European Police Systems
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lPublications of tbe JSureau of Social ibsgicne
European Police Systems
BY
RAYMOND B. FOSDICK
Former Commissioner of Accounts, City of New York
%M0
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
I9H
Copyright, 1915, by
The Century Co.
Published, February, 1915
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
THE PURPOSE AND FUNCTION OF THE POLICE
PAGE
Definition of police.— Common purpose of all police bodies.—
Varying tasks.—Police task modified by economic conditions.
— By a city's size and the character of its industries.— By
relative homogeneity of population.— By national traits
and characteristics.— Comparative criminality of European
states.—'Varying conceptions of the police.—.British and
Continental conceptions contrasted.—< Different functions of
the police.— British and Continental functions contrasted.—
German police ordinances and penalties.— Umvieldiness of
the German system.— The common problem of the European
police 3
CHAPTER II
THE PLACE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE
STATE
European police forces usually under state control.— Municipal
control for smaller forces only.— Unique situation of London
police force.—London citizens voiceless in the management
of their police.— Features and consequences of this control.
— Police forces in provincial cities controlled by Watch
Committees.— Supervision by the Home Office.— Results of
Watch Committee control.— English county police.— State
control in Holland and Belgium.— Lack of uniformity in
control and organization in Germany.— Municipal control
versus state control in Germany.— Uniformity in Austria-
Hungary.—■ Movement toward centralization in Hungary.—
Centralized supervision in France.— Lack of thoroughgoing
municipal autonomy.— Peculiar situation of Paris.— The Na¬
tional Constabulary of Italy: the Carabinieri and the City
Guards.— Their common functions 38
CHAPTER III
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
The framework of organization in London.—- In the provincial
cities of England.— In Berlin.— In other German cities.—
V
Contents
page
In Vienna.— In Budapest.— In Paris.— In Rome.-— In Brus-
sels.— In Amsterdam.— Two types 'of organization distin¬
guishable : English and Continental.— Simple English type.
— Elaborate German type.— Paris changing to English form.
— Vienna's superiority.—1 Advantages of English type.—
Police work uniformly well done in all European countries . 99
CHAPTER IV
THE COMMISSIONER
European police administration a distinct profession.— Army of¬
ficers not generally desired.— Jurists preferred on the Con¬
tinent.— Examples.— System 'of promotion in Germany.—
The Austrian Rangsklasse system.— The Italian system.—
The Dutch system.— English provincial chief constables pro¬
moted from the ranks.— Examples.— London's commission¬
ers.— Indefinite tenure of office of the European commis¬
sioner.— Dismissal of inefficient or dishonest men.— Ex¬
amples.— Long term 'of office of average commissioner.—
Exceptions.—• London's experience.— System on the whole
excellent.— Commissioners' salaries 149
CHAPTER V
THE ASSISTANT COMMISSIONERS AND THEIR
DEPUTIES
London.—-The provincial cities.— Continental aversion to pro¬
motion from the ranks.— Berlin's method 'of training.—
Methods in Germany.—< In Amsterdam and Rotterdam.—
Austrian method most thoroughgoing.— The result in Vi¬
enna.— The practice in Italy.— The Scientific Police School
of Rome.— Advantages and disadvantages of recruiting of¬
ficers from outside the department.— The Vienna District
Commander and the London Superintendent.— A com¬
promise between the two extremes desirable 181
CHAPTER VI
THE UNIFORMED FORCE
Continental policemen taken from the army.— English police¬
men taken from private life.— The country districts the
source of London's recruits.— Methods of recruiting in Lon¬
don.— In the provincial cities.—«The army under-officer the
basis of the Continental department.— Kind of men obtained.
— Older than the English policemen.— Police training school
in Vienna.— In Berlin.— In Paris.—-In London.— Variations
in Great Britain and on the Continent.— Courses generally
vi
Contents
PAGE
too brief.— Lack of adequate equipment.— Instruction too
narrow.— Army versus private life as source of recruits.—
Objections to army men — Berlin Schutzmann versus Lon¬
don constable 19g
CHAPTER VII
THE UNIFORMED FORCE (Continued)
Salaries.— General inadequacy of pay.— Extra allowances.— Pro¬
visions for care of police.— Promotions.— Pensions.— Hours
of duty.— Discipline.— Absolute power of Commissioner in
enforcing discipline.— Exceptions.— Methods of controlling
force.— The centralized supervision of the Paris Contrôle
général.— Objections to this method in London and Berlin.—
Vienna's Bureau of Organization and Control.— Annual
divisional examinations in Budapest.— Berlin's " Beat Con¬
trol Book."—Variations in Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Lon¬
don.— Periodic change of London's beats.— Berlin's records
of employees.— Mechanical equipment in Berlin head¬
quarters.— Presence of supervising inspectors in London
police courts.— Daily reports of London's divisions . . . 237
CHAPTER VIII
THE DETECTIVE FORCE
Two main types of detective organization in Europe.— The cen¬
tralized plan and the decentralized plan.— Centralization de-
vèlops specialized detectives.— Decentralization develops
general detectives.— Decentralized system in London.— Cen¬
tralized system in Berlin.— Vienna's organization a compro¬
mise.— Paris changing from centralization to decentraliza¬
tion.— Advantages and disadvantages of the two plans.—
Selection and training of detectives in different European
cities.— Superiority of the English detectives over the Ger¬
man.— Reasons for superiority.— Equal success of German
detectives.— Legal advantages of German ^ detectives over
English detectives.— Superior office facilities of detective
bureaus in Germany 274
CHAPTER IX
METHODS OF CRIME DETECTION
Criminal record files.— Necessity for such files.— Chief problem
of detective bureau furnished by professional or habitual
criminals.— Berlin's elaborate records.— Criminal records
dependent upon accurate method of identification.— An¬
thropometry and dactyloscopy.— History of the two systems.
yii
Contents
PAGE
— Their rivalry.— Advantages of dactyloscopy.— Dactylo¬
scopic bureaus.— Necessity for cooperation in the exchange
of finger-prints.—Scotland Yard the clearing house for
Great Britain.— The national identification service of Italy.—
Unsatisfactory conditions in Germany.—- Necessity for inter¬
national cooperation.—• Crime indexes.— Various classifica¬
tion of photographs.— Tattoo and deformity register.—
Nickname and alias register.—Handwriting classifications.—
Newspaper clipping classifications.— Classifications of crimes
by methods.— The " M. O." system.— The German Melde-
wesen or registration system.— Its operation and uses.—Its
relation to the detection of crime.— The new science of
crime detection.—Criminal laboratories in European uni¬
versities.— The results of their work 315
CHAPTER X
THE INTEGRITY OF THE EUROPEAN POLICE
Special temptations of the police.— Question of integrity a fair
question.— Excellent reputation of the European police.—
Police have the confidence of the public.— Glasgow's pub¬
lic key office.— Report of the Royal Commission on the Met¬
ropolitan Police.— No " system " in European police forces.
— Existence of individual cases of corruption.— Examples.
—■ Integrity of police due to careful training of commission¬
ers and their unrestricted powers of selection and removal.—
Effect of the Continental class system on integrity.— The
class system and tipping.— Corruption diminished by char¬
acter of laws affecting public morality.— European police not
called upon to ^ enforce personal standards of conduct.—
The excise law in London.— System of rewards and gratui¬
ties a deterrent to corruption.— Conclusion 369
APPENDICES
I AN ACCOUNT OF MONIES EXPENDED FOR THE SER¬
VICE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE OF LONDON
DURING THE FISCAL YEAR FROM APRIL 1, 1911, TO
MARCH 31, 1912 289
II AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDGET FOR THE SERVICE OF
THE PREFECTURE OF POLICE OF PARIS FOR THE
FISCAL YEAR, JANUARY 1, 1914, TO DECEMBER 31, 1914 393
III AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDGET FOR THE SERVICE OF
THE POLICE DISTRICT OF BERLIN FOR THE FISCAL
YEAR, JANUARY 1, 1913, TO DECEMBER 31, 19-13 ... 394
• • •
Vlll
Contents
PAGE
IV AN OUTLINE OF TILE BUDGET FOR THE POLICE DEPART¬
MENT OF VIENNA FOR THE FISCAL YEAR, JANUARY
i, 1913, TO DECEMBER 31, 1913 396
V TABLE I.—SUMMARY OF ANNUAL EXPENDITURES AS
SHOWN IN PRECEDING APPENDICES 398
TABLE II.—COMPARISON OF COSTS OF SALARIES, AL¬
LOWANCES, AND EQUIPMENT OF UNIFORMED AND
DETECTIVE FORCES 398
TABLE III.—AREA OF POLICE JURISDICTION . . . . 399
VI ANNUAL BUDGETS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS OF
THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF EUROPE 400
VII STRENGTH OF THE POLICE FORCES OF THE PRINCIPAL
CITIES OF EUROPE 40I
VIII EUROPEAN POLICE COMMISSIONERS — QUALIFICA¬
TIONS AND MODE OF APPOINTMENT 403
BIBLIOGRAPHY 409
INDEX ^ 421
CHARTS
FACING
PAGE
ORGANIZATION OF THE METROPOLITAN FORCE OF LONDON IOo
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF BERLIN II0
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF VIENNA I2o
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF PARIS . . 126
ORGANIZATION OF THE DETECTIVE BRANCH OF THE METRO¬
POLITAN FORCE OF LONDON . 276
ORGANIZATION OF THE DETECTIVE BUREAU OF BERLIN . 280
ORGANIZATION OF THE DETECTIVE BUREAU OF PARIS . . 286
ix
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
The object of this book, the third of a series pub¬
lished by the Bureau of Social Hygiene, is to describe
and to discuss critically the essential features of the
police systems of the larger European municipalities.
The material presented was drawn from extended per¬
sonal inquiry and observation in the chief cities of Eng¬
land, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Italy, Holland and Belgium.1 To the investigation of
the subject and the preparation of the book almost two
years were devoted.
It affords me genuine pleasure to make the fullest ac¬
knowledgment of the aid given to me by governmental
officials, police officers and others all over Europe. To
mention by name those to whom my thanks are due is
manifestly impossible. But I may at least be permitted
to testify to the uniform and unwearied courtesy and
helpfulness which I encountered everywhere. Reports
and documents were freely placed at my disposal; un¬
hampered facilities for observation were furnished ;
1 The cities visited included London, Liverpool, Manchester,
Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paris, Lyons, Berlin, Hamburg,
Bremen, Dresden, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Vienna, Budapest,
Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
xi
Introductory Note
undant opportunity for discussion was given, and
finally the manuscript was read and criticized. To those
to whom I am indebted for these services I can never be
sufficiently grateful.
Raymond B. Fosdick.
New York City,
December 15, 1914.
xii
EUROPEAN POLICE SYSTEMS
EUROPEAN POLICE SYSTEMS
CHAPTER I
the purpose and function of the police
Definition of police.— Common purpose of all police bodies.—
Varying tasks.— Police task modified by economic conditions.—By
a city's size and the character of its industries,— By relative
homogeneity of population.— By national traits and characteristics,
— Comparative criminality of European states.— Varying concep¬
tions of the police,—British and Continental conceptions contrasted,
— Different functions of the police,— British and Continental
functions contrasted.—German police ordinances and penalties.—
Unwieldiness of the German system.— The common problem of the
European police.
The English word "police" as a term to signify an
organized body of constabulary is of comparatively mod¬
ern origin. When Sir William Blackstone published his
celebrated Commentaries in 1765, he gave it a much
broader meaning. " The public police and economy,"
he said, " must be considered as the due regulation and
domestic order of the kingdom, whereby the individuals
of the state, like members of a well-governed family,
are bound to conform to the rules of propriety, good
neighborhood, and good manners " 1— a definition wide
enough to include the entire domestic policy of a nation.
Not until the Parliament Act of 1787, which provided
1 Commentaries, Tenth edition, London, 1787, Vol, IV, p. 162.
3
European Police Systems
for a. constabulary system in Ireland,1 did the word come
to l>e used officially in its modern and somewhat limited
sense. To-day we mean by police the primary consti¬
tutional force for the protection of individuals in their
legal rights, or—'to use M. Louis Lépine's definition —
" an organized body of officers whose primary duties are
the preservation of order, the security of the person and
the safety of property." 2 To the study of the organiza¬
tion and operation of such bodies in European munici¬
palities this book is devoted.
The definition just given indicates the general pur¬
pose of all police bodies. It is at once evident, however,
that in fulfilling this purpose, the task of the police can
in no two communities be exactly the same. The police
problem is a variable problem, not only as between dif¬
ferent countries, but as between different cities in the same
country, and even as between different periods of time
in the same city. The Italian police are confronted with
a situation unfamiliar to the English police; Stuttgart
and Kônigsberg, two typical German cities, require in
the way of police activity, somewhat different treatment;
Vienna presents to-day a police problem quite distinct
from that of twenty years ago.
So many factors are responsible for these variations
that it is possible to mention only the more important.
Alterations in economic conditions, for example, inevi-
127 Geo. Ill c. 40. This act laid the foundation for the subse¬
quent formation, in 1836, of the Royal Irish Constabulary. See
History of the Royal Irish Constabulary, Curtis^ Dublin, 1871 ; and
the Report of the sCommittee on Inquiry, appointed by the Chief
Secretary for Ireland, Dublin, 1902.
2 La Police (Extrait du <( Répertoire du droit administratif")
Paris, 1905, p. 4.
4
The Purpose and Function of the Police
tably produce changes in the kind of activity required of
the police. Three hundred thousand paupers settled in
Liverpool during the four years that followed the Irish
famine of 1849, with consequences visible even to-day in
the peculiarly difficult problems which face the police au¬
thorities of that city. " I have no hesitation in saying,"
wrote the former Head Constable in 1910, " that by far
the greater part of the crime of Liverpool is due to
poverty."1 In Dresden, a German city of approxi¬
mately the same size, the police problem is far less acute.
For this condition a variety of causes may be assigned,
but prominent among them is the absence of a pauper
class. "We have no real poverty here," the police presi¬
dent of Dresden told the writer.
Again, the task of the police varies with the size of
a city and the character of its industries, A large
manufacturing center such as Birmingham or Manches¬
ter is, from a police point of view, decidedly more diffi¬
cult to handle than smaller, quieter cities like Worcester
and Lincoln. Not only is the total volume of crime
smaller in the latter cities, but the number of crimes per
thousand of population is smaller, while in point of va¬
riety the crimes themselves have a comparatively limited
range. Moreover, the proportion of serious crimes, such
as murder and burglary, is not so large in the smaller
towns as in cities of complex industrial development.2
1Report to the Watch Committee on the Police Department of
Liverpool for the year iqio.
2 These conclusions are borne out in striking fashion in the fol¬
lowing table (compiled from Judicial Statistics of England and
Wales, 1911, published by the British Home Office), in which a
comparison is made between the crimes of the thirty-three English
5
European Police Systems
The simple social and economic environment of the less
important municipalities produces a comparatively sim¬
ple police problem.
Similarly, the police problem varies according as the
population of a city is homogeneous or heterogeneous. A
population made up of different elements, each with its
own traditions, habits and racial peculiarities, is not so
easily directed or controlled as one having a common heri¬
tage and uniform customs. European cities show a some¬
what surprising homogeneity. Of the more than seven
million people living within the Metropolitan police dis¬
trict of London, only 211,000 were born abroad. Of
this number, 45,000 are Russians, 42,000 are Germans,
27,000 are Poles, 14,000 are Italians, while the remain¬
der consists of smaller numbers of various nationali¬
ties.1 In other words, less than three per cent, of
London's population is of alien birth. Similar condi-
boroughs which exceed 100,000 population each and the twenty-nine
which fall below that figure.
33 Boroughs over 29 Boroughs under
100,000 population 100,000 population
Average population 239,530 68,436
Total number of crimes*.... 34T36 5,628
Number of crimes per 10,000
population 43-19 28.36
Varieties of crimes 25.70 i5-8o
Proportion of serious crimes
(crimes against the person
and crimes against property
with violence) to total num¬
ber of crimes 16.8% 11.4%
* By " crimes " is meant indictable offenses known to the police.
1 Census of 1911. Vol. 9. This volume does not give the figures
for the Metropolitan police district as a whole.^ These statistics
have been obtained by adding the figures given in the census for
the administrative County of London to those of the other bor¬
oughs and districts that make up the Metropolitan Police District.
6
The Purpose and Function of the Police
tions exist in Berlin. Of a population numbering
2,071,257, German is the mother tongue of all but ap¬
proximately 60,000. Only 2.9 per cent, of the popula¬
tion speak a foreign tongue either in addition to, or
to the exclusion of, German.1 In Paris, 170,000 out of
2,720,000 represent other nationalities than French, ap¬
proximately 6 per cent., a figure somewhat higher than
that of Berlin or London.2 In Vienna, less than 1 per
cent, of the 2,031,498 inhabitants come from beyond the
bounds of the Dual Monarchy. The population of the
Austrian capital is, nevertheless, heterogeneous to a de¬
gree not indicated by this figure.3 The Empire embraces
a number of widely divergent and antagonistic races, and
the population of Vienna is steadily recruited not only
from Hungary but especially from the Czech provinces
of Bohemia and Moravia. This concentration of dis¬
cordant elements threatens ominously the peace of the
city described by Bismarck as the German capital of a
Slavic empire. With the exception, however, of Vienna
and other cities of Austria, the populations of European
cities are remarkably homogeneous, and the task of the
1 Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Berlin, 1913, pp. 40, 41. The
60,000 of whom German is not the mother tongue are made up
of 31,000 Poles, 3,600 Czechs, 3,000 Hungarians, 2,400 Russians,
I,860 English, 1,557 Italians, and other nationalities in lesser num¬
bers.
2 Annuaire statistique de la Ville de Paris, 1912. Figures are
based on the 1911 census. The 170,000 foreign population is made
up of 33,000 Belgians, 26,000 Italians, 25,000 Germans, 19,000 Swiss,
18,000 Russians, 11,000 English, 8,000 Americans, 7,000 Austro-
Hungarians, and other nationalities in smaller numbers.
3 Meyer's Konversationslexikon, Vol. 20, annual supplement 1910-
II. The Vienna figures are unsatisfactory for the reason that the
official returns showing the distribution as ^ to habitual language
include only the citizens of Austria who are living in Vienna rather
than the entire population.
7
European Police Systems
police in preserving law and order is correspondingly
simplified.
Again, the police problem throughout Europe varies
according to national traits and traditions. Though
some difference of opinion on the subject exists, there can
be little doubt that temperament and historic custom play
an important part in determining the task and methods
of police bodies. Consider, for example, the policing of
crowds. Two hundred thousand men may assemble in
Hyde Park, London, to discuss labor grievances without
menacing the public order. Like all British crowds they
are good-natured, even lethargic. Temperament and
habit unite to render such gatherings harmless. A simL
lar assembly in any of the Latin countries or in Austria-
Hungary, would need only the spark of some untoward
rumor or occurrence to make it dangerous, perhaps de¬
structive. " Our population is too excitable," the police
president of Budapest said, in discussing his military
plan of organization. " A civilian body or a force offi¬
cered by civilians would be overwhelmed." A similar
remark was made by one of the assistant secretaries of
state for Hungary. " In a country where the public has
learned to control itself," he said, " no great police force
is needed. You Anglo-Saxons have learned the lesson
of self-control; our people have not."
In some countries, whether for racial or historic
reasons, or both, there is greater respect for law and the
established order than in others. In this matter Eng¬
land and Germany are typical. Beyond question the
predominant public attitude in these countries is an at¬
titude of instinctive acquiescence to authority, and to this
8
The Purpose and Function of the Police
extent, at least, the task of the police in maintaining order!
is lightened. But even between England and Germany
the differences are so striking as to call for widely di¬
vergent police methods. England is frankly individual¬
istic in her point of view. The Englishman wants to
mind his own business, to look to his own safety, to
guard his own rights, to use his own judgment—»
in a word, to be let alone. The German point of view,
on the other hand, may fairly be called paternal¬
istic. The state must care for its own. So far from re¬
senting it, the German seems to require constant direction ;
without it he gives the appearance of being unable to take
care of himself. Orderliness in Germany is not born of
individual self-control; it is a social habit enforced by
the arm of authority. The country is placarded from
end to end with " Verboten" signs; the things for¬
bidden cover almost every phase of human activity. In
all public conveyances and in stations, on the streets and
in the parks, the citizen is informed by sign and official
warning not only as to actions prohibited but as to ac¬
tions mandatory. To these symbols of order the law-
abiding German invariably and instinctively submits.
One gets the impression that the Englishman's respect
for law is more basic, more a matter of principle than
that of the German. The respect of the latter runs
rather to correctness in outward form, according to the
prescription of public authority.
The police problem is vitally affected by this distinc¬
tion. German orderliness is proverbial. The streets
and parks of German cities are spotless. A hundred
thousand people bring their lunches to the Grunewald
9
European Police Systems
near Berlin every pleasant Sunday and leave it as clean
and clear of rubbish as when they entered. Vandalism
is practically unknown. Public disorder of any kind is
infrequent. From his childhood the German is drilled
to respect outward order and decency. On the other
hand, the British individualistic spirit demands a greater
freedom from restraint; it is inclined to be impatient of
mere rules; it does not readily submit to regulation for
the sake of the regulations. As a result the task of the
English constable in maintaining order, if less varied,
is frequently more difficult than that of his brother of¬
ficer in Germany.
National traits and characteristics also are responsible
for variations in criminality in the different countries
of Europe. At least, whether for racial or economic or
other reasons, certain crimes are more common in one
country than in another. There are more homicides
every year in southern than in northern Europe.1 En¬
rico Ferri, in his work on the anthropological phases of
homicide, classifies the European population under three
heads, declaring that homicide is most frequent among
the Latins, and least frequent among the Teutons (in¬
cluding the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians) while the
Slavic population occupies, in this respect, an intermedi¬
ate position.2 Unfortunately there are no reliable sta¬
tistics by which broad divisions of crime may safely be
1 But the common belief that Italy leads in the proportion of
homicides is not undisputed; Enrico Ferri, L'omicidio nell'antropo-
logia criminale, Turin, 1895, p. 252, claims that homicide is more
frequent in Spain than anywhere else in Europe.
2 But Ripley, Races of Europe, New York, 1910,, pp. 522-528,
would not attribute the difference to racial causes.
IO
The Purpose and Function of the Police
compared as between one nation and another. Perhaps
Augusto Bosco has made the most successful effort in his
book on the comparative criminology of European coun¬
tries.1 He rates the number of homicides for each one
hundred thousand of the population as follows :
Country Period of time Number
Italy 1895-1899 12.15
France 1895-1899 3.2 7
Ireland 1895-1899 2.46
Scotland 1895-1899 1.08
England 1897-1899 1.34
The lack of uniform laws and the varying systems of
crime classification have for the most part made extended
comparisons impossible. Enough has been adduced,
however, to show clearly a wide divergence in degrees
of criminality between the various European countries.2
1 La delinquensa in vari Stati di Euro pa, Bosco, Rome, 1903.
2 Similar variations among different peoples and in different sec¬
tions are found in the statistics of suicide. Based on the figures
of von Mayr in his Der Selbstmord (Allg. statist. Archiv, 1896, p.
722), Gustav Aschaffenburg {Crime and Its Repression, translated
by Albrecht, Boston, 1913, p. 35) shows the following comparison
of suicides per 1,000,000 inhabitants :
Country 1881-1890
Monaco 301
Denmark 255
Switzerland 227
Germany 209
France 207
Austria 161
Belgium 114
Sweden 107
England and Wales 77
Norway 68
Scotland 55
The Netherlands 55
Italy * 49
Roumania > 41
European Police Systems
Peculiarly interesting results are obtained by the in¬
tensive study of criminal statistics in particular countries.
It appears that in nations whose modern economic devel¬
opment is recent or as yet incomplete the more involved
forms of dishonesty increase rapidly from year to year.
We therefore expect to find, and do find, that in Ger¬
many and Austria, frauds, embezzlements and forgeries
are for the time being on the increase. On the other
hand, a nation that is advancing very slowly in economic
standing, such as Italy, or scarcely at all, such as Spain,
displays no increase in these more refined offenses of
modern life, while retaining a conspicuously high average
in the unpremeditated and savage crimes, such as homi¬
cide, rape, assault and battery.
Occasionally, different sections of the same country
show striking variations in criminality. In Belgium, the
number of illegitimate births varies between 2.6 per cent,
in Limburg and 14.6 per cent, in Brabant ;1 in Austria,
it varies between 2.6 per cent, in Istria and 44.16 per
cent, in Carinthia.2 In southern Italy, homicide is five
Country 1881-1890
Servia 38
Russia 32
Luxemburg 28
Spain 24
Ireland 23
Bosnia and Herzegovina 6
1 Bodio, " Movimento della popolazione/' Bulletin de l'institut in¬
ternational de statistique, Rome, 1897, Vol. X. Quoted from
Aschaffenburg, loc. cit., p. 33.
2 Szalardi, Der gegemmrtige Stand des Findelwesens in Euro pa,
1896. Quoted from Aschaffenburg, loc. cit., p. 34. The astonish¬
ing figure for Carinthia is borne out by the consistently high aver¬
age of illegitimate births throughout Austria. Aschaffenburg is
the authority for the following table, based on Bodio's figures (loc.
cit., p. 33) •
12
The Purpose and Function of the Police
times as frequent as in northern Italy, and assault three
times as frequent, while five robberies occur for every one
such crime in the north. The Sicilians show seven times
the homicide, four times the brigandage, and four times
the obscene crimes committed by an equal number of
northern Italians.1 Murder and manslaughter are four¬
teen times more frequent in Sardinia than in Lombardy.2
Similar differences exist between the various States of
Germany. The Bavarian Palatinate and the East Prus¬
sian Province, for example, show much higher figures
for personal assaults than the average for the empire.3
Per cent, of
Country
Year
illegitimate
births
Austria
14.73
Sweden
10.62
Denmark
950
Hungary
9-35
Germany
9.26
Belgium
8.99
France
1894
8.94
Scotland
1894
7.29'
Norway
7.17
Italy
1894
6.77
Finland
6.39
Roumania
6.06
Switzerland
4.70
England
4.31
Holland
3.12
Ireland
1894
2.73
Russia (excluding Poland)
1894
2.66
Servia
1.07
These percentages are roughly approximate to the figures for the
year 1910, as compiled in The Statesman's Year-Book, London,
1913, except that Sweden leads with a percentage of 14.25 to Aus¬
tria's 12.24 per cent.
1 Italia barbara contemporanea, Alfredo^ Niceforo, Milan and Pal¬
ermo, 1898. Quoted in The Old World in the New, E. A. Ross,
New York, 1914, p. 101.
2NiceforOj La delinquent® in Sardegna, Palermo, 1897. Quoted
in Aschafïenburg, loc. cit., p. 38.
3 Bosco, loc. cit., p. 34.
13
European Police Systems
Whether we attribute these interesting deviations to
racial characteristics,1 to economic conditions,2 or to cli¬
mate,3 one thing is certain: the police dealing with a
community in which homicide is of frequent occurrence
will not need to employ the more subtle modes of pro¬
cedure necessary in a country where homicide is rare,
and fraud, embezzlement, mail-order peculation and for¬
gery are the prevailing offenses. Police activity must be
adapted to the characteristic crimes.
To summarize, we see, that in spite of the common pur¬
pose underlying all police bodies, their problems are often
widely different. These differences are due to economic
conditions, to the size of a city and the character of its
industries, to the relative homogeneity of its population
and to national traits and traditions which tend to vary
both the volume and the character of crime. Sometimes
there are other factors, perhaps equally important, which
alter the police problem or which, in specific instances,
combine with the factors already mentioned to produce
special situations and corresponding tasks.
To this divergence of problem, as well as to the dis¬
tinct historic evolution through which each of the Euro¬
pean nations has come, we must look for an explanation
1 Ripley, loc. cit., pp. 522-28.
2 Criminalité et conditions économiques, W. A. Bonger, Amsterv
dam, 1905. The Relations of Economic Conditions to the Causes
of Crime, Carrol D. Wright, Philadelphia, 1900. Crime — Its Causes
and Remedies, Cesare Lombroso. Tr. from the French and German
editions by H. P. Horton, Boston, 1911, Ch. IX.
3 Das Verbrechen in seiner Abhdngigkeit von dem jdhrlichen
Temperaturwechsel, Enrico Ferri (Zeitschr. /. d. g es. Strafw. II, p.
13). Aschaffenburg, loc. cit., pp. 13 if.
Aschaffenburg, loc. cit., p. 54, makes the point that religion may
also account for variations in criminal inclination.
14
The Purpose and Function of the Police
of the differences in power and authority conferred upon
the police. In no two countries is the conception of the
police in its relation to the public exactly the same. In
Great Britain the police are the servants of the com¬
munity. Their official existence would be impossible
if their acts persistently ran counter to the expressed
wishes of the people. They depend for their effective¬
ness upon public sanction. They are civil employees,
whose primary duty is the preservation of public security.
In the execution of this duty they have no powers not
possessed by any other citizens. A policeman has no
right superior to that of a private person in making ar¬
rests or asking questions or compelling the attendance
of witnesses. Further, he must suffer the consequences
of any illegal action he may commit, and he cannot divest
himself of responsibility by pleading the orders of his
superior officer, if those orders happen to be illegal.1
In the language of Sir James Stephen: "With a few
exceptions a policeman is a person paid to perform, as a
matter of duty, acts which, if he be so minded, he might
have done voluntarily.7'2
1 In neither a civil action nor a criminal prosecution is it any
defense of itself for a constable to allege that he acted under the
orders of an officer whose command he was bound, by the regula¬
tions of the force, to obey. See Beckwith vs. Philby, 6 B. & C., 638.
2 A History of Criminal Law, Vol. I, Ch. XIV. There is but
one practical difference between the powers of the police and the
powers vested in every British citizen : A police officer may arrest
without warrant if he has a reasonable suspicion that a felony has
occurred; a private person cannot arrest under these circumstances
unless he has certain knowledge that a felony has actually occurred.
The humble position of the English constable has come down
through a long course of history and is thoroughly woven into
the common law. The following quaint sentence appears in Sir
Thomas Smith's The Commonwealth of England, edition of 1589:
" So that every Englishman is a sergeant to take the thiefe, and
is
European Police Systems
In sharp contrast is the Continental theory, which,
evolved from the necessities of autocratic government,
makes of the police force the strong arm of the ruling
classes. The Continental policeman is the servant of the
Crown or the higher authorities; the people have no
share in his duties, nor, indeed, any connection with
them. He possesses powers greatly exceeding those of
the citizen. Under ordinary circumstances he cannot be
prosecuted for illegal action unless permission is obtained
from the government,1 and even then he enjoys the
privilege of special laws administered by special courts
regulating the relations of public officials to private citi¬
zens.2 Where, in England, the constable may ask no
question of those whom he arrests or is about to arrest,
criminal procedure on the Continent is based on the inter-
who sheweth negligence therein do not only incurre Evil opinion
therefore, but hardly shall escape punishment." (Quoted from
A History of Police in England, Capt. W. L. Melville Lee, London,
1901, p. 334.)
1 In Germany, under the recent act of May 5, 1910, the national
government has assumed the responsibility determined in para¬
graph 839 of the Civil Code for deliberate wrong or negligent act
which any imperial officer may commit against a third person.
Hamburg's law on this point is typical of the legislation in the
various states. Any one who considers himself injured by a police
officer may ask the department whether it will answer for the
act of its officer. If this question is answered affirmatively within
four^ weeks, action may be brought against the department. If
within this time no answer is made, the question is considered as
answered negatively. (Hamburgisches Gesetz betr. das Verhdltnis
der Verwaltung zur Rechtspûege vom 23. 4. 1870, par. 31.)
