HOW SOME TOWNS ARE "PROTECTED."
Speaking generally, there are two methods in vogue in American police
circles for dealing with crime, and they may be called the compromising
and the uncompromising. The latter is the more honest. In a town where
it is followed, the chief of police is known to be a man who will not
allow a professional thief within the city limits, if he can help it,
and he is continually on watch for transient offenders. He will make no
"deal" with criminals in any particular, and he takes pride in securing
the conviction and punishment of all whom his men apprehend. He is
naturally not liked by offenders, although they respect his consistency,
and there is a local element of rowdies who consider him "an old fogey,"
but he is the kind of officer that makes Germany, for instance, and
England, too, in a measure, so free of the class of criminals that in
this country are so bold. There are some chiefs of police in the United
States of this character, and they become known throughout the criminal
world, but there ought to be more of them.
The compromising policeman is a man of another stripe. He knows about
the uncompromising "copper," has read about him and thought about him,
but he excuses his disinclination to accept him as a model on the ground
that, if he did, the thieves would "tear his town open."
"Why, if I should antagonise this class, as you suggest," he will say to
the protesting citizens, "they would come here some night and steal
right and left, just out of revenge. I haven't enough men to protect the
city in that way. The Town Council only give me so much to run the
entire force, and I have to manage the best way I can. If you'll give me
more men, I'll try to drive all the thieves out of the city."
In certain instances his argument has truth in it; it sometimes happens
that he has not enough men to take care of the city from the
uncompromising policeman's point of view. The trouble is, however, that
because he is thus handicapped he thinks that he can go a step farther,
and is justified in reasoning thus: "Well, I had to pay to get this
position, and if the people don't want the town protected as it ought to
be, it isn't my fault, and I'm going to get out of the job all that's in
it," and then begins a miserable conniving with crime.
To illustrate what a professional thief can accomplish with such a
police officer, let it be supposed that the thief is happily married, as
is sometimes the case, has a family, and wants to live in a certain
town. The chief of police knows him, however, and can disgrace his
family, if he is so inclined. The thief wants his family left alone, he
takes a pride in it, so he visits the chief at "Headquarters," and they
have a talk. "See here, chief," he says, "I'll promise you not to do any
work in your town, if you'll promise to leave me and mine alone. Now,
what's it going to cost me?"
Sometimes it costs money, not necessarily handed over the desk, and not
always to the chief personally, but in a manner that is satisfactory to
all concerned. In other cases the matter is arranged without money, and
the thief may possibly promise to "tip off" to the chief some well-known
"professional" when he comes to town, so that the chief can get the
benefit of an advertisement in the newspapers; they will say that such
and such a man has been captured, "after a long and exciting chase ably
conducted by our brilliant chief." The chase generally amounts to a
quiet walk to the hotel or saloon where the visiting thief is quietly
reading a newspaper or drinking a glass of beer, and the capture
dwindles down to a request on the part of the chief or his officer that
the man shall go to the "front office," which he does, wondering all the
while who it was that "beefed" on him (told the chief who he was). A
number of the "fly catches," as they are called in police parlance,
which create so much comment in the press, can be explained in some such
way as this. Meanwhile, however, what has become of the protected thief?
He may keep his word, a number of thieves do, and commit no theft in the
town where he is allowed to live; it depends on how much money he needs
to meet his various expenses, how dear his family is to him, and what
temptations he encounters. If he does break his word, however, and there
are no hall-marks on his theft, by which it can be definitely traced to
him, all he has to say, when asked by his protector as to who did it,
is: "It must have been outside talent." In other words, he can "work"
with almost absolute safety in the town, and the innocent public is
paying taxes all the while for a police force that ought to be able to
apprehend him.
To prove that this case is not hypothetical but actual, I would say that
I have recently been in at least two cities where I know that
professional thieves live with impunity, for I saw as many as ten in
each, and they were not afraid to do criminal work in either. The
police of both places claimed that in giving the thieves a domicile they
were protecting their towns, but any one who knows either city well is
aware that professional crime is prevalent.
