Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CHARLES C THOMAS
PUBLISHER
SPRING
RINGJ*^^ LLNOIS
PARKER
ON POLICE
"The
idea
of
publishing
addresses and in book form was articles conceived while listening to an address by him that
Parker's
Foreword
MEMORIAL
SHIP
SCHOLAR-
FUND
ifornia,
rial
August Vollmer
The Regents
Presenting much information and many simple truths relating to administrative problems that are worth the attention of all
police executives.
the
to understand successful police how chief in a large American city discharges some of his responsiadministrative
ables
him
bilities.
p- lA t'
I
jv
u/)
PARKER ON POLICE
\\ II.I.IAM
II.
PaHKI.H
Parker on police
Edited by
O.
W. WILSON
CHARLES
THOMAS
Illinois
PUBLISHER
U.S.A.
Springfield
CHARLES C THOMAS
PUBLISHER
Bannerstone House
301-327 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A.
Commonwealth
LTD., OXFORD,
of Nations
by
ENGLAND
THE RYERSON
PRESS,
TORONTO
This book
of
it
is
protected by copyright.
in
No
part
may be reproduced
written
out
permission
Copyright 1957, by
CHARLES C THOMAS
PUBLISHER
from the sale of this hook are to be paid to The Regents of the University of California, Account: The August Vollmer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Contributions to this fund may be mailed to The Regents of the University of California,
Berkeley, California.
Chables C Thomas
FOREWORD
MY
tion
a great
many
World War
II,
our associa-
was a close one. Since his appointment as Chief of Police of Los Angeles, I have watched his operations and the progress of his department with an interest stimulated by the discovery that he was making the most of his rare opportunity to modernize and professionalize police service. He immediately reorganized his department to simplify and assure his control over its operations and to facihtate the attainment of police objectives. He also adopted the best of known pohce procedures and urged his exceptionally competent
staflF
to
develop
new
ones.
Such changes meet resistance in the pohce force and in the community just as does any change in nature or the body politic. What Parker was doing required more courage than is possessed by most men, but his courage is grounded on a great religious faith and he has superb inherent qualities that enable him to carry his intentions into practice. Perhaps it is his faith that has enabled him to weather the rough political seas that every police chief encounters during his career and nowhere are the seas rougher than in a large American city. Like other pioneers in the professionalization of police service, he has been confronted by endless obstacles and
many
scoflFers.
is
evidence of
by patience, diplomacy, courage, and great physical and sound judgment, unusual moral
great qualities of leadership implemented
emotional strength.
The
idea of publishing Parker's addresses and articles in book to an address by him that was
was unique
in
its
setting
is
first,
that
presents
much
information and
many
police
viii
Paeker on Police
its
subject matter
is
presented in such
way
that
it
will
prove interesting
how
a
of
American
city discharges
some
The pubHcation
H. Parker.
of this
book gives me the pleasant opportunity and progressive ideas of Chief William
O.
W. Wilson
Berkeley, 1957
INTRODUCTION
Chief William H. Parker
ON
August
9,
from August 8, 1927, includes service in all ranks within the Los Angeles Police Department. Today, having spent more than twenty-nine of his fifty-four years serving Los Angeles, he is recognized as one of the leading architects of that city's world-famous pohce organization. The comprehensive working knowledge of modern law enforcement acquired in a wide variety of assignments has earned him professional status as one of the
career, dating
Chamber
of
Commerce
commending
become
model
throughout the world. During the Kefauver Crime Investigation of 1952, he was personally commended, and the Senate Committee took oflBcial notice of the effectiveness of the Los Angeles
Police Department. Similar notice has been taken
by State and other Federal Crime Investigation agencies and by nationallyknown police and civilian authorities, with Los Angeles becoming
known
During October of 1952, Chief Parker was singled out by the government of the Republic of Korea when its Ministrs' of Home Affairs appointed him Honorary Chief of the National Police, commending him for prominence in all fields of law enforcement and for the inspiration he had offered to the democratic police of the Free World. In Febmary of 1953, he was selected as "Citizen of the Year" by the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce for outstanding service to his community. In November, 1953,
ix
Parker on Police
In May of 1955, Chief Parker was selected as "Salesman of the Year" by the Sales Executive Club of Los Angeles for his outstanding contribution toward the furtherance of public understanding of law enforcement. In December, 1955, he was awarded
Membership in the Mihtary Order of the Purple Heart. Born June 21, 1902, in Lead, South Dakota, he acquired his interest in police work from his grandfather, a colorful frontier law-enforcement oflBcer. He completed high school in Deadwood,
a Life
in the heart of the Black Hills. Continuing his education after
a member of the California State Bar. During the following years he attended a variety of specialized police training courses and received certificates in Police and TraflBc Administration from Northwestern University. He studied Overseas Administration and the Italian language at Harvard University during World
War
11.
During twenty-six months overseas with the Military Government branch of the Armed Forces, he served from Sardinia to Occupied Germany. He developed the Police and Prisons Plan for the European Invasion and created democratic poHce systems for Munich and Frankfort. He was wounded during the Normandy Invasion and was awarded the Purple Heart. For his work during the liberation of Paris, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star by the Free French Government. Italy awarded him the Star of Solidarity for his work in restoring civil government in Sardinia. He was honorably discharged an Army Captain in November, 1945. Chief Parker's service with the Los Angeles Police Department has seen him develop administrative concepts which are now established procedures in other pohce agencies. He was instrumental in the creation and development of the Internal Affairs Division, which handles complaints concerning the conduct of
members
fare,
he was co-author of the Board of Rights procedure (Section 202, Los Angeles City Charter) which guarantees separation of police discipline from municipal politics.
iNinODUCTION
xi
He
Protective
League
for
many
years. After
becoming Chief, he
created the Bureau of Administration which includes the nationally-famous Intelligence and Planning
and Research divisions. Active in American Legion affairs, Chief Parker was elected Commander of Police Post 381 in 1948. Under his administration, the Post grew to 2500 members, the largest in California. For this achievement, he was appointed Membership Chairman of The American Legion in California for two successive terms. In 1949 he was appointed Chairman of the Legion Americanism Commission for California. In the 17th District, he was elected 2nd ViceCommander in 1948, 1st Vice-Commander in 1949, and District
Commander
It
in 1950.
was Chief Parker's keen understanding of the Los Angeles Police Department needs that brought about the present functional design of the new PoHce Administration Building. This represented a savings of over $5,000,000 to the city and gave to the police a more eflBcient base of operations.
Chief Parker
is
An advocate of a close working relationship between the citizen and the police officer, he spends a great portion of his personal time addressing citizen and business groups. Because of Chief Parker's interest in the youth of the community he was, in January, 1956, appointed to the Executive Board of the Los Angeles Council, Boy Scouts of America. Interested in world-wide development of democratic police practices, he has co-operated extensively with the U. S. State Department, serving as host to police and governmental
delegates from almost every country outside the Iron Curtain. On May 28, 1956, Chief Parker was elected to the Board of
Governors of the Welfare Federation, Los Angeles Area. This organization administers the aflFairs of the Community Chest locally. A member of the California Bar for over 25 years, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court on
April 9, 1956.
He was
III,
Warren Olney
States.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by O. W. Wilson Introduction: William H. Parker, a Biographical
Profile
vii
ix
Chapter
I.
As Chief of Police
11.
Parker's Philosophy
Crime and
1953
Belief,
lACP
11
Name
Society, January,
18
Profession,
April, 1951
The
Police
Graduating
Class,
Police
Academy,
20
23
Parker to Businessmen
35
39
Parker on Crime
Invasion from Within, September, 1952
49
66
1954
xiv
Parker on Police
VI.
by Wiretap,
California
Law
Review,
99
December, 1954
113
The March
VII.
of Crime, excerpts,
March, 1956
124
The
tember, 1955
Police Role in
VIII.
135
Relations,
Community
May, 1955
....
147
Parker on Traffic
Transit Inflation, Rotary Club, January, 1953
167
July,
1953
175
180
The
Police Challenge in
Our Great
Cities
187
X. Parker to Citizens
Progress Report, January, 1953
203
Response
to Questions
December, 1953
The
The March
218
Force
225 233
Miscellaneous "Chief's Messages" from the 1952 Annual RepoHs and The Beat
Index
PARKER ON POLICE
Chapter
One
FOLLOWING
HIS
APPOINTMENT AS
AUGUST
9,
1950
Appointment
As YOUR new
as Chief of Police
I
Chief of Police,
j[\_ conferred upon me and realize the people of the City of Los Angeles.
my
great responsibility to
The growth
office of
grown to an authorized strength of 4493 and approximately 900 clerical and technical per-
The
operation. This
money
is
derived
from the pockets of the taxpayers, and they are certainly entitled to a full measure of service in return. People have organized themselves into our present society in order that each person may contribute to the welfare of the others and thus provide a full and protected life. But social contacts create friction. There are wicked men with evil hearts who sustain themselves by preying upon society. There are men who lack control over their strong passions, and thus we have vicious assaults, many times amounting to the destruction of the life of a fellow man. To control and repress these evil forces, police forces have existed, in some form or another, throughout recorded history. On the surface it would appear that complete harmony should reign between the good citizens of the community and their police. But there are frictions even in this relationship. As society increases in number, it becomes more complex and additional regulations become necessary to preserve it from disintegration. But it must be remembered that this great nation of ours was founded by men and women who fought their way
5
across the Atlantic to escape the harsh and oppressive restrictions under which they Hved in Europe. From these hardy pioneers we have developed a nation of people who are deeply conscious and rightfully jealous of their individual liberties and the dignity of man. The resultant conflict between increased regulation and individual liberty gives rise to a problem of serious proportions. The police, in an attempt to obey legislative mandate and enforce regulations, are often brought to grips with the individuals to whom these measures are applied. The American people possess a greater degree of sympathy for the "under-dog" than any of the other peoples on earth. Thus, when police measures are applied against an individual, we are inchned to extend sympathy to that individual and are therefore prone to overlook the deeds of the
individual that
made police action necessary. The pohce enforcement burden is therefore in two parts: they must enforce regulations on one hand and maintain public support on the other. It has been aptly stated by an eminent judge that the success of any police department rests largely upon the
confidence of the people
whom it serves.
tlie
There
force
is
is
delicate relation-
and the
public. It
its
is
wicked men elude the detection devices of the selective processes and find their way into police service. Their evil acts, when discovered, cast disrepute upon the entire force and sometimes result in a sharp break between the community and the police. The infrequent contact between the individual citizen and the pohce is usually with only one or two members of the force. The nature of
that contact builds within the
mind
is
When
and
the experience
satisfactory, the
ment.
When
the experience
unpleasant,
all
members
are
grouped together as the object of his castigation. In an endeavor to build a superior police department in the City of Los Angeles, we have applied recruiting standards and a measure of selectivity probably more stringent than has been used in any other part of the country. For example, in a recent examination for the position of poHceman, in which over 2300 apphcants participated, only seventeen achieved a passing grade in the written test. Credits in the oral examination and the apph-
7
out of the
men
Subsequent thereto, many of these failed to pass our rigid medical examination and others failed to perform in accordance with our high standards during their probationary
period.
Those receiving appointments have been sent through a comprehensive training period at the police academy and, in addition to the other phases of the policeman's craft, these officers
have been inculcated with a deep appreciation of the relationship between the police and the public. It is the considered opinion of authorities in the police field that about five years of service are required before an officer, through training and experience, develops the sense of judgment that enables him to handle almost any situation with a minimum of conffict and friction.
young department. Over 3000 young men have enWorld War II. With rare exception, all are veterans of the War. It is a radical change to reheve a man from a fighting armed force, where he is imbued with a deep sense of preservation of self and destruction of the enemy, and to place him in the peacetime role of a police officer where he must refrain from the use of physical force unless it becomes absolutely necessary for the protection of
Ours
is
society.
will
be
my
will
The law
be enforced
We
will
continue in our attempts to eradicate from the community those parasites who prey upon us and whose nefarious activities drain
huge sums
of
money from
lives
In order to achieve
be given to the
^
a full measure of consideration must and welfare of our police officers and their
this,
qualifying the candidate to continue with the other phases of the examination. In
the 1950 examination referred
to,
or higher without application of the 10% veteran credit. of 2300, less than 150 candidates successfully passed
all
Out
and became
eligible for
appointment. [Ed.]
8
families.
A young man entering the police service realizes he cannot expect to amass great wealth, but he and his family are enprovide him with the moderate advantages of a home and an opportunity to afford to his children a proper degree of social, recreational, and educational opportutitled to a scale of living that will
nities.
Los Angeles
today. It
is
is
advantage of the community that we keep it our police must receive adequate wage and other elements of economic security that will enable them to reto the
that way.
To do
so,
sist
officer,
that
community
possess-
above
self,
and that
men
ing that high degree of both physical and moral courage, and of
health and intelligence, so necessary in the complex duties of the
tlie
proper discharge of
modern
police officer.
The pohce
occasions
my
it
concern and
when
all
has been
my
good fortune
them
and
their families.
May
that
assure
members
Department
my
and
to
compete with
is
tions, for
or creed. It
my
I
positions will be
made
shall
motional
the load a
lists.
do
all in
my power
things necessary to
little
make
the policeman's
life
brighter and
hghter.
In return,
member
of service to the
community.
May I assure the people of Los Angeles that we will not deviate from this solemn obligation, and that we will continue in our endeavor to bring about complete understanding between the police and the public, which can only react to our mutual benefit.
Chapter
Two
PARKER'S PHILOSOPHY
Crime and
Belief:
An
Name
The
Society,
Police Profession:
An
Police Philosophy:
An
1951.
might have been asked twenty-five years ago to gathering on the subject of crime prevention. At I was a young poHceman and had solved that great that time problem. Terms like "as the twig is bent" and "eliminate the desire" came readily to my mind. In those days the problems of the world were etched in blacks and whites; there were fewer greys. If I had spoken to you at that time I am sure I could have oflFered immediate solutions. Today, a quarter-century later, I am not that same confident oracle. I have misplaced those ringing slogans. I have found that rules-of-thumb are usually only exercises in finger-twirling, and
I
WISH that
speak to
this
lation.
have learned that wisdom consists of more than shallow postuThe man who wants an easy formula, a common denomi-
nator, or universal solution for every problem, will not find his
answer here.
An
ceed.
sions, the
Fundamental agreement is necessary to determine the scope and the limits of its practical solution. First, I believe it can be fairly stated that crime prevention is not an exact science. We have had some practical experience; we have some facts; we have made a number of lucky guesses. In the past few years a beam of light has been focused upon the subject, but it is a thin beam and so far has only been suflBcient to warn us that we face a deep and many-sided enigma. In our time we have seen crime blamed on our ancestors, friends, diet, sex, the movies, radio, television, and comic books. Later it was the vogue to lump all factors together and call it "multiple causation." Today we recognize that the roots of crime
of the problem
go deeper; that they are intertwined about the fundamental concepts that distinguish animal from man and man from his Creator.
11
12
Parker's Philosophy
Second,
we must
We have been encouraged by a few farsighted and aggressive community leaders, but on the whole we have seen little inchnation on the part of tlie public to furnish the interest, time, or funds necessary for a truly comprehensive program of prevention. Undoubtedly the cause of some of this failure can be traced to the police. The public
only mild interest in the prevention of crime. does not rest great responsibility upon those in
rest great faith.
whom
it it
Pohce history
is
However
hangs as a millstone about the neck of the prowho are gathered here. Third, the prevention of crime is not one of the traditional police tasks. Law enforcement oflBcers are neither equipped nor authorized to deal with broad social problems. We do not control economic cycles; we are not equipped to deal with racial, relifessional-minded police leaders
gious, or political prejudice;
we
and
wrong. In short, we are not healers of social ills. Our job is to apply emergency treatment to society's surface wounds; we deal with eflFects, not causes.
This is a rather melancholy examination of crime prevention. However, if we can determine our limitations, we have taken the first step toward a solution. The wise navigator is concerned first with his position. He does not select a spot where he would hke to be; instead, he pin-points his exact location and then, however far oflF course, proceeds resolutely from there. I said before that I will disappoint anyone who expects to find here an easy formula for preventing crime. As a problem in ethics (the third branch of philosophy) crime has received attention from the best minds of all the centuries. Not only has man failed to find a solution, he has been unable to agree on a common definition. To one man it is a crime to steal a penny but good business to steal a fortune. To another it is a crime to gamble at cards but recreation to gamble at horse races. And to another it is a crime
to betray a political party but idealism to betray a nation.
is
What
a crime? We do not know; we have only our personal concepts. As policemen we are guided by an artificial definition of right and wrong the law. We do not pretend that it is all-wise, all-
13
it
The student
many
The student
it
many
deviations
The student
of logic will
probable that no man exists who agrees with all the statutes. This creates a remarkable paradox. Law exists, not because we do agree on what is right and wrong, but because we do not agree. A universally accepted standard of ethics does not exist. To prevent anarchy, it is necescontradictions. It
many
ment.
When
force,
is changed, either by democratic process or by and new standards are adopted. The minority who do not accept them, however, are said to be the criminal element. Crime has its birth in this clash between individual and group ethics. I submit that the volume of crime is proportional to the quantity and breadth of this variance. I believe that this hypothesis is susceptible of proof. As practicing policemen we are familiar with the fact that the average criminal does not believe that he is doing wrong. As he views the situation, he is doing right. However faulty his premises, however weak his logic, however selfish his reasons, and however transitory his beliefs, he acts in accord
cepts, the
law
with his
angle,
own
concepts.
if
Therefore,
we
its
most vulnerable
we must
recognize that
man
is
book and fear all on this basis. In the arena of war, conflicts that have arisen from empty stomachs have been mere skirmishes compared to those holocausts incited by confused minds. Kings rule, martyrs suffer, and merchants prosper according to their own convictions. Like other men, the criminal acts in response to his own beliefs. The fact that his beliefs differ from those of the majority and that they may be completely illogical does not alter the primary fact that they are the mainspring of his hfe. Hunger, pov^erty, maladjustment, and other physical problems do not incite crime they incite beliefs that may produce crime. This subtle difference may be regarded by some as hair-splitbelief, let
him turn
kill,
and
fall,
love and
exalt
14
ting.
Parker's Philosophy
enormous importance. If criminal acts are symptoms of a conflict between individual morals and accepted morals, then the problem can only be solved by reIn reality, the distinction
is
of
must be brought into closer conformity with popular requirements. The two in conflict invariably produce crime. It is apparent that our way of life cannot survive if we so relax and broaden our laws that almost any individual's standard will conform with them. Such a course would be little more than anmorals,
altered, or the individual's standard
must be
is
A question immediately arises: Can individual ethical standards be altered? The answer is unreservedly "Yes!" Men's ideas are constantly being revised. Our great rehgions are founded on this fact. Science, philosophy, and art depend upon it for their creative sustenance. Discarded ideas, like burned-out torches, litter mankind's path, and its future way is lit by those freshly kindled. Ideals, morals, ethics, or by whatever name you call man's convictionsthey are the indispensable tools of
life.
Another question:
to practical
How may
beliefs
be altered?
It is
no secret
Gre-
men
by stronger
beliefs.
dominated Europe and Africa; and, in turn, the minds of both were captured by a small band of Hebrews who preached the ideals of Christianity. America was conceived in the rupture of old beliefs and nurtured by new ones. Small beliefs are also changed. Bathtubs, chewing gum, chrome bumpers, and vitamin tablets all represent new convictions. Police administrators improve their departments by implanting new conpracticality
victions.
Roman
To a nation
and
come
fit
as
no
surprise.
This
is
not a call to
men
There
is
to cast all
men from
common
is
too great. It
better to bolt the door in fear of the criminal than to bolt the
15
it is
mind
in fear of
an all-powerful
state.
Fortunately
unneces-
law to exercise creative diversities. During the 1930's the German dictatorship successfully imposed upon an entire generation of youth, and with only slightly
latitude exists within the
upon older generations, completely new concepts of moral values. More recently the Soviet Union, undoubtedly encouraged by Germany's success, has improved and expanded the program internationally. That these are false concepts, we know. But the activities of our enemy demonstrate something we once knew but have forgotten. Men want desperately for something
less success
is
new
America has concepts that are vital and that are compatible men and in accord with the Law of God. We have developed these concepts within a broad framework of democratic law that leaves room for the dignity which only liberty can bestow. Moreover, we constantly improve these laws, altering them when they are found to be in the least oppressive. It is the hope of our enemies that we will fail to demonwith the natural desires of
strate to ourselves the
advantages of Hfe within these concepts. to sell people on the largely mythical values of luxury commodities can also sell them on the obvious
Americans
Would the burglar be reand deterred from his crime by a thirty-second radio announcement on the advantages of virtue? We well know he would not, no matter how clever the writer and forceful tlie announcer. But neither did the citizen rush to the market to buy chlorophyl the moment the new deodorant was first advertised. It took ten years of conditioning to do the job. Americans, who a few years ago were convinced that they were the sweetest smellduced
to tears
ing persons in the world, today regard honest perspiration with deep suspicion and, as a result, consume advertised chemicals on a grand scale. Is
it
The eager
critic will
16
Parker's Philosophy
from inadequate housing, lack of recreation, hunbad companions, or some combination of them. He will speak of secret urges in the dark recesses of the mind. But he will not explain how most of us here, and indeed a significant portion of our countiymen, have endured one or many of
these hardships without yielding to those secret desires. It
truth, as
is
the
our critic will some day discover, that a man's convictions will carry him over adversity as surely as his faith carries him over doubt. I do not oppose social improvement. If an equitable way can be
found, give every
belly,
if
man
fill
his
and while away his leisure hours with entertainment but fail to find for him something to beheve in, if he and his neighbors do not share convictions within which to live, that
you
life.
Whether
and funds
for a
comprehen-
program wiU ever be available, is debatable. Surely it would be an enormous undertaking. However, there is an immediate way that can yield much in the future. Youth is the
sive crime prevention
key. Their beliefs are not yet fortified behind the concrete shell of certainty that adults call maturity.
of
Growing minds
are capable
immense
fail to
faith.
They
when
we
on
street corners
supply convictions for them, they go out and seek them and in back alleys. So great is this desire that our
day
in the mountains, a
few sticks of wood and a pot of glue have left indelible convictions of right and wrong on these young minds, which have fortified them for tlie remainder of their lives. Since law enforcement's pitifully few juvenile ofiBcers have done so much, is there any doubt what the great
baseball and a sandlot, or a
to excite curiosity,
have pointed the way to a solution, it is no easy one. I wish that crime were a simple plague to be solved by isolating a troublesome microbe, but it is not. I wish it could be ehminated materialistically, by continually supplying Americans with chrome fixtures, softer beds, and shorter work hours, but I know that it cannot be thus eradicated. Certainly I do wish that tlie pohce had
If I
17
I
know
they
America is not a surface disorder a minor irritation. It is indicative of deep conflicts which enervate the vital strength of the repubhc. In a nation regulated by brute force, a crime problem is not fatal. But in a nation founded upon faith and held together solely by belief, it is a potent threat. It is the clear duty of the American police to work to prevent crime by all means at their disposal. We have accepted that obligation, and we wiU continue to perform the task to the best of our abihty. But this does not discharge our obUgation completely. It is imperative that every American recognize crime, not as a pohce problem, but as a departure from the deep convictions that bind 150 million persons into a secure, prosperous, and happy nation. The police must help them understand.
cannot.
in
Crime
ington uttered on of his term as President ot seek retirement upon the conclusion
the United States:
to poHtical the dispositions and habits, which lead are indispensable supports. In prosperity, reHgion and morality tribute of patriotism, who should vain would that man claim the piUars of human happiness, these labor to subvert these great
George Washtaken from the f areweU address of when he determined to September 17, 1796,
Of
all
The mere Pohtiand cherish them. ought cian, equally with pious men, with private and volume could not trace aU their connection A where is the security for pubHc felicity. Let it simply be asked,
Men and
Citizens.
to respect
the sense of religious obhgation property, for reputation, for hf e, if instruments of investigation desert die oaths, which are the caution indulge the supposition Courts of Justice? And let us with without reHgion. Whatever may that morality can be maintained refined education on mmds o be conceded to the influence of both forbid us to expect peculiar structure, reason and experience exclusion of rehgious prinprevail in tiiat national mordity can virtue or moraHty is a necessary is substantially true that ciple. It The rule, indeed, extends with spring of a popular Government. of free government less force to every species
more
or
address, Washington deIn another portion of that splendid the American people. He saia, livered a prophetic admonition to enhghtened, and, at no distant period, "It wiU be worthy of a free, mankind the magnanimous and too a great Nation, to give to guided by an exalted justice novel example of a people always in the course of trntie and and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, would richly repay any temporaiy things, the fruits of such a plan steady adherence to it? Can advantages which might be lost by a permanent felicity ot Providence has not connected the
it
be that
a Nation with
its
Virtue?
The experiment,
at least,
is
recom-
19
nature. Alas!
rendered impossible by its vices?" More than 156 years have passed and the prophecy has been partially fulfilled. Yes, we have become a great nation in a ma-
But this unparalleled success in the acquisition of worldly goods has been accompanied by a materiahstic philosophy that has permeated our people and that threatens to destroy
terial sense.
every vestige of
human
liberty.
With
admonition of Washington, we have attempted to disassociate Virtue from the foiTnula that will guarantee permanency as a free
people. Is
it
dream
of
believe
it
may
be. If
we
continue to
to
blindly ignore the lessons of history, the sins of the father will
upon the
children,
come
pay dearly
Greece, and
Let us look at the great civiHzations of the past. Egypt, Babylon, Rome rose, then fell, as strength gave way to weakness, alertness gave way to complacency, and virtue gave way to
corruption. It
is
pensability of Religion
and Morafity to our national welfare is same fate that beset these brave civihza-
by responsible
citizens to accepted
down
in the scriptures,
would en-
sure our salvation. Such a return to our early strengths and virtues
would
ever,
How-
it is
a fact that
is
we have become
a confused nation,
and the
path back
must be ehminated, and there must be a return to fundamental honesty, morality and ethics in every facet of our lives. Who will lead the way? Perhaps a clue to the answer to this question is to be found in our theme of today. If it is a valid premise that Religion and Morafity are indispensable to human welfare, it must be concluded that Religion and Morahty are indispensable to each other. Therefore, the
that has engulfed us
The confusion
leadership
virtues
we
must
lie
among
those
to
The
I
Police Profession
members
of the graduating class for
want
to congratulate the
determine
ment.
We
are
foremost in
our ranks.
will serve in the Los Angeles Police Departproud of our department; we believe it to be the the nation; hence we are particular as to who joins
who
You must not gain the impression, however, that you have now accomphshed all that is necessary in the way of learning in order to do your job properly and well. Those of us who have had considerable experience in this field estimate that
five years
cer. If
it
requires about
ofiB-
even keep abreast of developments in your chosen field, you must continue to study during perhaps most of the years ahead of you in the police service. I don't know what motive prompted you to enter the police service. I assume that you were seeking economic location and, after weighing all factors, you decided that the police department
offered
you expect
in the
way
of security, so
you
We
ex-
you that will cause you to strive hard to perform your work well. There is a philosophy of police service that is embodied in the
term "police." This term designates "that executive civil force of the state to which is entrusted the duty of maintaining order and of enforcing regulations for the prevention and detection of crime." In a perfect system of civil administration, the function of the police is to interfere with the liberty of the
definition of the
20
21
when
it
be deprecated as being arbitrary of pohce service involves pubhc relations, so we are attempting to teach you how to develop a sense of judgment whereby you can determine immediately when the activity of an individual is inimical to the welfare of society; it is then your sworn duty to interfere with the hberty of that individualbut not before. When you have developed this sense of judgment, you will then have become a perfect police oBcer in terms of a democracy. I do not believe there has ever been a time when honest and efiBcient law enforcement has been more important from both tlie local and national standpoint. As we began to fight in the defense of our nation against an outside aggressor we began to reahze that perhaps there is more involved in our survival as a democratic nation than merely stemming the onward tide of that outside aggressor; we then began to understand that there may be some need for internal improvement in this nation if we are to survive. We have seen in recent months an uprising of pubhc indignation over the exposure of corruption of men in government in both high and low places. It is a human frailty to look to the law enforcement field when human deficiencies and errors assert themselves in other walks of life and say, "Why don't the police do something about them?" Of course, we can't control the hves of 153 milhon people in the United States, There must be a change in public thinking in that respect. The people can't expect only the police to have ethics and morality; they can't look only to us to watch the conduct of all others and keep them in line. But we are depended upon to do a great deal in that respect and, of course, the first requirement in the performance of this task is that we policemen be both moral and honest. This gets us back to philosophy again. What will your philosophy be in this service? Will you be inspired by a philosophy of service? Will you dedicate yourselves to the welfare of your country, the welfare of your state, the welfare of your city? Will you take the inner satisfaction of a job well-done as sufficient reward and, out of the very satisfaction and joy of rendering service to
to
and
tyrannical.
22
Parker's Philosophy
your fellow man, be adequately compensated if we continue to provide you with the financial means for at least a modest, dignified
way of living?
you against temptations to which you have never before been exposed. You must be men of strong moral fibre in order to resist them. If you do not resist them, not only will you be unhappy and mentally disturbed but you will also risk loss of position and possible imprisonment. It is not hard to be honest that is, it is not difficult if you want to be honest. You will be offered things apparently on a friendly basis and with no strings attached to them at least at that time. But you must look at all such offers with suspicion. I commend to you a quotation from the New Testament, "beware of him in whose hands are iniquity, his right hand is filled with gifts." Not a bad quotation to remember and carry with you every day. You are coming into a great department to join a group of fine men, who have built the department into what it is today. You walk into a "going concern," and we certainly have every right to expect that you will do nothing to bring about its deterioration, and that you will strive to add to it, to perfect it and to improve
I caution
its
reputation.
Seated behind
me on
this
platform are
as
men who
many
same position
have followed the philosophies I am enunciating to you. I am certain they have had their share of joy in Hfe and are just as content as if they had achieved material wealth. If you develop this philosophy of service and of dedication to the welfare of mankind you too will be happy; you also will enjoy the camaraderie of your companions and will serve your nation at a time when it badly needs your assistance. We are a small group of men who are expected to do great things, and we are proud of this badge we wear. We are proud of our profession, and we welcome you into it and commend to you our philosophy of service rather than one of materialistic gain.
Police Philosophy
It is true, as
fore I
I
had commenced the study of Law. At that time I was a taxicab and after entering the field of law enforcement, I continued my law studies. In 1930, I was successful in obtaining my degree in law, and what was more remarkable, I was successful in passing the State Bar examination the same year. At that time, as I seem to dimly recall, there was a depression and thus fate
driver,
decided that I should remain with the police department. Since that time I have learned considerable about tliis phase of governmental activity. It is this experience with which I intend to concern myself tonight.
history
we
learn that
men
way From
of hfe
and
the
first
group some wicked men with evil hearts who undertook to prey upon society rather than contribute to its welfare. In consequence, it became necessary to establish a system of rules of conduct and a legal profession to aid in their administration. Some form of police was also needed to protect the good people of the society from attack by these wicked members. Since the pohce were created to serve the majority by protecting their lives, their families, their property, and their pursuits, it seems incongruous that there should be such a breach of understanding and such a wide gap between the police and the
were found
in the
public.
Some
attempted to determine the historical basis for its existence. In doing so it is necessary to review the founding of this country by people who came here, primarily
23
we have
24
Parker's Philosophy
from Europe, because they were restless under the harsh and unreasonable regulations designed to control their lives. They believed their governments to be tyrannical.
some place on earth where they could give full expression to their concept of individual liberty and full recognition to the dignity of man.
These
from
who
Sometimes
we
much
overcoming them. But there is one belief that we have inherited, handed down from father to son and from generation to generation, that is not false, and that is our concept of individual liberty. There is a companion concept that is somewhat peculiar to America. It is the sympathy that we have for the under-dog. We are not always conscious of it but may I give you a simple example of its expression through the medium of a sport called "professional wrestling." I
have observed persons of normal intelligence and temperamental control become thoroughly emotional when at a wrestling match where one of the contestants is put to
unfair disadvantage
and his apparently maniacal opponent appears to be about to gouge out his eyes and tear his limbs from his body. There you see an emotional expression of American sympathy for the under-dog.
an abiding sympathy for the under-dog you have the between the public and the police. When it becomes necessary for a police officer, wearing the badge of authority of the state, to deprive an individual of his liberty, perhaps remove him from his home by legal process, those who witness this legal invasion of personal liberty are inchned to allow their innate sympathy to turn to resentment towards the police. If the arrested person is the head of a household upon whom others are dependent for their economic support, the situation is further aggravated. The misdeeds of the arrested person are often overlooked, as has frequently been the case, even though the most
basis for a cleavage
Police Philosophy
serious criminal acts are involved.
25
expression "sob-sisters"
The
whose sense of sympathy causes them to accuse the police of inhumanity and to refuse to believe in the guilt of the defendant. There is another basis for this breach between the pubhc and the poHce that cannot be fully appreciated by anyone except those of us who have experienced the transition of stepping forth from an average role in society to assume the occupation of a police officer. It involves a complete change in social status. Our recruitment processes are perhaps the most exacting in the entire
police
field. The successful candidates are assigned to the police academy where they are subjected to a rigid course of training of
young
some form
of social relax-
Perhaps some old friends arrange a party in his honor. After arriving at the appointed place he is introduced as a member of the police department. Almost invariably someone in the assembled group will take him to one side and the conversation generally follows this pattern, "Yesterday I was driving west on Wilshire
Boulevard and, as I approached the intersection of Western Avenue, the signal light turned yellow. Of course, I drove through the intersection and an officer gave me a ticket. Now wasn't he wrong?" The young officer is faced with a dilemma. As he did not witness the occurrence he is in no position to judge the relative
merits of the dispute.