21 Thus, in France, if any official from a cabinet minister to a
policeman commits acts in excess of his^ legal authority, as, for
example, a police officer wrongfully arresting a private citizen, the
rights of the party aggrieved and the mode in which those rights
are to be determined, is a question of Administrative Law (Droit
administratif)—a distinct body of special laws administered by spe¬
cial courts. Dicey, in his Introduction to the Study of the Law of
the Constitution, 3d edition, London, 1889, Ch. V, has an interesting
discussion of this question from an English point of view.
16
The Purpose and Function of the Police
rogatory system, and the police of Germany, Austria,
Italy and France are allowed to resort to what are popu¬
larly known as " third degree " methods in their en¬
deavor to wring a confession of guilt from those whom
they accuse. " I have asked dozens of educated Ger¬
mans living in England," says an eminent German jurist,
" as to the most characteristic difference between German
and English penal procedure. Invariably the answer
was : in Germany the accused must prove his innocence ;
in England his guilt must be proved. This is the im¬
pression one gets from our system." 1
Again, in Germany, where a distinction is made be¬
tween arrest and detention (Verhaftung and F est-
ncihme), men may be taken to police stations, questioned
and even detained for twenty-four hours, although there
is no charge against them and no reasonable ground for
suspicion. Moreover, the right of search, restricted by
stringent provisions in England and used only in excep¬
tional circumstances under judicial direction, is, in Ger¬
many and Austria, much more freely employed, its use
resting in many cases solely upon police discretion.2
Similarly the police in Germany and Austria and to a
1 Karl Weidlich : Die Polizei als Grundlage und Organ der
Strafrechtspdege in EnglandSchottland, und Inland, Berlin, 1908.
pp. 106-107. Quotation slightly abridged. Weidlich concludes his
paragraph by saying: "Our interrogatory process is subject to
great abuse. The police confront accused persons with the utmost
severity; they meet real or assumed lies with brutality. Their ob¬
ject is the attainment of a confession. Their most innocent method
is an appeal to the defendant's honor; later come threats of deten¬
tion and even worse methods ! " " A wretched spectacle ! " he adds.
2 See Austrian Code of Criminal Procedure (Strafprozess-
ordnung vom 23. Mai 1873), §§ 139 ff. Also German Penal Code
(Reichsstrafgesetzbuch), §§ 123, 124, and 342; Code of Criminal Pro¬
cedure (Strafprozessordnung, February 1, 1877), §§ 102-110; Law
of February 12, 1850, §§ 7-9, and 12.
17
European Police Systems
somewhat limited extent in France and Italy are given
powers to restrict freedom of discussion and the right of
public meeting to an extent unheard of in England.1
In other words, the different ideas as to the powers of the
police and their relations to the public arise from dif¬
ferent constitutional conceptions. The great safeguards
to personal liberty established in England by Magna
Charta and the Bill of Rights and sustained by centuries
of judicial interpretation are almost entirely lacking on
the Continent. While the constitutional struggles of the
last hundred years in Germany and Austria have not left
police powers entirely unaltered, it is scarcely an exag¬
geration to say that in spirit and procedure they still
represent the Continental absolutism of the 18th cen¬
tury.2
We perceive, therefore, a broad distinction between the
English and the Continental conception of police. Fun¬
damentally the distinction is based on different ideas as
to the extent of police power which a government shall
exercise. In Great Britain police organization has been
built up around the conception of a constabulary as a pro¬
hibitive or repressive power. Until the middle of the
nineteenth century, police legislation was looked upon as
a body of law prohibiting certain actions regarded as pre¬
judicial to the public welfare. On the Continent, how¬
ever, the idea early developed that the state, in addition
to its prohibitive measures, should resort as well to pre¬
ventive measures. As Dr. Goodnow points out,3 the
1 Dicey, loc. cit., contains an interesting comparison of this point
between England, Belgium, and France.
2Weidlich, loc. cit., Ch. IV.
3 Municipal Government, New York, 1909, Ch. XII.
18
The Purpose and Function of the Police
law was conceived of as a rule of conduct which should
not only prohibit actions prejudicial to public welfare,
but also prescribe the performance of definite acts which
in themselves would make resort to repression unneces¬
sary. Out of this theory grew an extensive supervision
of the classes considered dangerous to the community,
with a resulting restraint on individual freedom of action.
The Continental police were given privileges and powers
of control over the population with which the English
police were entirely unacquainted. While these powers
have, to some extent, been curbed by the liberalism of the
nineteenth century, and while, as we shall see, police ac¬
tivity has been greatly limited in modern times, Conti¬
nental and Anglo-Saxon theories are still widely at va¬
riance.
What we have said of British police requires, however,
a qualification. While the function of the English con¬
stabulary has, it is true, undergone little or no change,
and still conforms to the characterization given above,
the conception of police power has broadened. With the
expansion of British commerce and industry resulting
from the Industrial Revolution, new measures became
necessary to safeguard the lives and health of the artisan
population, and as a result factory legislation and public
health laws were enacted. These are essentially police
measures of preventive character. Later similar laws
were passed on the Continent. An important distinction
in the enforcement of these laws at once developed. In
the Continental countries the new statutes were left
largely to the regular police officials, who, as we have ob¬
served, were already engaged in handling other preventive
19
European Police Systems
measures. In Great Britain they were given to various
national and municipal departments and branches, for the
most part specially formed for that purpose. The con¬
trast with the Continent in respect to the function of
the regular police bodies has, therefore, been intensified
rather than diminished by the progressive legislation of
the nineteenth century.
So much for differences of a qualitative nature between
British and Continental police — differences, that is, as
to the kind of power the policeman possesses. Equally
striking is the difference in respect to the scope or extent
of police functions — the number of things that the po¬
lice are.charged to look after. | Police duties in England
are to-day confined roughly to three tasks : first, the main¬
tenance of order; second, the pursuit of criminals; and
third, the regulation of traffic. These duties are inter¬
related ; together they form a unified policy whose
objective point is public security, and the police are, gen¬
erally speaking, concerned with nothing else. \
In Germany, on the other hand, and to a large extent
in Austria and France, police functions far transcend
this somewhat restricted scope. In these countries there
is hardly a governmental activity that is not more or less
directly connected with the police; indeed, in Germany
the police force cannot be said to constitute a sharply de¬
fined independent authority within the internal adminis¬
tration. Thus in Prussia there are Insurance Police,
Mining Police, Water and Dike Police, Field and Forest
Police, Cattle-Disease Police, Hunting Police, Fisheries
Police, Trade Police, Fire Police, Political Police, Roads
Police, Health Police, Building Police and a score of
20
The Purpose and Function of the Police
others.1 To be sure many of these divisions represent
state functions and are responsible to state officials.2
But even the municipal police departments are hardly
less complex in the variety of their duties. In all the
cities of Germany and Austria, and to a large extent in
the French cities, the police are engaged in many tasks
which in England and Scotland are performed by various
branches of the municipal government, if indeed they
are performed at all. Of the twelve distinct divisions
(Abteilungen) into which the Berlin police department
is separated, only two, the uniformed force (S chut z-
mannschaft) and the detective force (Kriminal-Abtei-
lung), deal with functions which are handled by the po¬
lice departments of English and Scottish cities. The
other divisions are engaged in work which, according to
the English standard, does not properly belong to police
duty. Thus in Berlin, the fire department, the health
department, the prison department, the building depart¬
ment (including the condemnation of land for public
purposes) and certain functions of the charity depart¬
ment are all branches of the huge police organization.
The police supervise the markets and the sale of provi¬
sions; they pass on the quality of food-stuffs; they exer¬
cise an oversight of public assemblies and meetings; they
abate nuisances; they inspect lodging houses, fcafés and
1 See Handbuch der# Verfassung und Verwaltung, Hue de Grais,
Berlin, 1912, 21st edition, pp. 350 ff., for an interesting discussion
of the various forms of police.
2 Ibid., Par. 219. Some of these divisions are under the juris¬
diction of the Prussian Minister of Public Works, some under the
Minister of Commerce, < others under the Minister of Religion and
Instruction (Kultusminister), etc. As such their functions are, to
a large extent, administrative.
21
European Police Systems
places of amusement; they supervise druggists, veteri-
naries and the details of various professions; they pre¬
pare construction plans for street and river-front im¬
provement; they keep a strict watch on certain classes of
banking institutions ; they frame regulations for the pub¬
lic conduct of citizens and mete out punishment for
violations. A simple list of their functions covers forty-
six pages of the official police hand-book.1 Many of
the functions have no counterpart in any governmental
function of Great Britain, as, for instance, the compul¬
sory registration of all citizens and strangers (Melde-
zwesen),2 and the minute regulation of various kinds
of private business (Gewerbepolizei).
These multifarious police functions are not character¬
istic of Berlin only. They are found in nearly every
German city, especially throughout Prussia, although in
many of the larger towns, distinct specialties, like the fire
and building departments, have been transferred to the
jurisdiction of the municipal governments.3 In Aus¬
tria and in France, outside of Paris, the Prussian ex¬
treme is not followed, but even in these countries the con¬
trast with the simplicity of English police functions is
marked. In Paris, aside from the regular patrol, de¬
tective and traffic functions, the police department in¬
cludes a large number of bureaus or branches, such as
1 Geschdfts und Reviereinteilung der Kônigl. Polizeiverwal-
tungen im Landespolizeibezirk Berlin, Berlin, 1913.
2 See Chap. IX for a discussion of the purposes of this function.
3 For example, in Dresden the so-called Wohlfahrtspolizei, or
welfare police, whose duties relate to health, fire and building func¬
tions, etc., were handed over to the municipal government in 1853.
In case of conflicting functions, the regular police force has juris¬
diction.
22
The Purpose and Function of the Police
the Health Dispensary, the Medical Inspection of Insane
People, the Inspection of Wet Nurses, the Inspection of
Private Hospitals, the Tramways and Metropolitan Rail¬
way Control, the Bureau of Navigation and Ports, the
Architectural Department, the Contagious Disease De¬
partment, the Bureau of Public Assistance, and the
Inspection of Classified Establishments. While the func¬
tions of the police are not so varied in Vienna and Buda¬
pest, they are, nevertheless, sufficiently complex. In these
cities, as in Prussia, the police assume duties and respon¬
sibilities which are alien to the police of British cities.
An insight into the history of Continental police
powers, particularly in Germany, is necessary to a full
understanding of their broad scope. The term " police/'
as it was originally employed, denoted all state functions
as distinct from ecclesiastical functions. Gradually
through the separation of foreign, military and financial
affairs the term came to be used, in the seventeenth cen¬
tury, as synonymous with internal administration. It in¬
cluded all the activities of the state which had not been
segregated into special administrative branches. The
separation of judicial functions was a further and even
more advanced step in limiting the powers of the police,
so that by the middle of the eighteenth century the scope
of police activity had been narrowed roughly to two main
lines, the so-called security police (Sicherheitspolizei)
and the welfare police (Wohlfahrtspolizei), the former
intended to preserve the individual from dangers threat¬
ening his person and property, the latter to further the
public welfare by the promotion of interests beneficial to
society. Gradually, through legislation and judicial in-
23
European Police Systems
terpretation, the term "police" has been generally re¬
stricted to the former of these two functions; so that
now, after a long process of delimitation, police activity
has come to be one of the phases of the internal adminis¬
tration rather than the entire internal, administration it¬
self.1 To this course of development must largely be
attributed the broadly marked functions of the police of
the Germanic countries. It is scarcely an exaggeration
to say that, whereas in England the activities of the po¬
lice cannot exceed the powers expressly conferred by
statute, in Germany, the police have all the functions of
government which have not been directly transferred to
other branches of the administration.2
Of the many functions of the Continental police above
enumerated, two, especially in Germany and Austria,
stand out in marked contrast with English law and cus¬
tom and should be particularly emphasized. In the first
place, the police have the power to frame rules and ordi¬
nances ( Verordnungen and Verfugungen) regulating the
conduct of the citizens in respect to all the functions com¬
ing within their jurisdiction; that is, the power of sup¬
plementary legislation under the general laws of the
state, which in England is vested in city or county coun¬
cils, is, in Germany, given to the police. In the second
place, the police have the right, which in England is pos-
1 The Prussian General Code of 1794 defines the function of the
police as the right " to institute the necessary measures to main¬
tain public order, safety and peace, and to remove the dangers
threatening the public as a whole or the individual members of it."
(Das Landrecht, II, 17, Sec. 10.) This definition is still valid in
Prussia.
2 See Plue de Grais, loc. cit.3 pp. 350 fif. Also Principles of Prus¬
sian Administration, Herman Gerlach James, New York, 1913, Ch.
VI I.
24
The Purpose and Function of the Police
sessed only by the police courts or other courts of in¬
ferior criminal jurisdiction, to punish, within certain
limits, violations of laws and ordinances; that is, they are
allowed to exercise certain judicial functions. These
powers are so important and constitute so great a breach
between the English and German conceptions of police
that a brief discussion of their operation is necessary.
The ordinance-making power of the German police is
a right delegated by national or state legislative action,
either through general or special provisions. It pro¬
ceeds on the theory that many laws require elabora¬
tion and executive definition by the local authorities.
Thus the general sections of the Imperial Penal Code
(Reichsstrafgesetzbuch) are elaborated by the police of¬
ficials in scores of local ordinances. The same is true
of laws emanating from the various legislative bodies,
which in any way require expansion. On this basis each
local police authority, with the occasionally required con¬
sent and approval of the town council or other communal
body, has the right, within certain fixed legal limits, to
promulgate and enforce its own regulations for the ter¬
ritory included within its jurisdiction.1 A regulation
^•The legal limits of the right to issue police ordinances are
fixed for Prussia in the Polizeiverwaltungsgesetz of March n,
1850; for Bavaria, in the Police Penal Code of December 26, 1871
(Arts. 51-57) ; for Saxony, in the Jurisdiction Law (Kompetenz-
gesetz) of January 28, 1835 J§ 2) ; for Hamburg in the Revised
Law of Administrative Organization (Gesetz iiber die Organisation
der Verwaltung) of November 2, 1896 (§ 9). For discussion on
this subject see Hue de Grais, loc. cit., pp. 358 ff. ; Gustav
Roscher, Grossstadtpolizei, Hamburg, 1912, pp. 34 ff. ; O. Mayer,
Deutsches Verwaltungsrecht, §§ 20, 22-25; Rosin, Polizeiverfu-
gungen und Polizeiverordnungen in Stengel's Worterbuch des
deutschen Staats und Verwaltungsrechts; James, loc. cit., Ch. IV.
Other administrative branches than the police often have the
right to frame ordinances. Thus in Prussia the various subdivi-
25
European Police Systems
thus framed cannot conflict with any provision of the
original law. It can be overruled by a superior ad¬
ministrative authority on the basis of legality or neces¬
sity 1 or by a court on the basis of legality alone.
A knowledge of this ordinance-making right is neces¬
sary to one who would understand the vast powers of the
German police in regulating the conduct of private citi¬
zens. In Prussia, for example, the wide scope of the law
of March n, 1850,2 gives to local police forces the right
to pass ordinances relating to the protection of persons
and property, to traffic and markets, to public meetings
and strangers, and to an elaborate list of similar matters.
Not content with a categorical enumeration, the law con¬
cludes, " and all else which must be regulated through the
police power in the interest of the communes and their
members." 3 In the same way, section 366, subdivision
10, of the German Penal Code4 reads: "Any one shall
be punished by a fine up to 60 marks or imprisonment up
to 14 days who transgresses the police regulations issued
for the maintenance of security, convenience, cleanliness
and quiet on public roads, streets, places or waterways."
These sections, and others like them, have been used as
the legal basis for hundreds of police ordinances touch-
sions of the local administration — the ministers, the provincial
presidents, the district authorities and the Circle directors — have
powers along this line carefully defined by statute.
1 Thus in Prussia local police ordinances may be overruled by
the district president (Regierungsprâsident) or even by the com¬
petent minister. (Law of March 11, 1850, Preussische Gesetzsamm-
lung, 1850, § 265. See also the supplementary provisions of the
law of July 30, 1883.
2 See preceding note. This law regulated anew the whole subject
of police ordinances.
3 Preussische Gesetzsammlung, 1850, § 265.
4 Reichsstrafgesetzbuch.
26
The Purpose and Function of the Police
in g every conceivable human activity. On every side and
at every turn the German citizen is confronted by newly
adopted police regulations. Thus in Berlin, the Police
President has recently issued ordinances regulating the
color of automobiles, the length of hatpins and the
methods of purchasing fish and fowl. He has decreed
that a prospective purchaser shall not touch a shad in
order to determine whether there is any roe and shall
not handle a fowl to verify the market woman's praise of
its tenderness. Each such ordinance provides a penalty
for violation. Nor is Berlin exceptional in this respect.
A glance at any compilation of local police regulations
will bring to light similar examples. Thus in Stuttgart,
a driver may not snap his whip as he guides his horses
in the street; a customer may not fall asleep in a res¬
taurant or a weary man on a park bench ; a barber may
not keep his official trade card in an inconspicuous place ;
a cab-driver may not leave his position in front of the
railway station during the hours in which the police de¬
cree he shall be on duty ; a driver may not hold his reins
improperly or go through the public streets without hav¬
ing the owner's name in a conspicuous place on his cart
or carriage ; a delivery boy may not coast on a hand-cart ;
a passenger may not alight from a train on the side away
from the platform or while the train is in motion ; chil¬
dren may not slide on a slippery side-walk ; a citizen may
not be impertinent to a public official on duty nor offer
any affront to his dignity.1 These regulations are not
1 The dignity that hedges a police official has been made the
subject of innumerable laws and ordinances throughout Germany.
Thirteen sections of the German Criminal Code deal with the sub¬
ject of " insult " (.Beleidigung, §§ 185 ff.). Official dignity and honor
27
European Police Systems
only negative, they are often positive; not only general,
but particular and directed against specific parties.1
Thus a house owner must sprinkle his street in hot
weather when ordered by the police or a certain striker
must refrain from picketing when so directed or a given
contractor must remove building encumbrances on de¬
mand.
To grant to administrative bodies like the police broad
legislative powers runs counter to the conception of Eng¬
lish government. Even the Germans with their political
philosophy and their national traits favorable to a pater¬
nal regulatory system, occasionally grow restive under
the yoke of police rules. The eminent Hue de Grais sees
in the intricate network of ordinances an almost unintel¬
ligible tangle. " To have a clear view of these multifari¬
ous provisions has become next to impossible," he says.
" Efforts have been made to get up collections of them,
but without permanent success. Only a limitation and a
more purposeful application of this important privilege
can remedy present conditions." 2 Dr. Karl Weidlich of
are especially protected. Apropos of this matter, Weidlich re¬
marks: "We permit our police to nurse their authority as a
sacred thing and thus to develop into a menace, instead of a safe¬
guard to public liberties. A great stir was made to limit the rather
infrequent cases of lèse majesté; but no one raises a hand to apply
corresponding principles to the very much more important matter
of * insults' to policemen or 4 resistance to state authority.' Yet
this would avoid thousands of needless punishments every year, and
would save the state the unprofitable task of training internal
foes!" (Weidlich, loc. cit., p. 98.)
1A distinction is made between Polizeiverordnungen, or general
ordinances, and Polizeiverfugungen, which have in view a special
case or a specific person. Commands as well as prohibitions may
come under the latter head and the police are vested with full
compulsory and restraining powers.
2 Loc, cit., p. 360.
28
The Purpose and Function of the Police
Stuttgart, a judge of the county court (Amtsgericht) of
Wurttemberg and an authoritative student of English and
German police systems, goes even further. " It is not the
true function of the police/' he says, " to interfere in the
private and business life of the citizen, thus producing
annoyance and bitterness. Under our laws, especially
under section 366, subdivision 10, of the Penal Code
(above quoted) the police are in position to paralyze the
fundamental rights of our citizens and the effectiveness
of our court decisions, whenever, in their judgment, mat¬
ters arise involving a danger to public security and quiet.
In proof of this we need simply point to the frequency
with which the higher court (Kammergericht) is com¬
pelled to annul police regulations for the violation of
which hundreds of persons have already been punished.
The excellence of the English police, on the other hand,
their non-political functions (unpolitische Arbeit), and
their respect for personal dignity are the measure of the
national spirit of a free people." 1
Not only have the German police wide legislative
powers, but they are also allowed to exercise certain ju¬
dicial functions. Generally speaking, all misdemeanors
or minor infractions ( Uebertretungen) the penalty for
which does not exceed imprisonment for fourteen days
or a fine of 6q marks, are punished by the local police.2
1 Loc. cit., p. 98. The quotation is slightly abridged.
2 The imposition of this maximum penalty is in some of the
German states modified by state law. Thus in Prussia, the police
officials of a Bezirk, or district, can impose a maximum punishment
of only three days' imprisonment or 30 marks fine, the larger pen¬
alty of fourteen days or 60 marks being limited to superior police
authorities. In Stuttgart (Wurttemberg), the local police can im¬
pose punishments of six days' imprisonment or 30 marks fine, or
they may hand the case over to the state police authorities of the
29
European Police Systems
In other words, the functions which in England belong to
the police courts and in France to a distinctly judicial
branch of the civil service, are in Germany discharged
by the regular local police. This power is exercised
under a general provision of the German Code of Crimi¬
nal Procedure1 supplemented by various state acts.2
Appeals may be taken from the decisions of the police
to the Amtsgericht, or lower court, or to the police them¬
selves for a review.3 An appeal acts as a stay to the
execution of the penalty and must be filed within one
week of the time that the decree is issued.4
This extraordinary power lends to the police of Ger¬
many a legal importance difficult to comprehend when
looked at from the point of view of English institutions
and conceptions. The contrast becomes even more
marked when the method by which the police carry out
this function is taken into consideration. In the majority
district in which Stuttgart is located, who can impose the fourteen
days or 60 marks maximum. In Dresden (Saxony) the local police
themselves impose the maximum punishments.
While the legal maximum imprisonment is fourteen days for each
offense, it is possible for the police to incarcerate up to twenty-four
days on the theory that the prisoner has committed more than one
violation. Thus the accused may be charged with three or four dif¬
ferent offenses, all of which may have been committed in a single
act. The cumulative penalty, however, cannot exceed twenty-four
days.
1 Strafprozessordnung, § 453.
2 In Prussia, the Law of April 23, 1883 ; in Saxony, the Law of
March 8, 1879, and the Verordnung of September 15, 1879; in
Wiirttemberg, the Law of August 12, 1879, and the Ministerial De¬
cree of September 25, 1879; in Baden, the Law of March 3, 1879,
and the Decree of September 7, 1879.
3 Few appeals are taken to the police because of a general feel¬
ing that they are unfair; moreover, in the Amtsgericht a hearing
can be secured — a thing which the police are not bound to allow,
and which, as a matter of fact, they seldom do allow.
4 Strafprozessordnung, § 453.
30
The Purpose and Function of the Police
of cases there is not even a semblance of judicial pro¬
cedure: no witnesses are called; the accused has no op¬
portunity to explain. The policeman who observes the
violation in question files a report with his superior offi¬
cer; this official determines the penalty, and in due
course the defendant (if such he may be called!) is
notified of his impending punishment. The penalty is im¬
posed by an official who does not see or hear the accused
and who knows nothing of the case except through the
unchallenged testimony of the policeman making the
charge. Often a week or ten days will elapse before the
accused receives notification of the penalty. Sometimes
it comes as a complete surprise, punishing him for a vio¬
lation which he committed unconsciously or the circum¬
stances of which he has forgotten.1 In Berlin, the
notice of punishment is accompanied by a blank post-of¬
fice order in case the penalty is a fine, so that the accused
may be put to no inconvenience in coming personally to
police headquarters. If after one week no attention is
paid to the notice, the police make a levy on the defend¬
ant's property for value to the amount of the fine or the
defendant is arrested to serve his alternative sentence.
1 The lapse of time between the commission of the violation and
the notification of punishment is often a boon to members of the
criminal floating population, who, perhaps aware that their names
have been taken for various misdemeanors, seize the opportunity
to disappear. Largely as a result of this clumsy machinery of sum¬
mary procedure — or rather, the lack of any such machinery prop¬
erly so-called—• every police department in Germany contains thou¬
sands of names of men wanted for punishment in connection with
various kinds of trespasses and violations. Dr. Weidlich, whose
experience as a judge of the Amtsgericht in Stuttgart has brought
him into intimate touch with the situation, complains bitterly on
this score. " The repeated written reports and the business of dis¬
posing of these petty things so encumber the police that no time
or energy remains for larger matters," he says. (hoc. cit., p. 103.)
31
European Police Systems
At any time during the week he may appeal to the
Amtsgericht, or lower court, for a judicial determination
of the question. If he wins the state pays the costs,
otherwise he pays them himself. Failure to appeal is
looked upon as a confirmation of the prima facie case
established by the policeman's charge. Appeals, however,
are costly and troublesome. A poor man cannot afford
to run the risk, a busy man cannot take the time. More¬
over, an appeal from a judgment of imprisonment, where
an arrest has been made, results in the immediate incar¬
ceration of the appellant pending the decision of the
court — a fact in itself discouraging to one seeking re¬
dress.1
The system which we have just outlined is in force
throughout Prussia. In southern Germany certain modi¬
fications obtain. In Wiirttemberg, for example, the
theory exists that the defendant has an opportunity to ex¬
plain before the penalty is imposed. In practice, however,
it is assumed that the defendant has made his explanation
to the policeman who reports him. Thus, a police officer
sees a driver, who, he thinks, is asleep and the driver de-
1 Strafprozessordnung, §§ 112-132. Pending his hearing by
the court the appellant is confined in the court prison or Amts-
gerichtgefàngnis as distinguished from the police prison, or Polizei-
arrest, where the short-term punishments are usually served.
Among the floating criminal class the custom prevails of always
taking an appeal from police decrees of imprisonment on the theory
(altogether too well founded, in fact!) that better treatment and
better food are to be had in the court prisons than in the police
prisons. In the event that the court upholds the police (and police
judgments are seldom overturned), the time thus spent is part of
the original sentence, and nothing is lost. The courts, however,
have the right to increase the punishment if in their judgment the
police penalty is too mild, and of late, particularly in Wiirttemberg,
they have been using this right to discourage appeals which they
think are taken only with the idea of securing the increased com¬
forts of the court prisons.
32
The Purpose and Function of the Police
nies to the policeman that he was sleeping. This is held
to be an " explanation/' Three or four days later the
man is notified that he must pay a fine. "We always
take the officer's word as truth," said the chief of the
Stuttgart police in discussing the matter with the writer.
This absolute reliance on the word of the policeman holds
throughout Germany.
With certain modifications, the same system of police
punishment which we find in Germany exists in Austria
and Hungary.1 Some of these modifications are rather
important. In Austria no opportunity is given for a
court review of the police decision. Appeals may be
taken to the Stdtthalter, or imperial governor of the prov¬
ince, but they can go no higher nor is there any other
method of testing the police judgment.2 In this respect,
therefore, the Austrian system is even less liberal than the
Prussian system. On the other hand, whereas in Berlin
punishment is imposed by a lieutenant of the uniformed
force of the precinct who generally has come from the
army and is consequently lacking in legal training or
adequate knowledge of the laws of evidence, in Vienna
the case is judged and the penalty imposed by a police
Kommissar, or bureau head, who is in every instance a
trained lawyer and a graduate of the university. More¬
over, in Austria, before punishment is imposed, the ac-
1 The right of the police of Austria to fine and imprison is based
principally upon the Kaiserliche Verordnung of April 20, 1854, al¬
though there are many separate statutes that confer similar powers.
The maximum punishments are fixed at fourteen days or 200 Kronen.
Considerable discussion has taken place over the fact that this
drastic power of the police is exercised under an imperial decree
rather than under general parliamentary legislation.
2 In Hungary appeals from the police penalty may be taken to
the Minister of the Interior.
33
European Police Systems
cusecl is summoned to police headquarters; where he is
given the privilege of making a statement, or of calling
witnesses in his defense. In these last two respects,
therefore, the Austrian system has more of the elements
of a judicial determination than the system in vogue in
Germany. And yet in Vienna there is some discussion as
to the advisability of introducing the Prussian peremp¬
tory or " mandat " system with the idea of avoiding the
inconvenience of being summoned personally to police
headquarters.
As may be imagined from the outline just given, the
extensive judicial powers in the hands of the police are
easily capable of abuse. Indeed, as Weidlich affirms, the
police are in a position to nullify fundamental rights and
override the decrees of the courts. That their powers
are always used beneficially and liberally, as is claimed
by German officials, can scarcely be admitted. For ex¬
ample, under the German law, a man suspected of a crime,
cannot be detained for more than twenty-four hours by
the police without being produced before a magistrate.1
It is easily possible, however, for the police to imprison a
suspect for any period up to fourteen days on the ground
that he has violated one or more of their innumerable or¬
dinances. " Wherever we get hold of a man whom we
suspect of some crime," said one of the assistant police
commissioners in Dresden in talking frankly with the
writer on this matter, " we hunt around to find some or¬
dinance which he has violated. Such a thing is not dif¬
ficult to discover. Perhaps he has no employment card.
Perhaps he has been impertinent to an official. What-
1 Strafprogessordnung, § 115.
34
The Purpose and Function of the Police
ever it is, we detain him, and thus have time to work up
the case," 1 Such action undoubtedly contributes to the
bitter antagonism to the police common among the lower
classes of Germany and Austria. 11 Most men would
prefer three weeks' imprisonment from a court to three
days from the police," was the significant remark of the
chief of the detective division of Stuttgart.
Moreover, when we consider the great number of penal¬
ties imposed by the police, it becomes increasingly prob¬
able that their judicial powers are abused. In Stutt¬
gart, a quiet, peaceful city of 300,000 population, 40,000
police penalties are imposed each year.2 At this rate,
under the same system, Manchester (England) should
have approximately 93,000 police court cases in a year
and Liverpool 98,000. As a matter of fact, however,
Manchester had in 1911 but 14,000 such cases, while
Liverpool had 32,000;3 and of these cases one-third were
for drunkenness, which, under ordinary circumstances, is
not punishable in Germany. In other words, there are.
1 One of the commissioners or division chiefs {Abteilungsvor-
steher) in Berlin told me that another way in which the law is
evaded by the police, in case no violation of an ordinance can be
urged against the prisoner, is to rush him to the court in a car¬
riage, and have him returned immediately to the police prison upon
a requisition approved by the prosecuting attorney, without actually
producing him before the magistrate. " I have kept men three days
in this fashion," he said, " getting my proof together and finishing
my case."
- Personally communicated by officials. The fines resulting from
police punishments in this city amounted in 1911 to 83,980 marks.
This money is turned into the city treasury. Weidlich thinks that
German cities would be very loath to lose this revenue, and that for"
this reason the system will be hard to break down. (Loc cit.,
p. 103.)
3 See the annual reports of the chief constables; also Judicial
Statistics of England and Wales, 1911, (published by the British
Home Office) n. 58, Germany has no such statistics as those main¬
tained by the Home Office.
35
European Police Systems
ten times as many punishments for misdemeanors in Ger¬
man cities as in English cities. This comparison is neces¬
sarily rough, but it serves to indicate the excessive use
of judicial powers by the German police. " Police judg¬
ments are showering over us like hail-stones," says Weid-
lich, himself a loyal subject of the Empire. " A German
citizen who has not had at least one such punishment must
be looked for with a lantern ! " 1
The combination of legislative and judicial with ad¬
ministrative functions produces an unwieldy and uncon¬
trollable machine. From an English standpoint — in¬
deed, from the standpoint of any democratic government
or any liberal political creed — the practice is greatly to
be deprecated. Weidlich's word, " monstrous," with
which he sums up the entire system, would seem scarcely
too strong.2 But it is important to realize that these
added legislative and judicial powers in no way affect the
function of the police as an organization for the protec¬
tion of public safety. Strip off these powers, which
often incumber and impede the police in carrying out
their simpler duties, and the same problems will be found
that, in spite of modifying circumstances, confront the
English and French cities alike. Although, as we have
seen, many factors vary the character of the problem,
the task of the Metropolitan Police Force of London is
fundamentally the task of the Schutzmannschaft of Ber¬
lin, and it is a mistake to assume that, because an official
1 Loc. cit., p. 102.
2 Ibid. " Strafgewalt der Polizei gegenuber der Gesamtheit
unter dessen Kontrolle sie arbeiten sollte, ist etwas Ungeheuerliches.
