Evening star. [volume], November 13, 1927, Page 11, Image 11

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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
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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
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[4§p^°
Leading Makes $ J MP
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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 «"
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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.
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| 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.
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