He
nor does he wish to disagree with the guest. He undergoes a mental struggle. As time goes on he finds himself constantly faced with demands that he pass upon the
criticizing his fellow officer
about police activities. He soon learns that true social relaxations can be found only among his fellow officers. A great fraternity is thus built with strong camaraderie,
relative merits of criticisms
but a basis
is
also
formed
for a
In the early legal history of California, in the case of Clue vs. the Board of Police Commissioners, the court said, "The efficiency
of any police department depends largely
of
the people
It is
whom
it
serves."
26
Parker's Philosophy
pensable in solving
existent information
many
is
criminal cases.
The
inability to obtain
is
evi-
dent in the recent slaying of a local attorney whose murder is apparently another chapter in the history of unsolved deaths by
violence in our community.
of this area
we can change
these
men
police, stated,
Commissioner Valentine, former head of the New York "The citizens will, as long as effective checks of democracy exist, pass upon whether the police meet proper standards, in terms of their understanding and value. To deny this competency to the citizen is to deny the efficacy of democratic
control of policing."
citizens possess
An
are
an inherent right to
police service.
They
presumed
to
in
sumption
is
To deprive the
competency is to refute, in its the relationship between the pohce and the
of government. It
is
therefore our
and techniques in line with public receptivity without sacrificing efficiency and without departing from the objectives and purposes of the police service. It is a
task to adjust our procedures
adjustment but the challenge cannot be ignored. As we go about the task of making this adjustment, there are several factors involved that must be appreciated by the public. There is a proneness on the part of the individual citizen to criticize the poHceman when a contact occurs. Either he was stupid because he wrote a traffic citation; or he made a poor witness on behalf of a cHent; or, he appeared incompetent in the presence of the judiciary. There is a tendency for the public to treat the pohce as a peculiar and outcast group of society. Before succumbing to
difficult
Police Philosophy
this
27
persons
tendency you should consider the origin and identity of these who wear the pohce uniform. There is a premise I would hke to make; the pohce department does not sire its own personnel. The young men and women that constitute your police force are products of the American scene. They are products of American schools, American churches, and American social influences. From these young Americans that offer themselves for the pohce
service,
we
and temperamentally.
What is it that attracts young people to the police service? Very few people, properly suited to the job, actually want to be
policemen.
in the
The
is
pohce service do so for economic reasons. After tlie close World War II, millions of young men and women were released from the armed forces and returned to civilian life. The majority of this group had no satisfactory employment awaiting their return and were forced to seek jobs. From them we recruited about 3500 young men and women; they constitute about
of hostilities in
When
it is
realized that
pohce
I
have been somewhat impatient over many of the critical comyoung recruits. Many of these comments imply immaturity, incompetency, and juvenile status rather than adulthood. What these well-meaning but uninformed critics do not realize is that the young oflBcer they are condemning probably spent from two to five years of his life on a foreign battlefield in combat with a ruthless enemy, jeopardizing his life in order to
plaints concerning these
preserve the
life that enables the critic to condemn him. manpower from which we recruited such splendid oflBcers after the end of hostilities in World W^ar II no longer exists. The situation is in reverse as the armed forces begin
way
of
The
reservoir of
been recalled
no longer demands.
to military
Over 200 of our police oflBcers have and naval duty. Economic dislocation is
fields; police salaries
complicated service
28
Parker's Philosophy
In order to overcome
this drive
human
inertia there
offer the young pohceman? modest income during the most productive years of his adult life, and any attempt to establish an improper source of income will probably result in loss of position and risk of imprisonment.
a position of affluence.
What do we
is
All that
we can
offer
him
The
is
spelled out
!^^
by the individual conduct of its members. Our officers serve alone or in pairs and their effectiveness depends largely upon the presence or absence of a will-to-do and a desire to observe. Many times an officer is alone and must determine his course of action in a matter of seconds. The propriety of his action may subsequently
engage the attention of a court of law for days, or even weeks. Strict and constant supervision and detailed instructions in pohce service are difficult; it is not Hke supervising a group of employees working on an assembly line in a factory. Since the will to serve is not based primarily upon the desire for material gain, our officers must be inculcated with a fundamental philosophy of the poHce function and an idealistic concept of service to the people.
^~
The
adopted by our department embodies a philosophy and reads as follows: "The term police designates that executive civil force of a state to which is entrusted the duty of maintaining order and of
*~7
enforcing regulations for the prevention and detection of crime.
In a perfect system of
police
is
civil
when
it
de-
generates into license, and any material variation from this standis to be deprecated as being arbitrary and tyrannical." Thus attempt to develop within an officer a sense of service to the people directed at promoting the welfare of the community, state
ard
we
and nation,
*""
as well as a sense of
it is
judgment that
will enable
him
to
determine
when
individual. He must remain calm when all about him are governed by emotion rather than reason. In determining his course
Police Philosophy
of action he
29
conduct of the individual inimical to the welfare of society?" If the answer is in the negative, the liberty of the individual is not to be interfered with. It is true that every police recruit takes an oath to support the constitutions of the United States of America and of the State of Cahfornia and to enforce all of the penal laws of the state and city. From a practical viewpoint the recruit will never live long enough to read all of the laws he has sworn to enforce. Furthermore, a strict letter-of-the-law type of enforcement would be rejected by the community. It is realized that there are other bases for the misunderstanding between the police and the pubhc and the blame for some of them are on the pohce side of the ledger. As we examine the history of police systems in America, we find that pohcing was done in Colonial times by a form of local draft. When this system proved unsatisfactory, paid police forces were initiated. At that time the police were known as "leatherheads" as it was considered that no intelligent person would take the job. There are other dark pages in the history of police such as the period of prohibition, the greatest black market in the history of the world. During that time great segments of the population were pleased to have the oflBcer turn his back as they obtained the contraband, but
"Is the
condemned the oflBcer for his breach of trust. redeem the police service and to establish a force that is objective, honest, and eflficient. While the purpose may be noble the necessity is a patriotic one. The American
We
are endeavoring to
people have forgotten their history and the younger generation are taught too little about it. Sometimes I am led to beheve that
we
We
accept
tlie
highest scale of
if it
all
generations to follow.
its
We
The
establishment.
North America came here primarily from Europe where they were unhappy under governments they believed to be tyrannical. These hardy pioneers carved out of a wilderness the greatest nation in all of history and provided for us the highest level of economy the world has ever seen. Solomon, in all his glory, would be envious of the things we treat today as
settled
who
30
Parker's Philosophy
necessities. This nation
mere
tion
was not
built
by
a people
working
The
was not forged by people possessed of so much leisure that the government had to plan methods for its disposition. This nation was created by a people with iron in their spines, with behef in their souls, with hope in their hearts, a group of people that moved into a wilderness and worked from sunrise to sunset to build, construct, create, and to progress. In those days if a man did not hke his neighbors he placed his few belongings into a wagon, hitched the oxen or the horses to it and moved west. Eventually, he would come to a fertile valley where a natural stream provided water; where the wild grasses of the field would feed his draft animals; where the standing timber provided material for the construction of his dweUing; and where the wild game provided meat for his table and skins for his clothing. As this type of migration continued, we dissipated and
destroyed natural resources. Finally, the last frontier reached the
Pacific
Ocean.
to estabhsh a
I gravely doubt that anyone here tonight is anxious homestead in Korea. We became a nation of great
We
fought World
War
II
on
credit
and
in doing so exhausted
much
posits of Utah.
We
We
are
now
we
last one.
who
really believes
Oh,
yes,
we have
the seeds of
its
own
de-
and corruption. Russia believes we are rewriting the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, another nation that became great and collapsed from its
internal weaknesses.
We
could refute
I
I
all
not
remember reading
Hitler's
message to his army staff before the invasion of the Lowlands, At that time he knew more about the course America would pursue
Police Philosophy
31
He stated that the United States was not yet ready war against Germany as there were local influences preventing it. He went on to say that the United States would eventually declare war against Germany, and in that message he actually wrote the pattern whereby Germany would and did lose the
than did we.
to enter
war.
Can America
for
survive? Yes,
if
we
are patriotic
enough
to
make
many
years to come.
What
is
patriotism? It certainly
is
not the
urge that causes you to rush out and buy every commodity that happens to be in short supply for fear that your neighbor will get to the market ahead of you. It does not consist solely of standing
at attention as
to the
Flag. Patriotism
man
that
makes him conscious of a debt of gratitude to the nation that nurtured him and in payment of that debt he is wilhng to give his life itself if the national welfare so demands. We need that kind
of patriotism today.
There
is
we
selves. Is
Godfearing nation. All over this nation today there are men and women, in churches and elsewhere, appeahng to their Creator for divine intervention, "Oh Lord, spare us this travail and let us retain the status quo." But they forget to ask themselves if we are worthy of such divine assistance. Throughout the history of our nation we have countenanced perverted activities as being an essential part of the American scene. Vice and corruption have become part of Americana and we are labeled as the most lawless nation on the face of the earth. A trite example provides a comparison. While serving in Munich, Germany, I occupied a house on the banks of the Isar River. The house adjoined a public park in which there were trees, flowers, shrubs, footpaths and bridle
America worthy of survival?
profess to be a
trails.
We
horses.
A horizontal hewn log provided a watering trough for the A spigot projected from a vertical log to provide water for
tliis
human consumption. To
the horn
it
would
it
last in a
bore evidence of years of use. I ask you, public park in this country?"
"How
long
32
Parker's Philosophy
an honest and eJBBcient police force in Los Angeles are in keeping with the premise that this country can no longer afford to countenance vice and corruption as typical of the American scene. There are those of us who sincerely believe that this nation must undergo a moral and spiritual rebirth if it is to survive. The apathetic manner in which we have allowed
eflForts
Our
to establish
human
huge fortunes must be corrected. It is a luxury that this country can no longer afford. These parasites must be eliminated and there must be a return to fundamental honesty. There is no better place to start this crusade than in government. For the past several years the political culture in the city of Los
of trade
off
and draw
Angeles has enabled us to build a firm foundation along these lines. Our city is fortunate in having leaders in its government
possessed of ideals of service and patriotic belief in the future
of
self.
America men who hold the commonweal above service to Most everything that happens in Los Angeles is scrutinized
It is fitting, therefore, that
we
should set
lives.
The
police cannot be
to
people
We
human endeavor. Our very survival as a free may depend upon this tenet. are proud of the name of our great city, Los Angeles, the
is
banded together
in
we
handful of parasites in our midst that would substitute the holy designation of our city with another name of Spanish
derivation,
Chapter Three
PARKER TO BUSINESSMEN
The Businessman and the Police: An address delivered to the Motor and Equipment Wholesalers Association,
Los Angeles, February, 1952.
Business Principles
for Property
AppHed
over
in Police Service:
Prepared
Owners Association
Radio
of California, Incor-
porated,
broadcast
Station
KXLA, Los
Police
NEVER meet a group of men whose business is the automobile, that I do not remember a prophetic passage from the Bible:
The
shall
seem
like
(Nahum,
Frankly, gentlemen, as
I
ii,
4)
through our Los Angeles traffic, I wondered if the pohce should take a friendly attitude toward the group that helped bring this prediction to
threaded
pass.
my way
one unfulfilled sounds to me suspiciously like something we can do without. For that reason, I have one request to make: I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing the equipment you will display at this show; but if anyone has produced a jet-engine for Los Angeles automobiles, will he kindly leave our fair city and demonstrate it elsewhere. Seriously, it is a pleasure to welcome you here and to address you. The subject, "The Businessman and the Police," is one that I have had the pleasure of discussing personally with many of you and that is of great importance to every citizen. The businessman has an important stake in community order. Security of life and property, and the lawful regulation of conduct, are things that affect him, both personally and financially. He looks to the police to maintain these conditions, and rightfully
is
One
statement,
It
so.
There
is
an important corollary
man
is
inseparably
The
terrible ordeals
36
that a
Parker to Businessmen
few communities have faced when poHce protection was suddenly withdrawn have demonstrated beyond all serious doubt that the police department is indispensable to the peaceful and lawful conduct of daily business. Having estabhshed two facts (that business needs community
order,
is
we
face
a delicate question, but one that must be posed and answered. Does the American businessman recognize his proprietary interest in law enforcement by devoting constructive attention to his local
police department?
By
cial
support that business has always given to child welfare, traflBc safety programs, and similar activities. However important
these things
may
them.
By
"constructive attention" I
am
pohtical
and
duce an eflFective and efficient police agency. I am referring to the moral support of a police department when it is right, despite whatever pressures that may be contrived by special interests. I am referring to cooperative support for the individual poHce officer as he goes about his tedious, difficult, and often dangerous
duties.
I
would hke
to
make
a point that
is
is
sometimes missed by
It is
It is
businessmen.
Law
enforcement
not a separate
agency that either deserves, or does not deserve, support from Pohce work is a cooperative community endeavor, and it is part and parcel of every community. Its members are not an alien force, brought from wdthout to do a job. It is made up of citizens who carry the same strengths and weaknesses as other citizens. Law enforcement succeeds in its task only so far as community interest lets it succeed, and it fails when community neglect sows the seeds of failure. It is always a pleasure to discuss poHce problems with a group such as this because businessmen are, first and foremost, realists. Those who apply emotion to questions of fact are seldom represented at gatherings like this. They have long since fallen by the
37
If a businessman accepts his full community responsibihty toward law enforcement, he must ask himself some questions, and in answering he is morally obliged to apply the same reaHstic
"Does the businessman want highly qualified, alert, and welleducated policemen on the job?" If so, will he support high standards for recruitment, plus pay and working conditions that will attract men of that cahber? "Does the businessman want policemen who are highly trained, capable of handling the myriad tasks of modem law enforcement?" If so, will he support the establishment of adequate
and continuous on-the-job training? "Does the businessman want the police ranks to be characterized by personal integrity?" If so, wiU he campaign against pohtical control of law enforcement, and will he refuse to accept or demand special favors for himself or his group? Let us suppose that the businessmen of a given community,
training facilities
community
goals have
been
set,
professional
to
be a
"white spot" in a black national picture of corruption. The Chief of the Federal Narcotics Service has pointed to Los Angeles as
having the only "adequate" local narcotics squad in the country. Other agencies, one of them our own Los Angeles Chamber of
efficiency of police
mention these things, not to soHcit applause for the Los Angeles Police Department, but to answer the questions I have
posed.
Yes results can be obtained. The progress apparent within the Los Angeles Police Department is a source of pride in our city. It
38
is
Parker to Businessmen
the City of Los Angeles that has accomplished these results
not any individual or group of individuals. The police department has produced results only because the community has given them the tools to v^ork with. The businessmen of this city, along with
the rest of the citizens, have aheady answered the questions I asked a few moments ago. They have recognized their proprietary interests in the community police organization and have devoted constructive attention to its continued improvements. I have not attempted today to illustrate, in minute detail, the
many ways in which business and the police can work together. The men gathered here are from eleven states, representing cities with many forms of management. The police departments within those cities are of many sizes, with different forms of organization. Each has its own best way of doing the job, depending on
the topography, composition, and problems of
would be presumptuous
of
me
to illustrate
procedures here in Los Angeles and then expect other police de-
may be
entirely
However, as I said initially, principles of administration, superand personnel management are not strangers to businessmen. These principles can be applied to any pohce organization. Underpaid policemen work as poorly in Utah as they do in Cahfornia. Ill-trained policemen will fail in their task in Montana as cervision,
as they will in New Mexico. Community apathy will weaken a police department in Colorado as quickly as in Oregon. Pohce organizations over the entire nation look to the businessman to supply the same realistic thinking to problems of commu-
tainly
The
I
its
these
police department
feelings of both Los Angeles and wish you a pleasant and productive
when
But
at the
same
time,
we
retain
some Yankee
frugality.
we hke
to get a dollar's
Because
it
may be
we
are right
when we demand
and
wisely.
when
it
means
eflB-
always a desirable
mendous
increases in
explosive decentralization
economy
to a great
urban industrial area. A department of municipal government that received the full brunt of city expansion is the police department. As in no other branch of public service, the police find that each new inhabitant and every additional mile of territory creates new tasks. Of the people that migrate to a city, a percentage may be expected to have criminal tendencies. A larger nimnber will become the victims of crime. As new homes are built or as in our case, as entire new residential neighborhoods are created, some the size of small cities police units must be provided to patrol these areas, answer calls, relieve nuisances, aid the distressed, and quell disturbances. As the city grows, new residential areas require new shopping districts. Some of these retail establishments will become scenes of criminal activity. Patrol must be provided these areas; additional larceny, burglary, robbery, forgery, and shoplifting teams must be detailed to protect merchants.
39
40
Parker to Businessmen
As a
attracted, and all types of transient persons pass in and out of the community. These people demand and have a right to police protection. At the same time, permanent residents of the city must be protected from inconvenience occasioned by these events. More residents, visitors, homes, and shopping districts throw increased motor trafiBc upon already strained street systems. Collision, congestion, and parking problems increase the police task. As more workers are attracted to the thriving community, industry grows and industrial disputes invariably occur. The safety
of the
community requires
new
industry.
and the muon the aspects of a great city, it also takes on the problems of a great city. Economic and social frictions occur within the great anonymous masses of people. Problems of overcrowded schools, slum areas, and "skid rows" appear. The police are called upon to handle an infinite variety of tasks regulate dance halls, taverns, and public gatherings; plan and control holiday parades and festivals; issue gun licenses, press passes, and other forms of permits. In short, as we are often reminded by sociologists, when the
Finally, as the population density of the area rises
nicipality takes
stabiHzing
eflFects
of the smaller
community
city,
process at
work
new
That second process has been the rapid development of professional attitudes and techniques within the Los Angeles Police Department. This professional trend has been noted and applauded by many enforcement agencies over the nation, and in many instances has been better understood and
police problems.
it.
The Federal
41
with many criminologists and leading police administrators, have pointed to this department as the foremost organization of its kind in the nation. More recently, individuals and civic groups
within our city have become aware of these revolutionary changes
pohce department, a fact and myself. This process of professionaHsm within the pohce ranks had its beginnings many years ago when leaders in municipal government placed rigid and rigorous standards upon the selection of pohce recruits. It should be noted that the depression of the thirties had at least one favorable effect when hundreds of alert and capable young college graduates, faced with insecurity in other fields, selected police service as a career. Other men, before and after that period, entered pohcework and gained advancedlevel education, degrees, and status as attomeys-at-law, while working on the job. While it may be interesting to study the reasons for this advance
in techniques
and
interested in
some future time, we are interested today in the results. We are what has been done to provide more eflBcient pohce service and what is being done at present to continue improving
at
failure.
or-
You must
One
the
of the
first
and research
division
was
more crime
more
While
this
satisfied
42
Parker to Businessmen
is
crime varies enormously from hour to hour, day to day, and season to season. Specialized police units are needed to handle
certain types of crime, for example, forgery
and safecracking.
On
cannot be forecast with any accuracy, and therefore, no part of the city can be left entirely unguarded, however low its past crime rates may be.
Evidence indicates that we are succeeding in this tremendously complex task. The city is being provided with more efficient police coverage. Our crime rates have dropped below the national average, and we are experiencing a drop in most categories, as compared with local figures from last year. In connection with the task of deployment, it may be of interest to mention that police divisions are in the process of redesign. To enable us to compare population, family size, income, education, ages, and so forth, with census figures, future pohce areas
will correspond with census tracts. This will enable us to
make
in future
planning.
tion to population has
During the past year, the number of police officers in proporbeen steadily dropping. Rather than requesting more men, we felt we could gain better results from available manpower by continuing to improve our working efficiency, and by providing better working conditions with more equitable pay to our police officers. As in any branch of private industry or government, fairly compensated workers are happy workers. Fair compensation attracts more competent applicants. And, as in few other occupations, law enforcement depends more
upon
men under
In another
we
began experimenting with one-man patrol cars during 1951. In the West Los Angeles division, we placed five of these one-man cars on
43
we
made
problems. WTiile
of police
work
make
man
units,
we
we
creasingly
more
use of our
manpower by
We
for
some time
100,000
common
ing a disproportionate share of our man-hours. Both experience and study made it obvious that a large proportion of these drunks
to forty aiTCSts
per year.
We
we have continued
in the
fifty
San Fernando Valley, which is limited to about same time we have acquired 588 acres in the Bouquet Canyon area, about forty-two miles from Los Angeles which will handle approximately 1,500 prisoners in a new rehabiliinmates. At the
tation center.
farm
Work
crews are presently fencing the area and prewill allow the
paring the
tinue
soil for
planting in 1952.
department
to con-
and
jail
available to those
who might
The
centers can be
operated at
jail
than more formal institutional facihties, and they return a part of their cost by providing food to the entire
less cost
on repeated imprisonments.
Second, in order to eliminate the time-consuming details of
fingerprinting, photographing,
record forms
when
gurated a "drunk-repeater"
huge "wheel-dex" file by name, alias, thumb-print, photograph, and description. When such an individual is identified as a repeater, he is processed into jail by means of a simple form, saving many thousands of man-hours which were once spent collecting
arrest information already in our
files.
44
Parker to Businessmen
This
is
probably a good time to mention police paper work and As every businessman knows, however time-consuming and cumbersome the keeping of records may be, they are a prime necessity to any operation. This is even more true in law enforcement where we deal with miUions of individuals and crimes in a
records.
relatively short time.
Our
upon the existence of this information. Much of our investigation and detection of criminals is dependent upon recorded knowledge of their past habits and methods. As mentioned previously, our system of deploying personnel depends upon records of where and when crime is being committed. While the total cost of such a system may be large, it is appalling to consider the size and the
futility of the police task if
exist.
Late in 1950 we began a systematic study of this paperwork. file, each classification, and each form is being carefully scrutinized to determine its final value. We are coldly measuring the effectiveness of each page, and comparing its value to the cost involved in accumulating and storing it. Since a full discus-
Each
give only a
would require many hours, I will few examples of our progress to date. When I was appointed Chief in 1950, I found that we had a total of 757 separate forms in use on the department, all necessary to one or another aspect of the police task. They had not been idly accumulated. They existed because there were needs for them. However, by October of 1951, we had succeeded in reducing this total to about 300 forms, by combining several uses into single forms. The considerable time saved in eliminating duplication in typing and filing has been put to good use. Our crime report forms, of which thirteen varieties exist, accumulate at a rate of 60,000 reports per year. They were considered the nation's finest example of police records. However, upon a study of recent developments in government and industrial
forms,
late
1951
we felt we had
that
we
By
designed a
new
series of
effected savings of
up
consumed
through dictation, typing, and filing. Certain improvements in our records system led us to the behef that many officers working indoors could be replaced by well-
45
of ac-
leasing additional police officers for basic police work. During the
pohce
officers
field
we
and battery
re-
our
own motor
transportation.
We now
advanced police training program makes full use of the police facilities at Elysian Park, which was built by police officers at no expense to the city. Juvenile welfare work is carried on by our Deputy Auxiliary Police Program, largely supported by private funds, and in our many scout troops and other youth organizations, which are totally self-supporting.
I
think
it
engaged
in college level
on their own time and at their own expense. There is always a certain danger in listing the achievements of an organization, particularly a public one. If you dwell too long on past errors, you may destroy confidence in present activities. If you hst too many improvements, you may seem to cast aspersions on fine administrations that have preceded your own. At best, if you succeed in making your point, there are always
those
who
We do not boast that the Los Angeles Police Department reprelaw enforcement field. Mistakes will be made, perhaps serious mistakes, but they will be made in good faith. We do not claim perfection within our ranks. We have atsents perfection in the
tempted, within the limits of our authority, to enlist the finest personnel available. However, since the City Charter limits us to selecting mortal human beings, we may continue to experience
some mortal weaknesses. At a time in which various peoples over the world
faith in their
are losing
departments of government,
we
We
do not
feel that
we run
when we
say
we
the risk of being accused of complacency are proud of the service we are rendering the citi-
46
Parker to Buse^essmen
is
do not seek, and have no need for applause. We need only continued confidence and support from the citizens of our community. We are confident that this will be granted.
complisliment within our ranks.
We
Chapter Four
PARKER ON CRIME
Invasion from Within:
tional
An address delivered to the NaAutomatic Merchandising Association, Chicago, lUinois, September, 1952.
Crime Prevention: Excerpts from addresses before the Los Angeles Exchange Club, commemorating Crime Prevention Week, February, 1954, and February, 1955.
INmany times
as
.
. .
enemies appeared we this and we have won the victory. It is a comforting thing habit of winning. It makes easy the behef that we shall always win that victory forever is a sort of that we are a chosen people
.
it has been subjected have taken no joy in warfare, but we have paid the price have fought
of existence,
We
hope it is so. I hope that we represent civihzation's pinnacle, as some people believe. I hope the hard and immutable rules which have governed other civihzations do not that even though we give way to weakness, comapply to us placency, and corruption, we are foredestined to endure to the
birthright of ours. I earnestly
. .
end.
I
am
certain."
A lifelong pleas-
ure of mine has been the study of history and that pursuit is not conducive to shallow optimism. Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and
Rome rose, then fell, as strength gave way to weakness, alertness gave way to complacency, and virtue gave way to corruption. It
and perhaps productive, to recall that the high walls were never toppled by barbarians from without. But the walls crumbled into rubble and the enemy poured through when BARBARIANISM within rotted the moral
is
interesting,
of these civilizations
supporting timbers.
Today America
We
simultaneous assault in three dimensions: the armed might of Soviet Russia, the Communist Fifth Column within our borders,
and organized crime. Let us gauge the strength and the security of our defense against them.
of these enemies
To speak
at length
Union
is
The
49
50
Parker on Crime
tion of
and rifles, tanks and field guns, guided and nuclear weapons, naval vessels, aircraft, and producthe vast supporting paraphemaha of modern war. We may
may be
certain, as in
the past, America will armor herself and raise her walls in time
The second threat is posed by a communist fifth column within our borders. By force, violence, and sophistry, they hope to destroy our
ideals with
an alien phi-
insidious than invading armies, is something unique in our experience. During the last war a few sympathizers with the Fourth Reich and Imperial Japan scored some minor successes within this country. However, in all fairness to history, we cannot recall them as a major threat to our security. They furnished as much material to our screen writers as they did aid to our enemy. Compared with the disciplined agents of International Communism, they were
more
dangerous because
it is
The
danger created by the communist fifth column is not comic opera. It is real and it is potent. Its doctrine is cleverly fashioned. To the weak it promises strength; to the hungry it promises food; to the sick it promises medicine. It is Townsend Plan, Pyramid Club, and perverted Platonism combined with just enough intellectual halftruths to
make it palatable
to all classes.
was the underestimating of this thought a httle good-natured Fourth of July oratory at the right time would dispel the menace and bring the faithless back into the fold with tears in their eyes and the Pledge of Allegreatest error in the past
threat.
Our
We
giance on their
lips.
way.
We
were amazed
and in our government. were shocked into a re-discovery that Democracy requires more than garrulity; it requires a constant practice of its tenets
in our churches, our schools,
encamped
We
as a
hope
Invasion
from Within
credit of a
51
enemy in new disguise was recognized in time. They ripped away the sequined veils, and we saw communism for the
ancient and diseased harlot
I
it is.
do not despair or fear for an America alert to the dangers of first two threats. We have always known how to meet armed aggression and we have learned to meet ideological intrusion. As we approach the eve of a national election, whatever our political alignment, we are pleased to note that the major pohtical parties differ only on the details of meeting these threats and are in full agreement that they must be met. The third dimension of the attack on America, organized crime, comes wholly from within. So uninformed are we as to its true
these
known
to
every practicing
policeman
are
is
to
we
that to speak of
is
brand the speaker as an alarmist. So complacent it in the same breath with a fifth column
and war
to court ridicule.
And
so
it
warped
are
some
is
of our early
to incur the
combat
displeasure of those
who
regard
it
of
those
who use it as
a livelihood.
Organized crime, unUke the other prongs of the attack on our country, has not been recognized for the potent threat it is. Like earlier civilizations, we build our walls high without attending to the moral timbers which sustain the structure. We arm against barbarians without and seek their agents within, but calmly ignore the fact that barbarianism within can accomphsh our downfall more quickly than an enemy. To understand organized crime, it is necessary to know something of the growth of crime in America. Until the early 1920's, lawlessness in America was seldom conducted as a business operation. A few criminals banded together for self protection and profit, but theirs was usually a temporary association a hit-or-miss arrangement. In those days the criminal preyed much like a wild animal, with no purpose except that of the moment and with little organization and planning. In those days, crime in the United States was not regarded as a major problem. Experts viewed it, and with some justification, as part of the social friction generated during the nation's growth.
52
Parker on Crime
that crime would diminish as America settled down and prospered. As so often happens with experts, they were wrong. They forgot to allow for the fact that the American criminal, however warped his nature, possesses the pecuhar American genius for organizing. It was probably inevitable in a country where business became huge, complex, and spectacularly successful, that illegal business would develop along the same pattern. During the twenties, crime experienced a genuine revolution. Taking a leaf from the book of honest merchandising, the criminal elements decided to organize
They reasoned
and adapt
They learned the value of business fronts and legitimate appearances. They learned the value of quiet suits, manicured fingernails, and soft voices. They learned the value of pubHc relations. They created a hierarchy composed of investors, boards
market.
of directors, supervisors,
invisible
and workers. And finally they created an government within a government, with its own laws, courts, and executioners. Robbery, burglary, mayhem, and murder could be conducted quietly and eflBciently as a last resort when threat and chicanery failed. It takes only a single fantastic fact to round out this picture. While paying an annual tax of billions of dollars to this invisible government and faced on every hand with indisputable proof of its reality from victims, courts, and the pohce, the American public
its
existence.
speak of organized crime, I do not refer to the pennyante hoodlum, the half-tramp half-thief, the alley prostitute, or any of the several million cheap criminals who are a nuisance and hazard on our streets. When I speak of organized crime I speak of
a tightly-knit, discipUned, arrogant, and worldly wise group
When
who
make crime
driven an unholy wedge into our ideals, dividing personal interest and morahty into separate spheres, from which division flows a stream of gold into the coffers of the underworld. I speak of an immensely wealthy cartel which controls mayors, state legislators, judges; a cartel that, for whose control of vital voting blocks, has brought candidates for high and revered oflBces, importuning and humble to its door.
53
Let
This
is
me make
it
this is
not theory formulated for some dubious advantage by a Chief from a far western state; views which may, at best, Pohce reflect only provincial problems. Perhaps a few quotations will
dispel such doubts.
First,
a Democrat,
The Honorable
it
vestigation, although
merely scratched tlie hard \eneer of organized depravity, planted at least a seed of doubt in the minds of some thinking Americans. The Senator had this to say:
A
of
America despite the protestations of a strangely assorted company of criminals, self-serving politicians, plain blind fools, and others who may be honestly misguided, that there is no such
combine.
this to say:
The greatest danger (today) is not by invasion of foreign armies. Our dangers are that we may commit suicide from within by
complaisance with
havior.
history.
I
evil or
These
evils
do not believe
it is
those of prominent
clergymen, and educators, and of respected industrialists and labor heads. Leaders from every segment of our society have voiced similar warnings.
jurists,
My
is
The cry
I
pro-
which
it is
mov-
measure
attack.
its
of
its
A good beginning is to measure the volume of crime in America. There are 3,500,000 known criminals residing in our midst, a group about equal in size to our entire armed forces. This group injures us at the rate of one major crime every eighteen seconds, a million and one-half major crimes annually. A murder is committed every forty-five minutes during the last twenty-four hours, thirty-seven persons died violently in this manner. It is estimated
54
Pabker on Crime
now
Ignoring for a
figure
juries,
moment
by these
fig-
damages in dollars and cents. A conservative on the cost of each major crime, taking into account inproperty
loss,
would be in the nature of a thousand dollars. Thus the immediate and direct cost of major crime would be between one and two bilfion dollars. The indirect cost of crime is somewhat higher. If you take a garment to the cleaner, purchase a fryer for dinner, or seek entertainment in the evening, a sizeable part of the payment goes
conviction, prison costs,
as tax to organized crime. Part of your rising insurance rates have been influenced by crime. The smallest part of this cost, and the only part which the public appears to recognize and regret, is the cost of maintaining law enforcement services. This ludi-
crous attitude
used
is similar to complaining about the cost of water keep a conflagration from destroying your home. In addition to the direct and indirect cost of major crime, our economy is affected by dollars siphoned out of creative economy and into gambling. Approximately twenty bilhon dollars change hands annually in this manner. Is this important to the business man? Are his profits influenced by the fact that a significant portion of the nation's wealth twenty billion unproductive dollars
to
To
answer
this, I
want
to introduce a slogan
men
of Los Angeles: "The buck that goes to the bookie does not go to business!" The consumer dollar lost on the horses, at the crap table, into the slot machine, or in the poker parlor, does not purchase food, clothing, housing, or, to bring it close to home, the product of the automatic vending machine. Your industry's share of that unproductive twenty billion that parasitic twenty billion that lost twenty billion might well mean the difference between profit and bankruptcy in lean years ahead. These billions have not only made organized crime wealthy and powerful, but they open the way to expansion of the underworld empire through legitimate and quasi-legitimate investments. The
55
this
which make up
empire are
known.
The most ominous of all criminal cartels is a group known as the Mafia. While some may doubt that the Mafia that had its roots in Sicily is the same organization that exists in America today, no authority will question the existence of a Mafia-type or-
is
the
of
same.
its
that binds
all
(1)
(2)
(3)
An
oflFense
an offense
cost.
(4) (5)
Never
The early password of the Mafia bespeaks its character: E morte solo non returnero; E dementicato returnew, which means "only the dead do not return; he who has forgotten will return." The purpose of the password is to fully impress upon the members of the Mafia that the penalty for the failure to remain silent
is
death.