Kann man sich denn keinen summarischen Prozess ohne Ver-
weigerung der fundamentalsten Rechtsgarantien vorstellenf}J
36
The Purpose and Function of the Police
belonging to the latter force has other unrelated func¬
tions, his ideas and experience have no applicability in
London or elsewhere. The German police organization,
in spite of its needless extensions, has many points
worthy of careful study by the police forces of other
lands.
37
CHAPTER II
the place of the police department in the state
European police forces usually under state control.— Municipal
control for smaller forces only.— Unique situation of London police
force.—'London citizens voiceless in the management of their po¬
lice.— Features and consequences of this control.— Police forces in
provincial cities controlled by Watch Committees.— Supervision by
the Home Office.— Results of Watch Committee control.— English
county police.— State control in Holland and Belgium.— Lack of
uniformity in control and organization in Germany.— Municipal
control versus state control in Germany.— Uniformity in Austria-
Hungary.— Movement toward centralization in Hungary.— Central¬
ized supervision in France.— Lack of thoroughgoing municipal
autonomy.— Peculiar situation of Paris.— The National Constabu¬
lary of Italy: the Carabinieri and the City Guards.— Their common
functions.
In discussing the place of the police department in
the state and its relations to other organs of government,
it must be borne in mind that municipally controlled po¬
lice forces exist only in the smaller cities of Europe. In
all the capitals and large commercial centers, the police
are under the direct control of the state rather than the
city. Thus, in London, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Buda¬
pest, Madrid and Lisbon, the head commissioners are ap¬
pointed by the Crown and are responsible to the Ministry
of the Interior or the Home Secretary. In Paris, the
head of the police is appointed by the President of the
Republic; in Dresden and Munich, by the Kings of Sax¬
ony and of Bavaria respectively; in Copenhagen, Stock¬
holm and Christiania, by the Kings of Denmark, Sweden
38
The Police Department in the State
and Norway, respectively. In St. Petersburg, Moscow
and Odessa, the prefects of police (Gradonachalnik) are
appointed directly by the Emperor of Russia ; in Constan¬
tinople, the Sultan appoints the chief of police upon the
nomination of the Minister of the Interior. In the eight
largest cities of Austria, the ten largest cities of Hun¬
gary,1 and in all the cities of the Netherlands, the heads
of the police are appointed by the Crown; while in Prus¬
sia the police departments of the important cities of
Frankfort-on-Main, Breslau, Kiel, Cologne, Coblentz,
Kônigsberg and seventeen others are all under royal con¬
trol. Only in the provincial cities of England and Scot¬
land, and the smaller cities of the Continent, such as
Berne, Zurich and Stuttgart, for example, do we find any
degree of local self-government in the management of the
police forces. Glasgow, with a population of 785,000-,
is the largest city in Europe with a police department
under municipal control.
That the reader may be brought into intimate touch
with the machinery of police administration, it is worth
while discussing, somewhat in detail, the relations of the
departments to the various agencies of government in
each of the important countries of Europe where the con¬
ditions were studied.
GREAT BRITAIN
London.
The relation of the police force of London to other
governmental agencies is unique.2 In all the other cities
1 See discussion, p. 80. The legislation effecting this is on its
way to adoption.
2 A careful distinction must be made between the London Metro-
39
European Police Systems
of size and importance in Great Britain, local control,
through popularly elected town councils, is the charac¬
teristic feature. London alone has a royal police force
whose head is appointed by the Crown, and whose policy
is determined by a cabinet minister, the Secretary of
State for Home Affairs.
The Metropolitan Police Force of London was estab¬
lished by Peel's Act of 1829. It replaced a number of
small, separate, local forces of varying degrees of effi¬
ciency under whose conflicting jurisdiction the crime con¬
ditions of London had steadily grown worse, until re¬
medial measures at last became imperative.1 With slight
politan police and the police of the City of London. The City of
London, occupying an area of one square mile, practically in the
center of the Metropolitan district, and maintaining a separate
corporate existence under charters and prescriptive rights which
date from a very early period, has its own separate police force,
regulated by an act of Parliament modeled closely on the first
Metropolitan Police Act. This force is under the direct and ex¬
clusive control of the Corporation of the City of London, and has
no relation with the Metropolitan force or with any other agency
outside its own narrow borders. The district in which the Metro¬
politan police have jurisdiction covers approximately seven hun¬
dred square "miles, extending over fifteen miles radius from Charing
Cross, exclusive of " the City " mentioned above, and including not
only the County of London, but parts of five other counties, and
an increasing number of municipal boroughs. Wherever in this
book the London police are mentioned, the reference is to the Metro¬
politan police.
1 For a description of the extent of lawlessness in London in
the early part of the nineteenth century,, see W. L. Melville Lee,
loc. cit. Ch. X.
Prior to the organization of the Metropolitan police in 1829, the
local government of the populous urban towns which, in the course
of centuries of continuous national life had grown up around the
ancient City of London, was left in the main to county and pa¬
rochial authorities invested with the powers largely conferred by
the common law, although modified to some extent by various acts
of Parliament. Under the strain imposed by the growth of popu¬
lation and modern conditions of urban life, this system broke down
and the arrangements for the maintenance of public order and the
administration of the criminal law became utterly inadequate.
40
The Police Department in the State
alterations the force is organized to-day as it was origi¬
nally constituted in 1829.1 The Commissioner is a royal
official responsible only to the Home Secretary.2 Neither
the London County Council, nor any one of the various
Metropolitan Borough Councils has anything to do with
police matters. Except in so far as the Home Secretary
is a member of Parliament and as such stands for an elec¬
tion at the hands of his own constituents, the element of
direct popular control does not enter at all. Even this
slight connection is weakened by the fact that the Home
Secretary seldom, if ever, represents a London district,
and even if he did, a national election would afford scant
opportunity for the consideration of local police issues.
To be sure, the Home Secretary is responsible to the Cab-
Prior to 1829, the following separate forces policed what is now
the_ Metropolitan district: The City of London had a system of
police and watch by night under the control of the municipal au¬
thorities. The City of Westminster had a force of eighty consta¬
bles chosen from persons carrying on trade, and a smaller force
of stipendiary police. The Thames Police Office had ninety men
for the protection of property and maintenance of order on the
River Thames. The Bow Street Office (the old " Bow Street Run¬
ners"), under the direction of the Home Secretary, had general
charge of the entire Metropolitan district with the exception of the
City of London. This force was divided into three classes, the
Horse Patrol, the Dismounted Patrol, and the Foot Patrol, and was
comprised (in 1821) of 161 men. Finally, there was the system of
Nightly Watch, almost without exception a parochial establishment,
and notoriously inefficient. (See Report of the Royal Commission
on the Metropolitan Force, 1908, Vol. I, PP- 9 F-)
1 The most important of the special statutes by which the Metro¬
politan Police is governed are as follows :
Metropolitan Police Act, 1829 (10 Geo. IV c. 44).
Metropolitan Police Act, 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c. 47).
Metropolitan Police Act, 1856 (19 & 20 Vict. c. 2).
Metropolitan Police Act, 1857 (20 & 21 Vict. c. 64).
Metropolitan Police Receiver's Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict. c. 124).
Police Rate Act, 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 67).
2 The Commissioner is appointed under statutory provision by
warrant under the sign manual of the Crown.
41
European Police Systems
inet and through the Cabinet to the country. He has,
moreover, to answer in public such questions as members
of Parliament may put to him relative to his management
of the police. His course of action may also be influ¬
enced by newspaper criticism, to which he is constantly
exposed. But direct accountability to the London pub¬
lic is lacking. No machinery exists by means of which
the police can be popularly controlled, or the preference
of the people in respect to them effectively expressed.
They cannot be made a local political issue. Except
through the pressure of public opinion, the citizens of
London are voiceless in the management of their police.
The peculiar status of the Metropolitan Police Force
is usually justified by its broad functions. It protects
the person of the Sovereign, watches the government
dockyards, guards the royal institutions and buildings
in London and fulfils other duties of national rather than
merely local importance. In answer it is pointed out
by those who object to the present arrangement that the
local functions of the police are of far greater impor¬
tance than the national duties which have been inciden¬
tally thrust upon them. Moreover, the great bulk of
the revenues of the police department is supplied, not by
the imperial exchequer, but by local taxes. Why, then,
it is asked, should London, alone among the great cities
of England, be debarred from the management of her
police ?
Up to the present time, debate on this question has not
attracted any large public interest. The sentiment in
favor of popular control of local affairs is, nevertheless,
a distinct phase of the rising tide of English democracy,
42
The Police Department in the State
and suggestions are constantly being made, in an inchoate
and indefinite form to be sure, looking to the transfer of
the Metropolitan police from the Home Secretary's of¬
fice to the jurisdiction of some popularly-elected body.1
It does not appear, however, that the movement to this
end has gained force in recent years. Indeed, it is ex¬
tremely doubtful whether such a change will ever be ef¬
fected. London is not only the seat of government but
the commercial, social and political center of a large em¬
pire. It gains a character distinct from that of any
other British city by the fact that the Sovereign, the
agents of the different colonies and dominions and the dip¬
lomatic representatives of foreign governments reside
there. In London, too, are located not only the Houses
of Parliament and the chief government offices, but the
national museums and collections, and the places of en¬
tertainment to which British subjects and foreigners
from all over the world resort. From the special govern¬
mental and cosmopolitan character of London arise deli¬
cate questions affecting police administration which may
be regarded as beyond the competence of a merely munic¬
ipal authority to decide. Surely, in view of this situa¬
tion, it would be too much to expect Parliament volun¬
tarily to surrender to a lesser body the control over the
1 The suggestion, occasionally made in London and elsewhere,
that the Metropolitan force should be placed under the control of
the London County Council is obviously based 011 an incomplete
understanding of the situation. The Metropolitan police district
is more than five times the size of the County of London. There
would be four other county councils and a great number of bor¬
ough councils to be taken into consideration. Even if a repre¬
sentative agency of control were created, it would be difficult to
reconcile the conflicting claims of the various county and borough
authorities over whose districts the Metropolitan police have juris¬
diction.
43
European Police Systems
Metropolitan police which it can now exercise through
the Home Secretary.1
To the freedom of the Metropolitan police from popu¬
lar control may be ascribed many of its characteristic
features. While Scotland Yard has nothing of the auto¬
cratic atmosphere which surrounds the police headquar¬
ters of Berlin and Vienna, it does possess a certain air of
aloofness and independence quite foreign to the police
of the English provincial cities where popular control
has long been established. The public is treated cour¬
teously, but no information relative to police business is
vouchsafed. The Commissioner never gives interviews
to newspapers. No police official is ever quoted. Except
under extraordinary circumstances, no attempt is ever
made to answer a public attack or correct a misstatement
in the press. When one of the borough councils within
the Metropolitan district asked the Commissioner how
many constables were assigned to patrol its streets, the
information was curtly refused. The Commissioner as¬
sumed all responsibility for the efficient patroling of that
district and was answerable for any mistakes that might
be made only to the Home Secretary. In other words,
the question was one which did not concern the borough
council. In the same manner all subpoenas served on the
department to compel the production of papers or records
are declined on the ground of privilege, a contention in¬
variably sustained by the courts.
Moreover, the Metropolitan police department is finan-
1 " What would happen if, when suffragettes or unemployed
marched on the Houses of Parliament, Parliament could only make
representations to a municipal authority?" a Home Office official
asked the writer.
44
The Police Department in the State
daily independent. Its budgetary regulations and esti¬
mates are confidential and are withheld not only from
the public, but from Parliament itself, in spite of the fact
that the real head of the police department, the Home
Secretary, holds his position through the suffrance of Par¬
liament. The Metropolitan force is the only police or¬
ganization in Europe whose contemplated expenditures
are not passed upon by some popularly-elected assembly
or body. In Berlin the police budget for the ensuing year
is considered by the Prussian parliament (Preussischer
Landtag) ;1 in Vienna by the Austrian parliament;2 in
Budapest by the Hungarian parliament; in Paris by the
Chamber of Deputies and the Municipal Council.3 In
these cities no money can be spent unless it has first been
authorized by the legislative assembly after full opportu¬
nity has been offered for discussing the proposed expendi¬
ture. In London, on the other hand, the police budgetary
estimate is a confidential matter between the department
and the Home Office; the tax is collected through the
Overseers of the Poor under a general act of Parliament
fixing a maximum rate ; and all that Parliament ever sees
is a somewhat colorless statement of expenditures at the
end of each fiscal year.4 To be sure, the presentation of
i-For an analysis of the annual budget of the Berlin department,
see Appendix III, p. 394.
2 For an analysis of the annual budget of the Vienna department,
see Appendix IV, p. 396.
3 For an analysis of the annual budget of the Paris department,
see Appendix II, p. 393.
4 The Metropolitan police rate is collected through the Overseers
of the Poor, as part of the poor rate. Within the London County
Council area the Borough Councilors are the Overseers. In the
remainder of the Metropolitan police district, Overseers are elected
for each parish, or alternatively, the district council may act as
Overseers upon an order of the Local Government Board.
a r- (See next page)
European Police Systems
this statement in Parliament is occasionally the signal to
the Opposition for severe criticism of the Home Secre¬
tary's management of the police department, but as far
as the question of budget control is concerned, the money
has already been spent and the Opposition is obliged to
content itself with futile motions to reduce the Home
Secretary's salary.1
This arbitrary system of administration is warmly de¬
fended by the officials of the Home Office and Scotland
Yard. They insist that nothing is to be gained by a
parliamentary discussion of proposed expenditures. The
Secretary of State for Home Affairs, the Commissioner
and his subordinates are far more intimately acquainted
with the needs of the police department than are the mem¬
bers of Parliament. Moreover, they argue that the in¬
troduction of any system of popular control in the man¬
agement of police, whether it be in the shape of a Watch
Committee or a County Council, would tend to politics
and favoritism, which under the present arrangement are
entirely eliminated. Not that they condemn the ideals
of democracy, but democracy has its practical limitations,
and the intricate and complex machinery of a huge gov-
The maximum rate of n d. in the £ fixed by act of Parliament,
consists of 7 d. from the parishes and 4 d. from moneys appropri¬
ated from the exchequer. The contribution of 4 d. in the £ is
exclusive of: (a) the exchequer grant in respect of imperial and
national services rendered by the police (£100,000 per annum) :
(b) the reimbursement of the cost of police whose services are lent
to government departments (approximately £270,000 per annum) ;
and (c) the exchequer grant towards the police pension fund
(£150,000 per annum).
In addition to the maximum rate above referred to, there is
power to raise from the parishes an additional rate covering the
deficiency of the police pension fund.
1 For an analysis of the annual expenditures of the Metropolitan
police, see Appendix I, p. 389.
46
The Police Department in the State
emmental system cannot safely be entrusted to the rule
of many. Particularly is this true of a police department,
where continuity of policy and steadiness of aim are all-
essential factors. Under popular control — so it is al¬
leged— these factors vanish; the shifting personnel, the
fickle change of opinion, the opportunity for favoritism,
and, above all, the untrammeled play of politics make only
for demoralization. Therefore, argues the Home Office,
we require in our management of the London police a
steady hand and an independent authority. You may
call it arbitrary, you may call it autocratic, but it is just
and efficient. Moreover, although autocratic in external
aspect, it is really democratic in essence, but it is democ¬
racy with a strong man behind it. Given such a man,
sure of himself and knowing his business, democracy will
do well to trust him and leave Parliament and public
opinion to do the rest.1
Whatever the merit of this argument, the good results
attained must be admitted. Political considerations play
no part in the management of the Metropolitan police.
While it is true that the people have no opportunity to
express their wishes at the polls on any police question
which may arise, it is also true that the policy and dis¬
cipline of the police cannot be upset as an incidental con¬
sequence of the determination of political issues. The
police department cannot be made the spoils of any party.
Moreover, the very aloofness of the force from popular
control closes the doors to petty favoritism and small
1 See The Metropolitan Police (a pamphlet printed by J. P. Bland
— The Times Office—1909). The articles in the pamphlet origi¬
nally appeared in the London Timesrunning from December 24,
1908, to January 15, 1909.
47
European Police Systems
politics. Political campaigns come and go; newspaper
crusades against the police rise and fall; the personnel
of municipal councils shifts a dozen times on ever chang¬
ing issues; but Scotland Yard remains undisturbed.
Even the occasional upheaval of a government and the
consequent shift in the Secretaryship of the Home Of¬
fice does not upset the management of the police. No
secretary would ever interfere with the effective opera-
tion of the department.
Provincial cities of England and Scotland.
Arrangements in the provincial cities of England and
Scotland in respect to police control contrast strikingly
with the system which we have just considered. The
conditions of crime in the English cities at the beginning
of the nineteenth century were similar to those obtain¬
ing in London. Such police forces as existed were un¬
organized and untrained. The Dogberry and Verges
type of town watch was all that stood between order and
disorder in many an English community. In Ports¬
mouth, twenty-two peace officers pretended to protect a
population of 50,000 people, and in Liverpool, where
crime was so prevalent that the town was often spoken
of as " the black spot on the Mersey/' the only police
force existing in 1834 was a body of fifty watchmen to
keep order among 240,000 inhabitants.3
Driven by urgent necessity, Parliament passed the
Municipal Corporations Act of 1835,2 which, with its
subsequent amendments, has standardized the system of
1W. L. Melville Lee,, loc. cit., Ch. XIV.
2 5 and 6 William IV c. 76.
48
The Police Department in the State
urban police administration in England and Wales. As
the law now stands,1 the council of each town maintain¬
ing a separate police force is required to appoint from
time to time " a sufficient number, not exceeding one-
third, of its own body," to serve as a Watch Committee.
With this committee rests the entire control of the po¬
lice,2 subject only to the vote of the council in matters
involving expenditures. This comprehensive plan was
supplemented by Parliament in 1856 by the passage of
the Rural Police Act,3 which provided for the appoint¬
ment of Inspectors of Constabulary under the Home Of¬
fice with authority to visit and inquire into the state and
general efficiency of the police in the various towns and
counties of England and Wales.4 It further provided
that on certificates from the Home Secretary to the ef¬
fect that the police force of a locality is efficient in point
of numbers and discipline,5 a sum not exceeding one
half part6 of the total cost of the pay and clothing of
the force was to be contributed from the national treas¬
ury. Through the operation of this act there was es¬
tablished a complete system of national supervision over
1 Municipal Corporations Act of 1882. 45 and 46 Vict. c. 50,
§§ 190-200.
2 One hundred and twenty-eight cities and boroughs in England
and Wales maintain in this manner separate police forces under the
control of Watch Committees.
3 19 and 20 Vict. c. 69.
4 Scottish towns and counties were made the subject of prac¬
tically similar provisions by an act passed in 1857 (20 and
21 Vict. c. 72). In 1885 the inspection was transferred from the
Home Office to the Scottish Office, and the certificates of efficiency
are now issued by the Secretary for Scotland.
5 On a third certificate, based on the proper management of a
force, a contribution is made by the exchequer to the local police
pension fund.
6 As amended in 1874. The original Act provided for one-fourth.
49
European Police Systems
all the police forces of England and Wales, which, while
it in no way robs the cities and counties of the right of
local control, stimulates their efforts to maintain an ef¬
ficient standard and introduces uniformity into their or¬
ganization and management. To be sure, the Home
Office, particularly as far as the towns and cities are con¬
cerned, has no positive authority over the police force.
It cannot remove an official or compel the adoption of
any improvements.1 It acts only in the capacity of
friendly guide. Its sole lever is the national subvention
or grant in aid, which may be withheld if the report of
the supervising inspector indicates unsatisfactory condi¬
tions. A Watch Committee, however, which, through
slovenly methods or loose standards, jeopardized the grant
of a sum approximately equal to 50 per cent, of its an¬
nual police budget, would bring down upon itself the
wrath of angry tax-payers. Through the application of
this moral force, there are few improvements within
reason which the Home Office cannot compel.
In practice, however, the control of the Home Office
over the provincial cities has been lightly exercised. The
examinations of the inspectors have been exceedingly per¬
functory, and while warnings have occasionally been
given in cases of marked deficiency, no borough has lost
its annual grant within recent years.2 Indeed, the an-
1 Note, however, that the by-laws of counties and boroughs
touching police regulation, or matters of general good order, not
of a sanitary nature, must be submitted to the Home Secretary and
may be disallowed by Order in Council within forty days. {Mu¬
nicipal Corporations Act, 1882, 45 and 46 Vict. c. 50, par. 23; Local
Government Act, 1888, par. 16.)
2 There are two inspectors for England and Wales, one for the
so-called "Northern District" and one for the "Southern District."
Their reports for the year ending September 29th are annually laid
50
The Police Department in the State
nual inspection is scarcely regarded as a serious matter
by local officials; little or no effort has been made to
unify the methods of work, or to introduce a coordi¬
nating system in the matter of detecting crime. This
timid use of its powers by the Home Office is undoubt¬
edly due in part to its appreciation of the Englishman's
passion for local self-government and his distrust of any
suggestion of over-centralized control. To an even
greater extent it is; due to the fact that the only course
open to the Home Office in dealing with a refractory po¬
lice organization is the suspension or withdrawal of the
whole grant in aid, for which only the absolute ineffi¬
ciency of a force would be justification. Hitherto the
Home Office has had no power to deal with the sub¬
vention in party and has thus been unable to adapt the
amount to individual cases, or to measure punishments
to fit particular deficiencies. The new finance bill, now
before Parliament for consideration, incorporates this
long-needed reform.1 With this amendment adopted,
England will have a most effective piece of machinery,
which, through the combination of local autonomy with
a strongly centralized supervision, will prevent the
provincial cities from falling much below reasonable
standards.
The Watch Committee is the basis of police control
in the provincial cities of England and Wales. Elected
before Parliament, and published as a Parliamentary document.
There is one inspector for Scotland under the control of the Scottish
Office. His reports are also published.
1 This bill further provides for an increase in the annual sub¬
vention or grant-in-aid from the present sum of half the cost of
the pay and clothing, and a contribution to the pension fund, to a
sum equal to one half the total net cost of the entire police force.
51
European Police Systems
from among the members of the town council as a sub¬
committee,1 it has full control of appointments, dismis¬
sals, discipline and policy; it makes regulations for the
conduct of the members of the force; and has absolute
authority in relation to the question of their duties. Only
in matters involving expenditure must its decisions be
ratified by a vote of the town council.2 Complete stat¬
utory powers being thus vested in the Watch Committee,
it follows that the chief constable whom it appoints has
only such rights and duties as the Committee may confer
upon him. As a result, the functions of the chief con¬
stable vary widely in different cities, the office being of
greater or less dignity according to the degree of super¬
vision exercised by the Committee. In some towns,
punishments for offenses against discipline coming before
the Watch Committee in the shape of recommendations
of the chief officer are approved as a matter of course,
unless the individual appeals. In many others the Watch
Committee hears the complaint, decides upon guilt or in¬
nocence, and measures the punishment with little or no
1 Liverpool has a Watch Committee of 16 members ; Manchester,
22; the average size of the committee is 11 or 12. The members
serve for one year. The committee cannot exceed one-third the
number of the Town Council (Municipal Corp. Act, 1882, § 190).
On the other hand, it is not required to and seldom does maintain
the full quota of one-third, as a large committee would be un¬
wieldy. The membership of the Watch Committee is fairly con¬
stant, although a change in the political complexion of the .council
generally involves a change in the chairmanship of the committee,
sometimes, indeed, in its policies.
2 Occasionally the Town Council, although without legal basis,
assumes for itself some of the functions of its Watch Committee.
In Manchester, for example, and in numerous smaller places, mat¬
ters relating to discipline, promotion, and even prosecutions, are
often discussed in the council meeting. Recently ^ in Cardiff and
Swansea, the Town Councils assumed to make appointments in spite
of the protests of the Watch Committees and of the Home Office.
52
The Police Department in the State
reference to the chief officer. In some towns, indeed,
the chief constable is little more than a messenger for
the Chairman of the Watch Committee, with no room for
the play of his own initiative; in others, and perhaps in
the majority of towns, he possesses a very real author¬
ity, free from direction and interference, even punish¬
ing members of the force who carry their grievances to
the Watch Committee. The matter is largely one of-
personality. A chief constable of strong character and
independent ideas usually succeeds in dominating his
committee; a weaker man under the same circumstances
becomes merely a figure-head.
But the life of a chief constable in his relations with
a Watch Committee is not always a happy one. Apart
from questions of personality, there are often influences
to combat, which arise naturally from the popular method
by which the committee is brought into being. The per¬
sonnel of the committee does not always represent the
wisest choice. Too often untrained laymen are selected,
engaged in the pursuit of various commercial trades,-
lacking the experience and technical ability to be found in
the Standing Joint Committees of the county constabu¬
lary, where, as we shall see, half the membership is chosen
from justices selected by Quarter Sessions.1 In too
many cases the chief constable is obliged to undergo the
humiliation of being overruled in his disciplinary meas¬
ures through the activity of the culprits or their friends
who successfully canvass the Watch Committee.2
Sometimes members of the committee attempt to keep
1 Page 62, under " English County Police/'
2 Confidentially communicated by police officials.
53
European Police Systems
privately in touch with the police situation through mem¬
bers of the force in the inferior ranks, a circumstance
prejudicial to discipline and effectiveness. Moreover, the
burden which the English law throws upon the police de¬
partment in the matter of prosecutions, making the chief
constable practically responsible in determining the
parties against whom prosecutions shall be brought, fur¬
nishes an obvious opportunity for manipulation by indi¬
vidual members of the Watch Committee.1 There is
scarcely a chief constable in any of the larger cities who
will not confess in confidential moments to continued so¬
licitations by representatives of the Committee and Coun¬
cil in favor of saloons and various other interests against
which it is the intention of the department to proceed.
1 A local prosecuting attorney in the American and Continental
sense of the term is unknown in England and Wales. Except in
cases of the utmost importance, the police themselves prosecute
through their own solicitor, retained for that purpose by the chief
constable. In offenses punishable with death, and certain ^ other
cases of importance, the prosecution is conducted by the Director
of Public Prosecutions, a national officer appointed by the Home
Secretary. Any private person, under the English law, may insti¬
tute and carry on criminal proceedings.
In Scotland, on the other hand, as in America and on the Conti¬
nent, private prosecutions are practically unknown. A crime is
regarded as an offense committed against society which society
must prosecute through public officials. Thus there is in Scotland
a Procurator Fiscal for each county, entirely independent of the
jpolice or the municipal government. For serious cases there are
four Advocates-Depute, each with jurisdiction in his own circuit
under the control of the Lord Advocate. In Germany the public
prosecutor (Stacytsanwalt) is a state official appointed by the Min¬
ister of Justice or the Minister of the Interior, and attached to
the particular court in which he is to officiate. For literature deal¬
ing with this subject, see The Administration of Justice in Criminal
Matters in England and Wales, G. Glover Alexander, Cambridge,
Eng., 1911 ; Justice and Police, Frederic W. Maitland, London, 1885;
Stone's Justices' Manual; Outlines of Criminal Law, C. S. Kenny,
Cambridge, Eng., 1902; Kriminalpolizei und Staatsanwalt, Dr. Erich
Wulffen.
54
The Police Department in the State
Furthermore, the Committee has it in its power to ham¬
per the chief constable by refusing him the necessary
funds to take up prosecutions which injured parties,
through want of means or for other reasons, do not in¬
stitute.* As one of the chief constables who had been
retired expressed it to the writer : " It takes a strong
man to stand up against the Committee and the Council.
My life would have been much happier if I had yielded."
The difficulty of the situation lies in the fact that the
power to remove the chief constable rests with the Watch
Committee without the necessity of approval by a higher
authority. In this respect the Scottish system is pref¬
erable. In Glasgow, for example, the chief constable
is appointed by the joint action of the Magistrates Com¬
mittee of the Town Council and the sheriff of the
County, He has charge of all matters of discipline rela¬
tive to members of the force below the rank of inspec¬
tor,2 and from, his decisions there is no appeal. He is,
of course, open to suggestion from the Magistrates Com¬
mittee, or the Watching and Lighting Committee, which
handles the financial measures of his department, or
from the Town Council as a whole, but he is not obliged
to obey. He can be removed from office only by the
joint action of the sheriff and the Magistrates Com¬
mittee ; in case of a disagreement the matter is referred
for decision to the Lord Advocate for Scotland.3 The
chief constable thus procures a degree of independence
in his work that is lacking in the case of his brother offi-
1 Many prosecutions which might be brought are left untouched,
because the local police authority objects on the ground of expense.
2 Corresponding to lieutenant in America.
3 Glasgow Police Act of i860, Sec. 71,
55
European Police Systems
cial in England. The present chief constable in Glas¬
gow stood firm against a resolution passed by the town
council demanding the removal of a policeman for an al¬
leged assault upon a citizen. Even in the face of public
clamor and an award of damages by a jury to the alleged
victim against the policeman, the chief constable refused
to comply, as he knew the accusation to be without justice.
Such an incident would hardly be possible in an English
city.
Susceptible to abuses as it undoubtedly is, from the
very nature of its formation, the general character of the
Watch Committee has undoubtedly improved during the
last quarter century. Twenty-five years ago, the chair¬
man of the Watch Committee in Liverpool was the attor¬
ney for large liquor interests of the town, while another
prominent member was the physician for most of the
prostitutes. Needless to say, the activities of the police
in respect to liquor and prostitution were negligible. Ten
years later conditions in Manchester were shown to be
even worse.1 In 1899 the investigation of the Royal
Excise Commission brought to light the fact that in
Wigan the chairman of the Watch Committee was the
head of a brewery company, and so powerful were the
brewing interests that the chief constable did not dare
to apply for a warrant to raid objectionable saloons. In
Derby, of the eleven members of the Watch Committee,
four were interested in saloons, the chairman of the com¬
mittee himself holding four licenses. Similar conditions
1 Report of J. S. Dug dale, Q.C., a Commissioner appointed by
the Home Office to investigate complaints as to the relation of the
Watch Committee to certain beer houses and brothels. The report
is on file in the Home Office.
56
The Police Department in the State
were discovered in Nottingham, Portsmouth, Hull, Read¬
ing, Lincoln, Leeds, Devonport, and other towns and
cities.1 The finding of the Investigating Commission
in this matter is significant : " We think that the Chief
Constable should hold a more independent position — as
in Scotland — and . . . should not be removable without
the sanction of the Secretary of State (for Home Af¬
fairs)." 2
This recommendation has never been adopted, but in
some towns, at least, the representatives of brewing in¬
terests no longer sit upon the Watch Committees. In
this respect, therefore, the Watch Committee has im¬
proved. Could the position of chief constable be more
adequately protected, so that removal would require the
sanction of some higher body or official, the Watch Com¬
mittee form of supervision would represent an efficient
piece of machinery for the democratic control of a police
force in a city of moderate size. Under its regime, the
political use of patronage in the recruiting of the force,
particularly in the larger towns, has been successfully
curtailed, and this in spite of the fact, discussed in a
later chapter, that there are no civil service regulations
pertaining to the police in English cities.3 So, too, in
1 Final Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners on the Opera¬
tion and Administration of the Laws Relating to the Sale of Intoxi¬
cating Liquors, 1899, PP- 158-163.
2 Ibid., p. 162. This recommendation is contained in the minority
report of the commission which was signed by the Archbishop of
Canterbury as chairman, and seven members. The majority report
made no detailed recommendations in the matter of police organ¬
ization.
