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Journal of Criminal Law and CriminologyVolume 1 | Issue 3 Article 71910Principles of Police AdministrationRichard SylvesterFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclcPart of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and CriminalJustice CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted forinclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons.Recommended CitationRichard Sylvester, Principles of Police Administration, 1 J. Am. Inst. Crim. L. & Criminology 411 (May 1910 to March 1911)PRINCIPLES OF POLICE ADMINISTRATION.RICHARD SYLVESTER.'When the rules of conduct established by a community forpeace and good order-and the preservation of life and propertyare transgressed, crime is the product, and it may be either inten-tional or accidental. ""hile all violations come within the purviewof the statutes, certain exemptions in the imposition of penaltiesprevail when the act is unintentional or the perpetration the re-sult of unsound mind. Those who commit an offense wilfully, ma-liciously and premeditatedly become the unquestioned enemies of"society, and in the warfare against them the good citizens lookto the police as their agents and defenders. The battle againstcrime has been waged for ages, it is still in progress and will con-tinue so long as mankind inhabit the earth.There are some who are criminals by inheritance and somewho are made so through domestic neglect. While the function ofthe police in the past has been to deal with criminals as they findthem, in this progressive age those who, in addition to preventinga crime or solving a mystery, exercise an influence for the eradica-tion of criminal instincts where they may be early brought to theirattention, whether they be hereditary or the result of environment,are rendering a service to humanity.The value of such service has been practically demonstratedby the heads of police departments in some of our cities, who havec~operated in eliminating slum resorts, reducing overcrowded tene-ments, furnishing and protecting public playgrounds, protectingchildren against dissipated and criminal parents, enforcing thegambling and cigarette laws, rescuing girls under age from evil re-sorts, excluding youths from disreputable localities and aiding inthe maintenance of houses of detention and juvenile courts.The two last named institutions go hand in hand and operateas valuable preventative agencies. The former is a substitute fora station house, wherein children and female prisoners who are firstoffenders may be restrained and yet kept free from the contami-nating influences which follow the confining of such prisoners'Chief of Police, Washington, D. C., and President International Associa-tion of Chiefs of Police.POLICE ADMINISTRATION.with hardened characters. In construction iA should bear the leastresemblance to a prison. Steel wires instead of iron bars, iron bedsrather than wooden lounges, clean night clothing and bed clothing,with ample shower and other bathing facilities, should be provided.After arrest the prisoner should be conveyed to that institutionin a vehicle least resembling a patrol wagon. There the usualrecord and search -hould be made, to be followed by a bath anddisinfection, if necessary. At night retirement in a genteel man-ner should be required. iBoys should be mastered by a guard, girlsand women by a matron. These prisoners should be taken in as un-'ostentatious a manner as possible to the juvenile court, there to beagain kept away from the usual court surroundings. When astage of probation follows, there are possibilities of effective workin some cases and unfavorable results in others. If children be-come imbued with the idea, after being arrested once or twice, thatthey are free from punishment beyond temporary -restraint inthe house of detention and court, then new difficulties beset thepolice. The latter condition can be largely obviated by a judiciousdetermination of the cases. The whole scheme will in time, nodoubt, be productive of good results.These improvements in the police service are in line with theprevailing sentiment that there is no -necessity for maltreatmentof prisoners. Antiquated methbds were those where violators re-ceived severe penalties at the hands of the police before they werearraigned in court, where they were dragged through the streetsand, in some instances, first intimidated by a good clubbing. Thepatrol wagon and signal service have been devised as remedialagents for such practices, but, more than all else, the improvedstandard of the American policeman has contributed to humanemethods. While physical strength is essential, members of theforce should be taught to realize that intelligence and tact aremore far reaching and effective in the securing of prisoners. Asconditions have improved and enlightened methods been introduced,the treatment of the law-breaker must keep pace with surroundings,so that his overtaking and punishment call for study and skill.An officer of the law should know that he is not only the instrumentof apprehension and arrest, but that it is his duty to accomplishthe work with the least amount of friction, and in some cases hisrecommendation should go far toward determining whether anoffender shouldbe treated in an asylum or worked in jail. I am ofthe opinion that the chief who adds to his knowledge of police meth-RICHARD SYLVESTER.ods some facts bearing upon criminology is more thoroughlyequipped for his duties than the official who performs his task me-chanically. There are periods when discontent must be allayed, evenriot suppressed, and that policeman is best equipped to allay andsuppress who is capable of applying intelligence through studyas well as experience.It should not be forgotten that intelligent work on the partof the subordinate reflects credit on the superior. To secure thatit is incumbent on the latter to have the loyal support of the former.It behooves the chief to acquire a knowledge of his men, to studytheir interests as well as his own -and to secure their confidenceand respect. Honest, sober, discreet and firm, but kind, leadershipbegets the same character of assistance. Each member of the forceshould be made to understand that his profession is an honorableone and that good conduct and intelligent service on his part willbring its reward. A policeman should be assured by law that, hisposition is secure during good behavior; but, with a life tenure,the law should be so elastic that a superior may be reduced and a sub-ordinate advanced, provided the one is inefficient and intelligentattention to duty merits advancement for the other.There should be three grades for patrolmen. After an ap-plicant passes a successful physical examination by a board ofsurgeons, a civil service examination as to physical equipment- andknowledge