It is diflBcult to
Even
and
to a
poHceman
its
who knows
its
members, traces
is
its activities,
investigates
something unreal about an ancient code of "silence or death" existing in the twentieth century. Yet it does exist, and its inner circle of members do control organized crime in America! The interests of the Mafia are varied. It is active in gambling and wire services, narcotics, counterfeiting, white slaverv, and slot-machine rackets. Its semilegitimate interests include produce distribution, the olive oil industry, the tomato paste industry,
murders, there
breweries,
distilleries,
nightclubs, hotels
home, vending machine supply and service. This is only a partial list. In one city it may control laundry service, in another transportation, in another union activities, and in still another only the pohtical offices necessary to allow open xice activities. In view
56
Parker on Crime
it is
interesting to
know
that the
Mafia plays an important part in the illegal narcotic trade. In recent years organized crime, through this organization, has
moved increasingly into the field of legitimate business enterprise. The coin machine industry is one of their targets. They plan
to take over supply and service, distribution and, ultimately, manufacturing. They plan this because the coin machine industry
is
They have
available intimida-
tion
be counted upon to supply new customers and control old ones. You have informed me of your interest in preventing such an eventuality. On this score, let us be frank, A legitimate operator, limited to operation within the law, alone cannot compete with the criminal. If his machines are wrecked, his only recourse is civil suit or criminal complaint. Both are lengthy processes dependent upon proof, which may be an illusive thing if the city is inefficiently pohced. If employees are strong-armed, he can only hire and train new employees if he can find men willing to face injury or death for a modest salary. If his own life, or the life of his loved ones, is threatened, he can complain to the police and trust those lives to a guard who may prove incompetent. And finally, if the businessman elects to fight fire with fire and employ weapons, thugs, and intimidation, he will find himself in a strange field where he is unacquainted with the tricks of the new trade, and he himself may be the one whom the law punishes while the
criminal
is left
aUow me
to
fist all
the Mafia
and underworld leaders. In many cases Mafia leaders and their associates assume the role of leading citizens, contributors to worthy charities, and solid men of affairs. Their real identity would come as a crude shock to many of the civic leaders of the communities in which they reside. The Mafia is nationwide in its scope, and its tentacles reach into cities and towns throughout the length and breadth of America. With the exception of the Grand Council, the Mafia is in the
nature of a loose federation.
Common
Invasion
from Within
57
placed a ban on gangland warfare, and the federation, based on unwritten agreements, grows stronger each year. Warfare has
been replaced with execution under the unwritten laws of this government. May I cite to you two timely instances of this cooperation which occurred on the Pacific Coast. During the investigation of two murders in the City of Los Angeles, we obtained information which had caused us to conclude that these murders were Mafia executions. We believe that the decree of death was handed down by a Mafia court that convened in the Midwest. The Mafia court is unique in that the defendant does not appear before the court and is not represented by counsel. There is no provision for bail, writs of habeas corpus, or appeal. After the court rendered its decision in this particular case, a member of the Mafia was summoned from the Pacific Coast to another Western city where he received instructions to put into effect the order of the court. His task was to arrange the details of the execution. Upon his return to our area, he consulted with the local head of the Mafia, and shortly thereafter, in a bizarre but perfectly planned and executed plot, two men met their death in expiation for the crime of having violated the code of the Mafia. As the investigation progressed, it was definitely established that the widow of one of the deceased was withholding information from the pofice and misrepresenting facts within her knowledge. When confronted with this accusation, she in effect invoked the age-old tenet of the Mafia code that its
invisible
may be
the victim of a
crime.
A
dler
second case which remains unsolved involves a narcotic pedwho was arrested while transporting narcotics and who con-
sented to appear as a witness in federal court and testify against his superiors. Before the trial court could convene, this narcotic peddler was found stretched out in death in another city and the
head bore mute evidence that the code of the Mafia had once more been invoked. At this point, I would hke to pause and pay personal tribute to Mr. Virgil W. Peterson, Operating Director of the Chicago Crime
bullet hole in his
Commission. In
his recently
58
Paeker on Crime
and vice.
commend it to you.
is
The menace
exists, as in
statistics,
of crime
found, not so
much
it
the fact that it daily grows in size and power. Crime although they reflect continued and alarming increases
The movement
leaves an imprint
(2)
upon a
police blotter.
Crime
statistics
known
to the police.
Many
times, through
reprisals in
major cases,
For example, one of the most lucrative sources of income to the lesser minions of the underworld is the crime of blackmail. These criminals have become expert in creating an aura of fear in the minds of persons who have exhibited human frailties and who pay continuous tribute to prevent exposure. Even though the police may be aware of these situations, the victim of the crime
will rarely reveal his predicament. Also,
statistics for
comparative criminal
by the
local
law
enforcement agencies. Inaccuracies in such reporting destroy the statistics as is evidenced by the fact that one of the large cities in the nation does not contribute to this pool of crime data as their reports are considered inaccurate, and are not acceptable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^ Furthermore, the entire gamut of criminal justice afi^ords innumerable opportunities for the guilty to escape punishment, and individual criminal records reflect relatively short terms for those convicted of serious crimes. As our penitentiaries become overcrowded, there is compelling necessity for the premature release of inmates in order to accommodate the constant influx. All of this.
vahdity of these
*
Crime
1,
statistics
from
this city
were incorporated
in
23, No.
59
who
criminal. It
is
extremely
law enforcement, after a diligent inand prosecution, to witness the criminal either escape punishment or obtain early release because of connections. In a recent study of the trends of three selected crimes robbery, burglary, and auto theft and using the data reported to the FBI by ten of the largest cities in America, we determined that
frustrating to professional
vestigation
The
tide
is
This
is on the march must be stemmed if we are to survive as a probably a good point to begin a discussion is
in America.
free people.
of solutions.
always a temptation to discuss public morality. Full and abiding adherence by responsible citizens to
accepted principles of morality, as laid dovtnn in the scriptures, would vanquish the problem overnight. Such a return to our
and virtues would be the happiest and quickest However, it is a fact that we have become a confused nation, and the path back is as difficult as the course ahead. Many confuse morahty with legality. Many have accepted double standards, adjustable to private and business life. Many view morahty as a philosophical enigma and pride themselves as being "practical" men, convinced that "good" and "gold" and "God" are spelled in the same manner. Another temptation also occurs. It is the temptation to find a scapegoat a pohtical party preferably upon which to blame the whole problem. To most of us here, this temptation is nearly overpowering. However, despite our inclinations, we must be practical and realize that solutions are not found in scapegoats. The "mess," as it has been described, is not confined to any one political philosophy, any one place, or any one level of governearly strengths
solution.
ment. It has been repeatedly stated that law enforcement is primarily a local responsibility and that, even though criminals may be organized on a nation-wide basis, the majority of their criminal
acts involve the violation of local laws. Therefore,
it is
the local
police that
tivities
must be depended upon to combat the criminal acof crime syndicates. As we accept this premise, it must be
60
Parker on Crime
concluded that between the law-abiding elements of society and the criminals that prey upon them stands a thin blue hne of defenseyour police oflBcer. It is upon this group that we must de-
pend
won,
cal,
from within.
If the battle is to
be
professional level.
By
the
word
professional, I
mean
honest, ethi-
competent police service, completely free of political manipulation and control. We have enjoyed the type of political culture in the City of Los Angeles for the past several years that has enabled us to act as a laboratory in testing the formula. Our officers perform their daily task without regard to classes of persons
secure in the reahzation that the only demand upon them is the proper performance of their duty. The business leaders of our community have long since reahzed that countenanced vice is
city.
As
remarked
Thus,
earlier,
we have
and the other facets of organized crime. The result has been nothing less than spectacular. Today Los Angeles is referred to by authorities as the nation's "white spot"
prostitution,
in the black picture of nationally organized crime.
Let
me
cite
some statistics which may indicate what professional law enforcement can accomphsh. While the ten major cities reporting to the FBI were experiencing a twenty per cent increase in robberies, burglaries, and auto thefts since 1940, these crimes have actually decreased 2 per cent in the City of Los Angeles during that same period, and this decrease has been achieved in spite of the phenomenal growth in population with all of the social dislocations that are attendant thereto. Since 1945, a period in which the
police there consolidated professional gains, these selected crime
Los Angeles decreased thirty-seven per cent while the major cities experienced a nine per cent increase. Finally, ten taking into account increases in population, these crimes per 100,000 residents in Los Angeles have been reduced since 1945 by the astonishing total of forty-six per cent. Moreover, the twihght zone of quasi-legitimate crime is not tolerated in Los Angeles. Recently, a Pacific Coast representative
totals in
61
is
company who
had organized a
to
California corporation
and established
an
office in
tive
was instructed
room, of a certain hotel. WTien he demurred on the basis he was accustomed to doing business in his office, he was told in no uncertain terms to carry out his instructions,
and that
it
was
their
the appointment was cancelled without explanation. \\'Tien he called these facts to my attention, I was able to give him a complete explanation as to the reason for the cancellation of the appointment. The answer lay in the operation of our Intelligence Division which is charged with the single responsibility of comafter,
Division in his newspaper column, stated: "I have found only one local set-up that recognizes the peril of this situation. Los Angeles has the only police agency designed to combat the Mafia and its collateral mobster combinations. It has a full-blown intelligence squad, which has concentrated on tliis field for years, and has compiled a file second only to the F.B.I." Through expert operation, members of our InteUigence Division uncovered the entire plot on the part of these hoodlums to invade the automatic vending machine industry in our area. Subsequent action on the part of our officers discouraged these predatory migrants from
pursuing their original objectives. I bring these facts to you, not to seek praise for our department, but to show that the crime picture need not be discouraging. The
gangland menace has an AchiUes Heel and every discerning businessman and policeman is aware of it. Organized crime cannot operate in the face of determined and honest local law enforcement.
If
in
your
city,
it
does
is
so because
someone
locally profits
from
its
existence. This
not
department.
if
and police administrator honest, alert, and devoted to your welfare. He cannot be blamed he is forced to operate under archaic regulations, political presa fact that the average policeman
62
Parker on Crime
sure, and public apathy. The very fact that competent and honest policemen remain on the job in the face of these obstacles is prima facie proof of their deep loyalty to you, a loyalty that could be shaped by you into a potent weapon against these enemies within. However, from a quarter-century of police service under ad-
ministrations corrupt
wise, I say to
strong, foolish
in
and
your
city,
some-
where a weakling, a fool, and a despicable traitor is betraying you as surely as if he were selling the key to our armed defenses.
The
first
is
the
little
amplification to businessmen
who
planning, and other organizational fundamentals. High-standard recruiting must be adopted. Rotten wood or deadwood must be eliminated. High-quahty training must be instituted.
budgeting,
Adequate
ity of
I
salaries
must be provided
to attract
men needed.
you businessmen
to take
invite
an interest
good reasons:
(1) I invite this interest because you hope to remain in business and escape control by criminal combines. Law enforcement is a "thin blue line" which stands between you and the organized forces of crime. Therefore, your interest in this bulwark cannot be an abstract interest it is an extremely practical matter affecting you and your family's personal future, and as patriots, the future
of your nation.
your interest in police affairs because organization and is "right down your alley." If you operate at a profit, you are demonstrating practical knowledge of organizational techniques. The same techniques apply to a police department. If the businessmen of a community cannot see and correct the faults in the local police structure, then no one can the cause
(2) I invite
administration
is lost.
(3)
I invite
effective
and
it
like it or
and
social health of
your com-
63
It is
fiscal
poHcy
to look to
little
The second step in the battle against organized crime will take more doing. As you have seen, criminal syndicates operate
scale.
on a national
them, but only by the expenditure of great effort and sums of money. To protect Los Angeles from this menace, the police department has found it necessary to know^ more about mobsters in other cities of the nation than you know about your own business associates. We maintain haison with individuals and police officers in every major city in the country and thus have built up files that threaten to expand us out of our own offices. I contend this nationwide study of criminal syndicates is not justifiably a local responsibility but belongs on the federal level. I am certain the founders of our nation did not foresee a day when citizens, criminal and lawful alike, could span the continent in a few hours and travel from city to city in a few minutes. A major factor in the spread of crime is the fact that there is in existence no federal agency supplying intelligence on syndicated crime to local law enforcement agencies. Congressional crime committees, however useful they may be to Congress, do not fill the need of the local police. Needed today is a permanent agency of the federal government dedicated to the continuous study of syndicated crime in America and charged with the responsibility of supplying to local law enforcement information concerning the identity of members of criminal organizations and their methods of operation. Otherwise, local law enforcement is not equipped with the necessary information to protect your community.
This recommendation on our part is not new. A similar recommendation was made to the Kefauver Committee on November 16, 1950, when, accompanied by the head of our Intelligence Division, Captain Hamilton, I appeared before the committee in executive session. In his report to the press following this session,
"The Chief and Captain Hamilton stressed the necessity of authorizing some federal agency or ereSenator Kefauver stated:
64
ating
Parker on Crime
some federal agency for the purpose of disseminating information about organized criminals and crime to the local enforcement oBcers."
For the past two years, the American Bar Association has conducted an extensive study of syndicated crime in America through its Commission on Organized Crime. Sometime ago, this Commission requested recommendations from Mayor Bowron of Los
Angeles. In his reply,
tion that
we had
previously
Commission on Organized Crime is submitting a report to its national convention in San Francisco this week. In line with Mayor Bowron's recommendation, that report states as follows: "Nowhere is the need for federal action to assist local law enforcement stressed more urgently than in the field of collecting, coordinating, and disseminating informaAssociation's
tion about organized crime."
The
critical
inal,
third step
The
more and more restriction upon At the present time, I am the defendant in a
civil action designed to test my legal authority to use the dictograph in obtaining evidence in criminal cases, despite the fact that there is not one shred of evidence that this authority has been abused, and despite the fact that, through the use of the dictograph, many vicious criminals have been brought to the bar of justice that otherwise would have escaped detection. It is a fact that much of the nefarious business of the underworld is transacted through the medium of the vast intra-continental system of telephonic communication. Nevertheless, the police are generally precluded from "listening in" under pain of criminal prosecution. The Magna Charta was extracted from King John on the plains of Runnymede in 1215. There were no telephones at that time, and do you believe it was the intention of the founders of liberty that in contemporary times we should provide to the
criminals
who would
we make
advancement
in
combatting
65
readily apparent that
crime
is
is
and must meticulously obey the law. But it is equally apparent that the criminal flaunts all rules of order, and the pohce organization, heavily shackled by legal restrictions, is Httle match for a well organized and extensive underworld. Since internal crime is jeopardizing American freedom, we must re-examine the balance between the criminal army and society lest a misconcepstricted in the interest of the welfare of society as a whole,
The
syndicated crime
is
a full recog-
nition of
policies. I
threat
by the
parties
who
from the Soviet and from tlie Communist Fifth Column. have not perceived in them a clear understanding of the fact that our national life is dependent upon order and that order is dependent upon the impartial enforcement of our laws. There must be a common appreciation that our nation and its defenses rest on virtue and morahty, not in Washington alone, but in every city and hamlet across this land. It has been a pleasure as well as an honor to be in\ated here today to address you. I trust you will not view these remarks as just a tirade by a policeman against the enemies of society. We need not be philosophers or historians to mark a menace and to squarely face it. You have seen how crime can engulf a nation and destroy its freedom and how the underworld has risen and may
peril
But
over important
in fighting
ofiice
holders
who
We
which
can destroy us as quickly and as certainly. The day has come when, in the preservation of our freedom, the law abiding people
of this nation
a relentless war
and the police who serve them must upon the invasion from within.
join
hands
in
Crime Prevention
I
deem
it
observance of National Crime Prevention Week. While I shall utilize my experience during almost twenty-seven years of work in law enforcement in speaking to you today, I would prefer to be
considered in the role of an American citizen
ternal trends.
who
is
vitally conin-
cerned with the welfare of his country and alarmed over the
In approaching the subject of crime in America, permit me to quote from a paper recently issued by Richard A. McGee, Director of the
.
. .
of California:
is
crime and
to feed
and political evils. In spite of bilcombat and control it, crime continues
nation with increasing vigor.
upon the
vitals of the
We
crime
crime
we do not enforce; we authorize prevention programs which we do not support; we spread information of a sensational nature with morbid avidity; we
up laws and
judicial systems
have
set
we
give
open countenance
our public
ojfficers;
to organized vice
we
give lip
do not practice; we pay two billions of dollars a year for running the machinery for the administration of criminal justice; we lose another billion dollars each year through the economic damage done by criminals. The intangible and unhappy concomitants of all this, in terms of broken Hves, personal unhappiness, and moral degradation, are beyond the possibilities of objective measurement. Crime and its evil associates constitute the real soft spot in our American social system.
. .
.
Concomitant with
this statement, in
which
Crime Prevention
67
mitted in the United States every 14.9 seconds during 1953 for an
He estimated the annual average cost of crime for each United States family at $495, and the nation's total crime bill at twenty billion dollars a year which is ten times the total given each year to all of the churches in the United States. There are some of us who sincerely beUeve that our democracy is being destroyed by this criminal invasion from within. In order that the pohce may be properly positioned in this situation, I submit to you that crime is a product of contemporary civilization and the unprecedented increase springs primarily from two major factors. In two generations a kaleidoscopic change has swept over America as we have gone from a simple rural life to heavy concentrations of people in large cities subject to complex influences with which the human being is hardly equipped to cope. Historically, changes from rural to urban bring with them waves of crime. The other factor consists of the ever-growing emphasis upon materiality with less and less regard for moral and spiritual
all-time high.
values.
It is estimated that the ever-increasing criminal army in our midst consists of approximately six million people. This is a far greater force than have overthrown whole nations in the past. It continues to expand as crime increases at a more rapid rate than
primary responsibility
It is
Communist army.
all
The
police
of the internal
efi^orts
ing the
and to adopt new and modern techniques, we are war against crime. One of the inherent diflBculties in
is
los-
the
situation
upon crime as an indicome to our attention and disregard tlie mass. We must become more reahstic in our appraisal of the criminal situation and squarely face up to crime in America with
crime problem.
are inclined to look
We
all
of
its
ugly proportions.
68
I
Parker on Crime
should like to select as my theme today a statement contained in an editorial on crime prevention published in a metropolitan daily of this city under yesterday's date line.
penal, parole,
".
. .
Our
public interest
."
and probation systems obviously fail to consider and public protection as paramount in far too many
cases.
9, 1953, Mr. about parole and probation sysJ. tems "There is one factor which may be the cause of the increase of crime, in my estimation. That is the abuse of parole, probation, and other forms of clemency which, to my mind, almost makes justice a mockery. I am strongly in favor of proper parole and probation and any form of clemency that tends to rehabilitate men, but I am vigorously opposed to the type of clemency which turns confirmed criminals loose upon society. I feel very strongly about that." Continuing, the FBI Chief said that 11 of the 18 FBI agents who have died in line of duty were killed by criminals who had been paroled or placed on probation or who got lenient treatment in the courts. In turning our attention to parole in Cahfomia, we must examine a report entitled "California Male Prisoners Released on Parole." The report is a study of the disposition of prisoners in state penitentiaries during the four-year period from 1946 through
this to say
1949.
men were
paroled.
By January
1,
were
found to be in violation of parole. Of those experiencing their first parole under California supervision, 50.6 per cent were in violation of parole during the period studied, and the median time served between release on parole and suspension thereof was 6.3 months. Those prison inmates paroled more than once are known as re-parolees. Of this group, 1,013 were released from the state penitentiaries during the four-year period, and by January 1, 1953, 67.6 per cent were found to be in violation of parole. The median time served by this group between parole and suspension thereof was 4.7 months. It is not my purpose to castigate the parole system in Cahfornia
Crime Prevention'
69
leased from our penitentiaries that revert to their former criminal habits or in
The em-
its
rehabihtation. With-
we
local police.
charged with the administration of the parole system in California are competent and are conscientiously discharging their responsibilities in conformity
belief that the persons
policies. It must be assumed that a prison inon parole when the processes to which he is subreleased jected indicate that he can successfully fulfill the conditions of
my
with established
mate
is
fails in
in
of
more than one-half of the cases of Cahfomia supervision, and all cases where the prison inmate was
tempt
week a meeting was machinery of criminal justice in Los Angeles County together with the Adult Authority. At that meeting, refined processes were agreed upon that will give to the Adult Authority a more complete profile upon all perto alleviate this situation. Just this
all
called of representatives of
facets of the
Perhaps no branch of municipal government is more dependent upon the co-operation of the public than your Police Department. Good police work has its inception in good citizenship, with all the responsibilities that term implies. One of the most eflFective deterrants to crime is an alert public a public aware of its re-
70
sponsibilities
cers.
Parker on Crime
and eager
to co-operate with
law enforcement
all
ojffi-
crimes,
the giving of necessary information to investigators, the willingness to act as witnesses in criminal cases, and the acceptance of
jury duty.
Law
enforcement
is
so
standards, passes
on
its
eflPectiveness,
and pays
its
cost.
By
his rec-
working conditions which attract the quality of personnel and order in the community is a partnership of a type which can exist only in a working democracy. Public attitudes toward the police directly aflFect crime rates. Disrespect for law enforcers breeds disrespect for law. A child who is raised to laugh at "cops" is not likely to grow up with any great respect for the laws which the police enforce. Decades of misrepresentation and abuse in media of public entertainment and education have left their mark. National crime rates are rising steadily, increasing at a greater rate than the population. Society is finding that it cannot ridicule the enforcers of law on one hand and build respect for law on the other.
sets
desired. Safety
is
It
the tolerance
Exchange Clubs of the United States (who are to be highly complimented on sponsoring National Crime Prevention Week) in a concerted action request the President of the United States to call a National Conference on Crime in the immediate future in order that representatives of business, industry, labor, the judiciary, the bar, and law enforcement may sit down together in an appraisal of the length and breadth and depth of the criminal scourge in America, and formulate plans to meet this threat through the use of every legal means at their disposal.
of crime. Therefore, I suggest that the
Chapter Five
An
New
Orleans,
Lecture I
Introduction
an activity tliat has occupied the mind of man since the beginning of time. We've all personally planned since we first learned to reason we've planned week-ends, our vacations, our finances, our recreation, our schoohng even our choice of mates. Our wives have planned our dinners, our livingrooms, and are right now probably planning jobs for us to do on our return home. Our children plan their allowances and even the types of breakfast food we shall buy. Our military establishment plans for peacetime training and wartime operations; our government plans for national disaster, depression, and for expanded services to the people. Planning is an all-pervasive concept, with individuals and organizations alike, and occupies a great deal of our time and energy. Police agencies are not immune from the duties and hazards of planning, but, when the word "planning" is coupled with the word "police," the resultant concept is nebulous, difficult to pin-point, and subject to a myriad of interpretations. One can attach the word "planning" to every function and activity within the police service and thus form ma-
PLANNING
is
terial for
Not only
tension, but
it is
who beheve that "police work is largely emergency in character and does not lend itself to long-term calculation and planning."^ (Even in the sphere of governmental planning, there are those, such as Friedrich A. Hayek, who believe
service, there are those
International City Managers' Association, Municipal Police Administration. Chicago, International City Managers' Association, 1950, p. 44.
'
73
74
dom.)^
ning to be an essential element in police operations. All police agencies plan continuously policies, procedures, deployment,
patrol,
juvenile,
vice,
traflBc,
personnel, finances
in fact, the
whole of police administration is basically a planning activity. It is due to the fact that planning is so closely interwoven into the fabric of police services that it seems an indeterminate and
evasive process. Yet, there are certain aspects of planning that are
of vital importance to the police administrator. Rather than an
be devoted
the outset,
to the
I
more
suggest that
we amend
the
title
Definitions of Planning
At the start of this session, I think it advisable to pinpoint this word planning. Professor John M. PfiflFner, of the School of Pubhc
Administration, University of Southern California, states that
all
of the
facts to
states that
planning
is
done and the methods for doing them in order to accomphsh the purpose set for the enterprise."* O. W. Wilson, whose text on police planning was recently pubhshed, states that planning
*
"is
method
Friedrich A. Hayek:
The Road
to
^John M.
PfiflFner:
Public Administration.
New
York,
The Ronald
Press
Com-
pany, 1946, p. 195. *V. A. Leonard: Police Organization and Management. Brooklyn, The Foundation Press, Inc., 1951, p. 164.
75
achievement of a defined objective."^ Any discussion of planning will tend to obscure and confuse basic issues due to the variety of interpretations of the term itself. To an economist, planning may refer to the choices available
in utilizing resources; to a city planner, almost
any conceivable subject could be deliberated and Harold D. Smith points out
is
plan-
mean
the de-
velopment of detailed estimates of work loads, methods of production control, or the applications of cost accounting procedures;
to a pubhc-service executive, planning
might largely consist of the preparation of performance budget and personnel audits. Many times planning is but a vague, ill-defined activity carried on by an organization, regarded as a "good thing" by the administrator, but misunderstood and improperly utilized.
In this regard, they
tell
who was
girls,
He had
four
and
had
all
the while desired a son and heir but he gave up, and
tr)'
decided not to
bom
Planning can be misunderstood and improperly utilized! In the police service, it is axiomatic that the pohce adminis-
must plan. This function is exercised by every pofice executivewhether he be the manager of a large, or of a very small, police agency. I think that we can all agree that police planning,
trator
basically,
is
tlie
ing means).
There
underlie
'
is
we must
it
state,
which
will
all
is:
The
scientific ap-
O.
W.
Illinois,
Charles
Thomas, Pub-
lisher,
'
for the
Advancement
17,
1944.
76
proach to the problems of police administration is based squarely upon planning and research. The personal judgment of competent police administrators, buttressed
by
can never be eliminated as a key factor in eflPective police administration, but that personal judgment must, in all cases, depend upon knowledge. Intuition, "feel," and "hunch" are not magical qualities rather, they imply the ability to assess a situation accurately and make effective decisions. The more facts at hand, the less margin for error. EflFective police planning places more
facts at the disposal of the police administrator.
There is, today, great emphasis upon improvement of municipal governmental operation and in every instance of progressive civic betterment, planning is given key emphasis. Wliat does this mean to the police executive? Simply this: Planning in governmental operations is here to stay and if the police administrator doesn't engage in planning, someone else will do it for him! And when someone else engages in police planning, ofttimes the results are unpleasant for the police administrator and for the police service.
Whether
or not there
is
too
will going on today is a question ment. Of primary import is the matter of effectiveness of current planning in police operations. There is little doubt that much police planning is ineffective
much that we
or too
and
little
this ineffectiveness is
due
to the
lems that they set for themselves. Planning is more than visualizing a "brave new world" of Utopian police operations. While it is true that ideahsm in police administration is not to be disparaged, it is also true that planning, of itself, is incapable of reducing ideals to practice. Overconfidence in planning is a common failingand usually due to a lack of definition of goal, a misunderstanding of obstacles, misuse of methods and means, and inabihty to accurately predict the future. As one observes the tangled
traffic
is
struck
For example,
was estimated
77
would have six million vehicles by 1970. Early this month, it was announced that the six million registration was a fact sixteen years prior to original estimate! Since 1947, one billion and twentytwo million dollars have been spent in roadway construction in California with no end in sight and traflBc congestion compounding
itself incessantly.
is
problem by construction of a giant freeway system. I am I am opposed to the thinking that they are a total and final solution to the traflBc problem. I wonder if we can continue to build roadway and freeway networks as
not opposed to freewaysbut
rapidly as the
demand
double the existing road network by 1970 just to keep congestion on the same level as it exists today. I point that out because, from a planning
creases as expected in California,
will
to
we
need
mass
inadequate and
underdeveloped.
Over 500,000 automobiles pass daily over the five major freeways of the City of Los Angeles and the city freeway system is but thirteen per cent completed! But what does this have to do with planning? Only this: if planning were the panacea that some would have it, we would not see these conditions. It is obvious that planning is limited due to the dynamic and expanding social and economic factors with which modern governmental agencies must deal. We've said that planning is an activity tliat pervades every part
of the structure of police administration. It
is
an activity con-
goals.
cerned with goals, and with the means necessary to achieve these Because it is concerned with goals, it can never be politically
many
must be
realistically
evaluated in this
is
Because
it is
closely in-
as
is
possible
and
workable.
The
first
that
we
will consider
is
a planning unit.
78
Planning Unit
EflFective administration of
small,
ment
organization,
upon
to
make
wisdom
measure, upon the information and advice available to them. If decisions are made without proper analysis of facts, or without
regard for standard practices developed as the result of research,
the chances are that they will be mediocre decisions and
in police administration.
it is
How,
then,
may
make
be rendered upon the bases of adequate information, objective analysis, and qualified advice? The first requirement, an obvious one, is for competency of the administrator. Yet, even competent administrators are beset by great volumes of daily routine duties, to such extent that they camiot personally give
cisions will
sufficient
many problems
In a small agency, the administrator may be able to keep appraised of problems and to develop adequate solutions; in these
situations, there
may be no need
and
new responsibilities
becomes ever more necessary for the administrator to provide for a staff arm to analyze organizational problems, to assist in solving difficulties of management, and to make recommendations for improving methods and procedures.
are attached to
it, it
It is
if
a planning unit
is
is
to succeed,
mandatory. If the men in the field feel that they are being ignored in the planning of agency operations, the planning program will, in all probability, find little acceptance among the working personnel; on
operational units
if
officers
79
men
port
executive is to plan and research, basic data must be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. These data may come from census surveys, from uniform crime reports, from local social and economic studies, and from various standard references, such as the Municipal Year Book. The manner in which data are handled can be crude or highly technical, depending on the resources of the agency. Where one large agency will utilize an extensive business machine operation, another may find it feasible to use hand sorted cards for the manipulation of data. At any rate, most of the large business machine companies, and office supply firms, are more than willing to extend considerable assistance and advice on the installaIf a police
handHng
of basic data.
is eflPected by a somewhat complex police organization, with many bureaus, divisions, and units performing a variety of functions and activities. This has produced a necessity for effective and economic operations. In 1950, the Planning and Research Division was formed, its
pohce
services.
in this article
he
states:
The
is
reflected in
its
highly
Division
care-
and
nationally,
and
uses spot
on short-term
and long-term
tiveness of police
The division also evaluates the present effecwork with a view toward constant improvement.
80
entire cost of
its
operation for
many
The objectives of this unit are as foUov^s: 1. To assist the chief and his managerial
itiating,
2.
staflF
in planning, in-
policies
and procedures.
To provide
To provide
w^ill
statistical, legal,
tion that
management and
assist
opera-
To provide
staflF
services to bureau
by
departmental functions.
The
lows:
1.
unit
is
composed
which function
as fol-
legal section surveys the departmental orders and prachght of actual or proposed changes in state or local law; it answers questions on legal points, and maintains files of legal opinions. What has it done? Item: Rendered a legal report, sustained by subsequent review by city attorneys, invalidating a claim of $40,000 for maintenance of city prisoners committed to county jail. Item: Prepared a legal report in reference to the impounding of vehicles on private property. Item: Prepared legal bulletins for departmental dissemination on problems of ex-convict registration and dangerous or deadly
tices in
The
weapons
in California.
posed by department members in 1953. 2. The second section, manuals and orders, investigates the need for orders; researches and plans the most effective system of procedures; and codifies orders into the manual. Item: Supervised and assisted in preparation of the Accident Investigation, Juvenile, and Jail Division manuals.
'Albert Deutsch:
1954, p. 32.
Is
1,
81
Item: Continual research and writing on departmental manual. Item: Published 111 orders and
3.
memoranda
in 1953.
The
budget and annual report; designs and prepares graphic presentations; analyzes modus operandi and crime patterns and disseminates information; and accumulates, records, and processes
statistical data.
Item: Preparation of the performance budget. Item: Preparation of the departmental capital improvement pro-
work program.
personnel deployment report.
Item:
Item.:
Item: Renumbering Reporting Districts. Item: Preparation of periodic crime reports. Item: Preparation of special M.O. bulletins.
Item: Special survey of Juvenile TraflBc Unit. Item: Preparation of some seventeen periodic reports by statistical unit.
determine
eliminated.
how
It
they
designs
may be improved, combined, simplified, or new forms or revises existing forms to im-
plement new or existing procedures. Item: Revision of the Pohce Permit Renewal application. Item: Completed 282 forms investigations which resulted in 60 new forms, 113 revisions, and 109 cancellations.
The addition
in times of
of a planning and research unit to a police agency, hmited funds and manpower, might be considered
82
ill-advised.
Because the expense is overhead, the unit must be more effective toward accomplishing the objectives of the agency than a proportionate expenditure in direct field service. The general efficiency of the agency, especially on a long-range basis, should increase as a result of the activities of such a planning unit and this would form the criteria for justification of the
unit's existence.
I
Department the copies of the 1953 Annual Report of the Planning and Research Division will provide a basis for your judgment.
However, I do intend to review a few areas of poHce planning which may point up problems. The first is the area of organizational planning.
