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IN
VOL. XVIII, NO. XX
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, SATURDAY, MAY 24, 1902.
ESTABLISHED IN 1886
GUARDIANS OF LINCOLN'S PEACE,
Efficiency of Its Police Officers, Buttressed by the High Grade
of Public Morality, Gives the City the
Distinction of Maintaining the Smallest Department in the World
Lincoln is the moat orderly munici
pality In the world. In no city of Its
size are there so few arrests, so few
infractions of the law, such a meagre
police force and so low a rate of ex
pense for police protection.
For the year 1901, eacn man, woman
and child in Lincoln paid barely twenty-nine
cents for police protection.
Thirteen officers guarded the interests
of 45,000 people at a total expenditure
of $13,035. During the year 1,579 people
were apprehended for all sorts of of
fenses. Intoxication caused the most trouble.
Five hundred and twelve persons were
brought In for this offense alone. Va-
grancy was next on the list with 323
aevuietra. -me- larceny company-numbered
101. Ninety-four people were
charged with assault and battery, fifty
disturbed the peace and eleven were
accused of a tendency to enter the
domiciles of citizens without first
formally agitating the doorbell.
All other offenders, big and little,
great and small, aggregated 4S6. Num
bered in this throng were nineteen stu
dents, the grand crop for the year
culled from a horde of scholars num
bering fully 5,000.
Police headquarters In the city lack
considerable of being ideal. There is a
woman's cell well equipped with com
fortable beds. Cells for men are dark
compartments with rude bunks upon
which the unfortunate are compelled
to recline. One large room, marked
off from all the rest, contains a stove
and is technically called the "bull pen."
In this the offenders of the fairly "de
cenf.are herded together.
A new patrol wagon Has recently been
purchased by the department. The
vehicle was built in the city by a local
firm and is supposed to be the very
latest in the line of a "hurry" wagon.
Rides of any length in this piece of
property can be secured for the nom
inal sum of $1.
P. James Cosgrave was chosen police
judge at the last city election. He has
established several precedents during
his term. Lawyers are not accepted as
sureties for clients who have to furnish
ball. Old offenders run up against a
cumulative sentence system that plies
it on a little harder for eaoh offense.
Henry V. Hoagland has been chief
of police for four years. He has had a
long and varied experience in dealing
with the criminal classes. He is a close
and ardent student of criminology, be
lieving that there is some good In ev
- eryona-and that-alL.6xc?pfc the natur
al born criminals can be reformed
and made useful members of society.
In the discharge of his duty he has
made many friends and stands as a
glittering example of what a conscien
tious chief of a police force may do to
benefit and help the unfortunate of the
community.
Detective James Malone Is chief of
the Sherlock Holmes department. He
has been connected with the police
force for almost twenty years. In his
head he carries an accurate picture
of nearly every rogue that has visited
the city in times past. Strange wrong
doers he aligns at the station and en
courages them in conversation on
ethical problems. He is assisted by
Detective Franklin, who is the master
of the bloodhounds when they are
started on the trail of culprits.
William T. B. Ireland is night cap
tain of the police force. He arrived In
the city In 1SST and, with the exception
of three or four years spent with the
street railway company, has been Iden
tified with the police department. He
is considered a prompt and efficient
desk man with a comprehensive grasp
of his duties.
Job Hathaway presides at the desk
as day sergeant. The daylight men,
generally two patrolmen, are shifted
from time to time in order to relieve
the officers who are on duty nights.
Officer Green Is the senior with respect
to continuous service. Other patrol
men are Officers Harr, Reynolds, Joer
gers, Grady, O'Kane and David. Elmer
Sides is patrol driver and Mrs. Rachel
Hyde Is just completing her sixth term
as police matron.
Two sessions of police court are held
each day. Cases in which the testi
mony is complete are heard between 9
' and 10-oclock in thevmorning. When
night officers are required to be pres
ent the li.atters relating to the per
sonal liberty of the prisoners are gen
erally attended to and the cases come
up at 4 o'clock In the afternoon.
Burglars just released from the pen
itentiary are a constant source of an
noyance to the Lincoln police and es
pecial care Is taken to discourage their
stay in the city. A housebreaker, usu
ally a coward when cornered, will
sometimes take life in the twinkling of
an eye. When convicts are released,
the chief of the local police force usu
ally arranges an interview and can
generally tell whether or not the man
intends to lead a better life. Should he
be truly penitent he Is helped on his
way and, If he has friends In the city,
work Is secured for him.
But the men who come out of prison,
sullen and vindictive, are not allowed
to remain at liberty in Lincoln. Their
descriptions are given to the officers
and they are arrested on sight. As a
general rule they tilt to some other city
upon short notice and give no more
trouble.
This policy, deprecated by cheap sen
timentalists and amateur criminolo
gists. Is really necessary In Lincoln.
The police force is meager; the oppor
tunities for crime ubundant. Should
the penitentiary be allowed to disgorge
Its convicts Into the city, there would
soon be formed coteries of dangerous
criminals, troublesome to the authori
ties and inimical to the peace and safe
ty of the citizens.
The diminutive police force In Lin
coln has been the cause of much Jok
ing In various quarters. But there is
an effective organization and co-oper-atloa
among the men and their work
compares most favorably with Omaha
or other large cities, where the eqtilp.
ment costs a small fortune.
During recent years there has been
no crime of large dimensions that the
Lincoln police have not ferreted out
the perpetrators and brought them to
justice. Few cities of Lincoln's popu
lation can boast of such a record al
though they maintain two officers of
the law where only one Is salaried in
Lincoln.
A regular crusade has been Inaugu
rated against the hoboes. Specimens of
this class are arrested on sight. They
are either allowed to make a spring Tor
the green fields of the open country or
do time at the stone pile. As a usual
thing they sprint.
Each patrolman of the Lincoln police
force must cover an extensive beat and
kep tab on the goings and comings of
the people who need watching In his
particular neighborhood. This means
work and hustling. The fact that
crime is so effectually stamped out is
a testimonial to the efficiency and in
dustry of the policemen.
And Lincoln is the only city In the
world where one patrolman looks after
5.000 people with so little trouble and
so few arrests.
THE LINCOLN POLICE FORCE.
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