of local geography and an examination as to charac-ter, he should enter upon one grade of service. If his duty isfaithfully performed for two years, a higher grade of pay shouldbe allowed him, and after five years' commendable work a final gradeof compensation should be his reward. These graded classes shouldserve as encouragement for honorable return. If injured or dis-abled through disease contracted in the line of duty, the police-man should receive a pension, or, in case 'of his death, his wifeand children should be provided for.In order to carry into effect this system the department mustbe free from political appointments or control, and, aside fromhaving and expressing opinion, the men should not-be permitted toparticipate in politics.The late Justice Brewer once said: "After all, the better rem-cry, sof ar as any matter of organization is concerned, is a perma-nent tenure of those officials charged with maintaining the publicpeace, together with a widening of the reach of the civil service r'e-form to all connected with its enforcement. The thought of stabilityPOLICE ADMINISTRATION.in office of those charged with the duty of preserving the publicpeace must be incorporated into municipal life. There has got tobe impressed upon all dwellers in a city a full consciousness of thefact that there is a power to punish, a power that endures and apower that will never let up."When a member of the force must undergo transfer, fine orremoval for having performed his plain duty, what must be theeffect upon the organization, and when members are dropped forwant of appropriation for salaries, what must be the discontent?The force does not suffer alone, but that institution on which allother branches of the municipality must depend becomes endangeredand the life and property of the citizen is without proper protectioi,.Different hours of duty prevail in different communities. Theaim should be to afford the public the greatest amount of protec-tion without jeopardizing the health of the men. Irregular hoursfor-sleep and meals, when prolonged, conduce to physical disabilityand mental distress. This impairs the efficiency of the force, andthe system should be so arranged as to reduce this condition to aminimum. We should not forget that the demands upon a police-man are extraordinary, and that in fifteen years he expends hi.qmaximum vigor, though prolonged usefulness may be obtained bystudying the surgeons' reports and reducing requirements in hoursor by special assignments.The cost of living in the United States has materially advancedand generally there has been a correspondifig increase in the wagesof mechanics and employees, who have their nights, holidays andSundays "off." But this increase of reward has not come to thepoliceman. His life is not only one continual risk and exposure,but his days of recreation are few and far between. From hismeager salary a uniform must be provided and an occasional pen-alty paid for omission of duty or violation of the department reg-ulations, which reduces his income for living purposes. In thisprogressive age, when everything has attained a high state of per-fection, when men, in their ambition to secure wealth. and station,violate the law with a frequency never before known, changes havebeen effected which have transformed the conditions of ten yearsago. These new social conditions must be met by those chargbdwith the protection of life and property. Those responsible foithe conduct of municipal affairs have been too much absorbed inother matters to give attention to the conditions and needs of public4r4RICHARD SYLVESTER.servants and to modernize police organization, so as to enable it tomeet the new and changed conditions of the present day.It is to the advantage of a police department to adopt, anyand all improvements which will facilitate or expedite police work.The establishment of permanent roping devices along lines of pa-rade, crowd ropes, to be used in dividing and handling crowds with-out the necessity of shoving with the arms and hands, electric lan-terns and motor vehicles, adjustable cots and litters, central officesfor concentration of police news by telephone, daily printed bul-letins of "lookouts" for each member of the force, photograph gal-leries, printing offices for general orders, circulars'and bulletinsare all useful and up-to-date devices.A subject that has received much attention during the pastfew years is that of revolver practice by the police forces. In somecities all members of the force are required to be able to attain acertain score and to understand how to draw and use a revolver.Selected teams have contested with militia and citizens' teams, andthis friendly rivalry has done much to bring about a closer relation-ship between the guardian of the peace and the man whose propertylie protects. 'Much has also been accomplished toward preventingthe injury of the innocent when a policeman is called upon to usehis revolver. Not only do good results follow practices of thiskind, but bowling, indulged in by corpulent members of the force,tends to reduce the avoirdupois and cause a closer acquaintance*and consequent respect for the officer on the part of the citizeniwith whom he may compete.Conditions have undergone a great change, and old methodshave been revolutionized largely through the good work of the In-ternational Police Association. It has been means whereby police-men are n.o longer strangers to each other, but an a'cquaintanceship,official and personal, has been made complete and the feeling fra-ternal; there is at all times an inclination to do for the commoninterest. When a professional thief is put away in one locality itis realized that it is for the benefit of the citizens and authoritiesof all others. When informed by wire, press or other means thatone community has suffered depredations, the police hasten to thepursuit of the malefactor; there is a daily interchange of photo-graphs, measurements, descriptions, letters, circulars and officialpapers; the long distance telephone quickly heads off the escapingfelon; quick messages describing persons and property cause promptcapture and recovery. In fact, at times the wires are utilized toPOLICE ADMINISTRATION.weave a web about a fleeing criminal, and those who meet with theassociation make the -work effectual. A police jurisdiction in dis-tress through fire or other calamity, or which is overrun by criminalson stated occasionsi is promptly aided by brother officers from othersections, only the asking- being required to awaken devout and ear-nest assistance. A police agent in a far-away locality need butpresent himself at headquarters elsewhere in order to receive promptcooperation and all courtesies-his own is grasped by a friendlyhand and he is given the same assurance.1 4t6

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