Organizational Planning
of the primary responsibilities of practical pohce planning the study of the effectiveness of the basic plan of organization of the agency, and the development of means to accomphsh the
One
is
objectives for
work and
its
establishment of a workable structure of authority and control; the provision for necessary staff services; the elimination of conflicts,
of program.
not? there are problems of geographical distribution of services. The availability of police services in an area is recognized by most civic-minded groups as an important municipal function to the general welfare of the community. Although most citizens seldom call upon the pohce agency for assistance, the public
is
extremely impatient
when
needed. In addition,
many
residents
an omnipresence of the police. Despite the fact that the technical need for police effort in a community may be relatively low, the residents of such community may expect as much or more from
83
the resources of the police agency as another section of the city which contains a high crime-frequency area. The resident in a suburban, or peripheral area, is not concerned with deployment
or workload statistics as a determinent in the allocation of police
manpower. For this reason, the pohce executive with limited resources must frequently reconcile the exigencies of a poHce problem in one area against the public pressure for a commensurate degree of pohce coverage in another. It might not be out of place to note that in the City of Los Angeles patrol and reporting districts were recently re-designed
has allowed the department to
governmental census tracts. This change make crime studies in specific areas which could be correlated with the census material relative to population, social, and economic factors, and which could be
to follow boundaries of
formed patrol
officer which was undertaken by our Planning and Research Division. This survey attempted to measure field activities for the purpose of more effective deployment. It concerned
itself
with the allocation of personnel among the various geotlie assignment of personnel to watches, and the deplo)Tnent of field units according to areas of need. Another problem is the relation of staff services in decentrahz-
No
police
agency remains static and no police agency can be established or reorganized in final form. There must be provision for constant readjustment to meet changes in technological methods and social conditions. When this appraisal and planning is ignored, the police agency wiU tend to become inflexible and unable to progress.
was given
to
Changes in program must be adjusted; all too often, a needed change is deferred indefinitely, with the result that new func-
84
handled and old activities continued long after their utihty is at an end. Organizational planning assumes a continual audit of agency program and operations, and an appraisal of the effectiveness or need for curtailment of every facet of operation. The final topic that I would like to touch on today is that of
planning.
manpower
Manpower Planning
At the 1953 lACP Conference in
pointed out in his address that
Detroit, Mr. A. F. Brandstatter
The unpleasant dilemma of every police chief will continue to be one of providing more and better police service with little, if any, increase in personnel, while at the same time eliminating the causes of damaging criticism of pohce service suffered in the
past.*
training,
rating,
morale, retirement is
police executive.
promotion,
O.
W.
manpower has
stimulated
made possible by its wise direction."^ Wliether the pohce agency operates its own personnel unit independently, or whether it operates as an adjunct of a central personnel system the planning of personnel operations is always
attention to economies
For example, the Los Angeles Police Department is currently 223 under autliorized strength. Yet, even so, the department has consistently raised entrance qualifications and maintained rigid selection processes, a seemingly foolish procedure in times of
manpower
shortages.
To
department, in co-operaits
re-
* A. F. Brandstatter: Improving Our Standards. Address delivered at 60th Annual lACP Conference, Detroit, Michigan, September 15, 1953, The Police
O,
W.
85
pool, en-
To
manpower
which could muster suflBcient candidates; posters and pamphlets were distributed at the Separation Centers of the Armed Forces; placement directors at 180 colleges and universities were provided with information regarding the job, and recruiting films starring Jack Webb were prepared for television and motion picture theaters. The full eflFect of this expanded program was not
reahzed in 1953; however, a steady increase in job appHcations has resulted. Almost every police agency is faced with problems
in the recruitment
and
is
planning to
fiU
gaps
a problem
which faces
all
of us.
How
to adequately train
new
knowledge on super-
and human
relations;
and how
and research. Personnel planning cannot be overlooked problem of the police executive.
as a
major
Lecture II
Introduction
In the
last session,
we began
some
of the
problem areas
of the questions of
manpower planning.
Today,
my
They
Operational
Operational Planning
Operational planning
ning.
is
we will arbitrarily
tactical plan-
program planning in the operational area, work programs in relation to available manpower, funds, and equipment. Whether or not to engage in a juvenile recreational program is a problem of operational program planning. Whether or not to inaugurate processes for the rehabiliof of
For instance, in Los Angeles, the taxpayer foots an annual biU of over two million dollars to handle the repeated arrest and custody of the habitual drunk and the pohce department each year is charged with the custody of some 65,000 prisoners sentenced for being drunk. In order to attempt the solution of this problem, a Rehabilitation Center has been estabHshed in Bouquet Canyon. This center cares for some 500 prisoners in its 588 acres, and will have a capacity for 1500 if expanded. This radical departure from traditional jail confinement offers
86
87
activities, balanced diet, planned educaand recreation, and medico-psychiatric treatment and should save money. It is a minimum-security institution which meant low construction costs; fewer oflBcers are needed for its operation; and it will ultimately provide fresh and caimed food for all the jail
kitchens.
view of pohcy and operating procedures, the preparation of manuals and orders, and the elimination of dupHcation and confusion
in routine activities.
Our
unit
made
a study of
jail
saved the city an annual amount equal to the cost of the Planning and Research
developed a completely new system of police manuals bringing to each officer the latest technical information necessary to the efficient performance of his duties. However, the key operational planning concept is in the area of tactical planning the preparation for specific situations such as traffic matters, crowd control at major events, labor disturbances, and the like. Almost every poHce agency must engage in this type of operational planning which may range from the maintenance of order at a small picket hne to the massive planning problems of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. The planning unit may be used in tactical planning our unit instituted improved methods of crime analysis which give field officers speedy and exact knowledge of criminal personalities, meth-
The
unit, too,
ods,
and conditions
:
The
statistical unit
who
stated
they had committed hundreds of thefts and burglaries throughout Los Angeles and other cities as far south as San Diego. The crimes were committed in all divisions of the city, the time
varying greatly, with three separate M.O.'s used:
1.
2.
88
3.
Thefts service stationsmoney from vending machines. analysis, 200 cases were selected all but two of the cases selected were cleared! The Planning and Research Division also instituted a continuous study of the distribution of crime over the city's area, which enables supervisors to assign field oflBcers in the proper area at the proper time to secure maximum results against specific
By machine
crimes.
One
the
trators.
of the largest
traflBc field,
and
The
the
liaison
problem areas of operational planning is in problem is faced by all police adminisbetween the police and the other city dethis
trafiic
matters
is
often spotty;
many
with pohce
traflBc sections.
The
traflBc
be
dis-
agency
the
result of a
section is ignored,
much
valu-
The
are
upon which all educational and engineering based and yet, engineering, particularly in the design
first
com-
of recommendations sug-
roadway width; adequate provision for disabled and detained vehicles; longer acceleration and deceleration lanes; and larger signs, directional and informative. Certain changes were made on this Freeway to correspond witli these recommendations, but when newer facilities were planned the recommendations were largely ignored. Such a situation would seem to indicate a lack of advance coordinated planning on the administrative level. The problem of congestion in traflBc is constantly worsening.
89
In California,
registrations
it is
The
increases in automobile
have not been accompanied by a proportionate increase in available roadway. TraflBc planning has offered certain compensating devices: more stringent parking regulations, oflF-set lanes at peak hours, synchronization of signals, manual intersection control, and the freeway programs have produced some alleviation of congestion. Yet, even such a device as the freeway has not produced remedies commensurate with its cost; the land used is land taken from the tax roll; the center strip does not contain space for future expansion of rapid transportation means; and the cost of a mile of freeway is so staggering that it is impossible to visualize
its
in vehicle registration.
Planning for
traffic
problems
pohce
you are
all
famihar with
the
traffic
it is
Enough
moment;
would
like to take
you now
Since
of Police in 1950,
it
has been
my
90
my colleagues
about
tions.
common
problems.
One
confusion, doubt,
and misunderstanding
planning
is
Specifically, fiscal
ume
being performed, whether it can be measured, whether better methods can be devised, how many people are necessary, how much and what kind of equipment is necessary, and how much money will be required to operate the agency. I have heard police executives say, "I don't want to have anything to do with the budgetwhatever the taxpayers or council want to give me, it's up to them I'll do the best with whatever I get." Or others who state, "I always ask for twice what I expect to get, and after the council prunes the request, it's just about
of work,
it is
how
right,"
managers say, "I never ask my police chief to prepare his budgethe wouldn't know how, and he shouldn't anyhow I'm supposed to administer tlie city."
I
have heard
city
It's
my
shying away from budgetary matters and hurt the police service.
may be adequate
for the
and they
their office.
Program budgeting or, as it is sometimes called, performance budgetingis now a potent force in municipal fiscal operations. The old "line-item" budget is rapidly being replaced in many jurisdictions with the performance budget. As you know, the simple distinction between the two is that the performance budget requires justification in terms of program or performance,
correlated against the request.
but
it is
and equipment required to do the job is not an easy necessary. The budget system must be designed to
91
fiscal plan. It is axiomatic that a plan of operation is unsound if it cannot be logistically supported. The problems of police management would be simple, indeed, if the physical resources at our command were unhmited. However, realism dictates that the operations of a police agency must be within the financial capacity of the government, despite increases in workload and other things which would logically justify additional expenditures. The program budget usually is designed to estimate the work to be accomplished for the coming fiscal year in terms of work units and gross manhours; but to apply this method to the police service assumes the development of a highly-refined system of work units and work measurement. Now, the projected work program in private industry and manufacturing is amendable to this method of analysis; also, city departments deafing in tangible items or services which are countable and consistent can be forecast accurately. But in poHce service, much of the work perfoiTned is unmeasurable. Fundamentally,
to
that
may
arise.
accidents,
which necessitate police action are merely the results of a social hazard which has overcome the deterrent efforts of the pohce. For this reason, the repressive aspects of the police function are not adaptable to any precise method of quantitative measurement.
The budget,
actually,
is
and
it is
not
The
and the
justification of
long-term program.
The budget
an excellent oppor-
and accomplishments of each unit. With a profit and loss statement from the various divisions or sub-units, the managerial staff is better equipped to evaluate
92
have outhved their usefulness management action regarding these activities can be reflected in fiscal plans for future operations.
I would like, now, to turn to the areas of long-term planning and capital-improvement programming. They are usually aspects
of physical planning.
Physical Planning
Every poHce organization is responsive to technological advancements and to changes reflected in changing social and economic environments. New territorial divisions must be planned to care for increased population growth and movement; old divisions must be revamped to meet declining populations. As pohce activities become more specialized or decentralized, building and equipment needs require greater planning thought. In past years, many public improvements were deferred for various reasons. During World War II, the shortage of labor and materials was a major factor; since the war, limited finances and inflated costs have prevented many essential projects. Capital-improvement budgeting and long-term planning consist of evaluating current deficiencies in facilities and services and in forecasting future needs based on trends in population, industrial expansion, and other such factors. The program usually is developed for a six-year period and revised annually, with all items justified and given a relative priority. Projects included in such programs are usually those with
a
fife
The heart
required for
program
is
site or right of
way
preparation of final plans; and probable time of awarding construction contracts. This allows
money
to
research.
who
and consideration can be given to the number of will be helped by a particular project, and to the
93
number who will be harmed or inconvenienced if the project is deferred. The population density per acre becomes an important
factor, so
much
so that priority
is
density areas.
is
and
it is
thoroughly enmeshed
with most other governmental operations. This condition results in pohce physical planning being shared with other units of the city Board of Public Works, Art Department, the Department of
Building and Safety, and others.
If the police executive neglects this tion, all too often will
mercy of those who do not understand the complexities of police operations. This may result in a pohce agency with a jail that is almost inoperable, a sub-division station that is grossly inadequate, or emergency
he find himself
police housing that continues indefinitely.
you that the Central Division was condemned in 1913? And that we are still occupying the structure? But, on the other side of the picture, I can inform you that witliin a few more
believe
if I
Would you
me
told
months,
many
of our scattered
downtown
units, will
move
into a structure
which
by the
may be affected any one; this infers close coordination of the planning activity. For instance, freeway construction may alter existing street patterns, and if not considered, may result
In long-term planning, several departments
location or plans of
in inaccessible sites, or inconvenient locations requiring total or
abandonment at a later date. The planning of capital improvements is one project of our Planning and Research Division. The written program consists
partial
and maps. growth of metropolitan Los Angeles has been unrestricted by insurmountable natural barriers, and each influx of new residents has touched off a new subof 190 pages of narrative, statistical tables,
Unlike
many urban
centers, the
94
division flurry.
ties
The
city has
its
some
periphery this due to desire for local autonomy and civic recognition w^hich is reflected throughout tlie County. To take care of 453 square miles and 2,000,000 inhabitants, the city has decentralized much of its operations. At the present time the city maintains five administrative centers Van Nuys, Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Venice, San Pedro; in addition two more are incomplete Watts and North Hollywood; and five others have been requested Canoga Park, Sunland-Tujunga, Jefferson, Eagle-Rock, and Westchester. The availabihty of police services is recognized as an important
function to the general welfare of a
communityphysical
plan-
ning through the capital-improvement budget will serve to maintain police services in keeping with the general expansion of the
community. I might add that capital-improvement budgeting not only concerns itself with future plans for new police facilities, but wdth the maintenance and improvement of existing faciHties, with the mechanization of procedures (such as machine records, or oneman patrol operations), with new technological devices (such as radar speed meters, or helicopters, or closed-line television circuits), and with general deficiencies in police facilities.
planning
is
some very
I
practical
problem
areas.
pointed out, as a basic assumption, that the scientific approach to police administration is based squarely on planning
this scientific
in-
95
no panacea
is
if
the
someone
is
and that
when
police planning
is
results
can be un-
applicable to every
problems of the agency. I pointed out that the planning of organization was important to effecti\'e poHce operations but that no police agency could be
established or reorganized in final
flexibility
form and
that organizational
was necessary
in police operations.
On
the subject of
manpower
is
always of
is
gaps
mu-
pointed out that operational planning was utihzed by police administrators when they evaluated work programs, when they
reviewed policy and procedures, and when they developed tactics for meeting special problems. Fiscal planning is often confused, misunderstood, and its value
doubted by police executives, and yet it is vital to the executive if he is to retain control of his agency. I pointed out the difficulties of applying the performance budget to the pohce service, and finally discussed the capital-improvement budget and its facets in relation to long-term programming. If there is one conclusion that we might all agree upon, it is this: police service does not stand still; it either improves or deteriorates; if it is to improve, there must be careful planning.
Finally, I suggest that planning
is
it is
the responsibilit)' of
to the
every policeman
patrolman
will
in the
Any
"ivory-tower"
planners
result
in
personnel
is
mandatory
if
effective planning
is
to
become
reality.
96
Recommendations
In respect to police planning,
1.
recommend
the following:
project
aimed
Chapter Six
ON
POLICE
Law
Re-
An
statement
filed
Laws
of
The March
of Crime: Excerpts from an address dehvered at the Assembly Dinner of the Ebell Club, Los Angeles, March, 1956.
Threat or Protection?
underworld activities is the police most potent weapon against organized crime. Any combination of patrol and investigation alone will not serve as the shockingly low to suppress clever criminal operations arrest and conviction rate of known syndicate members vividly attests. Traditional poHce techniques are not the answer to this problem organized crime can be reduced and stamped out by the police only when knowledge of its methods, personalities and
intelligence of
ADEQUATE
/A
administrator's
comes unprofitable.
Whether we
like it or not,
we must
face
up
to the distasteful
its
fulfills
task wdth
no
knowledge
leaves
little
crime rate has been on the increase for the past several decades. It is estimated that there are six million persons in this country who exist primarily by criminal means and this figure does not
include the casual criminal or occasional ofiFender.
J.
Edgar
Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has testified that the annual cost of crime to our nation is greater than twenty billion dollars.^ Crime pays and pays well! This is obviously not a game in which the police play "cops and robbers" for the amusement of society. This is a case of a
lawless criminal
army warring against society itself, and the police comprise that part of society which has been given the task of being the first hue, and sometimes the only line, of defense. It is often a dirty business a very dirty business because of
*
In
testimony before
Appropriations
February, 1954.
99
100
whom the pohce must shown and is continuing to show that it is a necessary business, and that the responsibility must be placed on someone. The men of the poHce service are aware of
the warped nature of the criminals with
often deal. But history has
this responsibihty,
and
assume
its
it.
own, to handicap
severely that
it
it is
we now
enjoy
is
it
like
or not.
I
this
dilemma
to give the
No
responsible police
oflBcial
such a stand. However, until society finds a of controlling criminals than by the use of a police force, society should control police activity by holding the police strictly accountable for the proper exercise of their power, but should not
tie their
hands
is
critically
impaired.
There are people who, well knowing that the modern criminal modem technical advancement, would nevertheless restrict the pohce to the methods available at the time of the lantern and the 'Tiue and cry." These people are obviously ignorant of the first rule of warfare, which is "Know Your Enemy," applying as well to domestic as to foreign enemies. The threat that there will develop in our society an all-powerful police of potentially greater danger than the criminal army is, in my opinion, so remote as to be negligible. The poHce have no sources of revenue of their own; they must justify their existence and their operations each year to representatives of the people
has availed himself of every
who
eral,
fix
the
number
of
employees
who can be
poHce must come before the people and the people's representatives, and justffy their past activities as a basis for asking financial
101
pohce
press
activity will
it;
would not stand for it; the would not stand for it; and the police themselves, since they are citizens first and policemen second, would not stand for it.
the city government
It is
my
opinion that
if
it
be gravely threatened.
its
The
origin in unfor-
other agencies, to inculcate in child and adult alike a proper respect for the law and the necessary self-discipUne and other desirable traits of a well-adjusted
and mature
personality. Again,
re-
its
rehabili-
The fact remains that society must deal not only with crimes which are being committed today but with those which are planned and proposed for tomorrow. It has assigned the police a grossly unbalanced share of the task of prevention plus the whole task of detection, apprehension, and the securing and preparing
of evidence for presentation to the courts.
The task of the pohce does not cover the entire field of crime prevention because the police are not assigned the tasks of guardianship, child rearing, education, refigious instruction, correction of mental or physical illness
and social maladjustments, or otherwise deafing with the root causes of crime. The fundamental
not crime prevention per se. Rather, policemen consider themselves as a "containing element" a thin
role of tlie police service
is
line of blue
society
which stands between the law-abiding members of and the criminals who prey upon them. The function of the police insofar as prevention is concerned hes in two general fields: (1) the prevention of criminal acts by actual or potential physical intervention, and (2) performance so effective that the fear of apprehension, conviction and punishment tends to pre-
102
The
hicle,
first
of these
is
and by the maintenance of such organization and communications as to place men at a scene of planned disorder or other crime within the shortest possible time. Crime repression is ac-
complished tlirough educating criminals to fear, not only the policeman in plain view or on patrol in the area, but also the policeman who may be keeping them under surveillance without their knowledge. This involves, not only observation by the police themselves, but observation by responsible citizens and informants. An important part of such crime repression can be accomplished through intelligent sui"veillance by means of two techniques: one, the use of electronic amplifying devices commonly
called "dictographs,"
on the matter of
civil rights. I
we cannot
which has
as-
sumed
suffer
doomed
to obhvion.
We still
us
tliose
who preceded
beheve that
fully cognizant of
when
and adherence required by impartial officials. In contradistinction to this noble characteristic of the American people, the police are expected to enter a contest against criminal elements in which
the use of which (sometimes open microphone in a room in an inconspicuous place, thus enabling the listener to hear and record all sounds which
*
Dictograph:
An
electronic
listening
device,
The use
103
ill-
Illustrative of this
ment. This
I
is
touch upon
not intended to be a criticism of the Supreme Court, and this subject only to illustrate the phght of the police.
have utilized such devices to gather information and evidence concerning criminal activities. In 1941, the Legislature
of the State of Cahfornia recognized this practice
by adopting
by the head
by
is not to be confused with wiretapping, 640 of the Penal Code^ of the State of California prohibits wiretapping without exception.
*
*
347 U.S. 128(1954). Cal. Pen. Code 653(h): Dictographs. Any person who, without consent of
the owner, lessee, or occupant, installs or attempts to install or use a dictograph in any house, apartment, tenement, oflBce, shop, railroad car, vehicle, mine, or any underground portion thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor; provided, that nothing
herein shall prevent the use and installation of dictographs by a regularly salaried peace officer expressly authorized thereto by the head of his office or department
or
by
a district attorney,
their
when such
in
performance of
criminals.
duties
detecting
crime
and
in
the
apprehension of
640. Tapping Phone or Telegraph Wires Reading Messages. Every person who, by means of any machine, instrument, or contrivance, or in any other manner, willfully and fraudulently, or clandestinely taps, or makes any unauthorized
104
law enforcement agencies to intercept telegraphic and telephonic communications when authorized to do so by court order based upon an affidavit setting forth probable cause. ^ The proposed legislation was similar to a law now in eflFect in the State of New York/ (Police officials in the City of New York who have the responsibility for the investigation of organized crime attribute to this statute the solving of every major racket and violence case in that state within the past decade. As examples, the Erickson and Harry Gross bookmaking scandal, the "basketball fix" and several extortion cases first came to hght through
wiretappings.)
Our purpose in asking for such legislation was not stimulated by idle curiosity or inquisitiveness. It was merely an attempt to restore some semblance of balance between individual freedoms
lieve
was never intended by our founding fathers that the criminal cartels of our nation should be given a privileged sanctuary within the vast telegraphic and telephonic communications network of the United States within which to plan and transit
and
be-
Even though the police from intercepting telephonic conversations that might lead to the knowledge of the whereabouts of a kidnapped child and his subsequent rescue, our petition fell upon
act their illegal activities with impunity.
of this state are precluded
deaf
ears.
connection with any telegraph or telephone wires, line, cable, or instrument under the control of any telegraph or telephone company; or who willfully and fraudulently, or clandestinely, or in any imauthorized manner, reads, or attempts to read, or to learn the contents or meaning of any message, report, or communication while the same is in transit or passing over any telegraph or telephone wire, line, or cable, or is being sent from, or received at any place within the State; or who uses, or attempts to use, in any manner, or for any purpose, or to communicate in any way, any information so obtained; or who aids, agrees with, employs, or conspires with any person or persons to unlawfully do, or permit, or cause to be done any of the acts or things hereinabove mentioned, is punishable
as provided in section 639.
*
Report of
Law and
Association, 31st Annual Convention, September 6-8 (1951). ' N.Y. Const. Art. I, 12.
105
its
home
knowledge or
bookmaking activities.* As a result of the evidence obtained, was prosecuted and convicted in the California courts and sentenced to eighteen months in prison. The United States Supreme Court sustained the conviction in a five to four decision and in connection therewith, the majority opinion of the Court
Irvine
burden of administering criminal justice rests upon To impose upon them the hazard of federal reversal for noncompliance with standards as to which this Court and its members have been so inconstant and inconsistent would not be
chief
state courts.
justified.
.
. .
The
upon
state courts. If
we
upon
law enforcement agencies we find, with but rare exception, that the state's machinery of criminal justice is an inert and hfeless thing until put into motion by the police.
local
was instructed to refer the matter to tlie Attorney General of the United States for investigation to determine
involved were in violation of the makes it a crime for any person any law or custom to deprive any inhabitant of any
officers
by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The Court pointed out that in 1949, for the first time, it ruled that the basic search and seizure prohibitions of the Fourth Amendment were applicable to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment, and thus suggested that a violation of the Civil
Rights Act
made
'
involved in the Irvine case. Since the Court no reference to Section 653(h) of the Penal Code of the
347 U.S. 128, 129 (1954).
may be
Irvine v. California,
/(/.at 131.
" 18 U.S.C.
242
(1952).
106
is
such
tliat
no
clear
course of procedure
would
equipment has solved countless and led to the apprehension of many dangerous criminals who would otherwise have gone unpunished. A reputed overlord of crime in the Los Angeles area is now serving a term in a federal prison as a result of a prosecution in which information obtained through the use of dictographic equipment conutilization of dictographic
The
serious crimes
Two reputed members of the JMafia, who escaped federal prosecution for narcotic violations when a key witness against them was found murdered, were convicted of crimes in the courts of this state based upon evidence obtained through a dictograph installation. One such installation alone aided the Los Angeles Pohce Department in solving forty-three
tributed materially.
serious felonies.
It
tliat
be found another occupation where men labor more unstintingly far beyond the hours of normal duty with no hope of additional financial reward. The bravery of the pohce cannot be questioned as they
avail themselves of scientific devices. Rarely will
daily risk their fives in the apprehension of vicious criminals. Certainly, society
tion
cannot expect the pofice to risk criminal prosecuis the valid enforcement of the law as they have been led to understand the law. The rules must be more
when
clearly defined
if
The real danger to society is in organized activity by groups, mobs and gangs of professional criminals. EflFective police action supported by appropriate statutes and wise functioning of the
courts
and penal
is
of
tlie
professional
effec-
my
considered opinion
to protect
its
tliat
society
must take
if it is
107
must
realistically
criminals.
These
men
by a
relatively
The
professional criminal
is
clever
take advantage of every invention or technique that can be adapted to criminal purposes; he knows the law, and he knows the ways in which it can be distorted to provide loopholes for his escape from detection and conviction. Some are highly skillful in disguising their operations as legitimate business enterprises; they are extremely resourceful in concealing their operations from ordinary observation by law-abiding citizens and neighborhood
patrolmen.
I
who
refuse to
who
sneer at
and burglars are organized with one another and with "fences" people who make a business of buying and selling stolen property. Robbers, safecrackers and other strong-arm men are organized
with each other, and, in turn, often with fences. People who are in one or another of the vice rackets prostitution, gambhng, narcotics
it is
and the like are organized among themselves, and thus with almost every type of crime against person or property. Above the "little men" in each of these rackets are the "big men," who often do not physically participate, but who control the activities of
the
men below
is
who
see to
it
dehvered
to them.
very nature is largely a thing which is carried on behind closed doors or out of sight of hearing. Society has detennined, for example, that it will not tolerate prostitution, not only for its deleterious efiFect on the morals of the community and its threat to the public health through the spread of venereal disease, but also because experience has shown that prostitution engenders pandering, procuring, thefts, strong-arm robberies, assaults and many other such crimes. Consequently, the
its
Crime by
in the dark,
108
laws of the state and the ordinances of the city are directed toward the suppression not only of organized, but of occasional
prostitution.
It is impossible,
evidence which will support prosecutions and convictions by ordinaiy patrol work. The crime goes on behind locked doors.
Watches are
kept.
A prostito her
chamber. Patrons do not complain, nor are they willing to testify. The prostitute is an outlaw; arrests or pohce records mean nothing to her as such. She will not testify against her confederates nor against her employers. She is part of one branch of organized professional criminality. There are other types equally as organized, equally as insidious, equally as secretive.
Wlien these organized mobs are operating with their accustomed secrecy, there is no technique known to police science by which their criminal activities can with certainty be detected and the criminals brought to account. One of the most efiFective techniques ever devised for such work wire tapping is barred under federal and state law. When wire tapping cannot be carried on, the most efiFective method of suppressing crime and ferreting out criminal activities is to keep the men known to be engaged in these activities under constant and close surveillance. This is not only more costly than any police department can aflFord, but in the vast majority of cases it is impossible. The most efiFective substitutes for constant and close surveillance are to have an undercover agent inside the organization, which is extremely difficult to achieve and very hazardous, or to have some means of overhearing what is said, whether by listening at the transoms, outside windows, down a ventilator shaft or by dictograph. It is my opinion that if the police were deprived of the power to use dictographs, or if the police were restricted in the use of dictographs to such an extent that the element of secrecy would be destroyed, the ability of the police to detect crimes of the sort referred to as "organized crime" would be greatly hampered, and the power of the police to cope with many of the crimes which
109
would be substantially eliminated. equipment should not in any way be The use of dictographic interpreted as a laborsaving device to free policemen from more arduous tasks. The monitoring of an installation requires endless hours of the most tedious concentration and confining toil, sometimes under conditions of great discomfort. But experience has shown that it is work that must be done if crime is to be controlled. There is no available substitute for it. EHmination of the use of dictographs would doubtless be a welcome respite to the men who are assigned to that kind of work; but any elimination would provide organized crime a sanctuary in the very midst of society which the forces of law and order could not penetrate. Wittingly or unwittingly, those who would deprive society of this means of containing the criminal element are, in effect, giving aid and comfort to their enemy. The question has been raised: is the
installation of a dictograph
It
an
illegal act?
would seem that common sense, reasoned thought and impartial evaluation yields but one answer to the question. The common good and public interest posits the subordination of the individual to the community. Thus, rights to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness are not absolute rights; if they were so construed, the electric chair, the state prison, and the Office of Price Administration would be of necessity precluded as instruments of
government. So, too, wdth the guaranties offered under the Fourth Amendment, guaranties against unwarranted searches and seizures. Wise men, indeed, placed the word "unreasonable" in that provision.^^ Those who would deprive law enforcement of its vitality seem to regard the guaranties of the Fourth Amendment as absolute guaranties against any and all searches and seizures. How
could the police service operate under that construction of the
law? Could police enter on private property without first obtaining the consent of owners? Could prowler complaints be investigated? Complaints about strange activity? Complaints that a
house is suspiciously quiet? Reports that someone has not been seen for a suspicious length of time? Reports concerning neg" U.S. Const. Amend. IV: The right of the people
houses, papers, and
eflFects,
to
be secure
in their persons,
. . .
110
lected children
tive
is
left
known
to
where a car resembhng seen from the street? Rescue from burnbedrooms? Major disturbances on
operations of the police serv-
From
gas-filled
many
be trespasses.
Objection
is
made
on the innocent and that such techniques smack of the genwanant and cannot be selective in nature. Also, it is con-
tended that the use of the dictograph implies unbridled arbitrary discretion on the part of pohce officers, their use of expedient principles to justify their actions
and
who makes
is a passenger in a vehicle and the driver of stopped by a traflBc oflBcer. His liberty is curtailed; he is surely discommoded and yet he is an innocent party who does not question the action. Does not the analogy hold? Can we ask our traflBc oflBcers to overlook all vehicles which carry passen-
able action
when he
is
that vehicle
gers lest
some passenger's
deemed
modem
Does the passenger regard police traflBc activity as an insidious kind of intrusion upon his personal liberty? Do we brand that
traflBc oflBcer
With use
law?
We
ment
say,
"But
my
and the
sanctity of the
home
ought to be constitutionally protected; that the protection of individual rights is paramount to governmental expediency; and that secret search by way of general warrants is an unjustifiable
infringement upon the rights of a free people. American citizens may have their privacy violated by impatient, overzealous and opportunistic oflBcials just as millions of people
111
fire
world which have a totahtarian regime. We do not argue a "fight with fire" philosophy because such a premise could reduce the Bill of Rights to a heap of ashes! History shows that bad pohce methods breed disrespect for law, shake the confidence of law-abiding citizens in the administration of justice and weaken tlie national morale. Pofice tyranny is no substitute for poHce protectionnor is an exaggerated conception of individual rights!
In a consideration of the morality of wiretap and dictograph,
we may
Effect."^^
apply the principle of ethics entitled "The Law of Double This law posits that when an action produces two effects, one good, and one bad, as long as the good eflFect is intended, and as long as tlie means are either morally good or morally neutral, the act
may be
morally
justified.
Thus,
when
this
na-
tion
atom
So, too,
fect only
when
is
the
identical rationale
may be
applicable.
if
We would
the end
the
ends sought were extortion, blackmail, or like evil. If these techniques are used they must, of necessity, be rigidly controlled. But
if
is
effect (eavesdropping
of the innocent)
is
up
to the legislatures
and judiciary of this nation carefully and powers and procedures to be fol-
lowed by the investigatory agencies in their enforcement of the laws of this land, if there is doubt as to the constitutionahty or
morality of a particular process or technique. Until this
is
done,
it
test of reasonableness
would be adequate
as
We
are
justifies
we
(1953).
112
is any mechanical technique, and that the use of these means is justified by moral as well as by statute law. Behind all statute law stands moral law. If an action is
it is
legally defensible. It
is
my
opinion that the use of the wiretap and dictograph do not violate
a moral precept, and that, therefore, the statute law should echo
this viewpoint.
Far from being a threat to our freedoms, the use of modern by the pohce service may well be its most powerful weapon in combatting our internal enemies, and a vital necessity in the protection of our nation's security, harmony and
technological devices
internal well-being.
Lije Easier
People
v.
upon the
The
de-
Despite the persuasive force of the foregoing arguments, we have concluded, as Justice Carter and Justice Schauer have consistently
maintained, that evidence obtained in violation of the constitutional guarantees is inadmissible. People v. LeDoux,^ 155 Cal. 535, People v. Mayen,^ 188 Cal. 237, and the cases based thereon
are therefore overruled.
*
Cahan and
to
engage
in
Penal Code. Six of the defendants pleaded guilty. After a trial without a jury, at which evidence obtained through the secret installation of a microphone was introduced, the court found one defendant not guilty and each of the other defendants guilty as charged. Charles H. Cahan, one of the defendants found guilty, appealed the case to the California State Supreme Court and obtained a
reversal of the guilty finding, the Court holding that evidence obtained in violation
and seizures
is
in-
admissable. This decision had the effect of overruhng Peo. v. Le Doux 155 Cal. 535; Peo. v. Mayen, 188 Cal. 237, and cases based tliereon, which had governed for 59 years, and thus made California one of the minority states to come under the
"Exclusionary Evidence Rule." ^This case, decided in 1909, held that the search and seizure was absolutely unwarranted in law and constituted a clear violation of the constitutional guaranty, state
and
may be
and
seizure,
the redress
wrong
is
may be
obtained
by
'
the seizure."
LeDoux
case, then
made
the follow-
113
114
cient
effect of this decision has been catastrophic as far as effilaw enforcement is concerned. Subsequent events have more than justified the warning sounded by Justice Spence in his dissent when he said:
The
The experience
elsewhere.
commend
its
adoption
The
upon a motion to suppress evidence or upon an objection to evidence, and thereby, in effect, obtaining immunity from any successful prosecution of the charge against him, is a picture which has been too often seen in the federal practice. In speaking of an obviously guilty defendant, I refer by way of example to one from whose home has been taken
large quantities of contraband, consisting of narcotics or other
The above-mentioned
it
result,
however,
is
the
Both
as a
my
solemn duty to
observe and respect constitutional guarantees and I will never be consciously guilty of advocating the flaunting of constitutional
is my contention, however, that many searches and branded as "unreasonable" by the courts are in fact reasonable under attendant circumstances and do not violate the purpose and intent of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. It is further urged that the true unreasonableness
safeguards. It
seizures
upon
the pohce.
In People
v.