8 It cannot be denied that in some of the smaller towns personal,
political and sectarian prejudices play no little part not only in the
recruiting of the force, but in matters relating to discipline and
promotion.
57
European Police Systems
the matter of promotions and advancement, political in¬
fluence is seldom effectual, and it can safely be said that
as a rule the police department of an English town is ad¬
ministered without regard to party inteiests or political
issues. Occasionally, of course, party feeling in the
Town Council makes itself felt. Thus the efforts of the
Watch Committee of one of the largest cities to secure
a well-deserved increase of salary for its chief constable
were defeated by the brewing interests of the Conservative
Party in the Town Council, whose business had been ham¬
pered through the effectiveness of the police. There have
been other instances where party politics and sectarian
prejudice, trade interests and even personal jealousy have
strained the relations between the Town Council and the
chief constable. But, on the whole, instances of this
kind are not frequently encountered.
If the Watch Committee form of police supervision
has the defects arising from popular control, it has also
the advantages of such control. The provincial cities do
not know the more summary methods of Scotland Yard.
There is little of the air of secrecy which surrounds the
administration of the police in London. The attitude of
the administrative officers toward the public is far more
friendly, their relations with the newspapers more frank
and open. The popular character of the Watch Com¬
mittee entails a popular administration in which the more
autocratic methods of the Home Office would be out of
place. To be sure, there is a certain reserve in con¬
nection with the relation of the police to the public, even
in the provincial cities. Criminal records are not open
to inspection, nor are the internal affairs of the depart-
S»
The Police Department in the State
ment, such as the trial and discipline of members of the
force, free to public gaze. But in all matters that relate
to their external duties, the police departments of the
provincial cities are administered with full publicity.
In drawing this contrast between the police organiza¬
tion of London and that of the provincial cities, we can¬
not escape the conclusion that the more arbitrary methods
by which the former is administered are justified by their
outcome. It is an undeniable fact that the autocratic
management of Scotland Yard produces the more effi¬
cient police organization. The failures of the provincial
departments, when occurring, are generally traceable di¬
rectly to their popular control. At first glance, therefore,
it would seem that the autocratic type of organization,
unhampered by political influences and free from the
interference of popular majorities, is a primary requisite
of an efficient police. Such an organization can keep
order, it can keep secrets, it can maintain a continuous
policy. Its efficiency is undisturbed by changes in public
opinion or by the rise and fall of political factions. In
a city of 7,000,000 people, the ability of such a depart¬
ment to operate without breakdown deprives theoretical
objections to this method of control of much or all of
their force. Indeed, in a large city whose population is
stratified on social, economic, and racial lines, the task
of maintaining order is so difficult and complex that
strict adherence to the theory of popular control is im¬
possible. In smaller cities and towns, the problem is so
much simpler that arbitrary methods are not necessary.
That is, a sufficiently good police, under more or less
popular control, can be organized to maintain order with
59
European Police Systems
fair success. But in cities like London the problem is
wholly different, and the question to be solved is how far
democracy has to be tempered by autocratic methods.
The police problem has, however, wider relationships
than are involved in the mere function of keeping order.
If the maintenance of order were its only business, a
rigid military organization would be well adapted to its
solution. But political and economic movements and
ideas, as well as social prejudices, cut across and com¬
plicate the task. The problem is inseparably connected
with many phases of community life and the treatment
must take color from opinions and ideals. While the
police organization may conserve its efficiency by auto¬
cratic methods, it must be so amenable to public will that
the people can reach it when changes in social ideals
make such a step necessary. On the other hand, the
democratic spirit must be made to harmonize with the
requirements of effective organization. There must be
autocracy enough for efficiency and democracy enough
for sympathy and understanding.
How the police are to be made responsive to the public
will and yet be kept safe from popular demoralization is
obviously a problem of great complexity, affected in dif¬
ferent localities by many special influences. One can
readily see that with the rising tide of democracy
throughout Europe the solution of this problem will be
the occasion of many conflicts of opinion in the years to
come.
60
The Police Department in the State
English County Police.
Although not directly within the limits of our subject,
the English county police are of so much greater im¬
portance than the borough forces that some mention must
be made of them. Prior to 1840, the rural districts of
England were policed by parochial constables, and the
conditions of crime obtaining were similar to those which
existed in the larger towns and cities before the Act of
1835. The disastrous consequences of this system in the
country districts were portrayed in the exhaustive report
of the Royal Commission of 1839, appointed to deter¬
mine the best means of establishing an efficient constabu¬
lary in the counties of England and Wales. As a result
of this report, Parliament passed the " Permissive Act "
of 1839,1 which, supplemented by the Rural Police Act
of 1856, to which attention has already been called, and
other amendatory acts, forms the basis of county policing
in England and Wales.
At the present time there are fifty-eight county police
forces. With the exception of London and Middlesex,
each of which is wholly included in the Metropolitan Po¬
lice District, a separate force has been organized in every
administrative county, including East and West Sus¬
sex, East and West Suffolk, the three Ridings of York¬
shire, the three divisions of Lincolnshire, the Isle of
Wight, the Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough.2
Every borough with a population of less than 20,000 is
12 and 3 Vict. c. 93.
2 The three Lincolnshire forces, however, are under one chief
constable; the Peterborough force is under the chief constable of
Northamptonshire, and Cumberland and Westmorland also have a
chief constable in coçimon.
6l
European Police Systems
debarred from having a separate police force.1 Many
towns and boroughs with populations exceeding 20,000
have voluntarily given over their police functions to the
counties in which they are located.2
The constabulary force of each county is under the
control of a Standing Joint Committee formed of an
equal number of justices appointed by Quarter Sessions
and of county councilors appointed by the County Coun¬
cil. The size of the committee is determined by mutual
consent of the two bodies represented.3 In carrying on
its work the Committee enjoys an independence denied
to the Watch Committee of a borough. The latter, as,
we have seen, is under the control of the Town Council
in all matters relating to expenditure. The Joint Com¬
mittee of a county, on the other hand, has full authority
in this respect, and the County Council is required to
raise for police purposes such sums as the committee may
deem necessary.4 This is a matter of especial impor¬
tance in so far as it relates to the number and pay of a
police force, both of which questions the Standing Joint
Committee can determine, subject only to the approval
of the Home Secretary. The recommendations of a
Watch Committee, on the other hand, especially as re¬
gards the strength of the force, are often rejected by an
economical Town Council with a keener eye for tax
rates than for efficient policing.
1 Act of 1882 (45 and 46 Vict. c. 50), § 215.
âA.ct of 1840 (3 and 4 Vict. c. 88), § 14; Act of 1856 (19 and
20 Vict. c. 69), § 20.
3 Act of 1888 (51 and 52 Vict. c. 41), § 30.
4 Ex parte Somerset County Council, 58 L. J. Q. B. 513. The
expenses of a county force are paid from the police rate levied with
the county rate. (Act of 1888, § 3.)
62
The Police Department in the State
Subject to the approval of the Home Secretary, the
Standing Joint Committee appoints the chief con¬
stable of the county constabulary.1 In him are vested
far wider powers than those enjoyed by the chief con¬
stable of a borough force. He appoints the other mem¬
bers of the department and " at his pleasure may dismiss
all or any of them " and has " the general disposition
and government of all the constables so to be appointed,
subject to such lawful orders as he may receive from the
Standing Joint Committee." 2 The chief constable of
a borough force, on the other hand, has no statutory
powers, as all police functions are vested exclusively in
the Watch Committee. In this respect, therefore, the
county chief constable is free from many of the petty
annoyances which often beset the borough chief consta¬
ble in his relations with his Watch Committee.
As is the case with the borough forces, the county
forces are under the supervision of the Home Secretary
and the same system of support is in vogue. That is,
sums not exceeding one-half the total cost of the pay
and clothing of a force are contributed by the national
exchequer upon certificates of efficiency issued by the
Home Secretary. The weaknesses of this system observed
in connection with the borough police are noticeable in
the county constabulary. The annual examinations made
by the inspectors of the Home Office are more or less
perfunctory, and little or no effort has been put forth to
1 WJliile the Standing Joint Committee cannot appoint a chief
constable without the consent of the Home Secretary, such con¬
sent is not required in case of a dismissal. The Home Secretary's
rules require that on appointment the chief constable shall not be
older than forty-five.
2 Act of 1839 (2 and 3 Viet. c. 93), § 6.
63
European Police Systems
A
standardize the methods of work in the various forces.1
In other respects, however, the control of the Home
Office over the county forces is more active than over
the borough forces. The Home Secretary is empowered
by law to make general regulations as to the government,
pay and clothing of the county police.2 Not only the
appointment of a chief constable, but the strength of
the force, the division of the county into districts, the
number of men in each district, and the allocation of
expenditure between the districts and the county are all
subject to his approval.3
In these three respects, therefore, the county police oc¬
cupy a unique position : the Standing Joint Committee
is independent of the county council in financial matters,
the chief constable has statutory rights which free him
from the active interference of the Standing Joint Com¬
mittee, and the Home Secretary has wide powers of
supervision. As a result it can be confidently stated that
in point of personnel and efficiency the county constab¬
ulary are superior to the borough police. Thanks to the
guiding control of the Home Office this standard of ex¬
cellence is generally uniform throughout England and
Wales.4
1 See discussion of this point, p. 50.
2 Act of 1839, § 3. The rules at present in force were promul¬
gated on April 12, 1886, and may be found in the Statutory Rules
and Orders (1894, Vol. 10).
3 For an interesting résumé of the entire subject of the relation
between the Home Office and the county police forces, see the
article, by H. B. Simpson, on Police, in the Encyclopedia of Local
Government Law, London, 1906-1908, Vol. 5, p. 146.
4 Ireland, outside of Dublin, is policed by the Royal Irish Con¬
stabulary, a semi-military force, instituted in 1787, and responsible
to the Chief Secretary for Ireland. It consists of between 13,000
and 14,000 men and is the oldest police force in Great Britain.
La (See next page)
The Police Department in the State
HOLLAND AND BELGIUM
The system of police regulation in Dutch towns and
cities is a unique arrangement of local autonomy modi¬
fied by the firm, centralized control of the government.
All chief commissioners (Hoofd-Commissaris) and com¬
missioners (Commissaris) of police departments in the
Netherlands are appointed by the Crown upon the rec¬
ommendation of the Minister of Justice,1 and are re¬
movable only by the same authority. The police offi¬
cials, however, are, under the law, made responsible to
the local burgomasters, who, although appointed by the
Minister of Internal Affairs, and therefore representa¬
tive of the central government, share the administration
of the municipality with the popularly elected Town
Councils.2
The control of the burgomaster over the affairs of the
police department is more effectual than is indicated by
Dublin has a special force known as the Dublin Metropolitan
Police established in 1836 (6 and 7, William IV c. 29). Like the
Royal Irish Constabulary, it is directly responsible, to the Chief
Secretary for Ireland. It has a total strength of 1,200 men (as of
December 31, 1911). Under the terms of the Irish Home Rule
bill, just passed, both the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dub¬
lin Metropolitan Police will, at the expiration of six years, be turned
over to the control of the proper authorities under the newly estab¬
lished Irish Parliament.
1 Only four Dutch cities, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague,
and Utrecht, have chief commissioners. In each of these cities
there are from two to seven commissioners, responsible to the Chief
Commissioner, but appointed and removable by the Minister of
Justice. The smaller cities and towns, like Haarlem, Delft, Schie¬
dam, Groningen, etc., have each a single Commissioner.
2 The burgomasters are^ appointed for a term of six years.
They are generally reappointed to succeed themselves. Occasion¬
ally they are transferred or promoted from one city to another.
Thus the present Burgomaster at Amsterdam was formerly in the
same position at Arnhem.
65
European Police Systems
the type of organization. The burgomaster cannot in¬
deed remove the commissioner, who, like himself, is a
government official; his right to appoint, promote and
dismiss the other members of the force, is further limited
to the recommendations of the commissioner with whom
all initiative rests. But the burgomaster holds the purse-
strings. No money can be expended the purpose of
which has not first been approved by the local author¬
ities.1 Even the salary of the commissioner is subject
to their control. Moreover, in the practical working out
of the relations between the police and the town govern¬
ment, the word of the burgomaster is of final importance.
It is he who ultimately determines the policy of the de¬
partment. Respect for law and authority is nowhere to
be found in greater degree than in Holland; and while
friction occasionally arises between the burgomaster and
the commissioner, the latter recognizes the former as his
legally constituted superior.
In Belgium there is more local autonomy than in Hol¬
land, and the police departments are to a far greater ex¬
tent under the direct control of the municipalities. The
commissioner of police (commissaire en chef) is ap¬
pointed by the burgomaster,2 who, in turn, is nominated
by the Town Council from among its own membership.3
1 In Amsterdam, for example, the police budgetary estimate for
the following year is submitted by the commissioner to the Select
Committee, consisting of the burgomaster and four aldermen
(Wethouders) chosen by the Town Council. After revision it is
referred to the Town Council, where it may again be revised before
its final approval by majority vote.
2 This appointment must receive the approval of the central
government at Brussels, an approval which is very seldom, if ever,
withheld.
3 The actual appointment of burgomasters is made by the Crown,
66
The Police Department in the State
By a peculiar law the burgomaster himself may be the
chief of the police, and as such, is free to exercise the
various functions pertaining to that office. Generally,
however, those functions are delegated to a commis¬
sioner, as in Liège, Ghent and Antwerp, leaving to the
burgomaster only general supervisory powers. In Brus¬
sels one of the nine commissioners in the department
acts as chief or commander under the immediate direc¬
tion of the burgomaster, who, perhaps, to a greater
extent than any other Belgian burgomaster, participates
in the details of police management.1
The municipal police forces of Belgium are therefore
practically autonomous, with only the slightest interfer¬
ence on the part of the central government. The regu¬
lations which they issue are, however, subject to the ap¬
proval of the Deputation permanente of the Ministry
of Justice in Brussels, where their legality is passed upon.
GERMANY
Police administration in the German Empire lies
within the jurisdiction of each of the several States.
The Imperial Constitution makes no mention of it
nor has there been any general legislation upon the
subject. As a result there is no uniform system of ad¬
ministration as in England and France. Each kingdom,
but as a rule the designation is a perfunctory matter. Occasionally,
however, the King appoints some one other than the candidate
named by the Town Council. Thus the present Burgomaster of
Brussels was not the man named by his associates in the Council,
and considerable bitterness was aroused by the arbitrary action of
the King.
1 Brussels formerly had a chief of police or head commissioner
who took upon himself all the( duties now performed by the burgo¬
master.
67
European Police Systems
dukedom, principality, or free city, regulates the matter
in its own way without interference from or supervision
by the Imperial government.1 There has developed,
therefore, a singular diversity in the methods of han¬
dling the police. In some States they are subject to local
municipal control; in others, they constitute a branch of
the state government; while in still others, state and
municipal supervision intermingle. Thus in the King¬
dom of Wiirttemberg all the municipal police forces are
locally controlled ; in Bavaria and Saxony, only the capi¬
tal cities, Munich and Dresden, have royal state forces,
the police of the other towns and cities being subject to
the local authorities ; in Prussia the police of all the
larger cities are commanded by royal officers under the
control of the Minister of the Interior. In this latter
class are F rank fort-on-Main, Danzig, Kônigsberg, Bres-
lau, Magdeburg, Wiesbaden, Coblentz, Cologne, Han¬
over and fourteen other Prussian cities of lesser impor¬
tance.2 It may be said that with two exceptions,
Leipzig and Stuttgart,3 the important cities of Germany
are practically debarred from the local management of
1 The Imperial Constitution reserves to the Empire the power
to legislate with respect to the " whole domain of civil and criminal
law, including judicial procedure " (Art. IV, § 13). Thus there is
a German Criminal Code (Reichsstrafgesetzbuch) and uniform court
procedure operative in all cities of the Empire.
21 Potsdam, Stettin, Posen, Zabrze, Kiel, Geestemiinde, Bochum,
Gelsenkirchen, Cassel, Ilanau, Fulda, Essen, Saarbriicken and
Aachen. The cost of these police forces is included in the budget of
the Minister of the Interior which is annually presented to the Prus¬
sian Landtag for consideration. With the exception of one-
third, which is paid directly by the cities- in question, the money
is paid from the state exchequer. For discussion, see Hue de Grais,
loc. cit., pp. 350 ff.
3 Leipzig's population is 589,850 ; Stuttgart has a population of
68
The Police Department in the State
their police. In Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Hamburg
and other important municipalities, the police depart¬
ments are subject exclusively to state authorities. Thus
the Berlin department is under the control of the Prus¬
sian Minister of the Interior, and the Police President and
all the higher officials are appointed by the Crown. The
same condition obtains in Dresden, where the appoint¬
ments are made by the King of Saxony. In Hamburg
the department is subject to the State Senate. Only in
the smaller cities and towns is local control permitted, and
even in these cases it is so hedged about by state regula¬
tions that little is left to the discretion of local authorities.
Particularly is this true in Prussia. Stein's enlight¬
ened Municipal Ordinance of 1808, under which, in re¬
vised form, Prussian towns and cities are to-day exer¬
cising wider powers of self government than any other
municipalities in Europe, specifically excepted the po¬
lice function.1 " The State reserves the power to es-
286,218. Of the other cities under municipal control, the more im¬
portant are :
Population Population
Nuremberg 333,142 Plauen 121,272
Chemnitz 287,807 Augsburg 102,487
Barmen 169,214 Bromberg 57,696
1 The Municipal Ordinance of 1808 was revised and to a certain
extent curtailed by the Ordinance of March 17, 1831, by the Ordi¬
nance of May 3, 1853, and by the General Laws of July 30 and Aug¬
ust 1, 1883. Its provisions have generally been incorporated in spe¬
cial municipal laws for the western provinces of Prussia which were
subsequently acquired. The towns of the Province of Westphalia
are governed under a constitution dating from March 19, 1856 ; those
of the Rhine Province under a constitution of May 15, 1856; those
of the Province of Hanover, annexed by Prussia in 1866, under its
old constitution of June 24, 1858; Frankfort-on-Main, until 1866 a
free city, is governed under a separate constitution of March 26,
1867; the Province of Schleswig-Holstein, annexed in 1864, under a
constitution of April 14, 1869.
69
European Police Systems
tablish its own police directions in the municipalities or
to transfer the exercise of police functions to the mag¬
istracy, which will then exercise the same as agents.
In this capacity the magistracies shall be regarded as
State authorities." So ran section 166 of the Munic¬
ipal Ordinance, and in Prussia this provision still re¬
mains in force.1 Under this theory of state responsi¬
bility for police action, one of three courses is invariably
followed: either the entire police arrangements of a
municipality are in the hands of royal officers, as is the
case with the twenty-three cities above cited ; or the State
transfers the police authority to the municipal govern¬
ment, while placing at the head a Crown official ; or,
finally, it confers the authority personally upon the burgo¬
master who is for police purposes regarded as a State
commissioner.2 In this last case, the burgomaster
often occupies an anomalous position. On the one hand
he is the official head of the municipality, chosen by and
responsible to the representative assembly ; on the other,
he is the agent of the State, responsible only to the Min¬
ister of the Interior. He thus embodies in his person
both democratic and autocratic functions.
In spite of the efforts of those who believe in the ex-
1 The first liberal draft of the constitution for Prussia (December
5, 1848) drawn up by the National Assembly, included local police
functions among the larger powers to be granted to the municipali¬
ties, but the constitution as promulgated a year later (January 1,
1850), when the reaction against liberalism had set in, omitted this
provision and instead asserted the unconditional right of the Crown
to control the police in every department.
2 The State may also confer police authority upon a member of
the municipal executive other than the burgomaster. In that capac¬
ity, the official thus chosen, is quite independent of the burgomaster
and is answerable for his acts only to State officials.
70
The Police Department in the State
tension of the principle of municipal home rule and the
friction which occasionally develops between the large
cities and the government of Prussia on questions of po¬
lice management,1 local control of police forces is on
the whole unfavorably regarded in Germany. Certainly
it has attracted no large degree of popular support.
Indeed, as between municipal control and state control
there is a distinct trend toward the latter form.
Within recent years, four cities have surrendered
municipal police control to the State.2 It is commonly
believed that local police forces, particularly in the large
cities and in the thickly populated industrial centers,
become too closely identified with local interests, and
that a higher degree of efficiency can be secured un¬
der state control. Several factors contribute to this
conclusion. In the first place, in the German mind,
greater authority attaches to a state government, with
its royal or semi-royal sanctions, than to a local govern¬
ment of popularly elected burghers. Out of this belief
grows an important social distinction. The royal po¬
lice official of Dresden, responsible to the King of Sax¬
ony, looks with condescension upon his brother officer
1 This discord between the large municipalities and the govern¬
ment of Prussia occasionally assumes a more serious aspect. When,
several years ago, a bill came before the Prussian Diet increasing the
budgets of the police departments of the larger towns of Prussia, the
representatives of Berlin, Breslau, Danzig and Posen vigorously
protested and demanded that the entire police administration be
transferred to the municipalities, a demand, which, needless to say,
was ignored, although the incident created considerable criticism.
For a thorough and accurate review of the relations of the central
government to the municipalities of Prussia in matters relating to
police control, see Municipal Life and Government in Germany, Wil¬
liam Harbutt Dawson, London, 1914, Chap. II.
2 St. Johann, 24,000; Kiel, 211,627; Saarbriicken, 105,089, and
Malstatt-Burbach, 38,600.
71
European Police Systems
in the neighboring city of Leipzig who serves under a
burgomaster. Thus it was felt that the assistant com¬
missioner in Munich who accepted the commissionership
in Stuttgart had distinctly lowered himself in the social
scale, because he went from a state force to a municipal
force. For the same reason the state Gendarme, pa-
troling a lonely road in Saxony, feels himself superior
to the municipal Sckutzmann of Leipzig or Chemnitz.
This distinction attracts to the state forces a police offi¬
cer of higher social grade. The royal constabulary of
Dresden secures a better caliber of man than the Leip¬
zig force, while the ambitious police official would not
hesitate to choose Munich in preference to Stuttgart.
Financial considerations also^ contribute to the supe¬
riority of the state-controlled force over the municipal
force in Germany. The tax-payer worries the burgo¬
masters and local authorities, particularly in the smaller
towns and cities. Under the control of a thrifty town
council, largely representing the wealthy tax-paying in¬
terests with their deep-seated objections to increases in
rates, economy often becomes parsimony, with a result¬
ing down-at-the-heel organization. Economy is not,
however, so pressing a matter with the officials of a state-
controlled force, for the tax-payers are far removed
from the scene of action and the very form and consti¬
tution of the state-parliament make budget-paring dif¬
ficult. With more money to spend, and a freer hand in
its spending, the royal state forces are in a position of
great advantage.1
1 Thus the royal force of Dresden, a city of 548,000 inhabitants,
spent 3,336,629 marks in 1912; while Leipzig, with a population
72
The Police Department in the State
State control in Germany is further effective for the
reason that it unifies the efforts of a police force in its
relations with other branches of the state government.
In Wiirttemberg, Bavaria, and to some extent in Saxony,
there is continual friction between the locally-controlled
police organizations on the one hand, and on the other,
the state Gendarmerie. The latter force is a military
constabulary, under the control of the various Ministers
of the Interior, employed by each state not only for the
protection of the smaller villages and country places,
but for the enforcement of certain state and national
legislation.1 The conflict arises from the lack of ade¬
quate definition of the rights and powers of the respective
forces. In some matters it is difficult even for an ex¬
pert to determine which force has jurisdiction. In the
states mentioned, therefore, divided responsibility is a
source of continual confusion and friction. In Prussia,
larger by 40,000, spernt only 2,807,761 marks on her police in the
same period.
1 Gendarmerie forces are to be found in Germany, France, Italy,
Austria, Spain, Holland, and Belgium. In Italy, as we shall see,
they are known as Carabinieri; in Holland they are called Mara-
chausses, in Spain, Guardia Civil. The organization was first
established in France (Law of January 6 and 30, 1791, supple¬
mented by the Law of 28 Germinal, Year VI). In 1812, it was
introduced into Germany and other countries of the Continent.
The gendarmerie are almost invariably subject to the orders of the
civil authorities, although in France and Italy, while forming one
of the reserves of the Minister of the Interior, they are directly
under the orders of the Minister of War.
Ordinarily the men for this service are recruited from the army.
Thus, in Prussia, applicants must have served nine years in the
army, and have reached the grade of UnteroMzier. The training
schools for recruits are among the best police schools on the Con¬
tinent. Not only do the Gendarmerie guard the country places,
either mounted or afoot, but they supplement the police work of
the smaller towns, where, for lack of money or conveniences, the
local authorities are unable to cope with unexpected situations.
73
European Police Systems
on the other hand, where all police control is centralized,
directly or indirectly, in the hands of the Minister of the
Interior, friction is minimized. The German, to whom
any lack of coordination in the machinery of government
is an approach to anarchy, sees in these facts a convinc¬
ing argument for the necessity of a uniform state control.
Finally, it must be admitted that state control is .ef¬
fective in Germany in eliminating personal interests and
party politics, too often found in connection with the
local management of municipal forces. In a police
force whose president or commissioner is appointed by
the Crown upon the recommendation of the Minister
of the Interior, whose discipline is subject to the ap¬
proval of no external body, whose policy is divorced
from political principles or movements, whose efficiency
is unrelated to the success or failure of any political
party, there is neither opportunity nor occasion for
the introduction of sinister influences. On the other
hand, in a locally controlled police force where the com¬
missioner is responsible to a popularly elected coun¬
cil, where the police policy is determined by majority
vote, and where the disciplinary measures of the depart¬
ment are subject to the consideration and approval of the
town fathers, personal interests and party politics are
apt to make themselves felt. Thus in Stuttgart when
the present Police Director assumed control two years
ago, he found instances where certain police officers had
been dismissed three times by his predecessor for serious
offenses only to be subsequently reinstated in each case
by the council (Gemeinderat). It is small wonder that
the force in Stuttgart was demoralized. Even to-day
74
The Police Department in the State
some of the members of the Gemeinderat in that city are
not above using their influence and their vote for the
benefit of external or incidental interests. In a bitter
letter written recently by one of these council members
to the Police Director protesting against a small fine
which the police had imposed upon him, he con¬
cluded by saying: " And this is what I get for sup¬
porting you in the GemeinderatThe implication is
obvious. In Berlin or Dresden or Munich, where the
policy of the police is shaped by the autocratic hand of
the state, free from external hindrance or suggestion, we
look in vain for conditions of this kind.
State supervision in Germany is of course effective at
the expense of popular control. The system is auto¬
cratically centralized. Citizens are given no oppor¬
tunity to express their opinion of the police. The issue
is never raised at the polls, nor under the present system
could it be raised. As a matter of fact, in the Anglo-
Saxon sense of the term, there is no such thing as demo¬
cratic administration in Germany; in its place is a huge
bureaucratic machine. The three-class system of voting,
by which the control of municipal policy is practically
limited to men of wealth;1 the maintenance of the old
1 Under this scheme, which is operative only in Prussia, all voters
are grouped into three classes according to their tax-paying strength,
each class electing one-third of the candidates to be voted
for. Thus in the municipal elections in Essen in 1900, there
were three voters in the first class, 401 in the second, and 18,991 in
the third ; but the three voters of the first class elected one-third of
the whole municipal council, while 404 votes out of nearly 20,000
elected two-thirds of it. In 1912, in Berlin, there were 936 voters
in the first class, or 0.2 per cent.; 32,096 in the second class, or 8.3
per cent., and 353,704 in the third class, or 91.5 per cent. A recent
classification of the electors of 114 Prussian towns showed that 8,600,
or 1.3 per cent, fell in the first class; 48,950, or 7 per cent, in the
75
European Police Systems
political divisions as units of representation despite the
radical change in the complexion of the country;1 the
conception of the local official as an agent of the state
rather than of the locality that chooses him; the social
superiority and protected position of the official classes;
the rigidity of the press censorship and laws governing
public assemblage,2 and above all, the firm grip of the
central government upon local affairs — so that in Prus¬
sia the choice of burgomasters3 must be approved by
the Crown, and the higher officers of the police depart-
second; and 629,360, or 91.7 per cent, in the third. In some towns
it happens that a single voter forms the first class by himself, and
thus elects one-third of the membership of the municipal council.
For an interesting discussion of this subject, see Dawson, loc. cit.
1 This change is due to the unprecedented growth of cities during
the last thirty years. Certain towns of over 300,000 inhabitants
are represented in the legislature in the same proportion as coun¬
try populations of 30,000.
2 The regulation of the press and the right of assembly are the
subject of Imperial legislation. Under the Press Laws (Federal In¬
dustrial Code of i86q, and the Law of May 7, >1874), a copy of each
paper and periodical, not purely devoted to the interests of the arts
and sciences, must immediately, upon distribution, be delivered to
the police authority of the place of publication; papers may not
publish the news of indictments or other criminal proceedings until
the same have been publicly announced; they are obliged to print
rectifications of facts previously stated; confiscation of publications
without judicial decree can occur if the contents offend the em¬
peror or ruler of a state, urge disobedience to laws, incite acts of
class hatred, etc.
The law of public assembly (Vereinsgesetz, April 19, 1908,) pro¬
vides that all political clubs or societies must file with the police
authorities, within two weeks after formation, copies of their con¬
stitutions and lists of their officers ; subsequent changes must in
the same way be communicated to the police; public meetings for
the discussion of political subjects must be announced twenty-four
hours before to the police, who may send not more than two rep¬
resentatives ; these representatives have the right to declare the meet¬
ings dissolved; the proceedings of these meetings must be in the
German language. For an interesting discussion of the Press Law
and the Public Assembly Law, see James, loc. cit., pp. 218 fi\, and
Hue de Grais, loc. cit., pp. 380 fif.
3 In cities with a population exceeding 100,000.
76
The Police Department in the State
ment of a Rhenish city cannot be removed without au¬
thority from Berlin — these factors tend to render Ger¬
many impregnable against the assaults of democracy.
Indeed, the development of liberal principles has received
but little encouragement in the last sixty years. The
energies of the nation have been totally absorbed in in¬
dustrial and military development, and the impassioned
liberalism of 1848, which gave a momentary promise of
a new era in Europe, has been supplanted by the spirit
of autocracy.1 Particularly is this true in Prussia,
the most wealthy and progressive State of the Empire.
In respect to political thought and the liberty of her in¬
stitutions, she is far behind the smaller States in the
south.
The autocratic spirit of the German government is
reflected in the imperviousness of the police to public
opinion. The police department is a specialized institu¬
tion in the details of which the people are held to have no
proper interest. Not only are police records withheld
from public scrutiny, but in the state-controlled forces
no information of any kind relative to administration is
ever vouchsafed to the citizens. Indeed, he would be
a valiant man who would ask for it. In Berlin no an¬
nual report of the department has been issued in twelve
years; in Dresden the last report was published in 1897.
The so-called annual returns of the royal forces are now
forwarded to the respective Ministers of the Interior of
the various states and by them jealously guarded. In
^See Reminiscences of Carl Schurz, New York, 1908; The Evo¬
lution of Modern Germanyf W. H. Dawson, New York, 1908; The
Republican Tradition in Europe, Fischer, London, 1911.
77
European Police Systems
Berlin the combined newspaper interests are allowed to
send but one representative to police headquarters. This
particular man has been especially approved by the au¬
thorities. Whatever news he is given is written out in
a form acceptable to the police, and is printed in the
various newspapers exactly as it was sent out, very much
as legal notices are published in American or English
journals. The same practice obtains in Dresden. When
in June, 1913, three plain-clothes men of the Berlin
force were arrested on the charge of living on the earn¬
ings of the prostitutes whom they were supposed to su¬
pervise, the news was given to the public in a dozen lines
in an inconspicuous place on the back page of the Ber¬
liner Tageblatt. Even at that, one of the officials at
headquarters, in talking to me of the matter, regret¬
ted the publicity which had been given to " a private
affair." Occasionally the police are subjected to severe
criticism at the hands of the press, the Social-Demo¬
cratic newspapers leading in the assault, but the general
fear in which the police are held, coupled with the curb¬
ing effect of the press law, has a restraining influence
even on these attacks.
