The Report on Police Reform in Chicago

Source: Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Vol. 3, No. 1 (May,
1912), pp. 128-129
Published by: Northwestern University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1132895
Accessed: 27-02-2015 08:14 UTC

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REPORT

ON POLICE

REFORM

IN CHICAGO

not afforda ready means of recognizinga person upon the streets. This
deficiencyhas been filledby the genius of evil, M. Bertillon,who has devised a facial index system. The nose, ear and eyes are classifiedin such a
way that an officercan eliminateall but a few personsin a crowd with a
singleglance and whentriedout the systemhas had almostuniversalsuccess,
and shouldbe introducedinto Americaat once.
The human eye trainedto recognizefaces by such methodsas this is
a poor thingto rely implicitlyupon the
very accurate,but it is proverbially
of eye-witnesses
and the eye is also subjectto limitationswhichthe
testimony
photographic
plate does not have. A powderhas recentlybeen devisedwhich
will make fingerprintsso clear that theycan be photographed
for identification purposes,even when quite invisibleto the naked eye. The camera has
also been used to detecttraces of blood upon a clothwhichhad been washed.
to findthe design of counterfeit
banknotesupon a lithographicstone which
had been cleansed,and to detectmarksupon a body which showed that the
person had been strangledbeforebeing throwninto the water. With such
advancesas these a criminalwill have to wear gloves or leave a trail like an
aniseedbag behindhim,and even thenit maynot avail him much.
GEORGEH. MCCAFFREY,Cambridge, Mass

Our Police Station Disgrace.-Under the above title the Chicago

Tribunefor November24 editorially
commentsas followsuponthe workwhich
the Chicago Women's City Club has accomplishedthroughits investigation
of
conditionssurrounding
womendelinquents
and unfortunatesThis investigation
now is made the basis of an appeal for a large downtowndetentionhome,the
of facilitiesat police stationsand a nightcourt.
improvement
Bad sanitationin the stationsand the vicioussystemof herdingwomenof
all degreesof innocenceor depravity,
and of all ages, fromyotng girls just
above thejuvenileprobationage, are especiallyprotested.
The reportof the committeeon stationsand jails exposes a treatment
of
prisonerswhich is, indeed,"a menace and a disgrace to Chicago,"and the
counciloughtto take hold of the whole situationand underintelligent
advice
make an end of it. Chicago is not a cruel or unenlightened
and
community,
does not wantany such evils to exist. It is timethatthe stationsand jails and
the systemof handlingprisonersprior to trial or commitment
to the county
jail be broughtup to the twentiethcenturystandard. It is now about aoo
yearsbehindthe conscienceof the times.
R. H. G.
The Report on Police Reform in Chicago.-The report of the City
Civil Service Commission on police organization and its relation to vice
conditionsis a valuable document. And it is hardlyless valuable for being
corroborativeratherthan originallyinformative.The sorry record it makes
of the viciousalliancesof lawbreakersand swornlaw enforcersis not remarkable for new facts,but it should drive into the consciousnessof Chicago the
need for drasticaction.
The recommendations
of the commission
are sound as far as theygo. But
theymustbe workedout in detail and courageouslyapplied.
Thus far the commission'sinvestigationhas broughtsubstantialresults.
The weedingout of principaloffenders
and the exposureof incompetence
and
I28

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DEPUTY

STARK OF TORONTO

ON THE THIRD

DEGREE

This is a necessaryclearingof the

dishonestyshould proceed unflinchingly.
ground.
But clearingthe groundis less than half the task. Afterthat mustcome
constructivework, the thoroughreorganizationof the police departmenton
new lines. This will take time and a bitterfight. Success will dependlargely
upon the man chosento be head of the department.But supported,as such a
man, we believe,will be, by Mayor Harrison,and assured of time to accomhe can destroy,so far as Chicago is concerned,the
plish his workthoroughly,
mostpersistentevil in Americanmunicipalgovernment.
R. H. G.
The reportis reproducedin partin thisissue.
The Man at the Top of the List.-The Chicago News under date of
December II, I9II, commentsunder the above title upon a recentorder of
Mayor Harrison with referenceto the makingof promotionsin the police deof Chicago. He has advisedthe generalsuperintendent
of police that
partment
in each instancethe man whose name standsat the top of the civil servicelist
of eligiblesshall be chosen for promotion.Such a procedure,he pointsout,
"will aid in removingpoliticalinfluencefromcontrolof the police department
becausemenwill knowtheirpromotionswill dependupon theirown fitnessand
not upon any outsideinfluencewhichmay be broughtto bear in theirbehalf."
Hithertoappointments
have beenmade fromamongthethreepersonswhose
namesstandat the top of the list of eligibles. This practicehas arisenbecause
of the convictionthatit wouldnot be possiblein everycase to selectan entirely
efficient
candidateby means of the tests in vogue and consequentlythe head
of a departmentwas given some leeway. The plan developeddisadvantages.
It has not eliminatedthe influenceof personal favor. It gives the appointto secureagreementsfrompersonsaboutto be appointed.
ing officer
opportunity
It prepareda fieldfor blackmail.
When men in the police servicehave it provento themthat fitnessinstead
of influenceis absolutelyefficient
in determining
promotionthe resultswill be
R. H. G.
salutary.
Deputy Chief Stark of Toronto on the "Third Degree."-Deputy Chief
Stark,in a strongarticleon "Police Methodsand Their Critics,"in the August,
Police Service Magazine,assails the popular
191I, numberof the International
ideas on the "thirddegree" and those lawyerswhose main abilityconsistsin
evidenceand even insultingtheiropponentswith
deridingwitnesses,distorting
impunity.He claimsthatpopularknowledgeof the "sweatbox"is such thatfew
betweenit and a "soapbox," althoughtheywould
could definethe difference
gladlyjoin in condemningit. Newspapersare oftenonlytoo willingto dilate
upon the supposedhorrorsof this systemof obtainingevidence. I have seen
the actual operationof a "thirddegree" case whichobtaineda completeconfessionof two criminalsengaged in a variationof the "green goods" game
withineight hours afterthe case was reported. The police worked upon the
basis of two words carelesslydroppedby the firsttwo men arrestedin regard
to the third,who was the leader of the plot. Only once duringthe whole examinationwas a voice raised above a conversationaltone,and thento forbid
the prisonerstalkingfurtherin a foreigntongue. In anothercase the confessionof a stubbornjuvenile was obtainedonly by strappinghim in a surgeon's operatingchair and orderinganotherofficerto "turn the currenton
129

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