Cohan the
court
made no attempt
to define the
ing statement: "There might be some reason, on grounds of public policy, for the state to refuse the use of evidence thus wrongfully seized, on tlie ground
that
its
but in the absence of any legislative or judicial declaration to that eflFect nmnerous cases in nearly every existing state
legislative action to
may
properly wait on
115
which a poHce
officer
fur-
in the major-
We
The
in-
if it is
assumed
tliat it is
meritorious,
tlie
a rule of evi-
is
bound by
appears
if it
and
dis-
need not follow them. Similarly, if the federal cases indicate needless limitations on the right to conduct reasonable searches and seizures or to secure warrants, this court is free
to reject them.
activated
by the
told, in effect,
is
my
is
an unfair bur-
den
to place
the protection of
the people against the vast predatory criminal army that exists
might be well to remember any tortious act he may commit in the performance of his duties while the courts and prosecutors have been granted immunity by judicial decree. Since the Cahan case we have watched with interest the decisions of our State Supreme Court dealing with the exclusionary rule. It now appears that the Court will approve the introduction of evidence seized without a warrant only when the officer had probable cause to effect an arrest and that whether the search is conducted before or after the arrest is immaterial. The question of what constitutes probable cause is a question of fact to be determined in retrospect and does not necessarily depend upon the state of mind of the officer at the time of the search and/or
in this
country today. At
is
this point
it
116
arrest.
individual for
whom
there
is
In a recent local case, an officer observed a speeding motorist. Upon being overtaken, the motorist stopped his vehicle at the
observed two male passengers and a typewriter He inquired as to the ownership of the typewriter and ownership was claimed by one of the passengers. This person was subjected to search and a quantity of
curb.
officer
The
It
was
later
determined that
had been
stolen in Bakersfield
was excluded and the charges dismissed. The court concluded that, while the officer was justified in arresting the motorist for speeding, he had no probable cause to believe the passengers had committed a criminal oflFense and therefore the search of the defendant was unreasonable. This premise seems to have been sustained by our Supreme Court in its decision in the case of People v. Charles A. Simon handed down November 29, 1955. In this case a San Diego police officer observed two young men enter and leave a warehouse district about 10:40 P.M. The defendant's companion, a minor, was found to be in possession of alcoholic liquor, and the officer then proceeded to search the defendant and took from his person a marijuana cigarette. The court held this search to be unreasonable on the basis that the officer did not have probable cause for arrest at the time the search was conducted. In the opinion in
this case the court
made
Even if it was conceded that in some circumstances an officer making such an inquiry might be justified in running his hands
over a person's clothing to protect himself from an attack with a hidden weapon, certainly a search so intensive as that made here
could not be
justified.
me
were found on the person searched and for which he had no permit to lawfully carry the weapon. No successful prosecution
117
arrest at
make an
weapon
if it
Sometimes
field that
was conducted. Could the officer seize the was the personal property of the person searched? wonder if we are not launching into a sea of hypo-
law enforcement our ability to prevent the commission of crimes has been greatly diminished. The actual commission of a serious criminal offense will not justify affirmative police action until
of us in the
many
in-
your atten-
an armed robbery had been committed. On Monday, December 5, 1955, while on routine patrol, an officer of this department observed two men in an automobile being operated on Wilshire Boulevard. The general appearance of the men and the car, and a slight bend in the license plate aroused the officer's curiosity. After causing the car to be halted he searched the vehicle and recovered two toy guns and the loot of an $18,000 robbery that had occurred about four minutes before.
were roundly applauded by a would this case stand the test of "probable cause?" The officer was unaware of the robbery until after the apprehension of the suspects. True the hcense plate was bent but does probable cause depend upon the degree of the bend? A similar situation is found in the recent decision handed down by our State Supreme Court in the case of People v. Beverly Michael. The officers contended that they were voluntarily admitted to the premises and the evidence was voluntarily handed to them. The defense contended that the presence of four officers constituted such a show of force that the admission to the premises and the surrender of the evidence was involuntary. In its opinion the dilemma of the police is highlighted when the court said "the cases that have determined this question under varyofficer's
The
if
118
We
oflScers at the
door
request to enter
may be a disturbing experience, and that a made to a distraught or timid woman might
under certain circumstances carry with it an implied assertion of authority that the occupant should not be expected to resist.
From
this
statement
it
oJBficers
if
such
Tremendous strides have been made from within the field of law enforcement to upgrade the poHce service. One of the greatest hurdles
is
the tendency of
many
ernment, the people, and the police into three separate alien
people and
it is
hamper the
police
in the conscientious
nine of the
Cahan
not a
decision:
rule," in the
command
of the Fourth
Amendment but
is
It is conceivable tliat the imposition of the exclusionary rule has rendered the people powerless to adequately protect them-
According to the
statistics re-
leased
in the
United States during the period 1950-1954 at four times Even the proponents of the rule will not deny that its application will result in the freeing of some criminals that would otherwise be punished. In this connection, I believe the time has come to take a hard look at the results of the Cahan decision upon the crime picture in this city. During the first quarter of 1955, selected major felony offenses (those offenses that constitute the most accurate crime barometer) decreased fifteen per cent over the same period in 1954. With the
the rate of the population increase.
119
advent of the imposition of the exclusionary rule on April 27, 1955, there was a progressive diminishment in the crime decrease
was
with the result that at the end of the year the decrease over 1954 less than four per cent. This situation cannot be blamed upon
CHART A
5200
4S00
"t;tlljftrj
11iJlii \13
/
1
i
4400
'\
\y ^\
\
4000
3000
a 300
J
,^^
'
\ ^
V V
/\
-A
10S4
^/^~"
A ^^
~~v
j
/
1
1
\ ^.y /"
'
/
f
2S00
\/
2400
loss
5
TU. AT -
2000
JAM PBB
WUlB.
during 1955 increased more than twelve per cent over 1954.
will note in
"Crime Trends" that the Los Angeles crime experience during the first four months of 1955 precisely followed the five-year-average and was appreciably
Chart
entitled
You
120
below the 1954 experience/ Following the Cohan decision, there was a departure from the trend of an accelerating nature with
such a skyrocketing
eflFect
that
December 1955
crime experience in the history of Los Angeles. In attempting to determine cause, it must be concluded that the greatest single
factor representing a change in the current situation
criminal
army became
new
safeguards provided
result.
was an inevitable
Cahan decompared with the actual experience during the period from May 1, 1955, to the end of the year, reveals the following number of crimes in Part I Property Offenses committed that would not have been committed if the trend had remained conprojection of the trend existing at the time of the
cision,
stant:
% of Increase
Offense
Number
481
1,403
Above Trend
31.7
13.9 11.5
Robbery
Burglary
2,580
1,250
30.9
5,714
15.0
occurred
ary rule.
The trends in the prison population of this state bear further evidence of a changing condition that can be attributed to the
handicaps placed upon law enforcement by the imposition of the exclusionary rule. Since 1944 the California prison population
has steadily increased with the exception of one or two months
ten to 200.
conflict. The monthly increase has ranged from The population of the state prison system reached an all time high in March 1955 with a count of 15,668. It was estimated by prison officials that the count at the end of 1955 would
The crime
theft,
trends shown in Chart A are based on robbery, burglary, auto and burglary of and theft from auto.
121
about 16,020. The trend reversed itself, and at the close of 1955 the population count was about 15,230. Thus, there are more than 790 fewer persons in our state prisons today than were anticipated by the prison authorities. Who can refute the fact that the change in the rules of evidence in criminal cases in California may have resulted in more than 790 criminals at large to prey
A further evidence of the severe blow dealt to efficient law enforcement under the exclusionary rule is contained in Table I.
TABLE
I
195k
Charge
Month
JanuaryApril
Month
% Increase
Decrease
Average
Average
Month
JanuaryApril
Month
% Increase
Decrease
MayDec.
MayDec.
Bookmaking Gambling
Prostitution
70
55
528
295
64
443
291 60
Weapons
Narcotics
403
385
293 483
Robbery
Burglary
Felonies
368
541
2388
2193
48 458
233
74
58 470 282
69
325
421
376 312
483
549
2358
2177
oflFenses
during 1955,
In order to refute the spurious claim that these are seasonal changes, the identical comparisons for the year 1954 are enumerated.
The most
is
in the field of
a 15.7 per cent increase in such arrests, while a 4.5 per cent decrease followed the
Cahan
decision.
When
it is
considered that
many
in itself,
rule.
122
Another great
an unhappy
modify
manner that might well be emulated by the Legislature of California. By popular vote, first in 1935, and again in 1952, the people of the State of Michigan amended Section 10
it
in a
when
in the state.
The
as follows
The
No
be construed to bar from evidence in any court of criminal jurisdiction, or in any criminal proceeding held before any magistrate or justice of the peace, (any narcotic drug or drugs), any firearm, rifle, pistol, revolver, automatic pistol, machine gun, bomb, bomb shell, explothat the provisions of this section shall not
sive,
weapon
or thing, seized
by any
this
peace
state.
If
"is
not a
command
of the Fourth
is a judicially created rule of evidence which Congress might negate" as stated by Mr. Justice Black, then does it not necessarily follow that the Supreme Court of California
Amendment but
is the historic responsibility of the legislative branch of government and some believe that the usurpation of this power by the courts is an intrusion upon the legislative function. There appears in Vol. 45, No. 6 March-April 1955 edition of The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, published for Northwestem University School of Law, an article by John L. Flynn, Editor, entitled "The State Exclusionary Rule As a De-
evidence
123
this article
and Seizure." In
The
statistical history of
more
it is
unjustified
and immediate
remedy
is
in order.
justified
it is
my
considered
should do
is
law contained
in Section
10 of
The March
Supreme Court
of California,
of Crime
d.
Cahan
the
on April
upon the
who has since been convicted of assault, bookmaking, and robbery and who was the recipient of six bullets in a barroom brawl on
March
It is
10, 1956.
always
difiicult to discuss a
The
any criminal proceedings in this state which, in the opinion of the court, has been seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The purpose of the Court's action is to discourage certain police conduct by turning the criminal free if the evidence necessary to convict has been obtained by the police in a search deemed by the court to be unreasonable. When this decision was handed down I beheved it my responinform the people of this city that a substantial increase crime would be the inevitable result. Almost immediately my position was misunderstood and misinterpreted. My statements
sibility to
in
were erroneously
persons
classified as political in connotation. The very proclaimed support of the rule on the basis of constitutional guarantees were the first to deny freedom of speech to the police. All I was trying to say was that the rule is extremely harmful to the law-abiding segment of society; that the only one
who
who
really benefits
is
I reafize
the
decisions of the
but that
I
all
During
our
legislature has
been
if it
deemed
conditions required
its
adoption, but
124
it
125
The Los Angeles Police obey the law as they understand the law to be. I have never permitted wiretapping because it is forbidden by state law. Although there is a state law that purports to permit the installation of dictographic equipment by the police, this practice was stopped when the United States Supreme Court indicated that such action might be a violation of the Federal Civil Rights Act. We will meticulously abide by the California Supreme Court's decision in the Cahan case and subsequent cases
dealing with the exclusionary rule.
benefit
The
will continue to
pay the
bill.
To
to
those
remind them that the exclusionary rule could leave as it entered, by a four to three decision. Unfortunately, my prophecy of crime increase has come true. While major crime in Los Angeles decreased fifteen per cent durbe
articulate,
I
critical of
me
Cahan
decision,
it
increased
and one-half per cent during the remainder of 1955. December of that year was next to the worst crime month in the history of Los Angeles exceeded only by January, 1956. During the period from January first through ^larch 4, 1956, major felony crime in Los Angeles increased 36.6 per cent over the same period last
year.
at these statistics.
The exponents of the exclusionary rule refuse to even look They seem to have adopted the philosophy
they close
tlieir
that
if
Many men
my opinion
is
in this matter.
One
John
Barker Waite, University of Michigan Law Professor Emeritus and former editor of The Michigan Law Review. Writing in the
January, 1956, American Mercury, in an article entitled
"Why
Do Our
comment:
How are we to halt this travesty on justice, make the guilty pay for their crimes, and bolster the pubHc safety? One way would be for the informed and incensed public, through letters and telegrams, through the pulpit and the press, through pubhc forums, radio, and television, to cry out against each and every miscarriage of justice and against e\ er\' criminal turned loose on a mere
flyspeck of teclinicality.
An
126
later
of precedent,
would be heard by the courts, despite their paper buttresses and they would cease to encourage criminals and
1956,
was
critical of
the
exclusionary rule. In
commenting on the
he had
this to say:
There is a school of thought that regards a criminal proceeding something akin to a game of golf in which the defendant is to be given a generous handicap, allowed to lift the ball out of traps, permitted to scream at his opponent when he is about to sink a putt, occasionally interfere with his opponent's ball, and last but not least, is to be furnished with a pencil with a large eraser when he adds up the score in his closing argument. This same school of thought would require the prosecution to be penalized at least once on every hole, maintain a discreet silence when he catches his opponent cheating, and finally buy everyone a drink
as at the 19th hole.
At one point
in our
present controversy
we
He
follows
denouncements were directed to the Special Messengers of the King. They had no argument with the local constabulary. Murder, arson, rape, gambling and narcotics were no concern of theirs. Political oppression by the crown was the motivating force behind the movement which pressed for the adoption of the Fourth Amendment. The ordinary law enforcement agencies of the colonies were not involved in the controversy.
.
. .
eflFect
on
this to say:
We
done
reference to the
and some other cases have which are devoted to law enforcement. In Cahan, the court said: "Today, one of the foremost public
damage
this case
to those organizations
127
how short the step is from lawless although eflBcient enforcement of the law to the stamping out of human rights." Contemporary history does not support the implication contained in the quoted sentence from the Cahan case. The activities of the local law enforcement oflBcers have never been a factor in setting up a police state. Political upheavals have resulted in dictators who have in turn set up their political police who, when they do
too clearly
not entirely supplant the local police, work separate and apart from them. Little wonder then that adolescents will attack the
police
eflForts
The almost
case
is
positive implication to
menace
even
as a suggestion,
terrifying.
failed?
Have
legislative
branches of the government so far neglected their conmust enact a new rule of evithat the police are lawless persons
The suggestion
who
or totalitarianism.
There is another aspect of the exclusionary rule which the proponents thereof choose to publicly ignore. It is touched upon by Clarence Linn when he says:
128
Illinois
has for some years operated under the exclusionary During this period the crime capital of the country has moved from New York, and its environ, where the non-exclusionary rule prevails in the New York and New Jersey jurisdictions, to
rule.
Chicago.
Edward
fornia
L. Barrett,
Jr.,
Professor of
Law, University
of Cali-
Law Review
follows:
In the first place it should be emphasized that excluding evidence and freeing criminals does not punish "evil" policemen. The exclusionary rule cannot be expected to improve a police force which is generally corrupt, inefiicient, and lawless. It is not a magic wand which will solve the complex problems which constitute the "police problem" in so many of our communities. The police problem is far broader than the question of illegal searches and seizures; problems of police lawlessness are inextricably bound up with the more general problems of police organization, governmental corruption, and modern crime. The fundamental problem, of course, is the general public morality of the com-
want
adequate law enforcement but prefers to keep the Hd off (or even tilted) for gambling, prostitution, liquor violations, and the like, then the police department will reflect this attitude. Characteristically the corrupt police department is the lawless police department.
which results from the acceptance and the preferment of officers who "play the game" results in police brutality, petty graft and blackmail, and intolerance of citizens' rights generally. Such police abuses which are unrelated to conscientious efforts to curb crime cannot be controlled by judicial decision. The threat of excluding evidence illegally obtained has no impact upon the officer who is planning blackmail rather than prosecution, nor upon the police adminisdeterioration of morality
The
of pay-offs
trator
who
is
In
fact,
there
is
seeking to "regulate" vice rather than suppress it. some evidence that the rule assists a corrupt police
false public impression of its attempts to
department in making a
enforce the law.
inals
is
One way
to
make
129
The
by the
recently that he
problem reported was "prepared to accept the widely held opinion that the Chicago police force is by far the most demoraUzed, graft-ridden, and inefficient among our larger cities."
In this connection
it is
interesting to note, in
tlie
April, 1945,
missed" denouncing the exclusionary rule which was written by Virgil W. Peterson, member of the IHinois Bar, for twelve years
a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, since April, 1942, the Operating Director of the Chicago Crime Commission.
Another interesting aspect of the eflFect of the exclusionary rule is treated in an editorial appearing in the February 25, 1956, edition of the Hollywood Citizen News. The editorial reads in part
as follows
The Cahan decision deters unlawful enforcement of the law, however, by making it clear to officers that they will not be allowed
to profit
by their own violations of the Constitutional provisions, but must obey the law like everybody else. In the use of the exwill not be allowed to profit" the Court has pression "officers
. . .
mind
as to
who
profits
when
criminal
apprehended. Heretofore the public has believed that it profited with the apprehension of criminals. It never considered that officers profited any more than any individual citizen profited. Possibly what the Court meant was that the public could not be permitted to profit from the illegal acts of its servants who are trying to prevent crime. Only the criminal should profit, the
is
opinion imphes,
just as
if
the officers
made
a mistake.
The
criminal
is
much
if
him
is
is
obtained in one
profit
the
says that he
to
decisions
were
penalty
when
judges
make mistakes
to
no be
130
hoped
and
estimated by experienced
ofiBcers that
about
fifty
per cent
The average narcotic user cannot legitimately support the habit and must resort to thefts and other illegal acts to obtain sufiicient money to buy
the drug.
One
is
When
be shocked. committee of Cabinet officers appointed by President Eisenhower to study the narcotic problem recommended among other things:
are exposed, the people of this
it is
community
v^ill
In this connection
imposed by court decision on enforcement officers in obtaining and presenting evidence in narcotic cases, to provide "the optimum" in law enforcement.
In this same area the Subcommittee on Improvement in
The
Federal Criminal Code of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, in its Preliminary Findings and Recommendations
reports as follows
Judicial interpretations of constitutional search
and
seizure safetrial.
"is
not a
command
of the Fourth
Amendment but
Congress might negate" as stated by Mr. Justice Black, then does it not necessarily follow that the Supreme Court of California
created a judicial rule of evidence in the
the California Legislature might negate?
evidence
is
government and some believe that the usurpation of this power by the courts is an intrusion upon the legislative function. There
appears in the March-April 1955 issue of The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, published for Northwestern University School of Law, an article by John L. Flynn, Editor, entitled "The State Exclusionary Rule as a Deterrent Against
131
following
demands a choice between individual and public security. Some diflBculty in law enforcement is the price which must admittedly be paid for the right of privacy. To justify its continuance and extension, therefore, the rule must be shown to be more beneficial to the individual than it is harmful
to society.
The
statistical history of
more
harmful
to society
unjustified
and immediate
legislative
remedy is
As long
in the
in order.
as the Exclusionary
it
Rule
is
and operate
framework
of Hmitations
imposed by that
rule.
We
feel
pubhc
security, to
speak of
how
it
affects
would do the same and you would expect the same if, instead of police officers, we were medical doctors, attorneys, or engineers discussing a law that affected efficient performance in any of those fields. You have trained us, encouraged us to build an honorable profession, paid a considerable cost to bring some abihty and proficiency to law enforcement. And so we believe we have a solemn duty to respond by being articulate in matters affecting your return on your investment in professional pohce work. We hope the people will listen and respond to the honest assessment of the social dangers created by the rule. We hope the State Legislature will hear the voice of the people and enact remedies. We hope the cost in life and suffering and property imposed upon the citizenry by the rule, will soon be eliminated. Whether or not this is done, your Los Angeles Pohce Department will continue the finest and most effective pohce service that is within our power to provide.
criminal army.
We
Chapter Seren
An
San
Cities,
The
Police Role in
Community
Relations:
An
address
Universitv,
Mav, 1955.
The
a pleasure THE TIME has come when years ago the public Not many
relations.
to talk
about police
subject
was a
deli-
cate
divided. In those
days
many
tions activity
a criminal waste of
government funds. They took the attitude that they were paid to be policemen, not salesmen, and that the public was going to get old-fashioned police work pure and simple no frills, no information, no explanation. I do not long for those "good old days." It is true that they were simple times the lines were clearly drawn. The police considered themselves and the public to be separate entities. It was a case of the pohce versus the public the police department decided what was good for the community and delivered just that and nothing else. They were simple times, but they were also ugly times. With a few exceptions, I do not remember them with any great pride for the American police service. Today, the role of the police in a democracy is more universally
understood.
We
powers from the public and must be held continually responsible to the public for the use or misuse of those powers. Any other arrangement, any other philosophy, cannot be tolerated under our
political system.
is
so complete that
it
seems
it.
We
for the
first
We de-
136
for the
adequate
salaries, benefits,
we cannot attract quahfied personnel personnel tally, we also depend upon the public to furnish.
police departments
We
for
find
good
in
stajff
and the
citizenry
encamped
drawn up
criticism.
and more
do
we
hear
tlie
not pay," and the old whine that "pofice work inevitably incurs
resentment."
The
and
disillu-
an underprivileged, persecuted, and peculiarly distinct class of endeavor to which the basic rules of organization, management, and social-psychology do not apply. In his disappointment, he becomes, as Shakespeare put it, "A wretched soul, bruised with adversity." Public relations, the great panacea the one-shot cure-all has failed to produce results. Perhaps we have been guilty of too much glib talk about public relations with too little real understanding of what it implies. Certainly, no other term I know of has been so misinterpreted and abused. Public relations is not an organizational position, or a subdivision, or something you consciously do. It is a state of affairs. It is the relationship between the public and some identifiable group. As such, it is not something you can either accept or resioned, rationalizes that police
is
work
ject. It is in
continual existence.
administrator has
is
whether
this state of
be good or bad.
is
The
things
we do
improve that
state of affairs
What
does
it
really
mean?
would
like to sug-
some
of
to
some
of the mystery
which seems
is
nothing
more than communication between a group and the public. The problem which faces us today is not whether we believe in public
it.
It exists.
137
is
of information.
for
it
the necessity
If a definition of
news
maintain what
we
good
pubhc
thing
relations.
referring to
With this in mind, perhaps it is time we stopped pubhc relations or public relations activity as someEvery
look, every
we
trator himself.
every
man
word, very motion made by in the organization, every moment of the day, comis
pubhc
rela-
good or bad. The other things we do, the pamphlets, the radio appearances, and so on, are supplementary activity. They have some effect, but it is totally outweighed by the
effect of the
complete organization.
of the field officer provides citizens with firsthand
The conduct
amount
impressions, direct
and
lasting.
When
he does a sloppy
job,
no
Abiding pubhc cooperation is earned the hard way mile-by-mile of alert patrol, hour-by-hour of tedious investigation, both backed
up by
But even this verges on an over-simplification of the problem. EflBcient and courteous police work can go not only unappreciated but, in some instances, unwanted. To ignore this possibility is to be guilty of perpetuating the glib talk which adds confusion to our subject. Unfortunately the impression has been created that public relations is a relatively simple thing. Leading textbooks on administration dispose of it in a single chapter. Our professional magazines are filled with articles which purport to solve this enigma through simple organizational diagrams. Even some leading exponents treat it as something one should do occasionally, suggesting clever publicity stunts and advertising gags. This
138
when they
execute the
Perhaps the first step in formulating realistic communications between the police and the public is to take a critical look at the problem. I believe such an analysis will destroy forever any illusions that good public relations can be created with small expenditures of effort.
would be difficult to devise a combination more conducive to inter- and intra-group friction than that found in the typical American city. Rarely does history record so many people of varied beliefs and modes of conduct grouped together in so competitive and complex a social structure. The confusing variety of religious and political creeds, national origins and diverse cultures is matched only by the extremes of ideals, emotions, and conduct found in the individuals which make up that social structure. Although proud of their independence, these people live so interdependently that food, shelter, and even their very movement on the streets require delicately balanced cooperation. Although
It
by the greatest and most complicated concentration of laws be found anywhere. Charged with maintaining this precarious order by enforcing this confusion of laws, is the law enforcement agency. Although this would prove a difficult task under ideal conditions, it is aggravated by unusual factors. The poHce function is rarely considered by the public to be a vital element of their Hfe together. Further, the police past is often one of alternating inefficiency, corruption, and brutality. As a result, the individual police officer operates with a remarkable lack of public support, cooperation, and trust. Although this past is a legacy from corrupt political machines erected and supported by the people themselves, the policeman has become a public symbol upon which the wrath for such conditions is vented.
lated
to
This
is
If there is a
panin
me
wary
139
press
recommendations concerning contacts with the sound movies, and three color pamphlets. Far better that the administrator have a finn grasp and insight into the roots of the problem and the factors which create it. Given this, a capable administrator can be trusted to apply the mechanics of solution. If a specific police department's dilemma stems from the fact
and
television,
that
it is
its
prob-
lem cannot be solved by public relations activity. The cause is much deeper. If such a department has a public relations program, it usually consists of a stream of propaganda and special privilege to dominant community groups. It is not that type of problem which concerns us today, but rather that of the well-managed, somewhat ideahstic, hard-working police agency which would like to do an even better job but needs an improved pohce public relationship if it is to do that job. Let us assume for a moment that the police service oflFered to a specific community is of good quality: If police public relations are bad in that communitv, it follows that the administrator is faced with a marketing problem. There must be created a desire and a demand on the part of the community for the quality of police service that is oflFered. In this respect, law enforcement does not diflFer greatly from private industry. The one factor which predetemiines the success of any business is the market.
Unless the ultimate recipient of a product or service is convinced that he needs it, the most skillful organization and techniques
are wasted.
A
try
is
second lesson the pohce administrator can draw from industhat markets are created they seldom spring full-blown
from the unshaped desires of the people. The vital elements of civilized life, including our most sacred institutions, at one time or another have been laboriously sold to the people. In this respect, it is heartening that unreceptiveness is not one of the faults of Americans. They respond quickly to new ideas and paradoxically often relish being proved wrong. Despite opinion to the contrary, they respond to large ideas as well as to the small and trivial. This is of tremendous importance to the police administrator, because the ideas and ideals he must communicate are not trivial ones.
140
The
tion for a
man
component
of man's
first sought collective conduct possible in human affairs, we manage to exist only because we establish and enforce certain limitations. These rules or laws are promulgated, not because men agree on what is right or wrong, but because
human
beings
artificial
standard,
society
is
is
necessary to
mark the
served.
limits of activity
is
beyond which
injured.
Law,
ob-
standing alone,
when
it is
The
it.
method
its
of estab-
lishing observance,
and
its
permanence hes
in
success in se-
curing
There may be an element of the community to which it will have to be said in a simpler manner: "We can't get along without the police and the better the police do their job, the better off the community is going to be." But regardless of which way it is said, regardless of whether the listener is a man who can understand the philosophical connotations or a man who measures community welfare solely by personal profit, the message can be sold. Most citizens today are well aware of the exorbitant cost of ineffectual law enforcement. They are not entirely unfamiliar with the experience of other communities. The creation of the market
need not be
tangibles
so
the calhng to
much the sale of a startling new concept as it is memory of some well-known facts. Immediate
will
which
effective security
conditions.
must be emphasized
that
we
are
now
His relationis
most
it is
primarily a business
a stake in
community
weffare.
newsgatherers.
noted that the administrator's concern here is He is not seeking good publicity. He
not a press
141
community leader seeking the solution to one of the community's most pressing problems. His business is with
is
He
He
and radio-station owners and to members of the chamber of commerce and of transit, banking, insurance, veterans, and other associations. Similar powerful influences on community thinking are school, religious, and inter-racial groups.
By
is,
in essence,
find a
less
an attempt to negotiate a contract an attempt to market for the brand of service offered. I suggest that unthis solid and sustaining market is created, unless that brand
is
of service offered
program requires a considerable amount of courage in the police administrator. He must have fiiTn convictions and the courage to be true to them. Although willing to accept criticism for his own and his organization's errors, he must have courage to point out mistakes by others. For over a century the American police have been the subject of castigation. We have no complaints on this score it is part of the painful process of growtli and improvement. But there is a danger in this history of abuse. A point is sometimes reached where all other groups seem to become wise and faultless and self reproach becomes the total answer. Establishing a base for good public relations is not accomplished by pleasing vocal groups, but rather by being right, staying right, and having faith in the people that they will support
The
initial
right.
I
am reminded
of a general order
which
is
It
must be kept
in bal-
tasks. It must be recognized that many between the immediate objectives of the police and of the press at crime scenes. Priority must be given to the discovery and preservation of evidence. The new order necessitated some changes in newsgathering procedures and could have resulted in a serious difference of opinion between the two agen-
a conflict
142
cies.
But because a market for professional law enforcement had been created, because communication had been established with the administrative level of the press, the situation was brought into balance with each side respecting the importance of the
other.
Let us face the unescapable fact that the requirements for a much more severe than those we impose on our raw recruits. If he is a tender soul, if he is easily frightened, if his sense of values places security ahead of ethics, then he has no right to be at the helm. And if such a man is at the helm, the strongest public relations activity can only put off the inevitable day when his many compromises, the confusion of sails he has set, will sweep him from his course and spell ruin for himself and his department. The disorders inherent in our highly urbanized society create many frustrating problems for which there are no easy solutions. Typical of these are freeway congestion, trash littering sidewalks and streets, shifts in ideas of moral responsibility resulting in weakened family discipline, and in some communities, an atmospheric pollution known as "smog." Some of these problems are mere nuisances; others present a grave danger to social and physical health. In both cases, there appears to be a growing tendency to attempt to legislate the problem out of existence. Too often, such legislation is passed during a wave of heated indignation with but little sober consideration to the problem of enforcing
the
new law.
solution to these urban problems does not always
lie
The
in the
with-
power
the
of the police.
number
of man-hours of police
and
of
grave public relations dilemma is created in these instances because the police administrator is likely to be condemned if he fails to order zealous enforcement of the new statute and is certain to be condemned when enforcement fails to solve the unsolvable. And, of course, his officers will be loudly condemned by the
citizens
who become
new wave
of enforcement.
143
common. Each
wood pulp
vari-
and the
is
all
is
a part of our
rooted deep in
like it or not, our highly competitive social structure. a certain amount of this litter is going to miss the trash-can and be deposited on the street. A few days ago I saw a child of about five years in the rear seat of a car,
Whether we
one at a time. It was probably worth nineteen cents to the mother to keep the child occupied during the drive. But there is a statute which prescribes a "litter-bug" citation for this offense. We write almost one million traflBc citations a year in Los Anwith some eflFect on the traffic problem. Perhaps a million geles "litter-bug" citations would have some effect on the city's wastepaper problem also. If you will consider the difficulty encountered in selHng the necessity of strict traffic law enforcement, you can guess at the disastrous result of strict "litter-bug" law enforcement. Turning from the public relations to the economic aspects of the problem, I question the cost of detailing highly trained and moderately well-paid traffic and crime specialists to the task of keeping the streets clean even assuming that police activity could, in this one instance, change human nature. When presented with a dilemma of this type, the only approach the police administrator can adopt is that of facing the issue squarely, even at the cost of offending those who are promoting the legislation. A good public relations program is not a matter of pleasing everybody all the time. At times, despite our warnings, we will be given the task of enforcing this type of fringe legislation. While we must accept responsibility when it is placed upon
we must
also
make
it
clear to the
The
plish.
be offered new tasks which they do power, the training, or the authority to accomAnother excellent example is the freeway problem. There
police will continually
man
is a considerable public outcry today against the use of those express-highways by heavy trucking. Although the trucking industry is one of the integral supports of our economy, no one seems to
144
want these
statute has
A new
been enacted which Hmits these vehicles to the extreme right lane if they gross over a certain tonnage. No one appears to have given much thought to the problem of enforcement. How is tonnage determined? By estimate? At one of the weighing pay-stations which may be miles from the location of the oflFense? What of the increased freeway congestion and traffic hazard created when one of these giants must be stopped for investigation or citation? And what of the unbroken stream of trucking, traveling radiator to rear-gate in the extreme right lane of traffichow then does the passenger vehicle get in the right lane to exit from the freeway or does he have to travel it to its terminus? More than one person has actually suggested that the police should so rigidly enforce the traffic statutes against trucking that it would scarcely pay these operators to use express-highways in other words, a regime of organized persecution against one segment of industry. And this suggestion has been made in all seriousness. The public relation danger of applying police measures against nonpolice problems, or even of remaining silent and hoping the
wave
is
find the police suddenly saddled with responsibility for the exist-
ence of the condition. I was startled the other day to hear a citizen berating the police for not eliminating "smog." I was not even aware that the atmospheric pollution problem represented
a proper police activity.
The
mon
thus,
is
Line of reasoning in
fails,
delinquency,
the best
deaths, skid
number
of other social
way to add to this list is to take on new tasks involving problems which cannot be solved by police activity. The poHce administrator who has not developed direct and clear channels of communication to responsible segments of the
community
to all
will find his public relations
program shattered by
all
impossible demands.
The
things
145
is
Once communication has estabhshed a marketing contract, then the more common forms of pubhc relations activity can be used
with
have disparaged the use of a public relations officer medium of communication between the police and the public. But it should not be assumed that there is no place for such a unit in the organizational structure. As a staff activity, as a guide to the administrator and his chief deputies, as an instrument of selective communication with the city's many groups, it is an important phase of the public relations program.
effect. I
relations
officer
or unit
commander
member
staff.
He must
be given considerable freedom to criticize, to innovate, to act on the spur of necessity. He must have the full confidence of the top man. He works in the difficult field of human relations where to be fifty-one percent right is close to genius. The relationship must be one of close mutual respect. If, on occasion, the pubfic relations advisor cannot tell the administrator that he is wTong, one of the two men is superfluous. If a department creates a public relations position, let it be a virile, active, creative position. I have purposely avoided discussing the mechanics of communicating with the public because it is my behef that it composes the smallest part of the public relations task. Comprehensible news-releases, readable annual reports, intelligent radio and television interviews, interesting lectures to service clubs these are relatively easy things to provide. The securing of efficient and courteous performance in the field should present no problem to the capable administrator. The real problem is not that of doing a good job; it is not even that of telling the pubhc that it is being done. The most important and most difficult task is the securing of a market for professional pohce work a public that will demand it, pay the cost of it, and stand behind it. The market theory is not an untried one. During the past five years it has been the core of the pubhc relations program of the Los Angeles Pohce Department. The history of that department's rising international prominence in law enforcement, its unprec-
146
edented public cooperation and approval, is too well known for its mention here to be construed as praise-seeking. Rather, it is evidence that a sound pubHc relations policy is not an administrative appenditure, but rather, a broad foundation necessary to efiBcient and effective law enforcement. As long as democracy exists in our country, the police will be shaped and controlled by the public. To deny the wisdom of this arrangement is to deny our very birthright. Public relations activity is merely recognizing and complying with that state of affairs. It is not a synthetic procedure, adopted as a means of
relieving external pressures. It
is
a full grasp
The
Within a few hundred miles of this point, a group of scientists are devising what they call "an improved nuclear device." We do not know its range of total destruction or its date of completion. But this much we do know its power is such that its designers live in dread and apprehension of the forces they have created.