One of the worst features of the policy under consideration is its
selfishness. A chief who says to a professional thief, "I will leave you
alone if you will leave me alone," practically says to him: "Go to
another town when you want to steal." An amusing story is told in this
connection about two chiefs who aired their different notions in regard
to the matter, at one of the annual conferences of the chiefs of police.
One of them had said tentatively, so the story goes, that he had heard
that in some cities criminals were protected, and that he considered the
practice a bad one. Another chief, who was thought to favour such a
policy, got up and said that he did not know much about the question in
hand, but he did know that his town was particularly free of crime.
"That may be, Bill," retorted the first speaker, "but I'll tell you
what your thieves do--they come down to my town to steal and go back to
yours, where they are left alone, to live." I give the anecdote merely
as gossip, but it illustrates splendidly one of the worst results of
compromise with crime.
It sometimes happens that an entire municipal administration, or, at any
rate, the most powerful officials in it, favour the policy of
compromise, and then it is utterly impossible to punish the criminal
adequately. I have been in such communities. Not long ago I was in a
town of about ten thousand inhabitants where a "mob" of New York
pickpockets were caught in the act of attempting to pick a pocket. On
being charged with the crime by the officers who had discovered them,
they admitted their guilt and profession, and said: "But what are you
going to do about it?" If the town authorities had been trustworthy the
pickpockets could have been sent to the penitentiary; because there was
practically no hope of securing their conviction in the local courts on
account of their ability to bribe, or to give a purely nominal bail and
then run away, they were let go.
One of the best illustrations of how a town's officials sell themselves
is embodied in the vile character known as "the fixer." I know this man
best as a circus follower. Connected with nearly all shows, sometimes
officially and sometimes not, are men who have games of chance with
which they swindle the public. In late years it has become necessary for
these men, in order to run their games, to pay for what are called
"privileges," and the man who secures these is called "the fixer." He
goes to the mayor or the chief of police of a town, as necessity
requires,--sometimes to both,--assures them that the games are harmless
(which they know is a lie), and hands them $25, $50, or $100, as
circumstances may require. In association with the men who have the
games are pickpockets and other professional thieves,--indeed the
gamesters themselves can frequently change clothes with the pickpockets
and let the thieves attend to the games while they pick pockets. It is
not necessarily understood that the "crooks" are to be protected by the
authorities to the extent that the gamesters are, but "the fixer," who
stands in with the thieves also, is supposed to be able to get them out
of any serious trouble, or, at least, to warn them if he knows that
trouble is brewing.
It was once my duty to run a race with a "fixer," and try to get the ear
of a mayor of a town before he did. Two other officers and myself had
assured ourselves that a "mob" of pickpockets was following up a circus
which was being transported over the railroad we were protecting, and we
knew that in one town, at least, "the fixer" had "squared" things with
the authorities. The circus was on its way to another town on our lines,
the mayor and police of which we believed we could swing our way if we
got to them before "the fixer" did, and we travelled there ahead of him.
We were particularly anxious to have the pickpockets arrested if they
put in an appearance, and we told the mayor who they were, what
protection they were getting, and explained to him how he would be
approached by "the fixer." The mayor listened to us, nodded his head
from time to time, and then said: "Well, there'll be no fixing done in
this town, and if you will point out the pickpockets, when they come in,
you may rest assured that they will be arrested. I can't understand what
the citizens of a town can be thinking of when they elect to office men
such as you describe." The pickpockets as well as "the fixer" must have
got wind of what we had done, for the former did not appear, and the
latter made no call on the mayor. We learned, however, that he arranged
things satisfactorily to all concerned in the town where the circus
exhibited on the following day.