The general attitude of the police toward the public
is also indicative of the autocratic spirit of the German
government. The unfailing courtesy of the English po¬
lice is often lacking in the German forces. Arbitrari¬
ness too frequently marks the conduct of the latter in
their relations with the public. The great powers of the
police official, his right to fine and imprison without ju¬
dicial process, his exemption from prosecution for false
arrest, breed an arrogance hardly to be tolerated in dem-
78
The Police Department in the State
ocratic communities. To be sure, the temper and char¬
acter of the Teutonic people are attuned to this kind of
stern management. They seem even to demand it. If
it be true, as has been asserted, that a Berlin Schutzmann
in Trafalgar Square would provoke a riot in two hours,
it is equally true that the peaceful-mannered London
" Bobby " would be overwhelmed in Berlin. Back of
the sharp contrasts between the English and German po¬
lice are fundamental differences in race-history and na¬
tional character.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
The absence of state lines and independent jurisdic¬
tions in Austria conduces to far greater uniformity in
police control than is to be found in Germany. In the
eight largest cities,1 the police presidents or directors
are appointed by the Emperor upon the recommendation
of the Austrian Minister of the Interior, and to this lat¬
ter official, exercising control through the Statthalter, or
governor, of the province in which the city is located,2
1 Vienna, Prague, Lemberg, Trieste, Krakau, Graz, Brimn, and
Czernowitz. These cities vary in population from 2,000,000 in the
case of Vienna, to 87,000 in the case of Czernowitz. The police
of Laibach, the capitol of Carniola, with a population of 41,000, are
also under state control, having been handed over by the municipal¬
ity in 1913. At the present time, Graz and Briinn have both state
and^ municipal control, the uniformed force being under the juris¬
diction of the latter, while the former assumes charge of press and
public assembly matters, the registration of citizens, the detective
bureau, etc. As neither force is under the control of the other,
considerable confusion exists, although a passable basis of opera¬
tion has been established.
2 For administrative purposes, Austria is divided into seventeen
provinces. Each province has a measurable degree of local self-
government through its Landesausschuss, or council, and the pro¬
vincial diet. Imperial interests, however, are especially represented
by a Statthalter, or governor, appointed by the Crown upon the pro-
79
European Police Systems
the police forces are entirely responsible. In the smaller
towns and cities, police control is vested in the local au¬
thorities under the famous Municipal Act of 1862.1
Passed in consequence of the prevailing spirit of unrest
and the desire for freedom emanating from Hungary,
this act has given the lesser communities of Austria a
degree of autonomy in the management of their police
affairs such as the small towns of Prussia do not know.
Indeed, an eminent Austrian authority has gone so far
as to maintain that these lesser communities of Austria
possess a larger independent competence than do the
communes of any other European state.2
In Hungary, the capital, Budapest, is the only city
whose police force is under state jurisdiction.3 All
other towns and cities have municipal control.4 But a
posai of the Minister of the Interior and independent of local con¬
trol.
1 Gemeindegesetzgebung of March 5, 1862, Art. V. Prior to the
passage of this act, police authority was entirely vested in the state.
2 Dr. Josef Redjich: Das Wesen der osterreichischen Kommunal-
verfassung, Leipzig, 1910. See also his recent article in the Journal
of the Society of Comparative Legislation — New Series, Vol. VIII,
Part I.
Note, however, that even with this large authority vested in the
smaller communities, the state maintains through its Gendarmerie a
fairly firm grip upon matters relating to order and security. (See
note on p. 73.) The Gendarmerie is controlled by the state of¬
ficials of the Bezirke or units into which the provinces are divided.
The system is practically similar to that of France and Prussia.
The Gendarmerie corps is perhaps the most effective police organ¬
ization in Austria as regards both patrol and detective work. Cer¬
tainly it has the confidence of the entire provincial public.
3 The Police President is appointed by the Emperor in his capac¬
ity as King of Hungary, upon the nomination of the Hungarian
Minister of the Interior.
4 Exclusive of Croatia-Slavonia, Hungary is divided into 63 rural
counties and 36 urban counties or towns. The latter are practically
free cities in which independent self-government has been highly
developed. These counties and cities constitute the unit of local gov¬
ernment in Hungary.
80
The Police Department in the State
movement is on foot to place all local forces under the
centralized direction of the government. This program
has the support of the National Working Party which is
in power at the present time,1 and arrangements are
being made to pass through the Hungarian parliament
measures which will place under state control the police
forces of ten of the largest cities.2 It is felt that the
present system, lacking uniform standards and giving
wide opportunity for incompetency and politics, is in¬
capable of coping with the modern criminal. Arrayed
against the proposed legislation are the cities whose local
autonomy is thus challenged, backed by the Independent
Party in the Hungarian parliament which sees in this
scheme of centralization a powerful weapon forged by
cunning hands for the use of the hated government at
Vienna. The project, however, has the support of the
authorities at Budapest and will undoubtedly be carried
through.
The police forces of all the larger cities of Austria-
Hungary, therefore, are under the strict supervision of
state authorities.3 As in Germany, so here, popular
control of the police through democratic machinery is
119I4* '
2 These cities include Debreczen (94,000), Pozsony (80,000),
Temesvâr (75,000), Arad (65,000), Nagyvârad (67,000), Kolozsvâr
(63,000), Pécs (53,000), and Kassa (47,000). Training classes for
the chief police officers of these towns are now being conducted in
Budapest in anticipation of the proposed legislation.
3 The police departments under state control are supported by the
national exchequer, although the cities affected make their individual
contributions. Thus the municipality of Vienna pays a fixed sum
of 1,050,000 Kronen a year, while the state contributes the balance.
(In 1913 the state share was 16,866,628 Kronen voted by the Aus¬
trian parliament. The municipality of Budapest pays an annual
fixed sum of 800,000 Kronen, Hungary contributing the balance, in
1913, 7,670,260 Kronen.)
8l
European Police Systems
not seriously considered for the reason that in the larger
cities, at least, there is no pretense of democracy. A
police force is a governmental organ autocratically
managed on a semi-military basis, for the purpose of
maintaining order. As such it is accepted by the people.
In the larger cities there is no popular desire to place
the police departments in the hands of municipal au¬
thorities where public opinion could make itself more
easily felt. The thoughtful people of Vienna and Buda¬
pest would regard such a proposal with apprehension.1
In an excitable population, whose brief experience with
limited self-government has been marked by instability
and continual inter-racial disorder, the need is felt for
the firm control of a centralized police. " A municipally
controlled police force in Budapest or Vienna would spell
demoralization in six months/' This remark of one of
the foremost thinkers of Austria, a member of the Aus¬
trian parliament, reflects the intelligent opinion of the
country.
The administration of the police of Vienna and
Budapest does not meet entirely with popular approba¬
tion. On the contrary, the arbitrariness of the police
in the exercise of their imperial functions has bred a
lively animosity particularly among the poorer classes,
and a Wa-chmann in Vienna is almost as unpopular as a
Schutzmann in Berlin. To a large extent, this is due
to the fact that the police represent the imperial govern¬
ment and thus the domination of the bureaucracy. The
1 Both Vienna and Budapest are governed by popularly-elected
municipal councils, and burgomasters chosen from among the coun-
cilmen. The choice of burgomaster must be approved by the Crown.
82
The Police Department in the State
feeling is a manifestation of the revolt against the rigor¬
ous press censorship, the public assembly laws, and other
enactments that hedge the liberties of the people.1
Popular feeling, that is, runs against the political use
made of the police rather than against centralized con¬
trol as such. And it must be admitted that this is a
serious objection. More than once the party in power
in Budapest has used the police, through- its control of
the Ministry of the Interior, to dissolve the assemblies
and break up the meetings of its opponents. In 1905
the opposition party coming suddenly into power took
its revenge by removing the police president who had
followed the orders of his superior too faithfully. In
the same way, the police are used in both Austria and
Hungary to enforce the press law against the opponents
and critics of the government. It is because they thus
typify the arbitrary use of power that the police are so
1 The Austrian Press Censorship law is far more harsh than the
German Law. The first copies of all newspapers and periodicals
must be sent to police headquarters, where they are carefully re¬
viewed for matter offending against morals, religion, or the civil
order. If in the judgment of the police objectionable material is
discovered, the entire edition is immediately confiscated. Later the
courts are called upon to pass upon the action of the police. In the
first five months of 1913, there were seventy such confiscations in
Vienna alone, the objectionable material consisting, for the most
part, of \anti-military articles dealing with the Balkan situation. In
the same way all placards or signs erected for political purposes,
the texts of all plays to be presented, etc., must first be approved
by the police. In Hungary there is no police censorship. The Hun¬
garian Press Law (18th- 1848) provides for a deposit of 20,000
Kronen by the owners of newspapers publishing political news.
From this sum, any fines, levied by the courts for printing improper
news, are subtracted.
The Austrian Public Assembly Law is practically similar to the
German Law. (See note on p. 76.) In Hungary there js no such
law, but an order of the Minister of the Interior of 1868 is enforced
by the police with the same effect.
83
European Police Systems
cordially feared and disliked in Austria and Hungary.
The question does not concern local control against state
control — the people are not committed to any particu¬
lar form of organization — with them the question in¬
volves the preservation of their political status against
harsh laws and an arbitrary bureaucracy.1
FRANCE
r
With the exception of the three largest cities, Paris,
Marseilles, and Lyons, for which special provision has
been made, the various municipal police departments of
France are under the immediate control of the local au¬
thorities. In no country of Europe is there greater uni¬
formity in the management of local affairs, for the Munic¬
ipal Code of 1884 is the basis of all village, town and
city government. The unit of local government is the
commune, varying in size and population from small
villages of a few dozen inhabitants to large cities like
Bordeaux.2 At the head of the commune is the Maire,
or mayor, elected by the local council.3 To this official
the local police organization is responsible.
1 That the relations between the police and public in Vienna have
greatly improved in the last twenty-five years cannot be denied.
This improvement has been largely due to the increasing toleration
by the government of liberal ideas. In the early nineties, the gov¬
ernment carried on a bitter campaign against the Social Democratic
and Universal Suffrage movements, using the powerful weapons of
Public Assembly and Press Censorship Laws in an attempt to^ crush
them. In recent years, however, there has been a disposition to
deal more amicably with liberal tendencies.
2 There are 36,229 communes in France : .31,690 have less than
1,500 inhabitants; 18,471 have even less than 500; while only 15 have
populations exceeding 100,000.
3 The Maire may be suspended from office for a month by the
Prefect of the department, or for three months by the Minister of
84
The Police Department in the State
The complete autonomy of the English town how¬
ever is entirely lacking in the French commune. The
French government, clinging tenaciously to the principle
of centralized administration and fearful of the unre¬
strained use of the police power by small popularly
elected bodies, has interposed many barriers to munic¬
ipal home rule. The power of the Maire over his po¬
lice department is greatly curtailed. His actions are sub¬
ject to the rigid scrutiny of the representative of the
central government, the Prefect of the department in
which his commune is located.1 While the Maire is
given the power to appoint, promote, suspend, and dis¬
miss police officials, none of these actions except suspen¬
sion is valid without the concurrence of the Prefect.2
The larger the towns the more stringent become the regu-
the Interior; or he may be removed from office altogether by the
President of the Republic.
1 For administrative purposes, France is divided into 86 depart¬
ments, each in charge of a Prefect appointed and removed by the
President of the Republic upon the recommendation of the Min¬
ister of the Interior. Each department contains a given number of
communes. The Prefect and the Sub-Prefects under him have wide
and rather undefined functions. As representatives of the execu¬
tive, they supervise the execution of the laws and maintain a vigor¬
ous control over all administrative officials of the department, oc¬
casionally annulling their acts. The Prefect nominates a variety of
subordinate officers and exercises an oversight of the communes,
some of whose measures become effective only after receiving his
assent.
2 Law of April 5, 1884 (The French Municipal Code, Art. 103),
The extensive powers of the Prefect in regard to local police mat¬
ters are indicated in Article 99 of the Municipal Code : " The pow¬
ers which pertain to the Maire . . . are no hindrance to> the right
of the Prefect to take, for all the communes of his department, or
any of them, and in all cases in which they have not been provided
by the municipal authorities, all measures relating to the mainte¬
nance of the public health, safety and tranquillity. The right can¬
not be exercised by the Prefect . . . until after a demand in due
form to the Maire proves of no avail/'
85
European Police Systems
lations. The law1 requires a commissaire de police,
appointed by a decree of the President of the Republic
in all communes having from five to ten thousand inhabi¬
tants, and an additional commissaire for each ten thou¬
sand in excess of that number. These officials, as we
shall see later, have functions peculiarly French. The
police organization, under the more or less nominal di¬
rection of the Maire, is practically in their hands.2
They are the agents of the central authority, of the
municipality, and of the prosecuting attorney, with
power to make investigations relating to crime, to re¬
quisition the gendarmerie,s to exercise the semi-judicial
functions peculiar to their office and to direct the uni¬
formed police in the execution of certain special activi¬
ties.4
Further, the law provides — and it is characteristic of
the French passion for uniformity — that the general
organization, the salaries and other details of the police
departments of towns and cities with more than 40,000
inhabitants shall be regulated by decrees of the President
of the Republic,5 that is, by the central government at
Paris operating through the Minister of the Interior.
1 Law of 28 Pluviôse, Year VIII. ^
2 There are 781 of these municipal commissaires de police in
France. Where there are two or more such officials in a single com¬
mune, a commissaire central is appointed with authority over the
others. (Decree of March 22, 1854.) The municipal commissaires
must not be confused with the special commissaires attached to the
Sûreté générale of the Minister of the Interior. These latter of¬
ficials, 284 in number, are assigned generally to important railway
terminals and seaports, their duties relating principally to inter¬
national or " roving " criminals.
3 Decree of May 20, 1903.
4 Such as vehicular traffic, control of furnished room houses,
prostitution, etc.
5 Law of April 5, 1884, Art. 103.
86
The Police Department in the State
Exclusive of Lyons, Paris and Marseilles, 34 cities are
thus controlled at the present time.
As a final barrier to local autonomy in police matters,
the communal councils are obliged by law to grant thé ap¬
propriations asked far by the police departments. In the
case of the smaller communes (under 40,000 inhabi¬
tants), the Prefect of the department has authority to
inscribe in the budget such necessary sums as the munic¬
ipal council has failed to vote. In the larger cities, the
President of the Republic, with the consent of the Coun¬
cil of State, is empowered to increase the budgets of
recalcitrant local councils by such sums as are deemed
essential to efficient police organization,1 and these
sums can be collected if necessary by an official impost.
By these methods the principle of home rule in police
matters is, to a large extent, nullified in France.2
It is interesting to note the special provision which
has been made for the control of the police in the three
largest cities of France : Paris, Marseilles and Lyons. In
1 Law of April 5, 1884, Art. 103.
2 Through his direct control of the department prefects and his
indirect control of the Maires, the Minister of the Interior holds the
reins of the police power of France in his own hands. The bureau
of his office which deals with the matter is called the "Sûreté géné¬
rale•/' which, in a long course of history, has come to be one of the
most powerful and influential divisions of the government. It is this
office which issues the police regulations and instructions and exer¬
cises a general supervision of the various administrative agents,
" thus ensuring " as the official pamphlet expresses it, " that unity
of ideas without which no good administration can exist." (La
Police, published by Paul^ Dupont, Paris, 1905.) The Sûreté gé¬
nérale is itself subdivided into various bureaus, each entrusted with
particular functions. To this department are also attached the spe¬
cial commissaires and inspecteurs for the suppression and investiga¬
tion of crimes and offenses committed on railroads and for other
duties to which they may be assigned. The famous French Bri¬
gade mobile, of which mention is made on page 288, and the na¬
tional gendarmerie are also attached to the Sûreté générale.
87
European Police Systems
the last named city, a number of suburban communes
are joined to the large urban commune of Lyons, and the
general police district resulting is committed to the con¬
trol of the Prefect of the Rhône department, rather than
to the Maire of Lyons.1 In Marseilles the police force
has recently been transferred from the local authorities
to the Prefect of the department of Bouches-du-Rhone.2
In Paris a unique system of police organization has
been in operation for over a century. A special police
Prefect, entirely divorced in his functions from the Pre¬
fect of the Seine, is appointed by the President of the
Republic upon the recommendation of the Minister of the
Interior. To this official is committed the responsibility
of the police forces of Paris.3 The régime exceptionnel,
which has been described as the masterpiece of Napo¬
leon's administrative system, finds its justification not
only in the size of the capital city, but in its turbulent
traditions. Time and again in the various revolutions
1 Law of June g, 1851. The police budget of Greater Lyons forms
part of the budget of the Minister of the Interior. Lyons con¬
tributes to the national government 30 per cent, of this sum, the
balance being paid by the nation. In 1912 the Lyons police bud¬
get amounted to 2,337,836 francs, of which 875,065 francs were paid
by the municipality.
2 Law of March 8, 1908. As is the case with Lyons, the police
budget of Marseilles is included in the budget of the Minister of the
Interior. The municipality of Marseilles contributes to the national
exchequer an annual sum of 1,600,000 francs based on an estimated
expenditure of 2,880,000 francs, any expenses in excess of this esti¬
mate being shared equally by the nation and the city. The Marseilles
police budget for 1912 amounted to 3,048,250 francs.
3 The authority of the Prefect extends over the whole department
of the Seine including the communes outside of the City of Paris
proper and in addition the communes of St.-Cloud, Sevres, and Meu-
don (Decree of 3 Brumaire, year IX). The Prefecture of Police
was established by the Law of 28 Pluviôse, year VIII, and the Con¬
sular decree of 12 Messidor of the same year.
88
The Police Department in the State
of the last century Paris alone has determined the event,
while the political fickleness of her people has become
proverbial. As in London, therefore, but for radically
different reasons, the police department of Paris has
been held under the firm control of the central govern¬
ment.
Subject to the supervision of the Minister of the In¬
terior,1 the Parisian Prefect of police has absolute au¬
thority in the management of the force. His is the most
powerful police office in France. In him are centered
the police functions not only of the French Maire but of
the department prefect as well. Moreover, the com¬
manding influence of his position is such that the super¬
vision of the Minister of the Interior is more lightly ex¬
ercised in his case than in the case of the departmental
prefects. He appoints and dismisses all members of his
force; he frames and promulgates arrêtés and ordi¬
nances relating to the protection of life and property,
the abatement of nuisances, the supervision of aliens and
political suspects, and various matters of national im¬
portance. In Paris, as in London, national and local
interests are inextricably blended, and those who cham¬
pion the cause of préfectoral government as against the
municipal autonomists base their argument on the neces¬
sity, arising out of these conditions, for a perfect under¬
standing and an unbroken harmony between the machines
of national and local administration.2
In depriving the Parisians of the local supervision of
1 The control is exercised through the office of the Suretê générale.
See note 2, p. 87.
2 For an able discussion of this point, see Municipal Government
in Continental Europe, Albert Shaw, New York, 1906.
89
European Police Systems
their police, the French government has maintained a
semblance of municipal control which has been of con¬
siderable service in softening the harsh outlines of an
arbitrary form of administration. Thus it is obligatory
upon the Prefect of police to submit his annual budget¬
ary estimates for the ensuing year to the popularly
elected Municipal Council, and to consult that body in
matters involving the expenditure of money. This
would seem hardly more than reasonable in view of the
fact that the greater part of the expense of the police is
borne by the municipality.1 Furthermore, the Prefect
is required to appear before the Council upon demand to
answer such questions as any member may choose to ask
him relative to the work of his department, so far as it
is connected with finance. To be sure, the power of the
Council is limited to the passage of votes of censure. It
has no authority to interfere with the policy of the police
or their system of organization. It cannot even reduce
any item of the budget, but must allow it in sum total.
" Need I add that I am already assured of the assent
and support of the Minister of the Interior " is the
veiled but significant sentence with which the Prefect
frequently accompanies his communications to the Munic¬
ipal Council.2 At the same time, the Prefect and his
superiors in the Ministry of the Interior always attempt
1The Paris^ police budget for 1914 amounted to 46,595,050.60
francs, of which 13,980,744 were paid by the national exchequer,
the balance by the city upon vote of the Municipal Council. The
amount of the national subsidy is annually determined by a special
law passed by the French parliament/ generally upon the advice
of the Minister of the Interior. For detailed statement of the bud¬
get see Appendix II, on page 393.
2 Bulletin officiel de la Ville de Paris, July 13, 1913, etc.
90
The Police Department in the State
to work in harmony with the municipal authorities, and
as far as is practicable to comply with their wishes.
The attempt does not always succeed. Of late, a bitter
antagonism has marked the relations of the two bodies,
so that for three years the Council has refused to vote
its share of the police expenditure until forced by the
arbitrary action of the Ministry. But the right of the
municipal authorities to participate in the activities of
the Police Prefect and to be consulted in matters of
policy and finance has at least tempered the arbitrariness
of the system, and reconciled the majority of the Pari¬
sians to a form of administration far more autocratic
and severe than that of any other French city.
ITALY
Of the large countries of Europe Italy maintains
the greatest uniformity in the control of her police,
in this respect outstripping even France. The system is
entirely centralized. Local autonomy in police affairs is
scarcely more than a name. Indeed, except in minor
matters, police authority throughout the kingdom is ex¬
ercised by national constabulary forces controlled from
Rome.1 Essentially a democratic country, Italy clings
to many of the forms of autocracy. The conditions
1 The local government of Italy has so closely followed the
French model, that the resemblance between the two amounts al¬
most to duplication. The kingdom is divided into 69 provinces, cor¬
responding closely to the French departments. At the head of each
province is a prefect appointed by thé Crown, and directly responsi¬
ble to the Minister of the Interior. For further details, see The
Governments of Europe, Frederic Austin Ogg, New York, 1913, pp.
383 ff., and Governments and Parties in Continental Europe, A. Law¬
rence Lowell, Boston, 1896, Vol. I., Ch. III.
91
European Police Systems
surrounding the struggle for a united kingdom are
largely responsible for this situation. In view of the
menace of foreign interference it was necessary to con¬
solidate the different provinces thoroughly and rapidly,
and to destroy, once for all, the effectiveness of local op¬
position. Italy lacked homogeneity. The country was
divided not only by historical circumstance and tradition,
but by social, economic, and even racial differences.
Southern Italy was, and to a certain extent is to-day, il¬
literate, disorganized, and suspicious of authority, with
an almost total lack of social cohesion. A united Italy
involved in the minds of its builders the necessity of a
highly centralized and even arbitrary administration.
Out of this situation the police system developed, and
such is the force of tradition that, even with the initial
conditions modified, but few changes have been made in
its organization and control. There are three kinds of
police in Italy : the Carabinieri, the corps of the City
Guards,1, and the Municipal Police. The first two are
military organizations under the direction of the Min¬
istry of the Interior, and the last is made up of the small
and relatively unimportant local forces maintained under
the authority of the various town councils to enforce
local ordinances.
The Carabinieri correspond roughly to the French and
German gendarmerie.2 There is, however, an impor¬
tant distinction. In France and Germany the gen-
darmerie corps is used to maintain order in the country
districts and in the smaller villages and communes which
1 Corpo delle Guar die di Città.
s See note i, p. 73.
92
The Police Department in the State
have no adequate police protection. In Italy the Cara-
binieri are employed in cities, towns, and country dis¬
tricts without distinction. Everywhere, throughout the
kingdom they represent the authority of the central gov¬
ernment. An army of 31,000 men,1 they are distributed
in 3,700 different towns and villages. Rome herself has
900 of them regularly patroling her streets, while an oc¬
casion of disorder will bring a thousand more to assist
in keeping the peace.
This remarkable corps, in many respects the finest po¬
lice force in Europe, deserves special attention. Dat¬
ing from the 16th century as a branch of the army of
the Kingdom of Piedmont, it was adapted by Cavour and
his followers to the needs of the united country. It is
to-day an integral part of the Italian army,2 equipped
and maintained in full military fashion, and dependent,
as far as its technical and military organization is con¬
cerned, on the Ministry of War.3 It consists of eleven
legions each with a colonel at its head, the whole corps
being under the command of a lieutenant-general.4
1 This number includes 720 commissioned officers and about 1800
recruits in the training school.
2 As a branch of the army the :Carabinieri corps may be sent to
the front in case of war. In fact, a large number of them saw ac¬
tual fighting in the late war with Tripoli.
3 The maintenance of the Carabinieri is included in the annual
budget of the Ministry of War. The Ministry of the Interior, how¬
ever, contributes to the sum thus raised an amount theoretically dp-
signed to cover the cost of the Carabinieri as far as their police
duties are concerned. The amount contributed by the Ministry of
the Interior for the year 1913-1914 approximated 30,500,000 lire.
4 Every legion has within its jurisdiction several of the civil prov¬
inces or departments. As a legion is generally separated into
divisions under the control of majors, it generally happens that there
is a single division for each province; so that the prefect of a prov¬
ince or his agents, as the representatives of the Minister of the
93
European Police Systems
Service in its ranks is equivalent to service in any other
division of the army. Only in the performance of the
special police duties to which it has been assigned is it
responsible to the Ministry of the Interior. As a mat¬
ter of fact, the Carabinieri are used as the agents of all
departments of the government. They conduct judicial
investigations, obtain information for the postal and
health authorities, make inquiries into the character and
standing of civil-service applicants, and perform a great
variety of duties of an important and often delicate na¬
ture. Supported by the War Department, they are em¬
ployed by the Ministry of the Interior not only to maintain
order, but to act as the agents by which the government
is kept in touch with conditions throughout Italy.
Police duty, however, is their important function.
Patroling always in pairs, and easily distinguishable by
their broad cockade hats, they are to be found in even the
smallest villages of Italy. Their ranks are recruited by
careful and painstaking selection. Thoroughly trained,
always courteous, respected by the people everywhere,
they are fairly comparable with the Royal Irish Constab¬
ulary among the military police forces of Europe.
The other police force responsible to the Ministry of
the Interior is the corps of the City Guards. This or¬
ganization, established in 1865, was designed to supple¬
ment the work of the Carabinieri. It was felt that the
rigid military organization of the latter body was not
adapted to all the requirements of police work in Italy,
particularly the work relating to the detection of crime
Interior, deal directly with a major of the Carabinieri, and in ques¬
tions relating to police duty, are his superior officers.
94
The Police Department in the State
in the larger towns. A new force was therefore created
on a more mobile plan and placed exclusively under the
jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior.1 At the
present time it consists of 10,500 men and officers dis¬
tributed in 149 of the more important towns and cities
of the kingdom.2 It is organized on a semi-military
basis, with a lieutenant-colonel at its head.3 Theoreti¬
cally it handles the more subtle phases of police function.
It generally assumes charge of the detective work in con¬
nection with the more important cases. Practically, it
is sometimes difficult to distinguish between its proper
functions and those of the Carabinieri in the cities in
which detachments from both forces are on duty. Thus
in Rome one sees both City Guards,4 and Carabinieri
engaged in the regular patrol work, to say nothing of
the Municipal Police who handle the traffic and enforce
the local ordinances. Even in the detection of crime the
Carabinieri are not without responsibility, and frequently,
both in Rome and elsewhere, two independent investiga¬
tions are made of criminal cases, sometimes with every
appearance of rivalry and conflict.5 As a result, the
1 The entire expense of this body is included in the budget of
the Ministry of the Interior.
2 And two cities in Tripoli.
3 The force is divided into six groups or divisions, each division,
under the direction of a major, having its headquarters in some large
city from which the work of the guard in the surrounding towns is
controlled. The distinction between the Carabinieri and the City
Guards as respects organization and discipline is summed up by
Italian officials in the words " military " and " militarized " as ap¬
plied to the two respectively.
4 The City Guard wears a dark blue loose-fitting uniform with
a vizored cap. He lacks the smartness and soldier-like bearing of
the Carabiniere.
5 The Camorra scandals in Naples were unearthed by the
Carabinieri after the City Guards had failed, a fact which has added
95
European Police Systems
relations between the two forces in some of the cities
are often far from harmonious.1
That they work together with any degree of coopera¬
tion is due to the form of control exercised by the Min¬
istry of the Interior. The primary agent of control is
the Prefect of the province, directly responsible for police
arrangements in his territory. Subordinate to the Pre¬
fect, but appointed by the Minister of the Interior, are
the officials of the Division of Public Safety,2 one of
whom,, generally a quest ore,3 directs the activities of
both the Carabinieri and the City Guards for the entire
province. Assisting the questore either in the city in
which he is located or in other towns and cities as his
representatives are the commissari and delegati, who
form the lower grades of the service in the Division of
Public Safety.4 Thus there is a questore for the prov¬
ince in which Rome is situated,5 who is responsible for
greatly to the prestige of the former body, and intensified the feel¬
ing of rivalry between the two organizations.
1 Italian students of administrative law have not been slow to
recognize that two independent police forces cannot always be made
to work harmoniously together, and there has been considerable
criticism of the existing system. Indeed, some years ago, a bill was
introduced in the Italian Senate proposing the amalgamation of the
two bodies. Nothing, however, came of it, and it is doubtful
whether any steps will be taken in the near future to correct the
anomaly.
2II Servizio di Pubblica Sicurezza. See Royal Decree, N. 690,
dated August 31, 1907. This division constitutes a branch of the
Ministry of the Interior.
3 In provinces of less than 100,000 population, the police force
is under the direction of a commissario rather than a questore.
(See Royal Decree N. 690, Art. 4.) There are twenty-two questori
in Italy, one for each of the important provinces.
4 There are altogether in Italy 270 commissari, 117 vice-corn-
missari, and 1325 delegati. The methods by which the men of this
service are trained and promoted, we shall study in Chap. V%
5 Lazio. The questore is known by the city in which his head-
qarters are located. Thus there is a Questore di Roma, a Questore
96
The Police Department in the State
the proper policing of the territory. He is indeed the
Police Commissioner of Rome and its suburbs, in charge
of the Carabinieri and City Guards assigned to him.
He plans their separate tasks, arranges their patrols, and
supervises their activities. In everything which relates
to their work, he is their sole director.1 The police
control of his district is centralized in his hands.
In the sixty-nine provinces of Italy similar conditions
prevail, the prefect in each case controlling through the
quest ore or commissario, the given number of Carabinieri
and City Guards assigned to him. One has only to re¬
member that the prefects are appointed by the Minister
of the Interior to realize how firm and uniform is the grip
of the government upon the police throughout the king¬
dom.
A word is due in conclusion to the so-called Municipal
Police, who, as we have seen, are organized in various
towns and cities of Italy under the authority of the town
councils to enforce the local ordinances. Distinctly in¬
ferior to the Carabinieri and the City Guards, they play
a relatively unimportant part in the police problem.
They guide traffic in the streets, supervise public markets
and slaughter houses, and have generally to do with the
police aspects of public health. They are indeed em¬
powered to make arrests for any crime, but they never
assume to interfere with the work properly belonging to
the Carabinieri and the City Guards, by whom they are
di Ncipoli, a Quest ore di Milano, etc., each in charge of the police
arrangements of the entire province of which his headquarters city-
is the capital.
*He has nothing to do, of course, with questions of recruiting,
training, remuneration, or conditions of service. These matters
are handled by the higher officers of the respective forces.
97
European Police Systems
often contemptuously regarded. For reasons of public
order, they may be temporarily suppressed by the Minis¬
ter of the Interior and their functions handed over to the
City Guards.1 There is little uniformity between their
various organizations. They are often poorly trained
and equipped, and as a rule, poorly paid. Frequent en¬
deavors have been made to consolidate them with the
City Guards, but the attempts have been defeated by the
municipalities which have clung desperately to this last
vestige of local autonomy in police matters.2 It is im¬
probable, however, that the consolidation proposed will
be much longer postponed.