And
The power of total destruction may lie within our immediate future. Each second which passes brings man nearer the moment of awesome and irrevocable decision.
supreme crisis draws near, we have gathered to discuss community affairs. And I think it is only right to ask whether our subject is rendered meaningless by the uncertain future; whether our preoccupation with simple day-to-day matters,
As
this
moment
of
is
believe
we approach
The
we
is
Our
The
subject
and
true.
was
the blind passions, and the senseless conflicts which furnish our
subject. Conflicts begin not between nations or blocs of nations, but between men. If there is an absolute and enduring solution
to conflict,
be found at levels where ministers of state propound compromises. It will be found at the everyday level of social intercourse in our homes, or on our streets, and in our
it
will not
individual consciences.
My
vital
initial
premise, then,
is
that
community
and
relatively
issue a question of
148
You
repeat.
human
weakness. Let
me
Community
a question of
human weakness
species,
and and
tranquility
our discus-
produce results, there is one fact which must dominate all our thinking we have not solved the human equation. Lacking a solution to human imperfection, we must learn to live with it. The only way I know of safely living with it is to control
it.
When
one
man
assaults another or
the rights of another group, the immediate and pressing issue the conflict, not the beliefs which incited
We
men beheve, but we can control what men do. I do not deny for a moment that the final solution is the perfection of human conscience. But in the interim, and it may be a long interim, we must have order.
learned to control what
My
is
is
the
first
conpro-
It
which those inequities can ultimately be solved. Community order works another advantage which, to my mind, has never been properly assessed. Man is a creature of habit, not of hate. Order, even though it is enforced order nonviolent conduct, despite intolerant and discriminatory beliefs creates among the peoples of the community habitual patterns of conduct. I suspect that this habit of order, like any other habit, can be so ingrained
human mind that it will displace baser instincts. Let me make it abundantly clear at this point, I do not recommend and will never support a police state. My interest is not in more regulation or tighter restrictions on human liberty. I have no interest in broadening police powers. I am concerned that
into the
Our laws
the maintenance of
human
That these laws have not prevented violence is not the fault of the laws but of the manner in which they are construed and enforced.
Police Role in
I
Community Relations
149
gram
and maintaining
of existing legislation.
Some
I would like to dispose of those freedom of economic opportunity? What de-segregation in business and professions, as well as
What
of
What
which relegate Are these not also important questions, some of them as damaging and painful as actual physical violence? The answer must be in the aflBrmative. But these evils will never be eliminated, so long as conflict keeps
the haniiful, though not actually illegal actions,
to second-class citizenship?
some groups
mob
action, in
But where people can walk together and five together and do business together without violence, an afiirmative step has been taken. Under our system of government, any discussion of enforced order is necessarily a discussion of local police agencies. We have no national police; legislative and judicial branches of government are prohibited from usurping police powers; our armed forces can be used civilly only under the gravest and most extraordinary emergencies. Our rich and complex economic system, our political freedom, the very conduct of our way of life, is made possible because of the security provided by local police agencies. Indeed,
Conflict does not beget peace.
is
a rare concept;
few nations have rested so much on so slender a foundation. Recognizing this, it would appear that excellence of the poHce would be a principal and constant concern of community leaders. Their selection, their training, their morale would seem to be of critical importance. Understanding all this, certainly our leaders should have provided the police with the finest young men, the most capable leaders, the wisest counsel. That we have not done these things is as obvious as it is regrettable. The disorder and violence
150
which troubles us as we meet here today, is part of the price we pay for our neglect. There is in existence today a community which has decided that
the price
is
too high. It
is
problem of community relations. I have had the good fortune of taking an active part in the experiment. I have watched it mature during twenty-eight years of service as a
of enforced order to the
is,
today, char-
acterized
it
by a quality
of inter-group cooperation
which renders
city. It
almost unique
among our
it
great
cities. It is
not a model
has incidents of
conflict.
have not been permitted to accumulate into Los Angeles has not experienced an instance of organized groupviolence in the past twelve years.
If
it
should,
by
all
socio-
last
decade,
economy;
still
tory. Its
two
million,
and ideas. Let me cite some examples. Los Angeles is the home of nearly one-quarter million Negroes, an increase of 168% since World War II. It has the largest Mexican-descent population outside of Mexico City. It has the largest Japanese group in the nation; the third
largest Chinese group.
at least equals the
The number
races, colors,
urban average. The city is a cross section of the and creeds which make up our nation. And, for
my satisfaction, we are
some-
how
Mecca
is
for not only strange rehgious cults, but also for every
brand of
This
and fanatic that our society breeds. Los Angeles not the city colorfully depicted on travel posters but the one which interests us here today. It has, like
zealot, bigot,
community
tensions.
But
its
Police Role in
Community Relations
strife is largely
151
The
I
freedom from
its
the story
of the professionalization of
do not discount the efforts of other agencies, particularly those working for community and group betterment. Their progress in the fields of human understanding, education, and welfare, has been remarkable. It holds great promise for the future. But they made one additional contribution. They recognized that there was one thing which would make social tranquility immediately possible. They gave dynamic and unflagging support to pohce improvement. I want to approach the subject of police improvement in a bluntly realistic manner. There has been a great deal of discussion about it at this Institute, and I am anxious that one serious error be avoided. As I left Los Angeles yesterday, I was introduced to a feature writer from another city's metropolitan newspaper. He is a capable man. His task was to analyze the Los Angeles Pohce Department, study its techniques and procedures, and take the story back home. This is good journalism the type which justifies our faith in the Fourth Estate. I hope he won't make the error I'm concerned about. If he doesn't, it will be a rare instance. Since Los Angeles has achieved its eminence in law enforcement, dozens of citizen groups, city officials, and journalists have studied our methods. The usual result is a storm of bitter criticism of their department, and a demand that their police adopt Los Angeles' professionalism.
How
selves.
simple
tliat
sounds.
it
is
to
asume
effi-
that a city's so-called police problem stems from the police them-
their police
be more
cient,
invite
them
to join
me
in
an
exercise in realism.
Who
mayor, the police commission, the chief? The people do! its policies, estabfish its standards, furnish its man-power, and supply its budget. The police department is not a private endeavor; it has no funds of its own. It is not a legal entitv; it has no rights, no vested interests. It is merely a group of citizens employed to exercise certain functions. It is created hv the public, shaped by the public, and operated by the public. And if it oper-
152
be disowned by the public. have often heard the complaint that the police organization is all right, but the officers just are not producing. And if an employee isn't producing whose fault is it? The public selected
ates badly, the responsibility cannot
I
man? The public furnished bad training or did they neglect to provide funds for training of any sort? What about the supervisors and commanders? Were they selected by competitive examination on a merit basis or were they promoted on a political basis? If so, whose politics? If there is a machine in town a few police votes
that
man did
don't keep
it
A
ern
recent
news report
of
in a south-
ti-uckers, gratuities
good
pohce officer is $220.00 per month. On the six-day week, tliat runs about a dollar per hour. Carpenter's helpers in the same town earn nearly double that scale. What kind of poHcemen do they expect to get for a dollar an hour? Their police department costs less
than a million dollars per year. Of course, the crime
year.
bill,
the dis-
they are going to solve their problem. They're replacing the chief, the seventh in six years.
group from that city calls upon Los Angeles for assistance, what should we tell them? They'll want to study our organization, inspect our Planning and Research and Intelligence Divisions, our strong disciplinary program, observe our cadet school, our continuous in-service training. There are no
If a journalist or a citizens'
administrative technique.
They are merely adaptions of sound They are available and understandable
But they cannot be put into effect until competent personnel are attracted by decent job benefits, until an adequate operating budget is furnished; until public cooperation replaces disinterest, shallow-interest, and special-into qualified police officials everywhere.
terest. Professional police
work
will
come
when
the public takes a long hard look at their police, and instead of
Police Role in
Community Relations
full
153
respon-
At
first,
it
was was
it
The job of selling this conwas a particularly new conan ugly one. Los Angeles this Institute were key
levels
it is
members
ready to support the professionalism of its police agency, there are certain techniques which the Los Angeles experiment has proved necessary. The first step is the attraction of proper recruits. Los Angeles policemen draw $440.00 monthly at the end of three years' service. This is probably a
Assuming a community
minimum
figure.
ciently educated
Below that, the possibility of attracting suffiand capable persons is almost nil. I am of the
opinion that the base salary for an experienced line oflBcer should
be in the neighborhood of $600.00 monthly, at present living costs. The first city to adopt such a scale will attract high quality personnel who now select other professions. At the present time, I am trying to convince Los Angeles that we would sa\'e money by paying more. Our attrition rate among the most qualified officers is too high. I had the pleasure of meeting our former staff researcher here today a former Los Angeles policeman, now Professor Albert Germann of Michigan State University. There must be minimum recruiting standards and these minimums must be held even though the department operates below strength. Far better to have to increase unit output than to corrupt your police future with substandard men. In Los Angeles, less than 4 per cent of all applicants meet our rigid police standards. We have been considerablv under authorized strencrth for five years, at one time ten per cent under an allowed figure which was itself nearly forty percent under the recommended population, square mile ratio. We have managed to do the job only because personnel qualitv allowed us to steadily improve efficiency. We were told by administrative experts we might improve 2
154
much
last
We upped work
basis, prefer-
year and
we
made
solely
on a merit
ably by an independent
civil service
department.
If a
ward
boss,
an alderman, or a councilman can influence selection in any manner, tear up your plans and start over. As a matter of fact, if he can interfere in any way other than through oflBcial channels, the police improvement plan is doomed. Categorically, profesand there are no sional police work and politics do not mix
A psychiatric test must be included in the recruit selection program. This bears directly on the problem of community relations. The finest training, direction, and disciphne cannot correct
or control serious emotional defects.
thirteen
weeks
at present.
minimum and
then only
if
am
six-month additional
schools, specialist
probation under
strict
supervision.
officers'
as are
provided in
and
training considerations.
With
it
in
mind,
some of the training directly on the community relations. subject of Once the police cadet has received basic technical information,
detail
more
like to consider
human
ground
people.
which involve
is
stressed
Applied
ogy.
human
relations
is
stressed
is
more than ethnology. more than theoretical psycholto provide, immediately, use-
The
The
Police Role in
Community Relations
155
is
and
officers
we found
were engaged
in such training.
The cadet
economic
all
status, occupation,
learns they
have a right
minority group
many
groups, any one of which can be and often has been discriminated
against.
The
move-
movements
ments of groups are traced, the tensions resulting from these are pin-pointed and analyzed in detail. The racial composition of police districts are an important lesson here because it must be made clear that there are no "Jim Crow" areas, no "Ghettos." Every police division has everything found in all other divisions, differing only in proportion. The aim here is to
correct stereotyped impressions that the city
is
defined groups and areas, and that law enforcement differs accordingly.
ship,
The police department's policy of one class of citizenone standard of police technique, then becomes readily unclass
derstandable.
Another
differ.
expands
this policy.
The
officer
now
understands
how
people
He
is
now
volvement. There
no other measurement. Existing laws are enforced and nothing else. We do not enforce beliefs or prejudicesincluding the officer's. During his hours of duty, he is a composite of the entire community.
is
Typical course
titles
Human
and Public
Relations. Course titles do not reveal the full scope of the 520hour program. For example, although the Human Relations class lasts two hours, that subject is a principal concern in courses such
156
and Investigation. The firearms' more time to "when not to shoot" than it does to "how to shoot." The entire training staflF is constantly alert in the classroom, on the exercise field, and in the locker room, to discover signs of disabling prejudice which might make the cadet a poor
as Interrogation, Patrol Tactics,
class gives
risk.
artificially
may
never
know
was contrived to test him. At this point, let us consider the subject of racial and religious prejudice. The cadets, of course, reflect a broad cross section of society and bring to us the intolerant attitudes to which they have previously been exposed. The question what to do about these
beliefs?
made an
He was
particularly interested
extremely low percentage of citizen complaints received alleging prejudicial treatment of minority group members. He was
where
One
tan Los Angeles daily newspaper which began a series of articles with the caption: "Cops Lay Heavy Hands on Minorities." You have all seen such articles and, in many cases, they represent good journalism accurate coverage. In this instance, the facts were
patently incorrect.
interest groups.
The
writer, a
new
resident,
was securing
in-
committing the cardinal reportorial sin The article shook police morale and pubhc confidence. Assuming the facts had been tme, it offered no solutions other than a vague recommendation that the police ought to do something about this mess! Fortunately, certain community organizations recognized where the "mess" really was. A coordinating group representing sixty social service agencies contacted the publisher of that paper. He was told, and in no uncerof not checking current facts.
tain terms, that the story
He was
it
was
inciting lunatic
hands of subversive groups. The result that particular was discontinued and, to the credit of that publisher, a new
Police Role in
series of articles
Community Relations
157
in-
stituted in
its
place.
was understandably impressed. In He assumed that such overwhelming public support meant we had somehow erased prejudicial and intolerant beliefs held by pohce officers. He was wrong. Those of you who work in the field of education recognize we do not and can not accomplish this miracle. Of course, we will not accept an applicant whose intolerance is so high it is a
The
most
disabhng
it,
factor.
Where
it.
it
is
or at least diminish
we can we must
erase
learn
We
With policemen, as with society in genis not in what the man thinks but
class
what he
Any
this
pohcy
is
met with
and certain
city. ally;
The
he
is
street
is
know
one of the "old school," recruited long before psychiatric examinations were instituted. If there is a maximum number of racial and religious prejudices that one mind can hold, I am certain he represents it. This officer has been exposed to the complete range of police human relations training. He has memorized every maxim, every scientific fact, every theory relating to human equality. He knows all the accepted answers. Of course, he doesn't believe a
word
of
it.
This
may
surprise
you the
officer's
is
treatment of
all
158
have watched his work closely, a little wary that his deep-seated convictions might win out over discipline in moments of stress. This has not happened during the five years he has patrolled this highly critical district. We are very near an opinion that his intolerance has become a victim of enforced order habit has
community
interests.
Few
was at the community press level. Certain of these newspapers were parlaying instances of law enforcement against minority group members into sensational accounts of pohce prejudice and brutality. Many of these articles were written solely from the unsubstantiated account given by the arrestee. The accumulated result was the fomenting of an hysterical "cophating" attitude which rendered suspect every police action inTheir
first
task
The Community
Police Role in
Community Relations
159
The confidence
newspapers was
interest.
have
in the
men who
justified.
Community
interest
won
The Community
activity,
Relations Detail
is, first,
a public information
Where
necessary,
it
why
how
they were
stafi^
seeing in
which does not actually exist. The two-way communication furnished by the detail brings the facts to both sides. Thirdly, the detail reports any police activities which are discriminator)^ or may appear to the community to be discriminatory. The pohce staff does not operate under the assumption that it is infallible. Critical comment from this specialized unit often prevents more dangerous and expensive criticism from the public at large. Lastly, the detail operates as an advance listening post, alert for rumors which might prelude violent conflict. In a recent instance, these oflBcers were informed that racial violence was brewing at a school. A quick investigation indicated the situation was critical. The detail flashed the word to citizen groups organized to combat just such emergencies. Affected police field units were placed on a stand-by basis. The result this detail,
working with citizen groups, contained the
It is profitable to
situation.
They
are often
more
sensitive to the
problem, have previously established contacts in those communities, and encounter fewer barriers. However, it must be emphasized that the officer's competency,
and not
his ancestry,
is
the
Community
"window-dressing" they are not publicity gags designed to display non-Caucasians in key positions. A similar detail works out of the Juvenile Division. In this case, the principal concern is with actual offenders. One of this unit's primary values is its detailed knowledge of gang members, leaders, and methods. They know their homes, their meeting places, their
160
tenitories.
They deal with what the law recognizes as children, but do not be mistaken this is intelligence activity of the highest
order.
is all
too
order. He is sometimes the innocent he can also be a moving force behind community violence. We are sympathetic with the ideals of juvenile correction of rehabihtation over punishment. Here, as with other community problems, we invite welfare agencies to work to eliminate causes. Meanwhile, we ask them to remember that the police is not a social agency. We are bound to read the message in police records and employ protective tactics accordingly. In Los Angeles, as in other cities, we have a juvenile problem. We do not have a problem in mass juvenile disorder, because we face facts, and on the basis of these facts, employ units
mediate threat
to
community
have described. Three factors compose the Los Angeles Police Department's community relations program: Training of oflBcers including training through discipline, public information activity, and efficient line pohce work. Unless they are all in existence and interworking, a community relations program does not exist. Training provides a base, but public information and line officers must forward to training that information which keys it to current needs. Public information is a useless activity unless it is backed
such as the ones
I
up with competent
tably.
little
line officers
who
And
would rather have brought to this Institute a simple and revolutionary device some easy way to an effective program. I know of no such device. I can promise that, to a mutually cooperating pubhc and pohce department, no problem in community order is beyond solution. The methods are known, they are proving themselves in the Los Angeles experiment all that is needed is dedicated citizens who will put them into effect. To this point, this has been a progress report. The Los Angeles
I
experiment seems to justify the philosophy of enforced order as the first step toward improved community relations. Progress of this
Police Role ix
Community Relations
161
type can be reported objectively, without seeming to seek praise because law enforcement is absolutely dependent upon the public for any successes it may have. The credit for Los Angeles progress
must go primarily to Los Angeles citizens, I would not want to close, however, leaving the impression
that the experiment
is
concluded.
It
ulti-
mate in community equity and tranquility. Certain factors now at work could bring all the progress crashing down into rubble and violence. I have pledged forthrightness and honesty in this report, and it requires some critical comments, perhaps touching upon activities and attitudes or organizations represented here. The first comment concerns minority discrimination against the public as a whole. Reaction to poUce deployment furnishes a good example of this danger. Every department worth its salt
deploys
is
field forces
The
reason
is statistical it is a fact that certain racial groups, at the present time, commit a disproportionate share of the total crime.
one point clear in that regard a competent police administrator is fully aware of the multiple conditions which create this problem. There is no inherent physical or mental weakness in any racial stock which tends it toward crime. But and pohce this is a "but" which must be borne constantly in mind field deployment is not social agency activity. In deploying to suppress crime, we are not interested in why a certain group
Let
me make
we
The
group would not be a crime problem under socio-economic conditions and might not be a crime problem tomorrow, does not alter today's tactical necessities. Police deploy-
different
ment
is
concerned with
I
effect,
not cause.
When
And
tion
I
am
pohce
is
psychologically disturbing to
residents,
am
forced to agree.
agree that
those
it
to discriminatory beliefs
held
and
that
it.
it
among
who
receive
Is
deedl
162
Every
need.
of
basis of
The poHce have the duty of providing that protection, and employing whatever legal devices are necessary to accomplish it. At the present time, race, color, and creed are useful statistical and tactical devices. So are age groupings, sex, and employment. If persons of one occupation, for some reason commit more theft than average, then increased pohce attention is given to persons
of that occupation. Discrimination
is
If per-
some
rea-
From an
ethnological point-
and Anglo-Saxon
downs; they are a fiction. From a police point-of-view, they are a useful fiction and should be used as long as they remain useful. The demand that the pohce cease to consider race, color, and creed is an unrealistic demand. Identification is a police tool, not a police attitude. If traflBc violations run heavily in favor of lavender colored automobiles, you may be certain, whatever the
sociological reasons for that condition,
we would And if
give lavender
those vehicles
were predominantly found in one area of the city, we would give that area more than average attention. You may be certain that any pressure brought to bear by the lavender manufacturer's association would not alter our professional stand it would only react to their disadvantage by making the police job more difficult. Such demands are a form of discrimination against the
public as a whole.
For a moment,
identification. It
is
let
to employ it for statistiand descriptive purposes; it is quite another if it is employed to set a group apart from the rest of society. The question must be brought out into the open and discussed because it represents
cal
Some of these citizens object strenuously to being identiwith their background. Others publicly announce it by joining organizations bearing that stamp of identity. Either attitude can
groups.
fied
be supported by argument. But I humbly submit that the man, or the group which changes identification at different times and
Police Role in
Community Relations
163
under different conditions, confuses and impedes the social assimilation process. There is no place for dual status in our society, and it is incongruous that the groups with the keenest interest in ehminating dual status should create conditions which perpetuate it. Organizations which publicly identify themselves with a certain racial group are keeping alive the phantasy that the group is different. By setting it apart from the whole, they help keep it apart. We need such organizations; they fill a vital role in our changing system; I heartily endorse their good works. I suggest that if a single class of citizenship is the key to social assimilation, then practices and titles which contradict it, must be examined and resolved. Another problem which plagues the poHce administrator is organized group pressure to promote officers and make command assignments on the basis of race, color, or creed. Before a recent Los Angeles election, I encountered tremendous pressure to replace an Anglo-Saxon commander of a detective division with another commander belonging to a certain minority group. I refused to engage in racial discrimination against the AngloSaxon commander. He was the most qualified man for the job and, as such, he retained the job. Neither do I consider ancestry a factor in making promotional appointments. The Los Angeles policy is to take the top man from the list. Racial background should not hinder advancement; neither should it help it. Shortly before I left Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of pinning a Lieutenant's badge on a young officer bom in Mexico. He got that badge because he was the top man, not because accidents of conquest created a national border between our places of birth. No one is more critical of the American police service than myself. For twenty-eight years I have outspokenly expressed that criticism and have sat in meetings and applauded others who have criticized constructively. Certainlv, few other organizations in history have been so unanimously castigated. I have no complaints to make it is part of the painful process of growth and improvement. There is one danger inherent in this process a point of group-masochism is reached where all other groups become wise and faultless and self-reproach becomes the total answer. I caution
the police against this danger.
164
I
have made the point that discrimination is a two-way street. Those who are most active in combating it are sometimes guilty of advocating that the pohce practice it. There is nothing shocking in this critical observation no group is characterized by omniscience. The fact that minorities have received intolerant and discriminatory treatment does not automatically lend justice to
of their
all
demands. They are as prone to error as majority groups, and the wiser and calmer citizens within those groups recognize this fact. Thoughtful citizens expect the police to stand their ground when they believe they are right. They expect the pohce to criticize as well as be criticized. I have tried to steer a course between these extremes tonight. I have assessed the situation as forthrightly as I know how. There is always a temptation when speaking on a subject so emotionladen as
truth. In
this, to skirt issues, to
woo
my
and Jews, I have never felt it necessary to compromise my honest convictions, and I did not intend to dishonor this Institute
tians
by doing so tonight. I would like to close by expressing my philosophy of citizenship, a philosophy which I humbly believe embodies the convictions of all persons and groups represented at this gathering.
Good
for
it.
citizenship
is
expressed in
many
ways.
It consists
not
only of bearing arms for one's country, but also of bearing tnath
It consists
not only of holding high the regimental banners, but also of holding high the banners of Duty, Faith, and Love. Although not
sists
all citizens
battlefield, all
can do
it
by the quiet and devoted living of the spirit is sometimes more difficult to live ideals than
them.
of our country. It
to
Chapter Eight
PARKER ON TRAFFIC
Transit Inflation:
An
delivered at the
July, 1953.
An
article
pub-
Transit Injlation
ITTraffic
to appear here today to speak to you about the Problem, a subject which is of vital concern to all of us. In my remarks I do not intend to be critical of any group or any industry, but I am compelled to bring to your attention cerIS
AN HONOR
tain observations
because
it is
my
welfare of our
community
is
involved.
is
The
designed as an ob-
servation tower. It
is a large open quadrangle which commands an impressive view of our city. On these clear January days you can see from there a tremendous sweep of land stretching from the sea to the mountains the vast coastal plain which is Los Angeles. You can feel the electric tension of hfe, of the production and transportation which is transforming our community into a giant among cities. Standing there you can feel the kind of pride the ancients must have had for their Alexandria, Rome, and
Athens.
were possible for us to meet there at the end of the day. You would be privileged to view a scene unparalleled in all the world. You would see one-half million automobiles, a stream of steel and rubber massed on the roadways as far as your eyes can travel. Over most of the scene you would see them packed one against the other so closely that movement can hardly be discerned. You would see great six-lane freeways like swollen rivers, as sluggish as the smaller streams. And if it appeared to you that Los Angeles lay inundated by some catastrophic flood, you would be near the truth. This scene is representative of what has been termed the Traffic Problem. I wish to objectively discuss that problem here today. I speak not as a partisan for any control plan, but as a policeman
I
wish
it
who
167
168
Pabker on Traffic
at the trajBBc
staflF
and
into
table.
The
traffic
two areas of
conflict: 1. Collision. 2.
Congestion.
damage
repre-
Los Angeles in the last ten years. We have been alert to this problem since 1940, when the police department reorganized its traffic division to utilize scientific methods of accident prevention. I can say quite truthfully that from that day to this, your pohce department has intensively applied
all
of the best
known techniques
The program
which
brought Los Angeles national awards as the safest major city were 33.4 street traffic deaths for 100,000 inhabitants. By 1952 that ratio had decreased to 13.5. However, it is likely that the use of fatahty statistics alone has developed a false sense of traffic safety accomplishment. It has long been my belief that the traffic picture is not nearly so bright as a lowered traffic fatality rate might seem to indicate. I have
in the nation. In 1940 there
traffic safety. I
contend that any review which arbitrarily requires that an individual be dead before the city's safety rating is affected, statistically and logically evades the issue. Injury, although not as appealing to sentiment as death, often causes the greater eco-
nomic
loss.
Viewed
fatal accidents.
And
either spared the driver or killed him, should not influence the
city's traffic safety rating.
Although
fatal accidents
Angeles recorded 543 traffic accidents for each 100,000 inhabitants. By 1950 that number had increased to 803. In 1952, the year we have just closed, the rate climbed to 841 personal-injury street traffic accidents for each 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of fiftyfive
We
is
more likely to become involved in a personal-injury accident than was the case ten years ago. And we
vidual in this city today
have reason
Angeles but
is
we
are
Transit Inflation
told that the insurance
169
companies
in the
United States
lost
one
hundred milhon dollars in traffic-accident insurance last year. The pohce have performed their task in traffic well. However,
merely substantiates the fact that the solution does not lie entirely in measures available to the police. In 1952 your police department issued citations or made arrests in 386,471 cases involving moving- traffic violations. If this negative discipline imposed upon the motorist has resulted in material improvement, it
this
is
statistics.
another very serious consideration in connection with this set of figures. We know that the United States is experiment-
There
is
to impress
upon
us,
with
little avail,
that a
its
and
willingly
promulgated
to
When
the majority of
tlie
ards of behavior,
self-goveiTiment
is
then
teaches us that
when self-government
who
tion of
this
motor vehicles, then it is my contention that to go beyond level of enforcement merely sparks the trend toward the
traffic
problem, and you are all familiar with the three E's enforcement, education and engineering let us dwell for a moment on the
educational phase.
efforts
The educators are to be commended for the they have made to bring safety education and driver train-
ing into the schools. Although this program has not been exto the proportions which it should assume, some of it have had an eflFect upon the students. But has this been the case? Let us look at the group that has recently graduated from our high schools to become young adults of our society and see the effect of traffic safety education. The answer lies in one
panded
sliould
170
Parker on Traffic
fact.
If
simple
you
of twenty-fi^'e years
who
additional
premium for your insurance. Let us now view the second area of trafiBc conflict congestion. The economic loss due to trafiBc congestion is greater than the
cost of trafiBc accidents
attention to
It is
Los Angeles:
cit)'
It
community, lightlv populated according to big-cit)' standards and attracting new residents at a fantastic rate. The total population in Los Angeles has increased fift)'-nine per
is
cits',
on an automobile economy. Its communities are linked by roadways rather than by mass transit and its citizens tra%el almost exclusively by private vehicle at the rate of approximately one and one half persons per automobile.
It exists
Registered vehicles per mile of city street have increased sixty per cent in the last nine years. The future will bring increases in
vehicle registration which will threaten and ma\- destroy
of the pri\'ate automobile as a
tlie \^alue
mode
of
commuter
transportation.
The
year was twelve per cent greater than pre\ious estimates for
that year.
And
the experts
now
tell
us that
by 1970 there
will
be
registered in this state, 9,250,000 vehicles. We may expect a thirty per cent increase in the next seven years, and an eighty per cent
tliat five
United States in 1953. 1954 will see the highest rate of production in tlie history of the industry, topping the peak year of 1950.
will
be
built in the
two and one-half persons wiU, by 1970, increase to one car for every two inliabitants. Furthermore, we can expect not only more cars, but greater use
for every
The vehicular registration rate tion. The present rate of one car
Transit Inflation
of them. Vehicle
registration.
171
faster than
per cent increase for the number of vehicles and a thirty-two per
cent increase for population. Although these figures are given to
show
may
bring,
it is
also
interesting to speculate
on what
have on
The impact of past increases in registration and wheel miles on the geometrically-rigid street networks of our business centers has resulted in congestion. We have not been able to mabecause these centers are constructed as permanent installations; they can accommodate onlv a given number of vehicles. On the other hand, they are the heart of the city and require a free flow of
terially increase business-district street capacity
markets elsewhere.
In the past, poUce and
partially
traflBc
compensate
through
(1)
stringent
parking regulations,
(4)
synchronization of signals,
manual
means placing
Today,
as
many
we
of
No amount
two vehicles
tr\-
one although
dri\ers sometimes
do
it.
Traffic conges-
fundamentals of
If the
traffic flow.
They
are time
unreasonably great, the system is inefficient. be moved cannot be readily absorbed into the available space, the system is inefficient. As I read about the various measures that are being proposed to alleviate this
the volume of
traffic to
puzzled as to the effect that these measures will ha\e upon our economy. I admit very frankly that I cannot
situation, I
totally
am
am concerned
about
it
and
it
frightens me.
to as
172
Parker on Traffic
perhaps three dollars for transportation alone, and then finds himself faced with the problem of paying for the storage of that vehicle while he is at
a privately
at a cost of
I wonder if that is the kind of economy under which we can survive. The time element alone involves frightening losses of wealth. The San Fernando Valley is an excellent example because, unfortunately, it has only one real through highway east and west, which is Ventura Boulevard. When congestion occurs on the approaches to the Cahuenga freeway, or on the freeway itself, traffic backs up nine miles. It will continue to do so until something is done to alleviate it. Have you considered the cost of the time wasted on that one street alone? A rough approximation indicates several millions of hours lost annually along that freeway
owned automobile
work,
approach. Multiply this by the many similar instances in the city and you will have some approximation of the impact of congestion on our economy. In recent years, Los Angeles has often boasted the highest cost-of-living index in the United States. Wliy? It certainly is not because we are faced with the weather problems of the East where huge sums must be expended for heating and light. The answer, in my humble and inexpert opinion, is transportation. Everything we wear and everything we buy contains within the purchase price a large portion for moving that commodity from the manufacturer to the retailer. A very good example of that was brought to my attention at this table when I spoke to the Western Growers Association. Their president, Mr. Park, told me that he ships leafy produce from his ranch at Buellton, which is just north of Santa Barbara, to New York City by truck. He stated, "Believe it or not, it costs just as much to move that produce from the truck terminals in New York City to the retailer as it costs to move it from my ranch in Buellton to New York City." This is just another example of the costs of
congestion.
We
I
by
am not opposed to freeways. promotion of them as a total and final solution to the trafiic problem. I should like to point out a few facts about them, not to discredit the excellent planning and
should
like to
I
make
it
clear that I
to the
However,
am opposed
Transit Inflation
173
design which has gone into them, but to seek to learn by errors
we may have made. I will not give figures to show the cost of may well be that several million dollars per mile is not an exhorbitant cost when measured against their effective
construction. It
However, they do involve a secondary cost not popularly Every foot of land that is taken for a freeway goes off the tax roll. The giant intersection where our present system comes together near Sunset and Figueroa, occupies eighty acres of land which formerly produced taxes for the support of governlife.
realized.
is
no longer does
it
an expense to government. This expense includes maintenance of the roadways as well as the beautification of the borders.
An
it
was
it
was a
which we shall pay dearly for many years to come. I would someday like to see our outstanding economists become interested in this problem. I would like to know, as you would like to know, whether or not it wiU be economically possible to build freeways and the adjacent roadway networks, as rapidly
as to
we
demand
me
that
if
we have
it
vehicles, then
will
become
infinitely
worse
as
we
nearly double
that
number
we
are to
keep congestion just at the level which exists today, we are going to have to almost double the complete road network of the state of California by 1970. And I ask you, can we afford it? I cannot answer that question. I hope some economist will. Even if it is possible for freeways to keep pace with automobile
by the quantities which are funneled there. It is well and good to get onto a freeway, and I enjoy moving rapidly from one part of the city to the other as much as you do, but we must reahze that vehicles have to lea\e the freeway at some point. The argument that freeways are interconnecting and will by-pass central traffic districts is not vahd in Los Angeles. Peak-hour traffic is commuter
use, they will paralyze central business districts
of vehicles
174
traflBc,
Parker on Traffic
with the business district as its terminal. Neither is the argument that freeways work in New York City and similar areas valid here. New York is a city on iron rails, not rubber tires. The
by-pass
trafiBc
commuters. Freeways must be balanced with mass transit facilities. It is folly to perpetuate and encourage the extension of automobile transportation if its ultimate inadequacy will result in economic
transit facilities for
ruin.
