent upon the public patronage. Star readers are buyers; and they are sub consciously biased in favor of those products brought to their attention through The Star— and believe in, and depend upon it—not only for current news events, but for the worthwhile business news as well. * * * i * t 1— 11