How many towns in this country can be "fixed" in this manner is a
question I would not attempt to answer, but I do know that in the
district where I was on duty as a police officer a great deal of tact
exercise was necessary to beat "the fixer" in a town where it was to his
interests to buy up the local authorities; and I ask in wonderment, as
did the mayor whom I have quoted: What are the citizens of a town
thinking of, when they allow such corrupt officials to manage things? Is
it because they are ignorant of what goes on, or merely because they are
indifferent? A friend in the police business, but a man who has
understood how to remain honest in spite of it, answers the question by
saying: "The world is a graft; flash enough boodle under nine noses out
of ten, and you can do as you like with them. Take New York, for
instance. I could clean up that city in a week if the people would stand
by me. They wouldn't do it. Enough would tumble down in front of some
fixer to queer everything that I might do. You can't do anything worth
while in the police business unless you've got the people behind you,
and they are as fickle as a cat. Why, if I were chief of police in New
York, and I should clean up the city thoroughly, there is a class of
business men who would come to me and say that I was taking away some of
the main attractions of the city, and that they were going to make a
kick about it. Heaven knows that the police are corrupt, but I tell you
that the public is corrupt, too. See how things are up in Canada! I have
just come back from there, and I can assure you that there is no such
sneak work going on up there as there is with us. Their police courts
are as dignified almost as is our Supreme Court, and if a crook gets
into one of them they settle him. How many crooks get what they ought to
in this country? About one in ten, and he could get off with a light
sentence, if he had money enough to square things."
Perhaps this is true, and we are indifferent to corruption as a people.
Certainly the police business makes one think so, but I have not been in
it long enough to hold to this pessimistic notion. It is my opinion that
the majority of the people in this country do not realise what goes on
about them, and I can take my own experience as an example. I have seen
more of criminal life, perhaps, than the average person, and it would
seem that I ought to have been able to learn considerable about the
corruption in the country, but I must admit that, until this experience
in a police force, I had no idea that it was as widespread as it is. It
is not unreasonable to suppose that people who have never had occasion
to look into such matters at all must be even more ignorant of the
situation than I was. There is a great deal of wrong-doing that is
apparent to any one who takes an active part in municipal politics, and
the newspapers are continually reporting things which can but make it
obvious to all who read that there is a strong criminal class in the
United States; but one seldom takes such matters seriously until he is
brought in close contact with them, and the general public is not thus
influenced.
Take the Mazet Committee, which recently investigated New York. So far
as the police are concerned, I cannot see that the committee brought to
light much that was new, and it was difficult for me to take an interest
in this part of the investigation. If they had subpoenaed a few
successful professional thieves located in New York, however, and
persuaded them to tell what they know, the situation would have been
much clearer to me and to the general public. More interest and
indignation would also have been aroused if New York is "protected" in
the way that I have indicated in the case of other towns. The police are
not going to help investigate themselves, and the public is not likely
to be permanently affected by what they say. A very definite effect
would be made upon me, however, if a thief would get up and tell on what
basis he is allowed to live in New York, what it costs him, if anything,
to "square" things when he is arrested, what his annual winnings are,
and what, in general, he thinks of the criminal situation in the city.
He is a specialist entitled to speak with authority, and I would accept
his statements as trustworthy.
It is, of course, to be replied to all this that it is very difficult to
persuade a thief to talk, but the point I would make is that the public
seldom gets the truth in regard to such matters as are under
consideration. It hears in an indefinite way that corruption is rampant,
and then there is an investigation, but the average citizen rarely
realises what is going on until some personal business brings him in
contact with the suspected officials. Let a man have his pocket picked,
or his home robbed, and go to the police about it, and he will begin to
see how things are managed. If everybody could have this experience,
meet both detective and thief, and all could have a talk together, there
would be an awakening in public sentiment that would be very beneficial.
Meanwhile all that I can recommend is to hunt down the unknown thief,
and punish him hard. There are different methods by which he can be
apprehended, but I know of none better than to catch the known thief and
through him find out the other. The police and court proceedings, if
carefully followed, are bound to develop the facts, and, these once
secured, the public is to blame if the unknown thief is not punished.