The
private automobile
is
is
a mechanically inefficient
mode
of transportation. It
tion.
a physically dangerous
mode
of transporta-
Automobiles require up to three hundred square feet for parking. Seven hundred acres, more than one square mile, are required to park every 100,000 vehicles. This in areas where land often sells by the foot. Further, each car requires nearly 1,000 feet of space for free movement. Compare this with the few square feet required by the individual commuting on rapid transit, and the complete lack of parking space requirements. During the past week two experienced civic leaders have directed public attention to the inherent limitations of the freeway system. First, Mr. Harry Morrison, General Manager of the
Downtown
M. Spencer, Chair-
man
is
in
mass transportation."
point of diminish-
Again
we reached the
ing returns in our current transportation system? Yes, we must have freeways, but they must be regarded as a part of the plan rather than as a panacea in themselves. Los Angeles must have the courage, the vision, and the faith in its future, to meet the traffic problem before the city motors itself beyond the point of no return.
Freedom on
the Freeways
Contrary to the experience and practice of the other large metropolitan centers of the world, the inhabitants of tlie Los Angeles metropolitan area have elected, by choice or necessity, to utilize the privately-owned passenger automobile as a basic means of transportation. Many years ago it became obvious to
the most casual observer that the roadway network of this area
could not continue to accommodate the ever-increasing number of automobiles. Volume began to exceed space, and the inter-
to
cross
was
at this
should have planned and constructed an adequate network of mass-transportation facilities regardless of the immediate cost and the amount of subsidv involved. Due to technical difficulties this did not appear feasible to
we
many, and we
turned to roadways that would permit uninterrupted travel over substantial distances through congested areas. Thus the freeway
was adapted
to use in
metropolitan areas.
of a system
in a
of indi-
and one-half persons per automobile challenges the laws of economics. The Los Angeles County Chamber of Commerce recently published an attractive brochure beamed at the visitor, the homeseeker, and the investor. In the section devoted to the cost of hving in this area, it states in part, "Most families find expenses for heating and clothing less, but these savings are often oflFset by higher outlays for transportation or other items resulting from changes in the pattern of living." Freeways are expensive to build. The estimated total cost of the Hollywood Freeway is $52,000,000 or almost $7,000,000 per mile. Since 1947 a total of $180,000,000 has been spent on Los Angeles Metropolitan area freeways, and another $600,000,000 is needed to com175
176
plete the system.
Parker on Traffic
Freeways produce no revenue. On the contrary, acquued for freeway construction is eliminated from the tax rolls. There are continuing costs for roadway maintenance and border beautification.
the land
in-
Crowded
rural
But here
traveling to
and from
his place of
up
new
birth of
Congestion began to appear. Volume counts indicate 120,000 automotive units traversing the Cahuenga and the Hollywood freeways during a twenty-four hour period. A passenger train has but one engineer who is highly trained,
he thoroughly understands and that are rigidly enforced. The conveyance he operates is restricted to steel rails from which he cannot depart. In freeway traflBc, each automobile driver is his own engineer. He may set his speed to suit his own fancy. He may roam from lane to lane as he attempts to compensate for the varied speeds adopted by his fellow engineers on the freeway. All too frequently he will come into contact with the self-appointed enforcer who has decided his rate of speed is adequate for all, and his presence in the lane
deftly skilled,
to regulations that
and subject
all
is
movement
to the
when
He
is
in a multiple-car coUision of
movement
in reality
is
177
an access road many of our commuting engineers fail to realize that they must enter a traflBc lane already occupied by a steady stream of fast-moving traffic, and that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The modern Casey Jones is also puzzled at the inevitable congestion ahead of him on the outlet he must use to leave the freeway. He is simply back into the world of frictional cross currents, and, while he has previously been afforded uninterrupted use of the roadway, this privilege
has been reduced to half-of-the-time use of the intersection ahead. As the tempo of freeway movement increases, the more conservative soul finds himself compelled to adopt the pace
and thus
undergoes a terrifying and nerve-wracking experience on each occasion. A sound technician currently employed in Hollywood recently told me that he is selling his home in the Valley because he can no longer suffer the nervous tension resulting from driving
the
Cahuenga Freeway.
is
There
with motor vehicle regulations would make his work easier and all of our lives more pleasant. This lack of voluntary compliance is evidenced by the fact that the Los Angeles Police Department has issued 262,651 traffic citations for moving violations during the
period from January 1 to July 20, 1953. The freeways present difficult problems to the enforcement officer. The speed and
volume of the
traffic
officer,
and
many
traffic
times
it is
with safety until he has actually left the freeway. To attempt to shepherd the slow driver in the wrong lane to a place of safety without causing a collision with the parallel traffic, presents complications. Perhaps the greatest hurdle to adequate en-
forcement of speed regulations is the proper determination of what is an unlawful speed. We continue to be governed by archaic regulations known as the prima facie speed law. It is the sense of this law tliat speeds in excess of the posted speed limit are not necessarily unlawful unless it is established that the speed endangers the safety of
persons or property. While
a traffic citation to
it is
178
Parker on Traffic
prima facie speed limit, in theory the defendant may estabhsh by competent evidence that the alleged excessive speed was not in fact a violation of the basic speed law. In reality, it is incumbent
upon the
speed as well as the excess over and above the prima facie speed limit. The situation is well exemplified on those streets where the posted signs indicate a speed limit of twenty-five miles per hour and additional signs state "signals set for thirty-two miles per hour." Many times it becomes a conflict of judgment between the driver and the police oflBcer. On one hand, the alleged violator can conscientiously believe that his speed, although in excess of the prima facie limit, was not actually a violation of the basic speed law.
On
it is
the police oflBcer that the rate of speed was unsafe for the conditions prevailing at the time. In the light of this type of complicated
statute,
it
may be
fifty-five
upon our
free-
my
demands
institution of
maximum
speed
and responsible authorities in the pohce department have concluded that any speed greater than fifty-five miles per hour on the freeways are in fact excessive and are a violation of the basic speed law. At a time when there were fewer automobiles traversing the roadways of California, one could more readily understand a basis for flexibility in the application of speed limits to defined areas; but today our highways and roadways reflect a picture of almost constant congestion.
a judge of the traflBc court
Recently, Dr.
Amos
roads adequate for only 30,000,000 vehicles. As of June 1, 1953, there were about five and one-half million vehicles registered
in the State of California alone.
179
my humble
that
opinion,
imperative
we have reached the point where it is maximum fixed speed hmits be estabhshed
throughout the State of California and that no deviation be permitted therefrom. A friend of mine has stated to me that he considers the privilege of operating a motor vehicle one of his greatest privileges as an
American. Emphasis here is upon the word "privilege." Our courts have long since estabhshed that the operation of a motor vehicle is a privilege and not a matter of right. Freedom to move in traflBc is relative and not absolute. We must temper our conduct in order
whole may be protected. Much of the trouble we have experienced on our freeways is due to an exaggerated sense of freedom on the part of the users thereof. We must be restricted individually in order that there may be freedom for all. If the latitude of the prima facie speed law is eliminated, and our drivers learn to respect, in the absolute, maximum fixed speed laws and conform to that pattern of behavior, some of the problems in traffic that beset us today will be eliminated.
that society as a
number
traflBc
is
relationsl"
this label
A
on
traffic oflBcer
They have
And
traflBc
fittle
the problem.
The
basis; therefore
average driver believes that the traflBc statutes have no moral he does nothing really "wrong" if he occasionally
violates them. If
tion, that
apprehended he feels, and with some justificahe has been singled out and that there are probably drivers more careless and dangerous who should occupy the oflBcer*s attention. The motorist's attitude is one of an honest citizen discovered in a minor error of judgment. He concludes, and again with some justification, "no one can drive without occasionally
breaking a
traflBc
law."
Faced with this problem, many police departments have seen only one answer hold traflBc law enforcement to a bare minimum and counter its eflFects with an aggressive public relations program. In other words, they have accepted the view that traflBc law enforcement and public relations represent the opposite extremes
of getting along with the pubhc.
Is this necessarily true?
Must the
traflBc oflBcer's
duties invari-
ably result in poor public relations? During the past few years, a
number
belief.
of police departments have challenged the traditional These new voices have maintained that it is possible to do a good job of traflBc law enforcement anc? make the public like it.
180
181
The new
forties.
officers
which plagued other officers. In many cases, these officers averaged written commendations against complaints on a ratio as high as twenty to one and at the same time issued more citations
than the norm for the squad. Close examination revealed these successful officers to be consciously or subconsciously using accepted techniques of "salesmanship," Their methods were similar to those practiced in private industry. In other words, they were adapting principles of human relations to their police task. Further scrutiny revealed these
successful
ti'affic
officers to
could not be easilv provoked. Most of them rated high on emotional maturity tests.
They approached
work
in a philosophi-
even
strict ethical
standards 20t along better with drivers than those officers whose
attitudes fluctuated. In general, they "called
them as they saw them" regardless of pohtical, social, or other considerations. Their success was not based upon hand-shaking, a soft attitude, or failure to do the job. It became apparent that the traffic officers with good pubhc relations techniques had many things in common. In other words, they could be recognized as a "tj'pe." Noting tliis, a few administrators began to beheve that most of tlie irritation and antagonism traditionally associated with the traffic citation might be avoided. It was possible that the problem could be attributed as much to clumsy police methods as to the system itself. If some officers could cite violators and maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect, why couldn't other officers be selected or trained to accomplish as
much?
good question. But it could not be answered on a theoretical level. No one could deny that traffic enforcement was hard work, physically and emotionally. It was possible that the desired type of officer was extremely rare, and sufficient numbers could not be recruited from otlier pohce tasks. It was possible tliat
It
was
182
Parker on Traffic
the successful officers were "born diplomats," and that those necessary qualities could not be taught
ties
and learned.
made
it
worth a
could be
made
Los Angeles became the test center for this new school of thought. It was not because that city had any monopoly on creative pohce thinking. Rather, it was because the Los Angeles traffic problem was seriously taxing the eflForts of the police and the patience of the public. Congestion, delay, and danger in traffic were rubbing driver-nerves raw. The added friction of old-fashioned enforcement was threatening the delicate balance of public support upon which all police work depends. Something had to be done. Reduced traffic enforcement was unthinkable. Death and injury rates were the highest of any comparable city. At the same time, the police department would face an alarmingly hostile public if every citation continued to
forties,
build
up the level of public resentment. The Los Angeles program was based upon
it
military, govern-
was a process of selection, training, and control. The first task was to determine the intelligence level, emotional make-up, physical and other requirements most ideal for the traffic officer. Police records were studied and minimum qualifications were drawn up. Although it was recognized that available human-measurement tests were
subject to
much
could be established.
motorcycle riding school. Although safe-riding techniques remained a paramount concern, equal attention was devoted to the psychology of the driver, the theory and aims of scientific control, "salesmanship," and elements of traffic law. The course was designed to be physically and mentally difficult. As high as thirty per cent of the class were expected to "flunk out," a screening which supplemented the selective aspects of the written
just a
examinations.
Finally, to guarantee continuing proper attitudes
after graduation,
and methods
183
were
to keep squad esprit de corps high. would be pleasant to report that conditions changed immediatelythat accidents dropped sharply and the motorcycle squad became the most popular group of young men in the city. Of course, things did not happen quite that way. Mistakes in selection and training were made, some of them serious. Ingrained attitudes were slow to change. Some old-timers regarded the changes with suspicion. Oddly enough, some motorists seemed to
It
made
resent the
new police
attitude.
One
was neglecting his duty. One newspaper editorialized that if the pohce became "popular," it was strong evidence that a poor job was being done. Opponents of the plan criticized the time and money "lost" in selection and training. It is to the credit of police leaders in Los Angeles and other test cities that a lack of immediate and overwhelming success did not discourage them. As quickly as errors in selection were discovered, they were corrected. Examinations and testing devices were improved. Weaknesses in the training program were remedied as they became evident. All of the returns are not yet in. Further improvements will be made by a new generation of administrators. If pohce progress
failed to give
it
who
Improved testing devices will be found. Traffic statutes, long in need of careful revision, may be corrected to ease the job of the traffic officer. Driver training and public education may create an improved public attitude, taking some of the burden oflF the enforcement officer. However, the test period is over. The role of the traffic officer as a positive public-relations factor is no longer an experiment it has become policy. Although results from individual officers still vary considerably, the net result has been drastic changes in both public and police attitudes. Late years have seen mass reaction to
service.
traffic
pubhc
of
its
this
traffic
control, but
tasks.
The
police
184
tility,
Parker on Traffic
on
nearly the same ground. While complete credit for this welcome
change can be granted to no single group, the traffic officer has overcome tremendous obstacles to lead the way. If this advance is continued, and if his associates in other divisions of law enforcement will follow, the professional goals of the American police
service will
generation.
Chapter Nine
Our Great
Cities:
An
article
published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, January, 1954
The
Police Challenge in
difficult to
Our Great
Cities
IT conducive
WOULD be
devise a combination of factors more to crime and disorder than is found in the typical
great city of the United States. Rarely does history record so many people of varied beliefs and modes of conduct grouped together
and complex a social structure. The confusing variety of religious and pohtical creeds, national origins, and diverse cultures is matched only by the extremes of ideals, emotions, and conduct found in the individual. Although proud of their independence, these people hve so interdependently that food, shelter, and even their very movement on the streets require delicately balanced co-operation. Although sharing a tradition of individual liberty, their activities are regulated by the greatest and most complicated concentration of laws to be found anyin so competitive
where.
this precarious
order by enforcing
confusion of laws
is
would prove a difficult task under ideal conditions, it is aggravated by unusual factors. The police function is rarely considered by the members of the electorate to be a vital element of their life
together. Further,
its
past operation
is
one of alternating
ineffi-
with a remarkable lack of public support, cois a legacy from corrupt political machines erected and supported by the people themselves, the pohceman has become a pubhc symbol upon which
operation, or trust. Although this past
is
vented.
be conceded that the police themselves have failed. Instead of analyzing the causes for lack of support and working toward their eventual removal, police have all too often witlidrawn into a shell of "minorityism." There has been a near-fatal inability to recognize police dependence on pubUc opinion, and
must
also
187
188
the result has been great tugging at bootstraps without appreciable elevation.
The reason
is
tem are more apparent there. Urban hfe concentrates and multiplies law enforcement problems. Police ineflBciencies which may
go nearly unnoticed in the relatively stable pattern of rural life are cast into prominence and grave import by the fast-paced social and economic turmoil of the larger cities. Million-dollar budgets,
strangling trafiBc congestion,
and lucrative markets for organized crime make for spectacular police failures. It is here that the public outcry is heard first and loudest, and it is here tliat sheer necessity puts law enforcement to its crucial test.
Basis for
The
Improvement
Despite the most aggressive and enlightened leadership, law enforcement cannot rise above the level set by the electorate. A condition precedent to the establishment of efficient, professional law enforcement in a community is a desire and a demand on the
part of the residents for that type of service. In this respect, law enforcement does not differ greatly from
The one factor which predetermines the success any business is the market. Unless the ultimate recipient of a product or service is convinced that he requires it, the most skillful organization and techniques are wasted.
private industry.
of
PoucE Challenge
in
Our Great
Cities
189
dustry
second lesson the police administrator can draw from inis that markets are created. They seldom spring full-blown
from the unshaped desires of the people. The vital elements of civihzed life, including our most sacred institutions, at one time or another have been laboriously sold to the people. In this respect, it is heartening that unreceptiveness is not one of the faults of Americans. They respond quickly to new ideas, and pecuharly relish being proved wrong. Despite opinion to the contrary, they respond to large ideas as well as to the small and trivial. They buy comic books, but they also make best sellers of works on art, philosophy, and religion. This is of tremendous importance to the police administrator, because the ideas and ideals he must sell
are not trivial ones.
The
be
police administrator's
first
must
which
is
is
elemental to every
man's government by man and permanence of every social structure since human beings first sought collective security. In the face of the extremes of conduct possible in human aflFairs, we manage to exist only because we set up and enforce certain limits of conduct. These rules or laws are promulgated, not because men agree on attitudes or conduct, but because they do not agree. Thus law, an artificial standard, is
necessary to
injured.
limits of activity
beyond which
It
society
is
alone,
is
a fiction.
when
its
it
observed.
The character
it.
method
of establishing observance,
and
its
permanence
lies
in
success in securing
Creating
This
is
Demand
for Professional
Law
Enforcement
is not unlikely that if he did, he would same end. This concept, although it has a philosophical basis, is an immensely practical matter, and it can be sold to practical community leaders. Most of them are well aware of the exorbitant cost of ineffectual law enforcement. They are not en-
tirely
other nations.
The
190
forcement is not so much the sale of a startUng new concept as it is the calhng to memory of some well-known facts. Immediate tangibles which will be recognized are more eflFective security of goods, a higher rate of recovery of stolen property, lower insurance premiums, and improved traffic conditions. A few leaders will see the broader implications of the idea, and through them the elemental thinking will be transplanted into other minds.
It
The raw facts and figures are availwhich they should be presented and the relative speed with which they will be accepted depends upon his ability and the pohtical chmate of the community. Some of the methods which have been used are narrative type annual reports, radio and television forums, pamphlets, motion picture and television films, well-trained pohce speakers, and written contributions to local magazines, industrial house organs, and other
trator
able.
The manner
publications.
is
Included
is
with a stake in community welfare. It should be noted that the administrator's concern is not with the news-gathering level of the press. He is not seeking "good pubficity." He is not a press agent. He is a community leader seeking the solution to one of the community's most pressing problems. His business is not with reporters, but with publishers, stockholders, and directors. As he meets with other business groups he will talk with advertisers, radio and television station owners, motion picture producers, and members of chambers of commerce and of transit, banking,
insurance, veterans,
fluences of
and other associations. Similar powerful incommunity thinking are school, religious, and inter-
racial groups.
meet public demands. Cries for "efficiency," "honesty," and "reduction of crime" cannot be answered effectively until he creates a climate that will support the internal changes
police organization to
essential to those goals.
Police Challenge in
Our Great
Cities
191
many
to
assume greater bulk and they drain increasing money, manpower, and energies from the basic task.
operation
greatest offender in
as
Jail
The
some
This task
20 per cent of the police budget and 7 per It takes the time and energies of officers selected, trained, and paid to accomphsh vastly more complex tasks. It encumbers police training with studies of institutional problems not remotely connected with law enforcement. It necessitates assignments in conflict with aptitudes, which often give the jail a "Siberia" connotation by which general morale is lowered and other police tasks suffer. It adds a completely unnecessary and unjustifiable element to the chief administrator's nearly impossible span of attention. Worse, the detention of sentenced prisoners by the police is a dangerous violation of the democratic theory of law enforcement. The identification of police
consumes
much
as
192
The answer
facilities
to the jail
exist.
problem
is
not impossibly
a change of
difficult.
already
In
many
cities
The management
and
compensated
at a level in
task.
Juvenile welfare
Another public service attached to most large police departments is some form of juvenile welfare activity. Not to be confused with the investigation of juvenile delinquency,
it is
actually
an attempt to treat the multiple causes of adolescent maladjustment. It takes many forms, ranging from a boys' club to compUcated advisory, treatment, and referral centers for potential or actual delinquents. Often included are summer camps, gymnasiums, and clubhouses. In some instances the total cost is financed from police budgets, and in others the activity merely utilizes tlie services of on-duty officers. While no experienced police officer would dispute the great need for such a community program, some doubt as to its being a proper police function is justified. Many of the criticisms directed at pohce operation of the city jail are valid here. As long
as the police are experiencing difficulty in accomplishing their pri-
mary
tasks, the
law enforcement is difficult to must recognize that they are neither authorized nor equipped to deal with economic and
social
If
they conwill
Various activities
Other efiForts which are draining police vitality are probation and parole activities, assignments of investigators to other city departments, and traffic engineering. The administrator will also find officers who have been selected and trained to enforce the
Police Challenge
Our Great
Cities
193
t)'pists,
and others
filled at less
by
qualified civilians.
It is safe to
manpower problem
large department
an organizational problem, created over the years by the police tliemselves. Although many
to a great extent
commendable
efforts
from an organizational to provide needed community standpoint they must be classified as deadwood. The plea that they supply good pubfic relations is rebuttable. Failure to meet successfully the harsh requirements of fundamental pofice tasks
cannot so easily be disguised.
Maintenance of Control
Another problem to be met by administrators of large poHce
organizations
is tliat of maintaining full control, while at the same time reducing the span of executive attention to a workable mini-
mum.
Theoretically,
it is
seven primary support and line units, headed by deputies serving also as a general staff or council. However, this plan often results
in the
block the vertical flow of communication so vital to control. Consequently, instead of aggressively leading, the chief administrator
finds himself cast in
affairs.
The answer
to this
key
activities.
The most
efficient
method
appears to consist in giving to the field forces the line responsibihty to accomplish the tasks, checking and balancing their efforts
through administrative divisions with both staff authority and line responsibihty. Thus, for example, vice control is directly accom-
forces,
and
di-
194
commanded
Large
Cities
doubt that the well-estabhshed principles of administration should guide the chief of police in all but the most unusual cases. Yet certain problems peculiar to large city poHce organizations do not respond readily to broad generalizations. The first of these that the department head is likely to meet is the question of an assistant chief. This position is usually created in the hope of reducing the administrative work burden. It is reasoned that an assistant chief can handle routine matters, act as a "buffer," and digest and condense information directed up-
There can be
wards.
There
is
no greater
The
true
assistants of the chief are his council of deputies. If these commanders are not functioning, little is gained by creating an intermediate position which obscures this fact. At best, an assistant chief accomplishes tasks that are properly the duties of an executive oflBcer or adjutant; at worst, he isolates the chief from the department, takes over policy decisions without which the department head cannot be chief-in-fact, and becomes a sort of "grand vizier" to which all ranks must bow in order to have their
requests granted.
The
work
burden exceeds human limits, the answer will be found own organizational and administrative failures.
Specialization
in his
it is
be raised. At first glance it will appear that the question has been answered by the experts who caution against "overspecialization." However, closer scrutiny will reveal no sure definition of that term. Theoretically, the size of a department should have little eflFect on the broad competencies of the individual police officer. He should be able to perform eflFectively every task he may reasonably be expected to encounter, whether he patrols the entire area of
tion of specialization versus generahzation will
Police Challenge in
Prairie Junction or a similar area
Our Great
Cities
195
and population in Chicago. This by the growth of cities, but by the expanding pohce technology, which has increased at such a phenomenal rate that the ideal of complete competency has become
ideal has been reversed, not
a myth.
No
and highly technical fields which police science has created. A parallel can be found in the profession of medicine. The growth
of medical science not of cities created
its specialists.
The
fact
that Prairie Junction will not support a group of medical specialists does not make this situation an ideal to be followed in Chicago. Carrying the parallel further, the medical profession has found
that the public
is
(general practitioners)
and
speciaHsts. This
is
but of balancing generalists and speciafists so that crime and disorder will receive treatment best fitted to reduce it. This is not an organizational problem whereby ratios are abstracted
it is a question of adminissoundest control and worktration devoting attention to the
and
measurement devices
Transfers
available.
The
into
rotation problems.
How
Is
new
assignments?
term familiarity with one task or district, or by a work perspective born of varied pohce experience? The problem is best solved by avoiding extremes either way. An excellent key is frequent transfers of young officers, letting them perceive the breadth and
intricacies of
test their
a natural tendency
them to fit into place. A word of caution transfers easily become a crutch which supports and disguises poor leadership. The fact that individuals vegetate and fail to produce after long assignment to one job is
not a sign of the efficacy of frequent transfers. Rather,
it
should
be a sign of command and supervisory failures which should be corrected. Although some assignments will always be favored, a
196
they
exist,
own failures by mankind and using the "shake-up" as a cure. follows that transfers should never be used as a disthe administrator cannot excuse his
is
no place
penal colony.
There are a few exceptions to the rule that transfers should not be an arbitrarily regular procedure. Certain police tasks are highly exhausting, conducive to the production of moral callousness, or
are purely educational in nature. Vice control assignments are
one example. No officer should be exposed too long to this emotionally and morally fatiguing task. Another example the rotation of first-level supervisors through the planning division and the internal discipline division is an excellent training device calling
:
Selection of supervisors
The
department also
Of the many
sys-
tems which have been tried, strict and impartial promotion by civil service methods seems to work best. Although its inequities are obvious, they are not so conducive to corruption and destruction of morale as the practice of letting the chief administrator make his own selections. The advantages of having a leader pick supervisors with "loyal" or "compatible" attitudes may be of some importance in a political organization, but are totally out of place
in professional endeavor.
is
The only
loyalty professional
is
men owe
warranted
may be
warranted.
historically short.
and
all possibility
Few
pre-
raw material
seldom be capable than the selections which personal error and prejucivil service will
Police Challenge in
Our Great
Cities
197
should be prefaced with a word of caution: there are few greater pitfalls in police work today than the practice of adopting tech-
nique for
its
own
sake.
Due
to lack of accurate in
its
work-measurement
devices, such as
commerce has
and other officers often go through the motions of new procedures and scientific techniques with little attention to whether or not results are forthcoming. The poHce administrator's attention must be keyed to results, and a great part of his energy must necessarily be devoted to the creation of improved methods of measuring them.
Planning
The planning
both of improved techniques and of work measurement. It is one be entrusted to a staff unit under the supervision of the chief. In this unit can be included related activities which are scattered and ineffectual in many departments. These include statistical studies, crime analysis,
surveys.
The
tudes.
officers
and
These men should be given considerable freedom to inand recommend procedures. In this manner the organization is guaranteed a source of creative thinking without which any enterprise will stagnate. The division should be constantly aware, however, that, like all other activities, the life of the division will be determined by results produced. Moderately frequent transfers will serv e to diminish "ivory tower"
spect, criticize, improvise,
is
the planning of
traffic
and
crowd control
they
pubhc
little
of great cities,
occurrences. Thev disrupt traffic, draw a significant amount of police strength from necessary duties, and inconvenience tens of thousands of citizens. Through studies
are, unfortunately,
common
198
and obtain
and
The
must be
to
first-aid routes
all
and
stations
volume
of crowds at
points
of such a nature
that disorder
may be
key points, communications planned, and field booking, photography, and temporary detention facilities arranged. Occasional events will require field kitchens and rest facilities for officers, and a completely equipped command post. The final task of the planning unit is to inspect the event, measuring the accuracy of the estimates and the effectiveness of techniques used. These studies should form the basis for standby plans which can be put into effect to control the various types of emergencies that can occur in the city.
Intelligence
is
Organized crime and subversive activity are controllable only if the department head has constant and current information of the activities of such groups. In gaining this information and maintaining necessary surveillance, the "arms length" technique will ultimately prove more effective than the establishment of "personal" relations between oflBcers and suspects. The latter arrangement will invariably fester into a spot of corruption or prove a source of embarrassment even when capably and honestly conducted. Adequate intelhgence of underworld activities is the administrator's most potent weapon against organized crime. These criminal operations are too cleverly
conducted
to
respond to suppres-
sion
of patrol
and
investigation.
Police Challenge in
Our Great
Cities
199
Law
known
pohce techniques are not the answer to this problem. Organized crime can be reduced and stamped out by the police only when knowledge of its methods, personalities, and plans produces conviction hazards so great that operation becomes unprofitable.
Appraisal of Results
It is inevitable
consume a major share of the space. For that reason it is necessary to assess the results of hard-won improvements before
closing.
For a half-century pohce administrators in the United States have responded to the cry for better law enforcement by working to improve police techniques. In the past the telephone, the automobile, and the radio have been successively looked to as the answer to the problem of crime and disorder. During the years immediately past, sound principles of organization, supervision, selection, and training have been sought and adopted. Today's police administrators, even more advanced, are resolutely shouldering the enormous task of measuring the eflFect of social and economic factors on police problems. They are adapting advanced concepts of systems and procedures to law enforcement. Even the most critical observers agree that remarkable technical progress
is
apparent in
is
answer.
The
improved
probable that today, without these advances, the expanding police departments of our larger cities, faced with
technology. It
increasing
lines of
accomphshed painfully and laboriously, and in the face of great But the answer has not yet been found. Despite the technology that has been acquired through no small effort and expense, the police service today fulfills its task with no greater success than it did a quarter- or half-century ago. This is a damaging accusation, but it is susceptible of proof. As
inaccurate as our statistics are, they leave
little
200
crime rate has been on the increase for the past several decades
the
identical years in
any lower than that which accompanied the brawling, lusty period of the nation's formation years in which
present crime rate
is
silk glove,
but
hand beneath that sleek fabric exacts no less a toll than when it was exposed and easily recognized. Our years of greatest progress, instead of limiting the volume and scope of crime, have
the
seen
from a predominantly individual enterprise against huge and powerful cartels that control not only cities, but entire states of this Union. Indeed, our most accurate crime statistics indicate that crime rates rise and fall on the tides of economic, social, and political cycles with embarrassingly little attention to the most determined efforts of our
it
shift
society to a system of
police.
Where
zation
The purpose
not to
condemn
the systemati-
whether the answer lies in that direction. It is not suggested that continuous effort toward refinement of techniques should cease, but it is suggested that since methodology has not yet produced significant results, the problem may have its deepest roots in causes other than police performance. Those causes have been suggested here. To blame police failures on the police themselves is to confuse cause with effect. Law enforcement is totally dependent upon the public for its life, its strength, and its effectiveness. It can no more divorce itself from the electorate and seek growth alone than a plant can divorce itself from the soil that bears and feeds it. However critical the need may be for professional law enforcement, it will not come
of procedures, but to question
into being until the public itself recognizes that need. If this belief
and perfection
be
true,
it
Chapter Ten
Los Angeles City Council concerning a juvenile gang attack on a citizen in downtown Los Angeles which resulted in his death. December, 1953.
of the
The
entitled
Progress Report
August
1,
9,
1950 to
January
1953
and
responsibilities
ON
August
9,
Pohce of our city. In addition to swearing a promised the citizens of Los Angeles that would strive to build and maintain the most efficient poHce dewe partment in the city's history. Today, twenty-nine months later, I should like to give an accounting of the stewardship of that trust and to speak of things which lie ahead. By way of preface, it should surprise no one that pohce work at all levels is difficult work. Unhke private industry, the police do not work with tangible products which can be cleverly fashioned and neatly boxed. They toil in the field of human behavior, a cosmic riddle which mortal man has never solved. Neither the poHce nor any other human agency can completely understand or fully control the processes by which honest men become thieves, by which intelligent men turn to prejudice and hate, or by which crime periodically sweeps over eveiy community like an evil tide. Neither the pohce nor any other human agency can fully understand or prevent the petty failures which turn wet with blood our traffic ways as normally prudent citizens plunge their automobiles into headlong defiance of the laws of physics and of man. The pohce not only deal with the riddle of human behavior; they are themselves sometimes victims of it. If, by virtue of their uniform, the police were always just, forever incorruptible, and completely efficient, then this report would be a simple one. Unfortunately, they are merely human beings in uniform, as prone to fallibility as tlie citizenry from which they were carefully selected by Civil Service. I have conceived it my task to organize, train, and supervise your police department to constrain tliat human fallibility so that it would have a minimum efi^ect upon
of Chief of
solemn oath of
oflBce, I
204
this, changes have been necessary in police organization, pohce techniques, and in the underlying philosophy which directs police endeavor. Twenty-nine montlis is a short time when measured against the eighty-three years' existence of your poHce department. All that some day may be done could not be accompHshed in that brief period. However, there are many changes to report. I am confident they will indicate that the promise has been kept and that Los Angeles has passed over the threshold of a brave experiment in professional law enforcement.
To do
in
National Attention
Police progress here has not occurred without considerable attention.
of
Commerce
publicly com-
mended
presented August
W.
police administration
who
ment
in the country."
used Los Angeles as a training ground in democratic poHce procedures for law enforcement officers from occupied Germany and
Japan.
Political Control
most important factor in pohce progress is the fact that the department has remained consistently free from partisan political control. The City Administration has been alert to the terrible danger a captive police department would represent to the people of our city. Almost alone among the great cities of this nation, the Los Angeles pohce officer has been free to do his job with full impartiality, owing responsibihty only to the people, the courts, and duly constituted police authority. There are no "hidden bosses," there is no "privileged class," there are no "fixes." From the lowly traffic citation to the felony indictment, each citizen must face enforcement of the law of our land on an equal
far the
basis.
By
Progress Report
205
has been an acute problem during the period August of 1950, this office had 4,427 officers available to deploy over the city. As of this date, the number has dropped to 4,152. This loss of 275 policemen has taken place during a period in which the city has increased by approximately
128,000 residents.
By area, Los Angeles police strength presently measures nine pohcemen per square mile as compared with fifty-one for New
York, thirty-four for Chicago, thirty-two for Philadelphia and
thirty for Detroit.
The causes
of decreasing
three-fourths of your
manpower are well known. Nearly pohcemen are veterans of mihtary service,
most of them eligible for reserve duty. As a result, a total of 221 officers have been called to active service in Korea. In addition, a combination of draft call and higher salaries available in private industry has greatly reduced the number of potential condidates. Finally, harsh working conditions, physical danger, and the tendency of some to group all policemen into a single category and condemn them all for the errors of a few, greatly reduce the attractiveness of the job to young men.
Office
StaflF
Replacement
Despite fewer policemen, Los Angeles today receives better pohce protection than at any other time in its history. One way of accomplishing this was the replacement of officers employed in clerical tasks with civilian employees. During 1951 and 1952 approximately 109 officers in this manner were released to field
duty.