1 Royal Decree, N. 690, Art. 19.
2 In 1879 Minister of the Interior Villa actually succeeded in
effecting a consolidation, but it did not long hold together. Crispi's
attempt in 1889 was equally unsuccessful.
98
CHAPTER III
the organization of the police department
The framework of organization in London.— In the provincial cit¬
ies of England.— In Berlin.— In other German cities.— In Vienna.—
In Budapest.— In .Paris.— In Rome.— In Brussels.— In Amsterdam,
—'Two types of organization distinguishable: English and Continen¬
tal.— Simple English type.— Elaborate German type.— Paris chang¬
ing to English form.— Vienna's superiority.— Advantages of Eng¬
lish type.— Police work uniformly well done in all European coun¬
tries.
We must now consider the organization or framework
of the police departments to discover how their various
functions and groups are arranged for systematic co¬
operation. Here, as in the case of the powers and func¬
tions of the police, we must be prepared to encounter
wide divergences. The German department is neces¬
sarily elaborate, for it is adapted to the many things
which it is called upon to do ; the English department is
relatively simple, as its functions are few and obvious.
In order to bring these matters clearly to the attention of
the reader, the first section of this chapter will deal with
the plan of police organization in London, Berlin, Vienna,
Budapest, Paris, Rome, Brussels and Amsterdam, using
each of these cities as a standard by means of which the
other cities in the same country may be judged; in
the second section the characteristic methods and prin¬
ciples previously discovered will be compared.
99
European Police Systems
i
London.
The Metropolitan Police Force, exclusive of the
Commissioner and his administrative staff, consists
of 20,529 men: 33 superintendents, 607 inspectors,
2,747 sergeants, and 17,142 constables1 or patrolmen.
This force patrols an area of 447,626 acres or 700 square
miles, comprising roughly all the territory within a fif¬
teen-mile .radius of Charing Cross, including the whole
of Middlesex and London counties and parts of Surrey,
Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire but excluding the ancient
City of London, where, as we have seen,2 a separate force
is maintained* by the corporation/ This area was ar¬
bitrarily created by statute. It has a population (1911)
1 These figures, which are given as of Dec. 31, 1912, include the
men assigned to the detective division.
2 See note 2, p. 39. The City of London covers an area of
approximately one square mile, including the heart of the busi¬
ness section_ of the metropolis. It has a day population of 375,-
000 with a night population of only 19,000, while over a million peo¬
ple enter its precincts daily between the hours of 7 a. m. and 7 p. m.
Traffic matters and commercial crimes are its chief police problems.
Its police force consists of 1100 uniformed men and 80 detectives
under the control of a commissioner, an assistant commissioner and
a chief superintendent. The commissioner is appointed by the cor¬
poration of the City with the approval of the King, the latter stej
being purely perfunctory, a relic of old struggles between city and
Crown.
For police purposes the City is divided into three districts, each
in charge of a chief inspector. Each district has two divisions or
precincts with a station. The City constables are uniformed like
the metropolitan constables, except for a slight variation in the shape
of the helmets, and the fact that the former wear red and white
striped sleeve bands, while the latter have blue and white. Both
the Metropolitan police and the City police have the privilege of
making arrests in each other's territories.
3 The City of London and the Metropolitan police district ar e to¬
gether known as " Greater London " and form a recognized area,
used in the census and other publications of the Registrar-General,
and commonly adopted in the consideration of many of Loudon's
problems.
IOO
Organization of the Police Department
of 7,233,306. It is not coterminous with any other
governmental jurisdiction, exceeding by 582 square miles
the territory of the London County Council and by 280
square miles the Central Criminal Court district. This
immense territory is divided into twenty-one districts,
called " divisions." 1 Each such division has a force of
police, in charge of a superintendent promoted from
the ranks. In addition there are five divisions consist¬
ing of the men employed in the dockyards and military
stations outside of the Metropolitan district,2 and another
division specially engaged in policing the River Thames.
Each of the twenty-one regular divisions is divided into
from two to five sub-divisions, in charge of a sub-
divisional inspector. A sub-division contains one or more
police stations, each under the direction of an inspector
or station sergeant.3 All constables of the Metro¬
politan force are attached to some station. The dis¬
trict served by each police station is divided into sections
in charge of sergeants. Each section is again divided
into beats to which constables are assigned from time
to time.
This huge organization is under the control of a Com¬
missioner,4 four assistant commissioners, and six chief
1 These divisions are lettered from A to Y omitting I, O, Q and
U. Each constable wears on his collar and his helmet the letter
of the division to which he is attached.
2 These divisions are located at the dockyards of Woolwich, Ports¬
mouth, Devonport, Chatham, and Pembroke. The force thus en¬
gaged consists of 1,200 men. Their services are paid for by the
National Government (see note 4, p. 45).
3 There are, altogether, 198 stations in the Metropolitan district.
4 Sometimes erroneously referred to as the Chief Commissioner.
In the provincial cities of England and Scotland the head of the
police department generally has the title " Chief Constable." In
Liverpool, Cardiff, Newport, and some ten or twelve smaller towns,
he is called "Head Constable."
IOI
European Police Systems
constables,1 who with a secretarial staff2 direct operations
from the police headquarters at New Scotland Yard.3
Here, too, are located the headquarters of the Criminal
Investigation Department or detective bureau, together
with the Public Carriage Office and other lesser divisions
of a general nature. An officer called the Receiver for the
Metropolitan police district also has his office at New
Scotland Yard. Like the Commissioner, he is appointed
by the Crown upon the recommendation of the Home
Secretary, and is hence independent of the Commissioner.
In him is vested the title to all lands, buildings, stores,
clothes and other property necessary for the purposes of
the police; he purchases sites, builds new stations, enters
into contracts, keeps police property in repair, makes
up the annual budgetary estimate and is generally respon¬
sible, under the authority of the Home Secretary, for the
materiel of the force and for the administration of its
finance. He is in fact the business manager.
Such, in outline, is the organization of the Metropoli¬
tan Police Force. Viewed from the standpoint of ad¬
ministration, the Commissioner and the assistant commis¬
sioners are engaged on a common task. The enormous
1 The assistant commissioners are appointed by the Crown upon
the recommendation of the Home Office; the chief constables are
appointed directly by the Home Office. In making the latter ap¬
pointments, the recommendation of the Commissioner generally pre¬
vails. For further discussion see Chap. V.
2 This force consists of the Commissioner's secretarial staff of 55
Civil Service clerks whose employment at Scotland Yard is per¬
manent. Constables are not used for this particular service, al¬
though they are often detailed to clerical or " inside " duty in the
divisions and elsewhere, and undertake the clerical work of the sev¬
eral executive departments of New Scotland Yard.
3 Popularly known as Scotland Yard from the fact that the old
headquarters were for years located in Scotland Yard off Whitehall.
102
Organization of the Police Department
burden of the directive work has made division and
specialization necessary, and accordingly, each of the as¬
sistant commissioners, under the supervision of the
Commissioner, assumes his own particular share of the
administrative function. Thus one of the assistants is
the head of the Criminal Investigation Department or
detective office; another has charge of promotions, dis¬
cipline and other duties of an executive nature relating
to the uniformed force — in fact, he is called the " Ad¬
ministrative Assistant Commissioner " ; another handles
public carriage problems, and saloon licenses ; the
fourth has charge of the civil business of the depart¬
ment, the issuance of warrants and summonses, traffic
regulations, and the investigation" of public complaints.
None of the assistant commissioners is assigned to super¬
vise any particular district or territory. Each has,
under the immediate direction of the Commissioner, his
own specialized functions for the entire Metropolitan dis¬
trict.1
Turning our attention to the uniformed force, we find
the so-called division not only the unit of administration,
but the chief factor of the organization. The twenty-
one divisions of the Metropolitan police district are ir-
1 In addition to the four assistant commissioners, there is a so-
called Executive Department located at Scotland Yard consisting of
three branches, the Statistical Branch, the Training School Branch,
and the General Executive Branch, each in charge of a Superintend¬
ent from the uniformed force. The Statistical Branch compiles the
figures shown in the annual report of the department, and in the ju¬
dicial statistics of the Metropolitan district, published yearly
by the Home Office. The General Executive Branch has charge, un¬
der the Administrative Assistant Commissioner, of transfers, promo¬
tions, movements of force, etc. ; it also carries out the instructions
of the other assistant commissioners in regard to the issue of pro¬
cess, etc.
103
European Police Systems
regularly grouped to form a great circle, thirty miles in
diameter, with Charing Cross as its center. The divi¬
sions vary in area from three-quarters of a square mile 1
to eighty-three square miles,2 with an average popula¬
tion of 350,000. The police force of a division num¬
bers from 600 to 1,200 men. Some of the division
forces are therefore as large as the entire force main¬
tained in cities like Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, or
Edinburgh, and the responsibilities of the superintend¬
ents may well be compared with those of the chief con¬
stables of the provincial towns. As already noted, the
superintendent of the division comes from the ranks,
rising from grade to grade by gradual promotions. En¬
tering as a constable, he subsequently becomes a ser¬
geant, and later attains successively the positions of in¬
spector, sub-divisional inspector, the chief inspector. As
we shall see in a later chapter, these promotions are all
discretionary with the Commissioner.3 It is seldom
that a man receives a superintendency unless he has been
at least twenty years in service.4
The superintendent is responsible for the effective
policing of his division. He is the connecting link be¬
tween Scotland Yard and the divisional organization.
All reports to the administrative officials as well as in¬
formation and orders for the uniformed force pass
through his hands. He is answerable for the discipline
of his men; he has the power of suspension and may
1 Division C.
2 Division S.
3 Chap. VII, p. 246.
4As we have_ seen, there are 31 superintendents; 21 are as¬
signed to the divisions, one to the Thames branch, and nine to
headquarters and the dockyards for special services.
IO4
Organization of the Police Department
inflict fines to the amount of two days' pay.1 He has
charge of the detectives assigned to him by the Criminal
Investigation Department. The " subdivisions " under
him, and the police station districts included in them, are
units of his sectional organization whose only relation
with the administration of Scotland Yard is through him.
In other words, the administrative policy of the Metropoli¬
tan force is one of decentralization, each of the twenty-
one superintendents controlling his own territory.
This thoroughgoing decentralized organization is
modified by the introduction of a factor of control which
has been copied in Paris and in other Continental cities.
Between the Commissioner and the assistant com¬
missioners on the one hand, and the superintendents of
the divisions on the other, there are six chief constables.
One of these chief constables is assigned to the Criminal
Investigation Department. Each of the other five, how¬
ever, controls a district consisting of a group of four
or five contiguous divisions. In other words, the Metro¬
politan police territory is divided into five great adminis¬
trative districts, each containing a group of divisions
and each in charge of an officer who does not come
from the ranks, but who, as we have seen, is appointed
by the Home Office upon the recommendation of the
Commissioner.2 The importance of this arrangement
1 The question of discipline is dealt with at length in Chap.
VTL
2 The districts are as follows : —
District Divisions comprising district
No. i A, B, C, F, and T.
No. 2 D, E, S, and X.
No. 3 P, R, V, and W.
No. 4 G, H, L, M, and the Thames.
No. 5 J, K, N, and Y.
io5
European Police Systems
can scarcely be overestimated. In the district under
him, the chief constable is the direct representative
of the Commissioner. He must be acquainted with
the problems of his district, and the character of his
men. He is the Commissioner's eyes and ears. All re¬
ports from his superintendents to headquarters pass
through his hands; all requests for information relative
to occurrences in his district are sent to him. He has
charge of the discipline of the men in cases too serious
to be dealt with by the superintendents, and exercises a
general supervision over all matters connected with the
organization and work of the force under him.
It is customary to choose the chief constables either
from the army or from the legal profession; they are
never taken from the uniformed force. It is believed
that the man who has entered the force as a con¬
stable seldom has the breadth of vision or the point of
view essential to the satisfactory performance of the
supervisory functions attached to the office.1 A chief
constable occupies a unique position of trust; his rela¬
tions with the Commissioner are intimate and confiden¬
tial; his work calls for a high degree of intelligence and
judgment. It is felt therefore that better results can be
obtained by securing men of thorough training and
broad experience in other administrative fields. The
chief constable is appointed for an indeterminate period,
conditioned only on " good behavior." The retirement
of the Commissioner above him has no effect upon his
term of office,2 and except where death or old age nec-
1 This subject is more fully developed in Chap. V.
2 As we shall see (Chap. IV), the Commissioner himself is
106
Organization of the Police Department
essitates new appointments, a change is seldom made.1
" Decentralize as far as yon can; centralize as far as
you must" This is the maxim of Scotland Yard, its pro¬
gram of organization. In carrying out this program, the
office of chief constable is the control. Its purpose is to
give the Commissioner adequate and trustworthy super¬
visory machinery. It furnishes the essential element of
adhesiveness in the huge decentralized organization of
the Metropolitan force. Without that element the or¬
ganization would fall apart and slip from the grasp of the
Commissioner, eventually taking on the form of twenty-
one separate departments, or at least, a loose aggregation
of divisions over which the Commissioner could exercise
at best but a feeble control. For no Commissioner can
hope alone to keep in touch with the shifting problems
and changing needs of a vast city like London. Even
the four assistant commissioners can give him but little
help in this respect, for, in a city of London's size, the
administrative work of the office is great enough to re¬
quire the constant attention of four or five men, each
performing his own specialized part, with no time for
the supervision of any particular district or section. In
a smaller city, where the entire administrative function
can be handled by the chief constable, the deputies or
assistants may well be expected to perform the duty of
district supervision. Indeed, in a medium-sized town
with but few police divisions or districts, the duty may
seldom changed, there having been but six commissioners in the
last eighty-five years.
1 The office of chief constable was established in 1869, when
four were appointed. Until 1886 they were called district super¬
intendents. Although detailed as the Commissioner's representa¬
tives in particular districts, their offices are in Scotland Yard.
107
European Police Systems
even be left to the chief constable, who can depend upon
the chiefs of his uniformed force. But an aggregation
of twenty-one huge districts containing 200 police sta¬
tions cannot be so administered. Under such circum¬
stances, the office of chief constable in London, filled by
trustworthy and experienced men of the Commissioner's
own choosing who are detailed as his representatives in
their respective districts, is perhaps the most important
single feature of the entire Metropolitan organization.
The Provincial Cities of England and Scotland.
The organization of the police departments of the pro¬
vincial cities of England and Scotland is patterned after
that of the Metropolitan system of London. The same
plan is followed in dividing the city and the force into
" divisions." Each division is presided over by a superin¬
tendent promoted from the ranks, and the superintend¬
ents are responsible to a commissioner or chief constable.
In Liverpool there are seven such divisions, in Man¬
chester five, in Glasgow nine. As in London, the
divisions have their subdivisions and substations under
the charge of inspectors and sergeants.1 Each city has
its commissioner or chief constable, appointed, as we
have seen, by the Watch Committee of the Town Coun¬
cil.2 The larger cities have one or two assistant chief
1 In Scottish cities the rank of " lieutenant " comes between those
of inspector and superintendent, the title " Chief Inspector " being
merely an office title. The lieutenant performs practically the
samet functions as the English chief inspector, namely, acting as
the right-hand man and alter ego of the superintendent. Occasion¬
ally other differences in title are found, as between the various pro¬
vincial cities. Thus, in Manchester the Assistant Chief Constable is
called Chief Superintendent, etc.
2 See Chap. II, page 51.
I08
Organization of the Police Department
constables, but the supervisory officer known in the
Metropolitan force as chief constable, coming between
the Commissioner and the uniformed force, has no coun¬
terpart in any of the provincial cities. This officer is
not needed in a smaller city, for, in the absence of an
overwhelming amount of administrative detail, and with
but a limited number of divisions under the control of
uniformed superintendents, the supervisory functions
can easily be handled by the Commissioner and his assist¬
ant, or in still smaller towns, by the Commissioner alone.
The structural plan of the police department of the
provincial city is therefore extremely simple. The pre¬
vailing uniformity is largely due to the London model
and to the influence of the Home Office and the Scottish
Office, which, through the application of the supervisory
powers granted to them by Parliament, have been able,
as we have seen,1 to standardize the provincial police
organizations.2
Berlin.
Special police provision has been made for Greater
Berlin just as it has been made for Greater London. The
district over which the Police President presides, called
1 See Chap. II, page 49.
2 Liverpool has a total police force of 2,148 men of whom 400
are assigned to, and paid by, the Mersey Dock and Harbor Board.
Excluding the latter there is one constable to every 426 of the popu¬
lation. Manchester has a force of 1,350, or one to every 536 of the
population. Glasgow has a force of 2,020, or one to every 388.
Edinburgh, with a force of 624, has one police officer to every 529.
The Metropolitan district of London has one officer to every 354
of the population. Comparisons of this kind have little significance,
however, as many factors, such as nationality, nature of prevailing
industry, etc., alter the conditions in different cities and necessitate
a varying amount of police protection.
109
European Police Systems
Landespolizeibezirk, includes not only the city of Berlin
proper, but the neighboring suburbs of Charlottenburg,
Schôneberg, Neukôlln,1 and Lichtenberg as well.2
That is, Greater Berlin stretches far beyond the geograph¬
ical limits of the city. There is an important difference,
however, between the Landespolizeibezirk of Berlin and
the Metropolitan district of London. In the latter, a
single police force has jurisdiction throughout the en¬
tire territory ; in the former, there is a separate police or¬
ganization under the control of a president for each
of the suburbs mentioned above, but the Police Presi¬
dent of Berlin is superior to the other presidents.
In other words, there are five distinct departments
within the area of Greater Berlin, each having ju¬
risdiction in its own territory, but each ultimately sub¬
ordinate to the Berlin official.3 The purpose of this
peculiar arrangement was undoubtedly to confer upon
the Berlin authorities the special powers attaching to a
Landespolizeibezirk, or state police district, in addition
to their powers as local police. The Berlin Police Presi¬
dent ranks with a Regierungsprdsident, or civil head of
a district, in his right to enforce the laws relating to de¬
tention4 and domicile.5 Further, he may assemble the
1 Formerly Rixdorf.
2 Law of June 13, 1900. Collection of Laws 247.
3 The^ jurisdiction of the Berlin police in penal matters and of¬
fenses involving the services of the morals police (Sittenpolizei)
extends to the furthest limits of Greater Berlin (Laws of June 12,
1889. Collection of Laws 129).
éReichsstrafgesetz, Par. 362. This refers to the right of the
police to turn a prisoner over to the local magistrates for further
punishment after ^ he has been fined or imprisoned by the police
themselves for violations of certain sections of Par. 361 of the
Penal Code.
5 Law of Freedom of Removal (Freiziigigkeit) of November 1,
IIO
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF BERLIN
<■
GENERAL ADM IN ISTRATION
SUPERVISION OP CITY WATER SUPPLY
SUPERVISION O'FCREDIT &AHKS
SUPERVISION OP BENEFIT ASSOCIATIONS
SUPERVISION OF PAWN BROKERS
SUPERVISION OP DRUG STORES
RESIDENTS' REGISTRATION
NATURALIZATION
>
DIVISION
Y
passports
SUPERVISION OF FOREIGNERS
lost and found bureau
DIVISION
pres5 censorship
control of societies
supervision of lodging houses
SUPERVISION OF MARKETS
SUPERVISION OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
SUPERVISION OF PEDDLERS
SUPERVISION OF SMALL DEALERS
SUPERVISION OF SUNDAY LAWS
SUPERVISION or SALOONS
SUPERVISION OF TIRADE UNIONS
BRIGADE
i
MAJOR
'
DISTRICTS
135? Y X
CROWN
MINISTER
OF INTERIOR
POLICE PRESIDENT
COLONEL
(oberst)
BRIGADE
n
major
>
>
DISTRICTS
mvnxixiii
BRIGADE
MAJOR
5
DISTRICTS |
isnsm
each district(conta 1n!n6 s to jo precinctô)
in charge of a captain (hauptmann)--trials, discipline,
investigation of com plaints, inspection.
precinct organization
119 precincts, each in charge of a lieutenant
Y
the: rank and file
executive
staff of the
10 divisions f02
carrying out
regulations
->
PUBLIC HYGIENE
SUPERVISION OF CHILDRENB INSTITUTIONS
SUPERVISION OF FIRE INSURANCE AGENCIES
SUPERVISION OF LOTTERIES
P"
■UPE.RVISION OF REFUSE REMOVAL
slipe-rvision of poor re.lie.f
POLICE PENALTIES
DRAMATIC CENSORSHIP
THEATRICAL LICENSES
CONCERT HALLS
EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN THEATRES
REGULATION OF NAVIGABLE WATERS
L
DIVISI
ON
jLJ
II
GENERAL TRAFFIC REGULATION
RAPID TRANSIT CONTROL
REGULATION OF BLASTING
SUPERVISION OFSTREET SISN5
SUPERVISION OF HOUSE NUMBERS
Organization of the Police Department
entire force of his greater district at any point in any
section to quell a riot or handle a strike. He can nullify
an ordinance issued by the lesser authorities. As a
matter of practice, however, the police presidents of the
suburban districts are left practically undisturbed to deal
with their own affairs. When we speak of the Berlin
police, therefore, reference is made not to the greater
district, but to the police organization of the city of Ber¬
lin,1 a distinct unit within the wider administrative juris¬
diction of the police president.2
The police organization of Berlin, like that of all Ger¬
man cities, is shaped to perform the many functions which,
as we have seen, are thrust upon that division of the
public service.3 The department is divided into twelve
1867. The liberty to change one's domicile within the state is, his¬
torically, a recent right in Prussia. As late as the eighteenth cen¬
tury the state police imposed considerable restrictions. In 1842,
however, liberty of abode was formally established by law, and in
1867 the legislature of the North German Confederation passed a gen¬
eral statute covering the whole subject. By this law every citizen
has complete right to remain in any place within the country where
he is able to provide himself with a living, but exceptions are made
in cases of persons who have been punished for offenses, particu¬
larly those who have been punished within a year for beggary or
vagrancy. Foreigners, however, may be expelled by each of the
several states when their presence is deemed dangerous to public
safety and order. A foreigner thus expelled has no right of appeal
to the administrative courts. Finally, the Penal Code makes it a
crime punishable by fine or imprisonment for one liable to mili¬
tary service to leave the federal territory without permission. For
an excellent discussion of the operation of this law, see James, loc.
cit., Chap. VII. #
1 Greater Berlin has a population of 3,772,962. The city of Ber¬
lin has 2,071,257. _ (1910.)
2 Thus the uniformed force of Berlin has nothing to do with
the force of Charlottenburg or Neukôlln, for example, nor may a
Berlin officer make an arrest in the other jurisdictions without per¬
mission.
3 The Berlin police department as far as the organization of its
uniformed force is concerned, was established in 1848.
Ill
European Police Systems
branches (Abteilangen), each representing a particular
function or group of functions, more or less logically
arranged, and each under the control of a director or
chief, responsible to the Police President. The branches
are as follows:
I.— General administrative oversight of police mat¬
ters, including buildings, office supplies, uniforms, rates
of pay, pensions; supervision of credit banks, ben¬
efit associations and pawn brokers ; naturalization ; over¬
sight of drug stores, doctors' certificates, residents'
registration (Einwohnermeldeamt) ; arbitration court
for workingmen's insurance; supervision of the city's
water supply.
II.— Meat inspection; supervision of veterinaries and
stockyards; oversight of children's asylums and matters
relating to adoption ; fire insurance agencies and lotteries ;
control of the food supply; supervision of health mat¬
ters; oversight of snow and refuse removal; destruction
of agricultural insect pests; poor relief.
III.— Building department; supervision of all matters
relating to the erection of buildings.
IV.— Criminal department (detective branch) ; mor¬
als police ; transport of prisoners from state to
state.
V.— Passports and banishments ; supervision of for¬
eigners ; relief to impoverished travelers ; funeral per¬
mits ; lost and found department.
VI.— Supervision of police penalties (Strafverfugun-
gen)}
VII.— Press censorship ; control of societies and
1 See Chap. I, page 24.
112
Organization of the Police Department
meetings; supervision of guests at hotels and lodging
houses. ( Gasthofspolizei. )1
VIII.— Dramatic censorship, control over concerts,
moving-picture exhibitions; theatrical licenses and em¬
ployment offices; concert halls; lectures and recitations;
employment of children in theaters.
IX.— General supervision of businesses; supervision
of markets and fairs, weights and measures; Sunday
laws; trade union matters; return of escaped appren¬
tices; control of inns, saloons and retail dealers in spirit¬
uous liquors; trade certificates; supervision of porters,
errand boys, truck-men, coopers, scissors grinders, tink¬
ers, plaster of-Paris hawkers; bottled beer dealers; danc¬
ing and swimming teachers.
X.— General traffic supervision, street railways,
rapid transit, omnibuses and automobiles, roller-skates;
naming, closing and lighting of streets; supervision of
house numbers, street signs, sign boards, building lines,
blasting, monuments, airships, control of navigable
waters, sluices, locks, bridges.
XI.— Fire Department.
XII.— Uniformed police force (Schutzmannschaft).
All these departments are centralized in the mammoth
police headquarters in Alexanderplatz, Berlin,2 where
1 For the purposes of control over hotels and boarding houses.
Berlin is divided into twenty districts with two policemen assigned
to each. Their function is to visit twice a day the hotels and board¬
ing houses in their districts, looking for suspicious characters.
Their services are particularly valuable in case " alarms " or " in¬
formations" have been received from other cities.
2 Berlin is now trying an experiment in decentralization, called
the " Be zirk-Amt" plan. It is proposed to divide the city into six
administrative districts, giving to each some of the functions which
are now exclusively handled from police headquarters. Thus, mat¬
ters relating to business-control, building and health inspection, etc.,
113
European Police Systems
the machinery of control is highly concentrated. Each
has its own officers and own administrative staff. For
the purposes of this study, however, we are especially
interested in only two of the branches, namely, the uni¬
formed force (Schutzmannschaft) and the detective di¬
vision (Kriminal-Abteihmg).1 The other branches, as
we have seen, represent functions not essentially of a
police nature, which in Great Britain are for the most
part delegated to state and local governments, although
some of them have no counterpart in any governmental
activity outside of Germany.
The uniformed force of Berlin is therefore a separate
division, which, with eleven others, is under the control
of the Police President. At the same time, it is the
executive arm of all the divisions, carrying out their
decrees and policies whenever the services of men in
uniform are necessary. Thus the force supervises
theaters under the direction of Division VIII, or con¬
trols trades and businesses under Division IX. In af¬
fairs relating to its own finances, it is subject to the direc¬
tion of Division I. But in its relation to the Police
President it is equal in standing with the other divisions
and its chief or colonel (Oberst) is responsible to him
alone.
would be administered by districts rather than from one central
bureau, and the citizens would be saved the necessity of making
long trips across the city. The uniformed force, the detective divi¬
sion, the morals police, the fire department, etc., are not affected by
this plan, inasmuch as it is believed that these functions cannot be
satisfactorily decentralized.
At the present time, only one such administrative district has
been established (the inner city — population 215,000). The plan
is bitterly opposed by some of the Berlin officials, to whom cen¬
tralization represents the last word in efficiency.
1 Discussed in Chap. VIII.
114
Organization of the Police Department
In respect to its plan of organization, the titles of its
officers and the fact that men and officers are recruited
from the army, the uniformed force is on a military basis,
operating according to military principles and traditions.
It may perhaps be more accurately described as the mili¬
tary branch of a civil organization. At the present time
(1913), it consists of one colonel (Oberst), three majors,
nineteen captains (Hauptleute), 158 lieutenants, seven¬
teen first sergeants (Oberwachtmeister), 452 sergeants
(Wachtmeister), and 5,724 patrolmen (Schutzmànner),
a total of 6,374 men. Patrolmen can be promoted to the
grade of first sergeant, but no further; the higher of¬
ficials are recruited from the ranks of army officers.
The city of Berlin is divided into 118 precincts (Re-
viere) each under the supervision of a lieutenant. For
the purposes of discipline and control, the precincts are
grouped into thirteen districts (Hauptmannschaften),
each in charge of a captain, and each containing from
eight to ten precincts. The districts are in turn grouped
into three brigades, each under the control of a major.
The precinct is the unit of administration — the
pivotal point of the entire organization. It contains from
thirty to a hundred of the uniformed force and serves a
district varying from 3,500 inhabitants in the inner pre¬
cincts to 45,000 in the outskirts. The lieutenant in com¬
mand is not promoted from the ranks, but is chosen from
among officers in the army or from the legal profession
after special training.1 Except in so far as special
functions are centralized at headquarters and managed
from special bureaus, this officer has entire charge of his
1 See Chap. V, p. 183.
"5
European Police Systems
precinct, and is responsible for the conduct of the men
under him. He assigns them to duty and regulates their
work. Through the telegraph and telephone he is con¬
stantly in touch with headquarters and an " alarm " or an
" information " comes to him directly without passing
through the hands of his superior administrative officers.
His immediate superior is the captain of the district in
which his precinct is located. The captain is mainly oc¬
cupied with discipline and with the investigation of com¬
plaints relative to the conduct of the uniformed force.
All disciplinary trials are held, in the first instance, before
him, and his findings are forwarded through the major
of his brigade to the colonel. In addition to these disci¬
plinary duties, the captain has certain inspectional duties
relative to conditions in his district, although these mat¬
ters are generally left to the lieutenants. Under the di¬
rection of the major of his brigade the captain shares,
also, in the administration of his force.
The functions of the three majors are almost exclu¬
sively administrative. They are the adjutants of the
colonel. Their duties correspond to those of assistant
commissioners in English cities, but with this distinction :
the administrative functions of Scotland Yard have been
separated and specialized, so that each assistant assumes
his proportionate share; in Berlin, the functions are di¬
vided by districts, and each major takes entire charge of a
particular section.1
Finally, at the head of the uniformed division, as its
chief administrative officer, is the colonel. He obtains
1A comparison of the Berlin majors with the London chief
constables is scarcely pertinent, since the former officials have no
inspectional functions to perform.
11.6
Organization of the Police Department
his position by promotion from the rank of lieutenant
through the grades of captain and major. Neither in
Berlin nor in any other Continental city is a uniformed
chief of police ever promoted from the lower ranks.
Not only would such a step be regarded as subversive of
discipline, but, as in the case of the chief constables in
London, it is not believed that the officer who has walked
the streets as a patrolman has the education or point of
view requisite in a responsible administrative official.
Other German Cities.
With but slight modifications, although on a smaller
scale, the method of departmental organization obtaining
in Berlin is found in every large German city. Official
titles differ, and the grouping of functions into bureaus
or branches is never exactly the same, but in broad
outline there is a marked similarity between the sys¬
tems of the various cities. Under the control of a police
president or director, each department has a number
of branches of which the uniformed force is but one;1
in each the uniformed division is the executive arm
1 In Dresden there are ten branches ; in Hamburg, eight ; in
Stuttgart, six; in Munich, five; in Leipzig, eight. Hamburg's di¬
visions are typical jof the rest. They are as follows : —
I. General administration, including residents' registration, etc.
II. Detective branch and morals police.
III. Business and traffic regulation.
IV. Political police, including press censorship and control of
meetings and societies.
V. Welfare police, including sickness and accident insurance,
missing persons, public safety in theaters, assemblies, etc.
VI. Health police — hospitals, contagious diseases, ambulances,
veterinarians, etc.
VII. The uniformed force.
VIII. Harbor police.
117
European Police Systems
of the other branches, although ranking equally with
them in its relation to the police president; in each
the uniformed force is organized on a military basis,
under the immediate administrative control of a colonel
or captain. In other words, throughout the German
cities the uniformed force of the police department is, as
it is in Berlin, a military branch of a civil organization.1
1 In respect to the method of dividing a city into districts for
police purposes, there is but little variation in Germany. The use
of the same names in different cities for districts in no way similar
or even comparable, occasionally produces the appearance of di¬
versity, but beneath the variable nomenclature the same idea is at
work.