One-Man
Patrol Cars
two-man units in certain areas of the city. This system greatly extends available manpower. Careful retraining of officers has minimized risks involved and allowed us to put these
plant traditional
units
on the
One-man
patrol
it
can be expanded with still greater savings manpower and consequent improved patrol coverage.
it
206
Visual Patrol
comparison of the eflBciency of marked and unmarked patrol was conducted during the period of this report. The results indicated that clearly marked black and white pohce vehicles give the public greater opportunity to make use of law enforcement services and have a marked repressive eflFect on trafvehicles
fic
violators
and petty
criminals.
your police department has adopted the policy that uniformed oflBcers will patrol in black and white automobiles. Nonuniform officers will continue to use unmarked vehicles necessary to investigation and surveillance. To minimize repainting costs, change-over is being conducted on a normal vehicle-replacement
result,
As a
basis.
Paperwork
It is obvious that every hour spent by the officer at the report desk is an hour lost to field police work. Further, every error caused by poorly designed and inefficient report forms multipHes
this loss of
merged
in the
many of
them cumbersome and inefficient. Since that time, sixty-three outdated forms have been cancelled and 155 old forms have been completely redesigned to reduce reporting, typing, and filing time by approximately thirty-five per cent. In addition, portable voice writers have been introduced at
report desks. This transcribing device allows officers to quickly
record several reports on one disc and return to field duty. These
recordings are later transmitted to paper by civihan typists.
Police Planning
In 1951 there was established a Planning and Research Division with the primary task of evaluating successes and failures in all
aspects of police work. After analysis, this division
recommends
improved methods. By means of this complished the following: 1. Reduced entry processing time
self-criticism,
we have
ac-
Progress Report
Jail,
207
Redesigned police patrol districts to follow boundaries of government census tracts. This change will allow us to make future studies of crime conditions in specific communities with exact knowledge of population, economic, and social conditions. A long-range effort, this project will provide us with greatly needed facts to guide our juvenile delinquency and other crime preven2.
tion programs.
improved methods of crime analysis which give field ofiBcers speedy and exact knowledge of criminal personalities, methods, and conditions in their assigned districts. 4. Developed a completely new system of pohce manuals, bring3.
Instituted radically
High standards
training has
of recruitment
been maintained
at
and training have been mainmanpower shortages. Cadet thirteen-week level as compared a
1950.
common before
new
tests prior to
academy
we have been engaged since 1950 in a program of evaluating their accuracy in predicting future behavior. Recently, the professional
services of a psychiatrist
which
will
have been made available to us, a factor improve the accuracy of these examinations.
Integrity
Little
known
is
208
tion,
they have averaged 905 investigations per year, 28 per cent which were sustained and resulted in disciphnary action. The citizen evaluating these figures must recognize that the life of the policeman is severely regulated compared to that of the
of
private citizen.
The bulk
department regulations rather than actual violations of law. Total offenses involving dishonesty, abuse of civil rights, or excessive force, averaged only .004 per cent of department strength during 1951 and 1952. It should be borne in mind that the amount of publicity springing from police error is no sure indication of its prevelancy. Cases of individual culpabihty have been found during the months in question as indeed will always be the case in any group of over four thousand humans. However, it is a fact that not even the severest critics of your pohce department have found any evidence of organized dishonesty or tolerated abuse of regulatory powers. An overwhelming majority of Los Angeles policemen are deeply devoted to the high ethical and moral principles upon which rest our concepts of democratic police service. With the cooperation of an informed citizenry, we will keep those majority convictions as near unanimity as is possible in a human agency.
Crime
Organized crime
finds
it
bookmaker, or pro-
Average Rate
Preceding Five Years
and 1951-52
% Change
Robbery
Burglary
101.9
184.2
510.9
619.6
387.1
5.4
249.8
3.9
12.0 14.0
15.2
15.2
Forcible
7.9
124.1
+ 20.1
51.9
1,402.8
9.6
AVERAGE
* Per 100,000 inhabitants.
1,088.4
-22.4
Progress Report
fessional murderer, cannot purchase
209
in
immunity
Los Angeles.
The
Crime rates here, although fluctuating in response to social and economic factors over which the police have relatively httle control, have remained consistently below the national averages for cities of comparable size.
Traffic
increase
The twenty-nine months in question have seen Los Angeles by 128,000 population and 60,000 registered vehicles
without proportionate increase in streets and mass transit. Spiraling congestion and traffic death rates have been prevented only by
extreme
Although not conducive to which the city's critical transportation problem may be solved. Further, despite the severity of the problem, traffic death here has been kept at less than one-half of the rate prevaihng ten years ago.
traffic-control
measures.
Narcotics
The growing
narcotic
in
supplements that of the twenty-nine man Narcotic Division, rated by the Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Narcotics as the nation's finest. In January, 1952, a comprehensive study of the menace was prepared in booklet fomi and widely distributed to the adult segment of our community. This study was later adopted
by the Board
program of
preventive education.
Rehabilitation and Corrections
During 1952, your department conducted studies of city jail efficiency which enabled it to increase housing and feeding potential there by twenty-five per cent. At the same time, police manpower required at the city jail was reduced twenty-two
per cent. This resulted in seventy
officers
being transferred to
field
duty at an annual saving of approximately $325,000. Construction of a 588-acre Rehabilitation Center designed for
210
the physical and mental treatment of alcohohcs was begun in 1952. Necessitated by a near doubling of average daily jail population during the past five years, this progressive move will reduce
per capita confinement costs and provide a solution to the city's growing alcohohc problem (six out of every ten misdemeanor arrests). In addition, work therapy in the nature of farming acwith tivities will provide a substantial portion of all city jail diets
resultant savings of tax dollars.
Community
Aflfairs
in-
have become matters of pubhc debate. In our democracy, such debate is the raw material wherefrom opinion the duty of is molded and our laws conceived. I have beheved it of the poUce dethe Chief of Police to draw upon the experience
partment in order to speak out openly where questions of order and public safety were concerned. During the period of this report, I have spoken out against legaHzed gambling in its many fraudulent guises. I have opposed measures which might promote the infiltration of organized crime
community. Although I have acted decisively against breaches of pohce discipHne, I have as quickly spoken out against measures which would make the pohceman a "whipping boy" for the ills of society. I have outhned the dangers of traffic paralysis represented by our controlled automobile economy, and have obinto our
jectively pointed out the Hmitations of our
aheady outmoded
freeway system.
1953 City Election
The pubhc
on questions
affecting
safety is a belief in some quarters that I aspire to elective servoffice this spring. It is not possible to give twenty-six years of such ice to a community without feeling genuinely honored by
mention.
At the same time, it is distressing to note that words and actions given unselfishly and without partisan design should be construed by some to be tools of political ambition. It is my behef that in matters affecting his profession, a man is duty bound to enter the
Progress Report
211
permeated our thinking that the open discussion of pubHc questions must be left to those who seek personal or partisan advantage.
I
am
If I
have ambi-
best oflFered in
have devoted the major portion of my life. It is the duty of the police to protect the hves and property of the citizens of Los Angeles. I cannot conceive of honest men either
I
directing or influencing the directing of this task for selfish purpose. This courageous
in professional
law enforcement
vantage.
It is
is
my
but
number
of questions. I
hope
can
satis-
answer them.
question you asked concerns the depletion of the
The
first
the City of Los Angeles today than there were when I was appointed Chief of Police in August, 1950. This has occurred despite the fact that civil service examinations have been given repeatedly
to
and we have exliausted every resulting eligible list. In an attempt remedy this situation, we have estabhshed extensive recruiting programs. We have prepared brochures which are handed out at the Separation Centers of the Armed Forces. We have directed information at the students in our colleges. We have prepared recruiting films. In the last instance, we have even used Jack Webb as the comentator, hoping to give some glamour to the poHce
service.
We have also made changes in certain job requirements. For exwe no longer require a high school diploma if the applicant can pass an educational background test. The Civil Service Department conducts police examinations in any part of the United
ample,
States
suflBcient applicants.
We
are
now
allowing
they are
still
able to
requirements,
we
will accept
them
this
we
will not
be able to obtain
manpower
On
we
physical defects.
The
I.Q.
about 110, roughly the college entrance average. A policeman's job has become so complex that if we ever drop below that level we will be in serious trouble.
is
Department
212
213
who do not possess that degree of intelligence cannot cope with the complex tasks which are thrust upon policemen
Persons
today.
The
decline of police
I
man power
is
problem.
was
in
New York
New
police department.
There are many factors involved in this country-wide problem of insuflBcient pohce man power. As far as the question of pay is involved, there is httle doubt that the more money you oflFer people the better your chances of obtaining their services. But in my responsibility as General Manager of the police department I have taken the position that the matter of salaries rests with the City Council and the Mayor. During my twenty-seven years service I have come to the firm belief that the treatment which has been afi^orded the pohce in America is at least partially responsible for the current problem. This conviction is shared by growing numbers of police administrators. Too often it is the vogue to attack the police upon the slightest provocation, blaming them for the ills of society. The result has been to make the police servdce so unpopular that, in many cases, the person who is intelligent enough to be a police
oflBcer
is
its
own
preserdiflFer-
vation,
ently.
is
its
police quite
read on the front page of a newspaper yesterday a very emotional editorial, asking us to prevent crime by using "clubs and
I
mailed
fists." I
remember the
thirty-two
men
disciplined just
for
thought perhaps the author of that editorial should go up to the penitentiary and talk to those policemen that are in there now because they became emotional and did the things that
Christmas."
I
If that writer will look at the facts he department is not today an emotional will discover that the police organization. We are a group that is hmited by the very laws that
this editorial
urged be done.
we
in
enforce. It is a strange commentary that during the same week which we are celebrating the Bill of Rights, some people are
214
Now
let
We
have identified the several young men who were involved. Frankly, it seems to me amazing that we were so quickly able to determine who they were, and yet no one seems to have given any thought to that! According to the press reports, hundreds of people were at the scene at the time, but where are the witnesses? Of the good citizens who are lamenting the fact that the police didn't happen to be there at the time, none came forward and offered to assist us by identifying the participants. And yet, without any cooperation from the citizens present, we have the suspects in custody. It is also worth mentioning that our nine-man Juvenile Gang Squad has not once failed to identify participants
in these serious crime incidents.
interrogated
you to know that this Juvenile Gang Squad some of those same suspects on the previous Saturday night. At that time they had not committed any unlawful act and there was no justification for their arrest. And if you think that police can arrest without justification, I suggest that you ask the City Attorney about the eagerness with which some people sue the police. The present total of law suits against the Chief of Police and his officers is close to fifteen million dollars! Another question that has been raised is why we have only nine men on our Juvenile Gang Squad. I thought that was a large
It
might
interest
we
officers. The Juvenile The Gang Squad merely supplements their work. Men on the Juvenile Gang Squad are assigned primarily to the problems involving people of Latin origin. Nearly every officer on the Squad is of
There have been some questions about curbing juvenile deit be clear that we are talking about a problem that is not too far removed from adult delinquency. I do not choose to regard the juvenile problem as totally independent of the whole crime problem. Juvenile delinquency is part and parcel of the present course of American behavior. Everyone seems to be wondering why the police let incidents
linquency. Let
215
It
who is blamed But let's Only two or three months ago the demand was upon us to place more and more policemen on the freeways. Well, they can't be on the freeways and at Seventh and Broadway at the same time. Let's talk about the parade situation in Los Angeles. From a police deployment and manpower perspective, it is a disturbing subject. In a recent parade in the San Fernando Valley, we were asked to deploy some 135 oflBcers. That is 135 police man-days that were taken away from the fundamental job of protecting this city. That is 135 days where places like Seventh and Broadway will not be patrolled because someone had a parade. We have a small department here in Los Angeles. It can only accomphsh so many tasks! I invite you to visit our stations and watch our men work forty and fifty hours on cases without sleep; wdthout any pay for overtime; and with little chance of ever getting the time back. Then show me any other line of endeavor where that is done! I hope the day never comes but I'm not sure it won't when a policeman pursuing a criminal hears the whistle blow, stops his car, picks up his lunch bucket, and goes home. Perhaps the source of our police manpower problem lies in the fact that you expect more of a policeman than you do of anybody else! Perhaps the answer to the problem Hes in giving some attenalways the poor policeman
1
facts.
here to a standard higher than that of any other person! Next is the public ofiBcial when he does things which are done without
is
excoriated.
Then
thirdly, there
this latter is
is
an interesting subject the mores of contempois increasing at a more rapid rate than the population! This is a frightening thing! The Census Bureau tells us that from 1940 to 1960 we will experience an increase of forty million people in the United States. And if crime continues to increase more rapidly than the population, what is the end? Even today your state prison authorities say there is no more
rary society.
Now
Crime today
room
in the penitentiary.
And
216
to
open the back door and let men out prematurely in order to make room for men coming in the front door! You can blame the situation on your police if you wish. You can lay it in their laps, if you want to. Blame them even for social problems over which they have little control. (And, incidentally, this is a reason why people who want to be popular don't become policemen). But let's be practical and realistic. The police do not create crime problems! But they are expending more effort toward their solution than any other single group! Have you given any thought to the fact that the Los Angeles Police Department sponsors twenty-three Boy Scout troops, the largest number of Scout units sponsored by any pohce department in the United States? Do you know that a great deal of this work is done by pohce officers on their off-duty time, without
"What
compensation? This is just one instance that answers the question are we doing?" It appears we are doing more than our
We
Deputy Auxiliary
Police or-
week
it
was
my
Deputy Auxiliary
Police a savings
man
after
to
whom
this
bond of $500 sent down by The young Auxiliary Policebond was presented was a fine Negro boy who
man who
fled here
he shot and killed an inspector of the San Francisco Pohce Department. And, I will gamble, there was no such furor raised over this police officer's death as there has been over the incident we are talking about today. We are not even certain this local death is a homicide. We may end up with nothing more than a
battery.
Certainly, I lament the present affair, and my sympathies are with the deceased's family. But let's talk about facts. We are con-
is
it.
Nothing
solved by hysteria!
it!
217
day and that won't solve it! Some day the American people will have to wake up to the facts. They had better realize that the criminal army they have in their midst numbers some six milHon people a number which is far greater than social elements which have overthrown established governments before! The underground criminal element here is growing every day and growing out of proportion to the population. Unless you get in back of your pohce and give them support and add some dignity and social status to the job, then with this crime wave will go your
democracy!
The
Under our form
tionship
Rehabilitation Center
of government,
it is
between the people of a community and their police if the police task is to be properly performed; the efficiency of any police service depends largely upon the confidence of the people
whom
it
serves. It
is
as tragic as
it is
been frequently lacking in communities throughout America and police efficiency has been a topic of conversation rather than a reality. Many factors have contributed to this untenable situation such as: poor working conditions and inadein the police has
quate salaries resulting in inept police personnel; manipulation of the pohce as a tool of patronage by venal political office holders;
the distinctly American custom of making the police service the major issue in local elections; a tendency on the part of some of the courts to place the people and the pohce in two alien camps; and, a remarkable inarticulacy on the part of the pohce. When under attack the police have generally remained silent due to bewilderment or vulnerability. Thus, an essential ingredient of mutual understanding has been lacking, i.e., unobstructed channels of communication between the police and the public. The City of Los Angeles is unique in many respects. No political
its
grew
It has been many years since any special privilege group has been able to influence the police
my
geles desire
premise that the majority of the residents of Los Anand demand an efficient, honest, effective, impartial,
service; a premise that I predict will
be
Imbued with
this philos-
ophy, and conscious of the freedom of the local police service from the wrong type of political control, I assumed the position of
218
219
and one half years ago. This report you tonight might well be termed a "white paper" on the local
police situation.
Although bonds had been voted by the people in 1947 to provide for a pohce administration building and a rehabilitation center for alcoholics, nothing had been accomplished on the rehabilitation center. The police building site had been acquired and plans completed, but the design was for a monumental type building, the cost of which far exceeded the funds available. Although the plans cost about $480,000 to prepare, it was finally determined that it would be better to set them aside and start all over. We turned to a completely functional design and, on August 1, 1955, we began occupancy of the completed building which is a model of efiiciency and one that cost approximately five million dollars less than the estimated cost of the original design. This
police building has ninety percent usable floor space as compared with fifty-seven per cent in the City Hall. The structure with its 400,000 square feet of floor space will do the job required of it
in the foreseeable future.
To go
of the evening. It
the opinion
for the
many
become
model
entire country.
The Rehabilitation Center is located north of the town of Saugus and was dedicated on March 25, 1954. It consists of 588 acres of land on three distinct levels of elevation. At present almost 600 alcoholics who have become police problems are serving sentences at the Center and learning to readjust their lives. In
reality, the rehabilitation of
ity,
alcohohcs
is
but the failure of others to assume the task has resulted in the police undertaking the job. Experts have praised the operation as the most progressive in the country. Some of the highlights of its operation will be of interest.
Upon
is
and
the inmate
skilled in practical psychology. An effort is made to determine the underlying causes of his abnormal behavior in order that correc-
tive
measures
is
may be
therapy
applied.
220
under the direction of a professional chef and is based on the recommendations of a dietician. The inmate may eat all of the food he wishes as long as nothing is left on the tray. Each inmate is required to bathe and shave daily and is issued a complete set of
clean clothing each day.
ious trades. Alcoholics
He
is
week
and
are
shown and a
library
available.
center consists of farming and the various crops reduce food costs
ready for release he visits the he is supplied with free clothing from a stockpile of used garments donated primarily by pohce oflBcers. While post release observation has not been engaged in, we believe that progress is being made. Among the large number of Christmas cards received by the Center StaflF were many from former inmates who stated they were still "on
to the taxpayer.
When
if
the inmate
is
the
a year
had passed
lease.
In addition to the completion of these two big projects, the capital-improvement requirements of the police department for the next ten years have been established. The site has been acquired
police stations
and building plans are being prepared for one of the four new needed in the San Fernando Valley. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we are policing the Valley, with an area of 212 square miles and more than 600,000 inhabitants, from one
police station.
The
study which discloses that eighty per cent of the time of the field is consumed in answering calls, leaving only
total time for all other activities.
all
Time
will not
of the things
in this city.
that have
been done
has been accomplished through reorganization and the improvement of procedures. We have studied and adopted modern
business techniques where such measures would apply.
force. Additional training
Much
The
utili-
field
The
substitution
221
assignments wherever feasible has increased the level of service. As of June 3, 1953, approval by a competent psychiatrist is a condition precedent to
employment
as a police officer.
Disciphne has
high level and unethical conduct has been swiftly dealt with. Many authorities in the field of law enforcement have praised the Los Angeles Police Department as the best in the nation. As it is human nature to take accomplishment for
been maintained
at a
granted,
believe
it is
increased by more than one quarter of a million persons and this figure may be even greater when the current census is complete.
tered in this citv since that date. Eighteen and a half miles of free-
and one-half
in existence at that
must be remembered that the remainder of growing at an even more rapid rate and that many of the inhabitants around us move in, out of, and through the city proper. In the face of this growth in the problem, it is imperative that you realize that there are twenty fewer policemen in Los Angeles than there were on June 15, 1950. While it is true that 313 clerical and technical personnel have been added since that time to replace police officers on inside duty and to somewhat compensate for the increased work load, other factors have occurred that more than oflFset this gain in manpower. When the Rehabilitation Center was opened in March, 1954, it was necessary to transfer sixty-two police officers from field operations to the Center. Efi^ective July 10, 1955, pohce officers were given parity with other city employees in the matter of days oflF and vacations. While this action was most appropriate it will require 326 additional police officers to make up for the loss in the size of the eflFective force on duty; this will result in an annual deficit of 57,664 man-days of service so far as the present police complement is concerned. Another important factor is reflected in a report compiled by Griffenhagen and Associates entitled "A Method of Determining Annual Adjustments in Fire and Police Salaries" dated February
222
15, 1956. The report contains the results of a survey recommended by the Mayor and ordered by the City Council. After taking into consideration all of the perquisites including time off and pensions, the report concludes that Los Angeles policemen have been underpaid since 1946. Meanwhile, America has been losing the war against crime. According to FBI statistics, during the period from 1950 through 1954, crime increased at four times the rate
In spite of
tion increased
all
two
per cent increase was the limit to be expected. An increase was also experienced during 1955 reflecting the highest individual ac-
complishment in the department's histoiy. The local crime rate began to descend when a trend was established about May of 1953. As this trend continued into 1955, a fifteen per cent decrease in major felony offenses was experienced during the first quarter of that year compared with the same period of 1954. Crime was going down, arrests were up, and the criminal aniiy was gradually being contained. Then somebody changed the rules! The State Supreme Court, on April 27, 1955, for the first time in Cahfornia's history, invoked the exclusionary rule upon the courts of this state. Crime then started an upward climb.
Chapter Eleven
Chiefs Messages
Annual Report 1952
WHEN
when
is
made
excellent progress
it is
sometimes
and pays
its cost.
By
tions
working condiand which can exist order in the community is a partnership of a type only in a working democracy. Our city is no exception to this rule. Los Angeles has, and will
and management, he
which
it
collectively desires.
can be no worse. poHce progress here is the fact that the department has remained consistently free from partisan political control. The City Administration has been alert to the terrible danger a "captive" police department would represent to the people of our city. The Los Angeles police officer has been can be no better than
that,
and
it
The
free to
do
his job
with
full impartiality,
owing
responsibility only
and duly constituted police authority. make it obvious that most Los Angeles citizens have accepted their responsibilities toward law enforcement. Conditions favorable to police progress have been created, and the result is depicted on the following pages. It would be difficult to read this account without the thought
The
225
226
occurring that a
process of birth.
or matures to
fill
profession
may be
in the
emerges
ment
it
continues to find.
am
I
not
bound
to win,
bound
have.
to succeed,
but
him while he
goes wrong.
must stand with anybody who stands right; stand with stands right, and part company with him when he
Abraham Lincoln
As we celebrate Lincoln's birthday on February but be impressed by the speeches and writings
12,
we
cannot
of the Great
Emancipator. Though written many years ago, they are as modern as tomorrow, and could well be heeded today.
members of our profession is the quoThe philosophy expressed herein, honored by its strict observance, carried Lincoln through trials which few men in history have been called upon to face. Lincoln's words expressed a true concept of loyalty. They do
Particularly pertinent to
tation above.
On
Some
gained through the realization that others have met the same test successfully through strict adherence to Lincoln's policy, as expressed in these forceful words.
may be
The
It is a fact that, of the modest satisfactions derived from pohce work, comradeship ranks near the top. Every pohceman has felt
inception in
common
trust.
and duty,
it is
a respected attribute.
is
Unfortunately, fraternahsm
Chief's Messages
ligation
227
by
all
who
are ready
own
selfish
to demand loyalty in others, they fail to thought or deed. They do not understand that this virtue imposes obligations upon themselves as well as upon others. Instead, they look upon it as a cloak to be held by brother
in either
oflBcers so as to
hide their
own
all
selfish acts.
to exaggerate the
meaning
of fraternalism until
becomes an
all-
There are
also oflBcers
whose
them
who
to
fratemahsm.
There are
fine oflBcers
tragic, indeed,
when
they
mistaken sense of loyalty to a few individuals blind them to the greater loyalty they owe to themselves, to the police department, and to society.
let a
is
no loyalty
to individuals; there
The Beat,
April, 1953
is
all oflBcers. It
becomes particularly
consistently
distressing when he knows that they are performing highly satisfactory poHce work. Like every other police oflBcer, a Chief is subject to the human limitations of time, mental fatigue, and physical endurance. The multitude of managerial tasks just does not allow an individual hands-
clasp
to
hundreds of
oflBcers
every
month.
Your splendid eflForts during the first quarter of 1953 should be recognized not only by this oflBce but by the public. Although national crime rates are steadily rising, we have fore-
228
stalled
comparable increases here. Those categories which react sound law enforcement are being forced downward. Arrests and convictions are up. We are winning the fight against the narcotic menace. Integrity and devotion to duty have reached a level which, I am certain, has never been approached by another
to
large department.
is
The
Awards have long been against enemies both within and without a
an individual acts in defense of a small unit of from the honor that courage earns. It sometimes requires more fortitude to engage the enemy on a dark and lonely city street than when spurred by the mass courage of the battlefield. An award representing the gratitude of one city is as significant of honor and valor as weightier decorations from the governments of whole nations. These are some of the principles prompting the reissuance of the Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor. Its integrity and true worth will be protected. The recommendation of two departmental boards, the endorsement of the Chief of Police, and the approval of the Board of Police Commissioners are refact that
The
quired for
its
award.
Medal
have won the right to wear this symbol on their uniform. It is my earnest wish that they will exercise that privilege. Too often we believe the severe requirements of police duty are not recognized by others. However, the presentation of the awards during our Annual Police Show evoked a spontaneous display of gratitude by citizens present. The display of this award will continue to serve as a reminder to them and an inspiration
twenty
officers
to all of us.
CfflEp's
Messages
229
You may
It
concon-
ducted on a high plane and that our experiment in professional law enforcement would not be destroyed for transient political advantage. In other words, we hoped no candidate would sabotage the community's first line of defense merely for the sake of a few
emotionally directed votes.
It was a plea that often has been made here as in other cities, but seldom heeded. However, as the campaign progressed, it became apparent that the integrity of the city's poHce officers
Although the
result,
Every home
be
safer,
were saved the humiliating and degrading experience of service as the pohtical "whipping boy." These facts bode well for our professional future. It is axiomatic that to render maximum service to the community there must exist a culture which will permit the police to operate aside and apart from the political arena. The events of the past few weeks indicate that such a culture does exist and it is incumbent upon
all
of us to preserve
it.
230
A few weeks ago an unfortunate and unhappy man prepared to throw himself from the roof of a downtown office building. A PIC
officer
summoned by
life.
saving of a
During the same month two officers in Hollywood courageously risked their reputations by refusing to gun-fight armed felons in a crowded building. By allowing themselves to be forced outside at gun-point, the capture was made by an alert detective team. Only a short time before this, a skilfully coordinated search of the metropolitan area resulted in the capture of an armed gunman who had murdered a San Francisco poHce
officer.
made
in
such a
way
zine
These are only three examples. The entire space of this magawould be necessary to sketch every case of skilled, courageous, and devoted police service. This close look at our job is necessary now and then to remind us of a fact: a man can be proud to wear the uniform of a Los Angeles pohce officer. Pride which has been earned is a healthy
thing.
We
it
in 1954.
how
important
is it
security?
its
police
would
ment.
many
We
Thousands
work. They are not afraid of hard discipline; they are not physical cowards; they would like an opportunity to serve society. What's the problem? Simply that they consider a police oath would automatically deprive
them
of the respect
and
status they
want
in
life.
may
Chief's Messages
231
is
child
who
is
not
likely to grow up with any great respect for the laws which the police enforce. Decades of misrepresentation and abuse in media
of public entertainment
left their
mark. Crime
rates are rising steadily, increasing at a greater rate than the population. Society is finding that it cannot ridicule the enforcers
of law on one hand and build respect for law on the other. You cannot separate the two any more than you can separate educa-
tion
from teachers,
very possible
justice
ministry.
soon observe a very definite switch in the public attitude toward the pohce. In Los Angeles a new awareness of the elemental importance of law enforcement can aheady be felt. Whether this change of attitude matures into
It is
we
will
genuine dignity and prestige for our profession will depend largely upon whether we continue to deserve public respect.
an unusual amount of commendatory news. Various aspects of our job have been featured in national magazines. Motion pictures and television studios, attracted by the popularity of authentic police portrayals, are adopting a documentary approach
to police stories.
This has gone beyond the point of mere publicity. It reflects a genuine change in pubhc attitude. Los Angeles is being looked to as the focal point of a new approach to law enforcement an ap-
proach emphasizing
and service. Who is responsible for this change, and who must be charged with maintaining the ground won? The answer is obvious the
ethics, science,
pressions, direct
and
he does a sloppy
job,
no amount he does
good
job,
and the
news
is
he has done a good job, then public cooperation follows. Prompt, efficient, and courteous police work in the field is the secret of any success we have had. Abiding public cooperation is
232
waymile by
We
have
just
passed the
fifth
anniversary of an institution
To be
effective, a
confidence, and to
a potent force.
justifiable
this community. law enforcement agency must achieve pubHc this end, the Internal Affairs Division has been
The
citizens of this
community know
that their
are aware that police officers of this jurisdiction do and cannot, act vidth indifference to lawful process. They know that their department claims no immunity particularly when it is brought to their attention that the department has the integrity to obtain its own complaints against errant members. Also, to be effective, a law enforcement agency must preserve internal morale against the malicious attacks of a small segment
action.
They
not,
of the public.
To
has earned
the gratitude of
many
officers
been the subject of unwarranted villification. The movement toward professionahzation of law enforcement is bringing pressures in the areas of standards and ethics; the Internal Affairs Division of this department is contributing much toward this progress and deserves the support and respect of citizen and officer alike it either deteriorates or improves itseff.
An
is
direction of improvement.
INDEX
Crime, birth
of,
13
99 41-42
American Legion,
xi
prevention, 11-12, 16, 66, 101 rates, 42, 53-54, 58-60, 67, 119-121,
125, 208
repression, 102
70
Audit, 84
Criminal
justice,
58
B
Barrett,
D
128
Decentralization, 83
Edward
L.,
24
Deputy Auxiliary
Police, 45,
216
Deutsch, Albert, 79
Dictograph, 99 California penal code provisions, 103n
Definition,
Blackmail, 58
B'nai B'rith, x
102n
files,
Discrimination, 161-164
Boy Scouts
of America, xi
Drunk-repeater
43
Brandstatter, A. F., 84
62
and
police,
190
Cahan
126-130 Capital-improvement planning, 92, 94 Census tracts, 83 Civilian employees, 45, 193 Civil liability of police, 115
Civil rights, 102,
130-131, 222
Faith, 17
105
118
Federal
government
and
organized
crime, 63-64
Fiscal planning, 89-92
158-159
services,
Community
unwarranted, 191 Confidence, public in police, 25-26 Control by administrator, 193 Coordination in planning, 78, 93, 95 Corruption, 21-22
Forms
Freeways, 77
233
234
Parker on Police
Man
Griifenhagen and Associates, 221
power, planning, 84
section,
H
Hamilton, Captain, 63
80-87
207
xi,
Intelligence Division,
61, 198
law enforcement, 188-189 case, 113 of Valor, 228 Michael case, 117 Minority-group, pressures, 163 discrimination, 161-162 Modus operandi, 87
Mayer Medal
Intelligence requirements,
212 232
J
Jail,
N
Narcotics,
191
209
Neyhart, Dr.
Amos
E.,
178
209
Northwestern University, x
O K
Olney, Warren
ix,
III, xi
37,
One-man
220
Law,
of God, 15
on litter, 142-143 prima facie speed, 178 Le Doux case, 113 Legal section, 80 Leisure, 30 Leonard, V. A., 74
Liberty of individual, 20-21, 24, 29 Lincoln, Abraham, 118, 226
Linn, Clarence A., 126
conspicuous, 206
districts,
83
cars, 42-43, 205,
one-man
220
92,
94
M
McGee, Richard
Mafia, 55-57
A.,
transfers of,
195
66
John M., 74
Index
Philosophy of service, 20-22
Physical planning, 92, 94
235
6, 27,
Recruitment,
41,
93
88
in,
218
Religion, 18-19, 32, 59, 67
78, 93,
coordination
95
Reporting
districts,
83
forms section, 81
legal section, 80 manuals and orders
section,
80-87
Salaries, police,
221
participation in, 78
Simon
case,
116
36
193
Strengtli, police,
42
189
148
7-8
6, 21,
vi'elfare,
Police
and public,
communications between, 138, 145 Political control, 62, 204 Political support, 36 Population density, 40, 67, 92-94 Prejudice, 156-161 Press, 156, 213, 231 Probation system, 68
Professionalization of police service,
xi,
168
congestion, 170
education, 169
engineering, 171
planning, 88-89
problem, 168
Training, police, 7, 37-38, 41, 154, 207
traffic officers,
182
40-41, 189
U
8,
Promotions, selection
Prostitution,
for,
196
108
W
Waite, John Barker, 125 Washington, George, 18
R
Reasonableness, test
of,
111
Welfare of society, 21, 23 Wilson, O. W., 74, 84, 204 Wiretapping, 64, 99, 102, 108 California penal code provisions, 103n Work loads, 75 measurement of, 96
This Book
PARKER ON POLICE
Edited by
O.
W. Wilson
was
set,
printed and
Menasha, Wisconsin. The page trim size is 6 X 9 inches. The type page is 26 X 43 picas. The type face is Linotype Caledonia, set 11 point on 13 point. The text paper
is
70#
is
Holliston
78239KWM
careful attention is given to all manufacturing and design. It is the Publishers desire to present books that are satisfactory as to their
details of
With
THOMAS BOOKS
and
physical qualities
artistic possibilities
and appropriwill
THOMAS BOOKS
will.
be
good name
and good
PARKER ON POLICE
FRANK STRAIGHTFORWARD SIMPLE PRESENTATION
Showing the great qualities of Chief Parker's leadership implemented by patience diplomacy sound judgnaent. unusual moral courage and great physical and emotional
, , ,
strength
Following a brief biographical profile of William H. Parker, Chief of Police, Los Angeles, California, Chapter I is Parker's Radio Address Following His Appointment as Chief of Police. Then:
PHILOSOPHY TO BUSINESSMEN
POLICE
PARKER ON PUBLIC RELATIONS
IN
Police Department. Consisting of Bulletins 1-173. Developed to give the policeman a perjnanent reference which would assist him in knowing, understanding and applying approved policies, rules, procedures and techniques to enable individual officers to prepare for advancement. Pub. '54, 284 pp. (8 1/2 x 11), 232 il.. Cloth, $7.50
all
the Professional Interests of Enforcennent Personnel. Editor, V. A. Leonard. Price a year: United States, U. S. Possessions, PanAmerican Union and Spain, $3.00; Canada, $3.25; other foreign cotintries, $3.50.
CHARLES C THOMAS
PUBLISHER
SPRINGFIELD
ILLINOIS