Thus, the precinct or unit of administration which in Berlin is
called Revier is in Dresden called a Bezirk, or district, while the
Berlin Bezirk is the Revier in Dresden. In the same way, in Munich
and Hamburg, the word Wache is used for the precinct. There are
thus three words signifying practically the same thing.
In the larger cities there are three classes of districts, the small¬
est being the precincts. For purposes of supervision, these units are
grouped into larger districts, which in turn are assembled into sev¬
eral divisions under the control of superior officers. Thus, as we
have seen, Berlin is divided into precincts (Reviere), which in turn
are grouped into districts (Bezirke) and brigades. So, too, Ham¬
burg has its Wachen, or small unit areas, three or four of which
form a district (Bezirk), while two or three districts are grouped
into a division. The Wachen are in charge of first sergeants (Ober-
wachmeister) ; the districts are controlled by district commission¬
ers ; and the divisions are under the captains (Hauptmanner), who
are recruited from among army officers. In other words, Hamburg
intrusts her precincts and districts to the administration of non¬
commissioned officers coming from the ranks, using the commis¬
sioned officers only for the supervision of the largest groups, or
divisions; while, in Berlin, none of the administrative work is per¬
formed by non-commissioned officers, even the precincts being in
charge of those chosen outside of the service.
In the smaller cities of Germany there are generally two group¬
ings rather than three—• precincts and districts. Thus, in Dresden
there are twenty-five precincts (Bezirke), each in charge of a first
sergeant (called " Inspektor" in Dresden), wlm comes from the
ranks. The precincts are grouped into four districts (Reviere),
each under a lieutenant or commissioned officer chosen from the
army. Practically similar arrangements are to be found in Munich,
Leipzig, and Stuttgart,
118
Organization of the Police Department
Vienna.
In Austria, and especially in Vienna, the relative sim¬
plicity of police function produces an organization which
is perhaps more nearly comparable with London's sys¬
tem than with Berlin's, although certain interesting
characteristics peculiarly Austrian have been developed.
The many diverse and often incongruous functions of
the Berlin department have no counterpart in the police
systèm of Vienna.1 The various functions of the
Vienna department are grouped into three sections,
each under a separate head, with the uniformed force
as a distinct division under the immediate control of a
colonel or chief (Zentralinspektor). In this respect
the department approximates the German system. The
functions included under the three sections, however,
are comparatively simple. The detective department
forms one section; 2 another handles passport (Passamt)
and traffic matters, the lost and found bureau, and resi¬
dents' registration (Einwohnermeldeamt) ; the third deals
with press censorship, the control of public meetings,
the morals police and the sanitary department. If
three or four of these functions were eliminated, the
duties and the organization, if not the spirit, of the
Vienna police might well be applicable to an English city.
As in German cities, the uniformed force of Vienna
(called Sicherheitswache) is a military organization
under civil control. More accurately, perhaps, it may be
1 Many of the functions which in Germany are assigned to the
police, are in Austria given to the Statthalterei, or Imperial gov¬
ernors of the districts into which, for administrative purposes,
Austria is divided. (See note 2, p. 79.)
2 See Chap. VIII.
119
European Police Systems
described as a civilian body of watchmen, organized, uni¬
formed, and armed on a military model.1 It differs
from the German forces in one striking respect: its
higher officers, including its chief (Zentralinspektor),
are lawyers and university men rather than army men.
The preponderance of university graduates -in law, occu¬
pying the higher positions of the police departments, is
one of the striking features of police organization in Aus¬
tria and Hungary. The uniformed force of Vienna at
the present time (1913) consists of 66 commissioned
officers, 403 sergeants (called Inspektors), and 4,127
Sicherheitswachmânner, or policemen, making a total
force of 4,59Ô.2 The same disability which exists in
Berlin relative to the promotion of a patrolman to a
rank higher than first sergeant holds also in Vienna.
Occasionally a policeman is promoted through the grade
of sergeant (Inspektor) to a commissioned officership of
low rank (Revier or Bezirksinspektor), but he can go no
higher. While a few of the commissioned officers are
taken from the army, most of them, as we have said, in¬
cluding all of higher rank, are university graduates in law.
For police purposes, Vienna is divided into twenty-one
districts3 (Bezirke), each of which has its own organi¬
zation and quota of officials collectively designated as a
1 The Sicherheitswache of Vienna was established in 1869 by
Imperial decree. It took the place of the Military Police Guard
(Militarpolizeiwache), an organization dating from the year 1776.
In the year of its establishment (1869), the Sicherheitswache con¬
sisted of 15 commissioned officers and 1,352 men.
2 Vienna's population is 2,031,498 (census of 1910).
3 The same districts are used which are employed for repre¬
sentative purposes in the; City Council, except that one of the
larger city districts (Gemeindebezirke) is divided to make two
police districts.
I20
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF VIENNA
Organization of the Police Department
Kommissariat. Each district has its own chief station
or office, and in addition, from four to fifteen watch-
rooms (Wachzimmer) which form the centers of con¬
trol for policemen on duty. That is, each small squad
of men under the supervision of a sergeant has a central
point from which its movements can be regulated and
checked. The units of administration, however, are the
districts, with populations varying from 44,000 to 177 "
000, and uniformed forces of from 85 to 330 men. The
Kommissariat, and the district which it represents, is
under the control of an official with the title Polizeirat or
Regierungsrat, a title with no equivalent in the English
language, but which, for convenience, we shall call " Dis¬
trict Commander/' The district commander is the ad¬
ministrative representative of the Police President; he is
a civil employee in the sense that he is not a member of
the uniformed force (Sicherheitswache). This charac¬
teristic of Vienna's organization stands out in marked
contrast, not only with the German system, but, outside
of Austria and Hungary, with other Continental cities as
well. In Berlin, for example, as in Hamburg or Dres¬
den, the district representative of the Police President,
the head of the precinct or division, the official who is
responsible for the territory assigned to him as well as
for the conduct of his men, is himself a member of the
uniformed force even though he may have entered the
service, not from the ranks, but in some higher capacity.
In Vienna, on the other hand, the district commander has
no connection with the uniformed force, and although
he may at one time have served as a higher officer in its
ranks, he ordinarily enters the department directly from
121
European Police Systems
the university as an assistant administrative official
(Konzeptsbeamter). He and his assistants and clerks
who form the Kommissariat are the local representatives
of the Police President, employing the uniformed force
assigned to their district as an executive force to carry
out their directions. Each such force in a district has
its Kommando or captain,1 who takes his orders, as far
as his work and duties are concerned, not from the head
of the uniformed force, but from the district com¬
mander. The head of the uniformed force (Zentralin-
spektor) deals with matters pertaining to discipline and
the material welfare of his men, such as clothing and
accoutrements. He also has charge of the police school,
and of transfers from one district to another, together
with such other functions as concern the force as a whole.
With the duties of his men in their respective districts,
however, he has nothing whatever to do; being of equal
rank with the district commanders, he can issue no
orders to them save such as emanate from the Police
President.
This arrangement results in the development of a sep¬
arate administrative staff of civilians for each of the
twenty-two police districts into which Vienna is divided.
The district commander, as head of the staff, is assisted
in his duties by a number of Konzeptsbeamte, or deputy
administrative officials, all of whom must be university
graduates in law. These, with the necessary clerks
(Kanzleibeamte), make a total administrative force in
each of Vienna's districts of from seven to seventeen men,
1 Generally with the title of Bezirksinspektor, These men are
for the most part selected from those who have entered the service
from the army.
122
Organization of the Police Department
who, while they form no part of the regular uniformed
force, are yet responsible for its work in their several ter¬
ritories.1
The policy of administrative decentralization above
described relieves the heavy burden which the cities of
Germany so often lay upon the Police President and his
immediate assistants. Indeed, in Vienna, there is but
one assistant to the President, a sort of vice-president or
deputy commissioner {H of rat), who assumes some of
the executive work and takes the President's place in his
absence. The remaining administrative functions are
exercised by the heads of the three sections, by the Zen-
tralinspektor as commander of the uniformed force, and
by the twenty-two district commanders. This decen¬
tralized administration which is in such marked contrast
to the Berlin plan, is coordinated by a device unique in
the police departments of Europe — the Bureau of Organ¬
ization and Control. Under the direct supervision of the
Police President, and not included in one of the three
sections which we have mentioned, are several smaller
bureaus, some of them of a clerical, some of an adminis¬
trative nature. The Bureau of Organization and Control
is one of these smaller departments, created for the pur¬
pose of coordinating and adjusting the various parts of
the police mechanism. Its object is to eliminate frie-
1 In addition to the regular police work in their districts, the
administrative officials are also local executives in respect to some
of the functions coming under the three sections of the police
department above noted. The centralization characteristic of Ber¬
lin's department in regard to these extra-police duties is foreign to
the Vienna organization. In fact, the new "Bezirk-Amt" experi¬
ment in Berlin (see note 2, p. 113) was copied from Vienna's
decentralized method of dealing with the functions which fall out¬
side of the regular scope of police work.
123
European Police Systems
tion, to act as a clearing house for information, and to
supervise the investigation of complaints relating to the
force. Its director has the right, with the approval of
the Police President, to make any changes in the organi¬
zation or install any forms or devices which he deems
necessary. More than any other factor it serves not
only to systematize the work of the department and to
keep the entire mechanism in smooth running order, but
to give the Police President adequate control over the
various phases and parts of his organization.
Budapest.
Budapest, in Hungary, has patterned her police organ¬
ization largely after the Vienna system, although in cer¬
tain respects she has followed the German model. Thus
the uniformed force is a strongly centralized military
organization in marked contrast to the decentralized,
semi-military system in Vienna.1 This point deserves
particular attention. Budapest is divided into fourteen
1 Budapest's police department is divided into seven branches
of which the uniformed force is one, each branch being responsible
directly to the Police President. The branches are as follows :
I. President's Division, which is the chief executive office.
II. Administrative Division, which includes manjr of the unre¬
lated functions which are thrust upon the police department,
such as passport matters, character certificates, lost and
found bureau, saloon licenses, control of employment
agencies and places of amusement, execution of the white
slave traffic law, etc. This division also includes the morals
police who handle the question of prostitution and street
walkers.
III. The Detective Division, including residents' registration and
the assessment of penalties.
IV. Prison Division.
V. The Uniformed Force.
VI. Bureau of Criminal Records.
VII. Accounting Division.
124
Organization of the Police Department
Kommissariate, or districts, each in charge of a dis¬
trict commander, who, as in Vienna, is not a member
of the uniformed force, but is a civil official of the
department and a university graduate in law. The con¬
trol of the uniformed force assigned to the various dis¬
tricts, however, does not rest with the district commander,
as in Vienna, but is vested in the Inspektor (lieutenant),
who is the district's highest ranking member of the
uniformed force, and the direct representative of the
chief of the force, the 0berkommandant.1 In other
words, under the direction of the President, the Ober-
kommandant controls the uniformed force in all the dis¬
tricts. He is responsible not merely for the discipline and
material well-being, but for the entire work of the force,
issuing his orders directly to his inspectors in the dis¬
tricts. As a result, the functions of the district com¬
mander are more limited than those of his fellow officer
in Vienna. He is rather a legal adviser to the district
inspector, handling, in addition, matters relating to pass¬
ports, residents' registration, and penalties imposed by
the police (Strafverfugungen) ?
By a curious fiction the district commander is made
the superior officer of the Inspektor, and as such has the
power to countermand the orders issued by the Ober-
kommandant. As a matter of practice, however, the
district commander takes but little part in strictly police
business, confining his attention to the semi-legal func¬
tions which devolve upon his department.
A second point of distinction between the uniformed
1 The Oberkommandant corresponds to Vienna's Zentralinspektor.
2 See Chap. I, p. 124.
125
European Police Systems
forces of Vienna and Budapest lies in the fact that the
latter is a strictly military organization, all of whose
commissioned officers, from the Oberkommandant down
to the inspectors or lieutenants, are recruited directly
from the army. The present Oberkommandant1
served twelve years with the Austro-Hungarian troops,
reaching the rank of first lieutenant; he entered the police
force as an inspector and is now the head of the uni¬
formed division, after twenty-six years of service. Buda¬
pest is opposed to the practice of officering the uniformed
force with university graduates in law. Not only does
she believe in the German military ideal of a police force,
but she pushes it beyond anything to be found in Ger¬
many. Her uniformed division is simply a military troop
of 3,000 men, armed like soldiers, living in barracks under
strict military discipline, ready for active service at the
call of a bugle. In no other fashion, the authorities of
Budapest believe, can their population be adequately con¬
trolled.2
Paris.
The organization of the police force of Paris is as
involved and complicated as Berlin's, embracing many
1 In addition to the Oberkommandant there are two Oberinspek-
tors and 14 Inspektors among the higher officers. Below them are
the non-commissioned officers — the sergeants and corporals — pro¬
moted from the ranks. A non-commissioned officer is never pro¬
moted to the grade of commissioned officer.
2The police of Budapest have jurisdiction in the greater city;
that is, the department includes the ten districts (Bezirke) of the
city, and in addition, three in the suburbs; while the city govern¬
ment of Budapest has jurisdiction only in the ten city districts.
The department consists of 3,000 uniformed men, including 205
mounted men.
126
PS
ORGANIZATION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT OF PARIS
PRES I DENT
MINI5TER
OF INTERIOR
I
DETECTIVE FORCE
(police judiciaire)
UNIFORMED FORCE
(police municipale)
TEN COMMISSAIRES DIVI5ION NAIRE5-EACH IN CHARGE OF
A DISTRICT CONTAINING TWO ARRONDISSEMENTS
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UNIFORMED FORCE:
DETECTIVE FORCE*.
ONE COMMISSAIRE. IN EACH DISTRICT CONTROL¬
LING THE OFFICIERS DE PAIX' IN CHARGE OF THE
TWO ARRONDISSEMENTS.
ONE COMMISSAIRE DE SURETÇ AND NECESSARY
FORCE OF DETECTIVES IN EACH DISTRICT.
EACH ARRONDISSEMENT HAS ALSO FOUR
COMMISSAIRES DE POLICE --ONE FOR EACH
QUARTER—WITH GENERAL JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS.
CONTROLE
GENERAL
LEGION
DE LA GARDE
RÉPUBLICAINE
SUPERVISION
OF PERSONNEL
AND ORGANIZATION
CABI NET
OF THE
PREFECT
J U D I C I A L AND
POLITICAL MATTERS
PUBLIC
AMUSEM ENTS
SUPERVISION OF
THEATERS AND CAFES
MISCEL¬
LANEOUS
DEPART¬
MENTS
SECRETARIAT
GENE RAL
LOST AND FOUND
D E PA R T M E N T
INFORM AT I
BUREAU
O N
DIVISION
II
CONTROL OF PUBLIC
HEALT H AND HYGIE N E
HEALTH DISPENSARY
MEDICAL INSPECTION
OF INSANE PEOPLE.
DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
CONTROL OF TRAM¬
WAYS,POUND, MOR GUE.ETC.
FIRE
DEPARTMENT
TRAFFIC AND
TRANSPORTAT I ON
FOLIC I N G
RAILROAD STATIONS
ACCOUNTS
PURCHASES
ADMINISTRATION OF
POLICE PROPERTY
ARCHIVES
DEPART¬
MENT
CHEMICAL
LABORA¬
TORY
Organization of the Police Department
functions which in England and Austria are handled by
municipal and state governments. Matters relating to
public health and hygiene, to street railroads, to dan¬
gerous substances, to the prevention of fire, to pure food,
and to a hundred other subjects are all part of the
police function. To execute these many diverse tasks,
as we have already noticed in the case of Berlin, a neces¬
sarily extensive organization is required; but in respect
to the nature of the organization there is considerable
difference between the two cities. In Berlin, the func¬
tions are grouped, with more or less attention to sim¬
ilarity and relationship, into twelve branches or depart¬
ments, each under the head of a director or chief, re¬
sponsible to the Police President. In Paris, on the other
hand, a large number of branches, divisions, sections,
commissions and committees are grouped irregularly
about the Prefect of police, each sustaining to him a more
or less direct relationship. The uniformed police
(.Police municipale) constitutes one of these distinct
branches or divisions; the detective department (Direc¬
tion des recherches) another; the fire department {Régi¬
ment de sapeurs-pompiers) still another. The largest
single department under the Prefect is the Secrétariat
général, which, organized by divisions and bureaus,
handles the many functions which in England are largely
cared for by the state and municipality.1 In addition
1 The Secrétariat général is organized in four divisions and two
departments, each division containing from two to five bureaus
which in turn are subdivided into sections. The functions of this
branch of the police department cover a wide range of subjects,
such as forced sales and liquidations, inquiries regarding old age
pensions, visé of passports, registration of peddlers, licensing of
messengers, medical examination and registration of nurses, control
of day nurseries and lying-in hospitals, destruction of caterpillars,
127
European Police Systems
to these branches, the so-called Cabinet du Préfet has
charge of judicial and political matters and questions of
general safety and public amusements, together with the
oversight of theaters and cafés. There are, in addition,
twenty-one smaller bureaus or supervisory divisions
{Services extérieurs) responsible directly to the Prefect,
with functions covering a great variety of subjects, rang¬
ing from the inspection of mushrooms to the oversight of
street railroads.1 Finally the Contrôle général exer¬
cises, under the direction of the Prefect, general admin¬
istrative supervision • over the personnel of the entire
force, roughly approximating in function Vienna's
bureau of organization and control.
We have spoken of the division of the Police munici¬
pale, as the uniformed force. As a matter of fact, there
are two uniformed forces in, Paris under the control of
the Prefect. In addition to the Police municipale, the
" Republican Guard " {Légion de la Garde Républicaine)
an integral portion of the national gendarmerie, per¬
forms many duties which in other European cities are
committed to the regular police. Under the direct con¬
trol of the Prefect, it guards the public buildings and
offices, takes charge of the traffic at certain points, as-
beetles and thistles, control of smoke consumers, sirens and whis¬
tles, statistics of prices current, surveillance and control of sales in
wholesale houses, inspection of foodstuffs, control of traffic and
vehicles, building material permits, etc.
1 Some of the functions of these bureaus are as follows : Medi¬
cal inspection of aliens, veterinarian supervision, weights and meas¬
ures, the morgue, the pound, inspection of dangerous establish¬
ments, control of automobiles, the medical inspection of the insane,
contagious diseases, etc. In addition to these twenty-one bureaus
of supervision, there are twelve permanent commissions or com¬
mittees under the control of the Prefect of police, dealing with
matters relating to sanitation, the examination of conductors and'
motormen on street cars and trams, child-labor, etc.
128
Organization of the Police. Department
sûmes responsibility for much of the mounted police work,
and handles the crowds in congested quarters and on
holiday occasions. It also acts as a reserve force which
can be brought at a moment's notice to the relief of the
regular police. The French authorities have learned that
the handling of an excitable Parisian crowd cannot safely
be left exclusively to the regular police force. There¬
fore, this supplementary guard of approximately 3,000
men, a purely military organization of twelve companies
of infantry and four squadrons of cavalry, under the
control of a colonel or commandant, is placed at the dis¬
posal of the Police Prefect. The striking uniforms and
long swords of these guards make them easily distin¬
guishable from the regular police of the city.1
Unlike the uniformed police forces of the German cities,
which are organized on a military basis, the Police muni¬
cipale— that is, the regular uniformed force of Paris—»
is a body of civil servants which, with the exception of
one or two titles and the fact that some of the men are
ex-soldiers, possesses but few military features or char¬
acteristics. In this respect, as in other respects which
will be pointed out, the organization of the force is very
similar to that of the Metropolitan police of London. In
fact, in 1854, the force was modeled after the London
1 The Garde Républicaine was organized by the arrêtés of July
5, 1848, and February 1, 1849. The force consists (1913) of 83
officers, 792 horsemen, and 2,118 men on foot, 200 of whom are
equipped with bicycles. The expenses of this force are entered on
the budget of the Ministry of War, amounting (in 1912) to 6,999,-
187 francs. The municipality of Paris pays approximately half of
this sum.
The Prefect of Police may also have the services of seven sec¬
tions of the national gendarmerie whenever, in his judgment, they
are required. (Arrêté des Consuls du 12 Messidor\ Year VIII.
Art. 36.)
129
European Police Systems
pattern. It is under the control of a directeur, who, a
civil employee himself, is immediately responsible to
the Prefect. He is assisted in his duties by a deputy and
by ten division inspectors (commissaires division¬
naires) 1 whose functions are similar to those of the
chief constables of London, each of them being assigned
to one of the ten administrative districts into which Paris
is divided. The division inspectors, like the director
and his assistant, are civil employees, chosen ordinarily
from other grades in the governmental service. In other
words, while the German plan is followed in maintaining
the uniformed force as a separate branch on an equal
footing with the many other branches of the police de¬
partment, the Parisian force is essentially a body of
watchmen commanded by civil employees rather than by
army officers as in Germany, and organized with only a
slight leaning toward military forms and traditions.
The Paris force consists at the present time of 25 cap¬
tains (officiers de paix), 31 lieutenants (inspecteurs prin¬
cipaux), 1,047 sergeants {brigadiers and sous-brigadiers)
and 7,494 patrolmen (gardiens de la paix), a total of
8,597 men.2 The patrolmen are recruited both from the
1 Created by the decree of July 28, 1893, following the London
precedent of 1869. Until 1913 there were but four of these officials.
The creation of six more is a phase of M. Hennion's new plan for
the reorganization of the department.
2 The department of the Seine, over which the Prefect of police
has jurisdiction, has a population of 4,154,042 (census of 1911), or
one policeman to every 483 of the population. If the Garde Répub¬
licaine be counted as part of the police force, as indeed it should be,
Paris has one policeman to every 358 of the population. Berlin has
one to every 324 people; Vienna, one to every 342; London, one to
every 354. As I have already explained, however, (note 2, p. 109)
comparisons of this kind must not be pressed, as the necessity for
police protection varies with a large number of factors.
130
Organization of the Police Department
army and from civil life. Promotion to the rank of
captain is possible, although, as a matter of practice, the
severity of the promotion examinations makes it im¬
possible for a patrolman to reach that grade. The cap¬
tains are therefore chosen by examination open to other
branches of the police and government service.
For police and other governmental purposes Paris is
divided into twenty districts, called arrondissements.1
Each arrondissement is divided into four quarters (quar¬
tiers) making eighty in all. The police force is comprised
of twenty-five companies, one for each of the twenty
arrondissements, with the remaining five held in reserve
at headquarters, where, unless needed for special emer¬
gencies, they are assigned to duty at theaters and the
races, and in connection with the supervision of vehicles.2
At the head of the police of an arrondissement is an
officier de paix, or captain. Each captain has one or two
lieutenants (inspecteurs principaux)• as assistants. In
each arrondissement there are four police stations, one
for every quarter.3 The police station force is in charge
of a sous-brigadier or sergeant. One of the four stations
of the arrondissement, known as poste central, is the
headquarters of the captain. This latter official, as we
have seen, bears a direct responsibility to the division
inspector (commissaire divisionnaire) of the section in
which his arrondissement is located. We thus observe
1 There are thus two arrondissements in each of the ten admin¬
istrative districts.
2 In addition to the twenty-five companies, there are two bri¬
gades, the River Brigade and the Central Markets Brigade.
3 Nine small supplementary stations have been erected in the
larger and more densely populated quarters. If we add the stations
of the market brigade and the river brigade, we reach a total num¬
ber of 91.
131
European Police Systems
an almost complete similarity in organization between
the Parisian force and the Metropolitan force of Lon¬
don; the ten division inspectors corresponding to the
chief constables, the officiers de paix to the superintend¬
ents, the inspecteurs principaux to the chief inspectors,
and the brigadiers to the inspectors. The analogy breaks
down in attempting to compare the directeur of the Police
municipale with the Commissioner in London. The
former is a subordinate official responsible only for the
uniformed force and nothing else, while the London Com¬
missioner is the head of the entire department with juris¬
diction over the uniformed force, the detective division,
and the other subsidiary bureaus. Nor is it any more ac¬
curate to compare the Commissioner with the Prefect of
police. In the English sense, the Prefect is much more
than a police commissioner; he is a censor of vast author¬
ity with jurisdiction over matters which in London would
include not only many of the functions of the London
County Council and the borough administrative bodies,
but a score of other duties which are ordinarily handled
by judicial and legislative officials, if, indeed, they are
handled at all.
Still another body of officials is subject to the juris¬
diction of the Prefect of police. Each of the twenty
arrondissements, as we have said, is divided into four
quarters. Each quarter is in charge of a police commis¬
sary (commissaire de police) who, although not a mem¬
ber of the uniformed force, bears an intimate relation to
it. He has the same administrative and judicial powers as
the municipal commissaires who, as we saw in the last
chapter, are the agents of the central government in the
132
Organization of the Police Department
larger French communes. He exercises an authority
which would remind an Englishman now of a justice of
the peace, now of a police court judge, now of a coroner,
now of a sheriff, now of a truant officer, and now of a cen¬
sor of public morals.1 A man of legal education as well
as of experience in police affairs, he is responsible for
what goes on in his quarter. To this end he receives daily
the reports of the sous-brigadier of the quarter's uni¬
formed force in regard to crimes committed, although as
far as the work and duties of the uniformed men are con¬
cerned he issues no direct orders, as the sous-brigadier is
responsible only to the officier de paix of his arrondisse¬
ment. All prisoners arrested in the quarter are imme¬
diately arraigned before the commissary who gives them a
preliminary hearing, commits those held for trial to a place
of detention, and makes full report of his cases to the
Prefect. In a word, the commissary is a judicial offi¬
cer, combining the duties of a desk-lieutenant or station-
sergeant with those of a police magistrate,2 and possess¬
ing, in addition, a certain local responsibility for
conditions in his district. In this respect his influence
upon the work of the uniformed police force of his quarter
is very pronounced.3
1 See Historique de l'institution des commissaires de police, son
origine, leurs prérogatives, by F. Euvrard, ^Montpellier, 1911.
2 It should be understood that the commissary is not a judge in
the true sense, his function in cases of crime or misdemeanor being
merely a preliminary one.
3 The office of the commissary is a survival from very ancient
times when his lineal antecedent was chosen by the people of each
parish as an arbiter in neighborhood affairs, and a dispenser of
ready justice in cases of petty offense. The present organization
was determined by the Decrees of May 21 and June 27, 1790,
which established a commissary in each of the municipal divisions
of the city, and by the Decree of Messidor 12, Year VIII (1799),
133
European Police Systems
Rome.
Rome has three police forces: the Carabinieri and
the City Guards under the direction of the quest ore,
and the Municipal Police under the City Council. The
functions of the first two are practically identical.
They relate specifically to the prevention and detection
of crime and include the regular work of patrol and
plain-clothes forces. The Municipal Police, confined
to traffic matters and the enforcement of local ordinances,
have no connection whatever with the questore or his de¬
partment. The two groups are operated independently.
On the questore, therefore, rests the responsibility for
the policing of Rome. In the performance of his duty,
he is allowed the services of 1,730 City Guards 1 and 889
which brought the commissaries under the authority of the Prefect
of police. These dispositions were finally confirmed by the Execu¬
tive Decree of June 1, 1871, establishing the commissariats as they
are at present constituted.
The commissaries are appointed by the President of the Repub¬
lic upon the recommendation of the Prefect of police after a
competitive examination. Each commissary has his own office
situated in his quarter, with a secretary, two or three inspectors
and^ a clerk. In addition to the commissaries of Paris, the juris¬
diction of the Police Prefect extends also over the commissaries
of the communes of the Department of the Seine and the three
communes of Meudon, Sèvres, and Saint-Cloud (Seine-et-Oise).
In these suburban communes the commissaries have much greater
powers than those in Paris.
It will be seen that there is a slight resemblance between the
Parisian commissary and the Vienna district commander, and,
indeed, it has been claimed that the latter official was patterned
after the former. Both have local relations with the uniformed
force, although neither is a member of it. The analogy, however,
cannot be pushed very far, as the district commander of Vienna
has full charge of the uniformed force of his district, while the
commissary is a semi-judicial officer^ whose powers are those of
approval only, the control of the uniformed men being vested in
the oMcier-de-paix of the arrondissement.
1 Inclusive of ten commissioned officers.
134
Organization of the Police Department
Carabinieri/ a total force of 2,619. These two bodies
he is obliged to maintain as separate organizations. Both
are assigned to patrol work, both undertake detective
work, but they never perform their tasks together.2
Each is independent of the other, and rivalry rather than
cooperation characterizes their activity. They have the
same geographical precincts or divisions, but each body
has its separate station houses. Such an arrange¬
ment would be impracticable were it not for the large
force of trained officials (commissari and delegati) as¬
signed from the Division of Public Security3 to assist
the que store in his administration. In charge of the
Work in each of the precincts, as executive directors,
these officials are able not only to minimize friction, but
actually to produce effective results. That they are thus
successful is creditable to their training and intelligence
rather than to any merit in the organization.
The Municipal Police, under the immediate supervision
of a Commandant, are responsible to the mayor (Sin-
daco) and the city council (Consiglio comunale).
More accurately they are responsible to the executive com¬
mittee of the city council (Giunta comunale), ap¬
pointed to direct the different departments of the city
government. The force consists of 750 men including
officers. It has its own precincts and station-houses4
quite distinct from those of the Carabinieri and City
1 Inclusive of fifteen commissioned officers.
2 The tendency is to allow the City Guards to handle the bulk
of the detective work. But the Carabinieri generally conduct their
own separate investigations independent of the City Guards.
^3 See Chap. II, p. 96. There are over a hundred of these offi¬
cials in Rome at the present time.
4 There are twelve precincts in Rome for the Municipal Police.
135
European Police Systems
Guards. Except for a squad of twenty men in plain
clothes permanently assigned to the City Guards to handle
cases of begging and street soliciting, the force has no
detective functions. Many of its men are on fixed point
duty, engaged in traffic regulation. When on patrol they
are assigned merely to enforce the local ordinances.
Brussels and Amsterdam.
Largely under French and German influences, Belgium
and Holland have devised a composite police organization.
The functions of the police are complex and extensive.
Thus, in Holland the police have administrative charge of
matters relating to the erection of buildings, outdoor ad¬
vertising, contagious diseases, public amusements, burials,
weights and measures. While less complex in Belgium,
the functions of the municipal police forces are neverthe¬
less typically Continental, extending to the surveillance
of markets and the control of show-windows and other
exhibitions.
Perhaps the most characteristic ieature of the police
departments of both Holland and Belgium is the presence
of the French commissary with semi-judicial functions.
The commissaries not only sit as committing magistrates,
holding for trial or discharging from custody the pris¬
oners arraigned before them, but also serve as assistants
to the prosecuting attorneys, helping in the preparation of
cases where the crimes are committed in their particular
districts.1
1 In Amsterdam, and in one or two of the smaller cities of
Holland, the^ commissaries, in addition to their other duties, are
themselves directly in charge of the uniformed men in their par¬
ticular districts, while in The Hague, and in some of the Belgian
136
Organization of the Police Department
Brussels is to a large extent typical of other Belgian
cities. As we have seen,1 the burgomaster is himself
the chief of police, with power to delegate such authority
as he chooses to one of the various police commissaries.
Although a commissary-in-chief has been thus designated
to act as head of the department, the burgomaster himself
exercises all the more important powers, including those
of appointment and dismissal.2 The police force of
Brussels is relatively small and unimportant, for the
reason that no advantage is taken of the opportunity to
organize a single department for the greater city.
" Greater Brussels " is made up of ten towns and cities
with a total population of 660,ooo.3 Instead of a
single police force for the entire area, each town has its
own separate force responsible to its own burgomaster,
and operating under its own rules. A policeman of one
cities, ^ an attempt has been made to limit the actiyities of the
commissary by placing the district control of the uniformed men
in the hands of the regular officers of the force.
1 Chap. II, p. 67.
2 For police purposes Brussels is divided into seven sections,
each in charge of a commissary; the sections are subdivided into
quartiers as in Paris At headquarters there is a large central
office squad of 150 men (division centrale), under the direct con¬
trol of the commissary-in-chief, which handles all the general police
duties such as the control of cabs, theaters, etc., as distinguished
from the regular work of the police of the quartiers. Each of the
seven section commissaries is responsible directly to the burgo¬
master for the condition of his district and the conduct of his men.
The Brussels police force consists of 1 commissary-in-chief,
8 commissaries, 60 sub-commissaries, 20 agents spéciaux principaux
(captains), 83 agents spéciaux (lieutenants), 98 agents inspecteurs,
and brigadiers (sergeants), and 547 agents de voirie (patrolmen).
3 The towns and population are as follows (as of June 1, 1912) ;
Brussels 176,947 Etterbeek 33,227
Schaerbeek §5,399 Ixelles 76,405
St. Gosse-ten-Nood 32,474 Koekelberg 12,663
St. Gilles 66,592 Laeken 35,714
Anderlecht 64,425 Molenbeek-St.-Jean 73,247
137
European Police Systems
town cannot effect an arrest in another town without
special permission. While the inevitable friction arising
from this condition is to some extent alleviated by the
work of the national Sûreté générale, which coordinates
the detective departments of all the cities of Belgium, and
by other national supervisory agencies,1 the net result
of the arrangement is confusion and ineffectiveness.
Under a metropolitan system such as London has de¬
vised, which would include all the communes or boroughs
of Greater Brussels, the city would be at once more ef¬
ficiently and less expensively policed.
Amsterdam's police department is fairly typical of the
municipal forces of Holland.2 Responsible to the Chief
Commissioner are six commissioners or Commissarissen
possessing the usual semi-judicial powers, but each re¬
sponsible for the uniformed men in his own division.3
The relation of the commissaries to the chief commis¬
sioner is worthy of particular notice. These officials are
appointed by the Crown upon the recommendation of the
Minister of Justice.4 They are removable only by the
1As, for example, the Députation permanente. See Chap. II,
p. 67.
2 Amsterdam, with a population of 580,960 (January 1, 1912),
has one police officer to every 410 of her population; Brussels has
one to every 211 ; Rotterdam, one to every 440.
3 Amsterdam is thus divided into six divisions. Each of the
six has two or three subdivisions (Afdeelingen), which in turn
have from two to four precinct districts (Posthuizen), the whole
system representing a modification by French ideas of the German
plan of organization. Altogether, Amsterdam has a force of 1,416
men (as of April, 1913), consisting of 59 inspecteurs (lieutenants)
of various grades, 89 brigadiers or sergeants, and 1,282 agents or
patrolmen. The patrolmen cannot rise above the rank of ser¬
geant; the inspecteurs are recruited from the so-called middle class,
and have generally received what is equivalent to a high-school
education.
4 Chap. II, p. 65.
138
Organization. of the Police Department
same authority. Although he is ultimately responsible
for the force, the burgomaster may not dismiss his com¬
missioner, nor may the commissioner dismiss any of his
deputies. In case of trouble or disagreement between
the commissioner and a deputy, all the commissioner can
do is to complain to the burgomaster; all the burgo¬
master can do is to remonstrate with the recalcitrant of¬
ficial or complain to the Minister of Justice. As may be
imagined, this system has resulted in endless friction.
The deputies, each in charge of his own district, have
developed a spirit of great independence, at times, indeed,
almost overriding the commissioner. Although the
Dutch sense of respect due to rank and title generally
ameliorates the situation before it becomes acute, a strong
and tactful hand is continually required, and complaint is
often made that a deputy in charge of a district is a law
unto himself. Some years ago, the feeling between the
commissioner and his deputies became so bitter in two or
three of the Dutch cities, that the Minister of Justice is¬
sued a proclamation warning the deputies that, except in
so far as they were assistants to the prosecuting attorney,
they were subordinate to their commissioners. In Rot¬
terdam, thanks to the tact of a very able commissioner,
no difficulty has arisen. Unfortunately for Amsterdam,
however, the police department of that city has in the
past been rent with dissension, due entirely to the inability
of the commissioner to discipline his deputies and the
equal inability of the burgomaster to deal with any of
these officials.1
1 Since this was written the police commissioner of Rotterdam
has been called to the same position in Amsterdam.
139
European Police Systems
ii
The foregoing account exhibits two main types of
police organization, readily distinguishable from one
another — the English and the Continental. The Eng¬
lish type is characterized by its simplicity, for it comprises
merely a uniformed force and a detective division. The
Continental type is complex and intricate, adapted to the
«
variety of functions which the Continental states have
committed to their police departments. The English or¬
ganization is built up around the work of the men in
uniform; in the Continental organization the uniformed
force is but one of a number of branches, each bearing an
equal relationship to the head.
Of the two types, the English possesses the advantages
that go with simplicity. It is framed for a single pur¬
pose— to carry out one line of work. Compact, re¬
sponsive, and easily controlled, it performs its functions
silently and with a minimum of friction.
To an outsider, the Continental type of organization
appears less successful. The centralization of miscel¬
laneous functions in one department does not seem con¬
ducive to efficiency. The duties of the various divisions
of Berlin's huge organization, for example, are too
heterogeneous to be assembled under one head. It is
scarcely credible that one man is equipped intelligently to
supervise such widely divergent matters as meat, chil¬
dren's asylums and fire insurance agencies, as the head
of Division II of the Berlin organization is called
upon to do, or that another official should have under his
immediate control credit banks, naturalization affairs,
140
Organization of the Police Department
and the city's water supply, as is the case with the chief
of Division I. Even the German genius for detail
can scarcely overcome the inherent objections to such
arrangements and the constant complaints of delay and
red tape and ponderous processes, which come not only
from citizens of Berlin, but from headquarters officials
as well, seem more or less justified. I was told that im¬
portant letters are sometimes three or four days in reach¬
ing the proper officials, while being referred from one
bureau or department to another. A headquarters official
who spoke very frankly tç me of this matter phrased his
opinion as follows: "We are over-centralized. We
have too many different things to do. There is too much
rubbing of elbows. We get our feet caught in our own
processes." Moreover, there seems to be a lack of co¬
ordination and cooperation between the branches in Ber¬
lin, because each man serves his own bureau without
regard either to the work or the aims of the bureaus next
door. The detective division pays scant attention to the
uniformed force. The uniformed force works in ignor¬
ance of what is being done along preventive lines, for
example, in any other branch. It is difficult to find a
Kommissar who is familiar with anything in the depart¬
ment outside of his own specialty, and the objections of
some of the under-officials with whom I talked were loud
and bitter on this score. " How do I know what my
neighbor is doing? They keep me with my nose on my
own narrow work." This was the remark of the chief of
an important sub-division.
If it were possible to sum up in a word one's impression
of the Berlin department, it would be " over-organiza-
141
European Police Systems
tion." There are bureaus and sub-bureaus, specialties and
sub-specialties, with an interminable line of reports and
documents proceeding through official channels to the
president's office. Every official method is carefully pre¬
scribed ; every action, even to the smallest detail, is hedged
about with minute rules and regulations. Police business
is reduced to a methodical and, as far as possible, auto¬
matic routine, the rigidity of which is accentuated by the
laborious formalities of official courtesy and the stiff re¬
spect paid to rank and position. It almost seems as if the
German genius for organization had exhausted itself in
perfecting a piece of machinery from which the human
element has been completely eliminated, leaving no room
for individual initiative or imagination. This, at least,
is the constant complaint that one hears from the younger
officers in the service, and from those citizens whose busi¬
ness brings them into touch with its bureaus; and cer¬
tainly, as one surveys the entire organization of the Ber¬
lin department, the impression becomes firmly fixed that it
is a huge, ponderous machine, impeded by its own me¬
chanical intricacy and clogged with work. If it were not
for the superb training of many of its higher officers, I
very much doubt whether the machine could be made to
run at all. Certainly it could not be made to run outside
of Germany.
Hardly less unwieldy is the police organization of
Paris, which, as we have seen, is composed of a series of
branches, divisions, and sections centered irregularly about
the office of the Prefect. More loosely put together than
the organization in Berlin, it suffers from a lack of
proper coordination. Its many diverse functions are
142
Organization of the Police Department
grouped with little regard for cohesiveness or common
action, while the whole inarticulated plan is rendered
even less coherent by a clumsy attempt at centralization
of control, which has succeeded only in crowding to¬
gether the various agencies of administration. The
cumbersomeness of this huge organization has not es¬
caped criticism even in Paris. The performances of
the Bonnot gang, which terrorized Paris for weeks dur¬
ing the year 1912, aroused a storm of hostile but per¬
tinent comment. In a speech delivered at the time in the
Municipal Council, and subsequently approved by the
Police Prefect, one of the members, M. Massard, ex¬
pressed in cogent fashion the strong opinion that pre¬
vailed.
" One is often struck/' he said, " by the lack of co¬
herency which appears to exist among the admirable parts
of this vast system, and it seems evident that the various
active sections of the police prefecture would render
greater service if certain modifications could be effected.
. . . It often happens that several departments of the
police prefecture, even several sections of one department,
are called upon to deal with an evil doer, and the efforts
of 'the men, thus divided up, hinder rather than help. . . .
It would prove ignorance of the French character not to
conclude that the police endeavor to give satisfaction to
the department to which they personally belong, without
caring at all for the objects pursued in other branches of
the same administration, thus hindering the final results
of a project which their cooperation might aid." 1
i-This speech, which was one of many made in criticism of the
police department, was printed in the official municipal journal,
Bulletin municipal officiel de la Ville de Paris. The section which
H3
European Police Systems
It was undoubtedly this growing feeling of distrust of
the police department and its whole plan of organization
that led to the retirement of M. Lépine as Prefect in 1913.
At least, this is the belief in official circles. Certainly,
M. Lépine's successor, M. Hennion, started the immediate
and thorough-going reorganization now under way. In
a letter to the Municipal Council, dated July 4, 1913, M.
Hennion outlined the steps which he proposed to take in
coordinating and readjusting the various branches of his
department :
" From the moment of my arrival, I have had only
too many opportunities to notice the lack of cohesion
existing in my office. . . . Our first duty is to ventilate
(1décongestionner) the central organization, which is
far too much crowded, so that we may restore to the
police corps that activity and freedom of movement
which are so desirable. To effect this we must de¬
centralize." 1
The Police Prefect then proceeds to outline a plan of
organization shifting the control of the many functions
intrusted to the department from headquarters to a num¬
ber of districts or divisions, with the idea of eliminat¬
ing the bureaucratic method of supervision.2 He ad-
I have quoted was repeated with approval in a letter addressed by
the present Police Prefect, M. Hennion, to the Municipal Council
and printed in the Bulletin officiel of July 13, 1913.
^•This communication is printed in the Bulletin officiel of July
13, 1913-
2 M. Hennion's plan of reorganization involves the creation of
ten districts, or divisions, each containing two arrondissements.
Each division will be under the supervision of a commissary, al¬
though the present system of quartier-commissariats dealing with
law proceedings and other judicial matters will not be disturbed,
nor will the officiers de la paix be withdrawn from the arrondisse-
144
Organization of the Police Department
mits, however, that his plan is only a step preliminary
to others which must be carefully thought out and in¬
troduced. The Paris department, therefore, is in a stage
of transition, with all the confusion accompanying such
a change. How far M. Hennion will pursue his re¬
organization plans is not yet known ; but the Paris
force has had a rude awakening, and under vigorous
leadership, is making a brave attempt not only to co¬
ordinate its many departments, but to cut loose from the
unwieldy concentration both in function and adminis-
tration, such as handicaps the organization in Berlin.
Of the large Continental cities, Vienna has the simplest
type of police organization, approximating the English
form more closely than the Continental. Austria vests
the control of public health and kindred matters in her
municipal governments, and the machinery of her police
departments is not clogged by unrelated or at least only
indirectly related functions. The Vienna department,
therefore, has a great advantage over the departments
of Berlin and Paris, an advantage which becomes ap¬
parent when one sees the struggles of the Berlin office to
handle intelligently its own tremendous powers. Fur¬
thermore, Vienna, like London, has developed along lines
of decentralization. Instead of centering all authority
at headquarters, where the guiding strings are apt to
become interwoven and tangled, and where a few men are
ments. To each of the ten divisions will be assigned a definite
number of plain-clothes men, with the object of giving to all the
quarters of Paris detectives who will be thoroughly acquainted
with their ^ prescribed localities. The ^ Prefect's plan also involves
the organization of a central archives department, which will
bring together the many separated filing systems of the different
branches.
145
European Police Systems
called upon to decide a great number of unrelated ques¬
tions, Vienna has transferred a large part of the admin¬
istrative responsibility to the districts and the district
officials, using the headquarters only as a center for ulti¬
mate control. In this way the intense concentration and
consequent confusion which characterize the police or¬
ganizations of Berlin and Paris have been avoided, and
the Police President and his immediate assistants, freed
from the petty details of their work, have had time and
opportunity to formulate broad plans for the intelligent
4
development of the force. In matters relating to the
education of policemen, in their equipment and in the
thoroughness of their general work, Vienna is ahead of
any other city on the Continent. Undoubtedly one of
the causes contributing to this superiority is the form
of organization which relieves the executives from the
entire administrative responsibility.
It is to England, however, that we must turn for the
simplest, and perhaps, in the last analysis, the most ef¬
fective type of police organization — a decentralized or¬
ganization constructed around a single function. The
ease with which administrative operations are handled
at New Scotland Yard, the smooth articulation of the
different parts of the Metropolitan police machinery must
be explained by something more than the proverbial
British genius for government. The machinery has been
constructed in a workmanlike manner to perform a
single task. It has not been allowed to complicate itself
by undertaking other functions more or less unrelated.
The English have perceived clearly that the task of main¬
taining law and order is itself onerous enough, and they
146
Organization of the Police Department
have refused to allow the police department to be used as
a depository for such miscellaneous functions as could
not easily be fitted into other branches of the government.
One or two minor exceptions exist to this general policy.
For example, the police forces of England are called
upon to license chimney sweeps,1 and the Police Com¬
missioner of the Metropolitan district must license shoe¬
blacks and messengers within the County of London.2
But, except for a few insignificant instances of this kind,
the efficiency of the police as a force for the maintenance
of order is not hampered by the addition of extraneous
duties.
It would, of course, be an exaggeration to assert that
the English type of organization is flawless. We have
already noticed the serious disadvantages growing out
of the dependence of the chief constable upon the Watch
Committee in some of the provincial cities, and even the
Metropolitan force is not free from fault in the frame¬
work of its organization. The utter lack of control by
the Commissioner over the acts and functions of his busi¬
ness manager, the Receiver, is a source of weakness
which has led in the past, as it will inevitably lead in the
future, to friction and irritation. The work of the two
offices is too inextricably related to admit of each being
independent of the other, and under the circumstances
there appears to be no reason, except the force of tradi¬
tion, why the Receiver should not be made responsible
to the Commissioner rather than to the Home Secretary.
But even with its faults, the English police organiza-
1 Chimney Sweepers Act of 1875, § 6.
2 Metropolitan Streets Act of 1867, §§ 19-20.
147
European Police Systems
tion is a better piece of machinery than the police or¬
ganization of the Continent. It is a curious fact, there¬
fore, that as far as the discharge of fundamental police
duty is concerned, no essential superiority can be claimed
for the English department. Indeed, with all the
divergences in type not only between the English and
Continental organizations, but between the police organi¬
zations of European cities everywhere, it cannot be
denied that law and order are, on the whole, uniformly
well preserved. As far as external appearances go, Ber¬
lin and London are equally well policed. Indeed, as be¬
tween the German and English cities generally, the ad¬
vantage in this respect may perhaps fairly be claimed by
the former. Obviously, therefore, other factors than the
type of organization must bear vitally upon the police
problem. National habits and characteristics and a
score of other influences alter the task of the police in
maintaining order. A peaceful, law-abiding population
presents to the police a comparatively simple problem
which even faulty administrative machinery may not
seriously complicate. Or again, grave defects in the
type of police organization may be balanced by the supe¬
rior personnel of the force. Indeed, intelligent commis¬
sioners and well-trained subordinates, obtaining and hold¬
ing office on proper conditions, and carefully selected
patrolmen, appear to be of even greater consequence than
any particular variety or type of administrative machin¬
ery. Certainly in searching for the factors which make
for efficiency in police work we are bound to look beyond
the merely mechanical arrangement of a department.
148
CHAPTER IV,
the commissioner
European police administration a distinct profession.— Army of¬
ficers not generally desired.— Jurists preferred on the Continent.—
Examples.— System of promotion in Germany.— The Austrian
Rangsklasse system.—« The Italian system.— The Dutch system.—
English provincial chief constables promoted from the ranks.—Ex¬
amples.— London's commissioners.— Indefinite tenure of office of
the European commissioner.— Dismissal of inefficient or dishonest
men.— Examples.— Long term of office of average commissioner.
— Exceptions.— London's experience.— System on the whole excel¬
lent.— Commissioners' salaries.
Having outlined the functions and plan of organiza¬
tion of the European police departments, we must now
turn our attention to the men who administer them.
First of all, we must consider the official at the head of
the system — his training and experience, his tenure of
office, his emoluments and his relations to other officials.
We shall then be able to form a general estimate not
only of the standards which Europe applies in the selec¬
tion of her police executives, but of the scope which she
allows them in the development of their ideas and poli¬
cies.
The selection of a police commissioner is naturally a
matter of great importance. The success or failure of
an entire police policy is largely dependent upon the
head of the force. He must be a man of strength com¬
bined with tact, of keen intelligence and incorruptible in-
149
European Police Systems
tegrity. Indeed, in this last respect he must be beyond
suspicion. He must be able to handle his men with an
iron hand, without impairing their confidence in his abso¬
lute fairness and justice. He must be firm in his rela¬
tions with the public without arousing antagonism. A
man who combines these various capacities is not easily
found, and the European authorities are correspondingly
painstaking and cautious in their search and selection.
In some cities, indeed, the task of finding the right man
begins two or three years before there is any intention
of retiring the immediate incumbent. Sir Edward
Henry was brought from India in 1901 and made an
Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan force in
London, with the deliberate intention of testing his fit¬
ness for the commissionership. Two years later he suc¬
ceeded Sir Edward Bradford, the latter official stepping
out voluntarily after an honorable service of thirteen
years. In Vienna, at the present time, two men, one in
the police department and the other in a related branch
of the government service, are known to be in training
for the police presidency.
Generally speaking, European police administration is
à distinct profession. It is seldom that a man is chosen
from an unrelated line of activity to fill a commissioner-
ship. The popular idea that European police depart¬
ments are in charge of men taken directly from the
ranks of army officers is without foundation. Only in
the larger cities of Holland and in two or three instances
in England1 has this practice been followed, and in
1 This does not apply to the English county forces, which are
generally commanded by ex-army officers.
*5°
The Commissioner
these cases, as we shall see, the experiment has not always
been a happy one. It is true that on the Continent the
man who is in immediate command of the uniformed
force of a police department is often an ex-army officer;
but the head of the whole police department—the presi¬
dent, the commissioner, the director, the prefect, what¬
ever his title — is more apt to be a jurist trained in
government work than a soldier, although, under the
compulsory system of enlistment which exists in most
Continental countries, he has probably seen some mili¬
tary service. In the minds of the European authorities,
military experience is not the sine qua non of police man¬
agement; of itself it does not constitute a sufficient
guarantee of effectiveness or intelligence in supervising
the complex and extensive affairs of a police depart¬
ment.1 So, too, a man who has made a record as an
efficient engineer, or who has established a reputation
as a physician or health expert, is not necessarily
equipped for the task. A police head must be specially
trained for his work. Ordinarily the man whom the
Continental authorities select as commissioner has served
his apprenticeship either as an assistant in the same de¬
partment, or as a commissioner in a less important city,
or as an official in another governmental branch. Karl
Ritter von Brzesowsky, the President of the police force
of Vienna, was for twenty-eight years an officer in the
1 This statement appears not to hold for Russia and Portugal.
I am informed by the consular officers of St. Petersburg and Mos¬
cow that the Chief of Police (Gradonachalnik) is invariably an
officer of high standing in the army, generally with the rank of
Major-General. Similarly, the American. Consul at Lisbon informs
me that the commandante of police is always selected from among
the higher officers of the regular army, the present incumbent hav¬
ing been a colonel in the artillery.
151
European Police Systems
same department before he was promoted to his present
position. Similarly, the Police President of Budapest
served twenty-three years before promotion to the post he
now occupies. On the other hand, M. Hennion, the pres¬
ent Prefect of police in Paris, was Director of the Sûreté
générale in the office of the Minister of the Interior, a
department which controls the gendarmerie, the Brigade
mobile, the local commissariats and other national police
bodies and functions ; while Dr. Bittinger, Police Director
of Stuttgart, was called from an assistant-commissioner-
ship in Munich. Dr. Domenico Castaldi, the recently
appointed Commissioner of police in Rome,1 held sim¬
ilar positions in Ancona and Naples before he was called
to his present post. Previously he had served not only
as an assistant in the police departments of several
Italian cities, but as an official of the division of Public
Security in the office of the Minister of the Interior.
He is a university graduate, a doctor of jurisprudence,
and one of the most cultivated men in the public service
of Italy.
Ordinarily, in Germany, but with the notable excep¬
tion of Berlin, the police presidents are promoted from
among the lesser officers of the force.2 Dr. Gustav Ro-
1 His title is Questore di Roma.
2 This is not always the case. The police commissioner of
Munich (Van der Heydte) was appointed from a kindred branch
of the government service; Dr. Robert Heindl, assistant commis¬
sioner (Polizeirat) in Dresden, was called from a similar position
in Munich. In Prussia, where the police commissioners of all the
important cities, such as Frankfort-on-Main, Coblentz, Cologne,
Kônigsberg, Breslau, etc., are appointed by the Crown upon recom¬
mendation of the Minister of the Interior (see Chap. II, page 68)
officials for these positions are often selected from the district
(Bezirk) or Circle (Kreis) authorities in the employ of the Prussian
government.
152
The Commissioner
scher, Police President of Hamburg, was chief of the de¬
tective division for seven years prior to his appointment,
having previously served as an assistant prosecuting at¬
torney. Dr. Paul Koettig, Police President of Dresden,
served twenty-one years in the department as a higher of¬
ficial, being promoted to his present position, like Dr. Ro-
scher, in Hamburg, from the directorship of the detective
bureau, although he originally entered the force as a
lieutenant (Assessor). In Berlin the custom has ex¬
isted of choosing an official from some other branch of
the governmental service, as, for example, from the civil
force in charge of one of the provinces of Prussia.
Thus, President von Jagow, the present incumbent, was
promoted, four years ago, from the position of assistant
in the office of the Oberprasident of the province of
Brandenburg. His predecessor in the presidency had
been the chief civil officer of a Kreis, or section of a
province.1 Like most of the higher official class in Ger¬
many, President von Jagow is a university graduate in
law, who, after passing the necessary qualifying exam¬
inations, chose government work as a career. In fact,
in nearly all the large cities not only of Germany, but
of Austria-Hungary and Italy as well, the administra¬
tive police heads are jurists of university training,2
who enter the government service in a minor capacity,
sometimes- as assistant officers in a police depart-
xVon Stubenrauch.
2 It must be remembered that the graduates in law of Continental
universities have had a far broader training than is usually associated
in other countries with the word " lawyer." They are thoroughly
drilled in public law as distinguished from private law. Indeed, po¬
litical economy and administrative law may be said to form the
basis of their legal education.
153
European Police Systems
ment, sometimes as Under-Secretaries or deputies in
a state or provincial department, and are thereafter pro¬
moted step by step up the official ladder. It may be
safely affirmed that in these countries no police head is
ever appointed who has not had some previous experi¬
ence in governmental work. The fact that the larger
police departments are for the most part state institu¬
tions constituting an integral part of the great web of
officialdom which centers about the state ministries makes
a promotion scheme of this kind easily possible. In this
scheme the commissionership of a police force is by no
means the termination. The president of Berlin's force
is almost certain, sooner or later, to become the Ober-
prdsident of a province, or at least a Regierungsprasident
in a district.1 The same thing is true in Munich, where
a police commissionership is looked upon as a stepping
stone to more desirable positions under the government.
In Hamburg and Dresden, conditions are more static,
and a police head whose services are appreciated is apt to
find himself permanently retained. In Stuttgart, on the
other hand, an undesirable police commissioner was re¬
cently promoted in a somewhat forceful fashion to a
higher position in the state service, where his peculiar
habits of mind would be less objectionable.
It has remained for Austria and Hungary, however,
to evolve the most thoroughgoing system of official pro¬
motion in Europe. The entire civil service for the higher
governmental officers is divided into eleven classes, called
1 President von Jagow's immediate predecessor died in office.
The two prior incumbents (von Windheim, 1895-1903, and von
Borries, 1903-1908) were both promoted to higher positions in the
government.
I54
The Commissioner
Rangsklasse. The Prime Minister alone represents the
first class; in the second class are the ministers of the
cabinet ; in the third, the assistant ministers. The
fourth class is represented by police presidents, the
chief justice of the court of appeals, the directors of
finance of the various provinces of Austria, and other
dignitaries. In each of the remaining classes are a large
number of officials of various titles, who fill the numerous
positions in the different departments of the national civil
service. The eleventh rank-class is occupied by the
Praktikants.1 They are the beginners, serving their ap¬
prenticeship in the higher grades of governmental service
—» all of them graduates in law fresh from the university.
They may be assigned to any one of a large number of
departments, to the secretary of state's office or to one of
the other ministries, to the police department, the prose¬
cuting attorney's office, the customs or revenue service,
or one of the branches of the provincial government.
They may even be shifted from one department to
another as they develop peculiar fitness for a particular
line of work. Many of them hold the degree of doctor
of law, having passed a higher examination than that
required for entrance into the state service.2 In fact,
1 Clerks (Kanzleibeamte) are also admitted into the rank-class
system, recruited from those tvho, after twelve years' service in
the army, pass' the qualifying examination. They enter in the
eleventh rank-class as Kanzlisten, but are limited in promotion to
the eighth rank-class with the grade of Hilfsâmterdirektor. So,
also, physicians in the police service cannot rise above the seventh
rank-class and the title Polizeichefarzt.
2 Legal training, as a necessary prerequisite to entrance into the
higher positions of the governmental service, was established in
Austria by the decree of the Minister of the Interior, December
20, 1887 ; in Hungary by^ the Law of 1883, I. Torvenyczikk, § III,
although in both countries there were prior statutes or decrees.
155
European Police Systems
fully forty per cent, of the higher officials of Vienna's
police department have the title " doctor " thus obtained.
Around this system of ranks or classes has been built
up an elaborate scheme of promotion. Step by step, as
their abilities and experience warrant, the men are pro¬
moted from one class to another. Thus, as we have seen,
the division commanders of the police department of Vi¬
enna are all university men, most of them belonging to
the seventh rank. So, too, the Bezirksinspektors, or
lieutenants, in the uniformed force have been graduated
from the university with a degree in law. The fact that
the Police President of Vienna has been in the department
thirty-five years is, in view of this system, no astonishing
matter. It means that thirty-five years ago he entered the
department as a Praktikant fresh from the university, and
that step by step he has risen from the eleventh class to
the fourth. It further means that his successor and the
man who will follow his successor as president are even
now in training in one of the various classes.
In no other country in Europe except Hungary and
Italy is there anything approaching this elaborate system
of training and promotion. In several of the States of
Germany, particularly in Bavaria and Wiirttemberg, and
to some extent in Saxony, an attempt has been made to
approximate it, and in all the other States there are more
or less prescribed ranks or classes among the govern-
The Austrian state examinations which the applicants are required
to pass involve four years' residence in a university and a mastery
of the following subjects : History of Law, Civil and Criminal
Law, Political Science and Economy, and International Law. In
Hungary applicants must possess a lawyer's diploma or a doctor's
degree in political science^ or law, or a certificate of four years'
residence in a law university of Hungary.
x56
The Commissioner
mental office holders; but they are used largely for the
purpose of defining official precedence rather than for the
sake of training and promoting according to regular
modes of procedure.
The Italian system is in many ways unique. As we
have seen, the police forces throughout the kingdom are
administered by representatives of the Division of Public
Security, one of the branches of the Ministry of the In¬
terior. Service in this department is looked upon as a
profession. Entrance is determined by a competitive
examination, preference being given to university grad¬
uates. A course of study at the police college1 in¬
troduces the candidates to the details of their new work,
and with the title delegate they are assigned to the police
force of some town or city. Later, as their abilities war¬
rant, they are promoted to the rank of commissario, and
finally, to that of questore, in charge of a provincial
force. Continually transferred to places of greater im¬
portance, their rise in the service is based on merit and
achievement alone. When, therefore, the authorities
seek a new head for the police force of an important city,
they have only to choose from a group of trained special¬
ists with years of practical experience in police problems
behind them. To the Italian it is a matter of course
that the present questore of Rome has spent his life in
police work, serving in various capacities and in many
cities.
In marked distinction to the system of training and
promotion generally prevailing in other countries on the
1Scuola di Polizia Scientiûca. For details of the course, see
Chap. V, p. 192.
157
European Police Systems
Continent, Holland has tried the doubtful experiment of
taking officers directly from, the army to fill the commis-
sionerships in her larger cities.1 That is, instead of
following the natural line of promotion and selecting one
of the assistant commissioners of a department, who,
entering the force with the rank of lieutenant,2 has been
promoted after years of training and service, Holland
generally chooses an army officer. As may be expected,
the army officer knows nothing of police business. He
comes with a point of view entirely different from that
of the force. His military training makes it difficult for
him to conceive of his work as fundamentally a civil
problem; in his relations with the citizens he is inclined
to be blunt and tactless. He is not nearly so well
equipped for his task as some of his assistants, who,
coming from the same social class as the Commissioner
and as well educated as he, resent their subordination to
an untrained man. Needless to say, the experiment has
proved a failure in Holland. One has only to examine
the police organization of Amsterdam and talk with some
of the subordinate officials to realize its defects. The
continual friction between the Commissioner and his dep¬
uties, the lack of a well-conceived policy, the antagonism
of the uniformed force to the head of the department,
are all evidences of ineffective control. To be sure, this
condition is partly due, as we have seen, to a faulty plan
of organization which allows the Commissioner no ade¬
quate means of disciplining his assistants; to a much
greater extent, however, it is due to the attempted appli-
1 This is not true at The Hague, where a deputy commissioner
from Amsterdam was^ appointed to the commissionership.
2 Called inspecteurs in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
158
The Commissioner
cation of military ideas and a military training to a
problem that is essentially one of civil administration.
In Great Britain there is no fixed system by which
police executives may be trained and developed. Each
city and county is free to adopt its own standards and
select its own men. As a result, police executives are
.sometimes taken from the departments of other towns,
or they are promoted from among the assistants in the
same force, or, occasionally, they are drawn from the
army or the Royal Irish Constabulary. In contrast with
the Continental officials there are few among them who
have received a legal degree. Most of them are men
who have made police work a distinct profession, enter¬
ing the service as ordinary constables and rising from
the ranks. Of the 128 borough police forces in England
and Wales, the chief constables of all but fourteen have
come from the ranks, promoted gradually on the basis
of merit, and often called from one city to another.1
In this respect, therefore, English and Continental prac¬
tice differ widely. In Germany, Austria, France, and
Italy, it would be impossible for a man who has served
as a patrolman ever to become the chief of his force
in his own or in any other city. The prevailing class
distinctions and social lines forbid. Indeed, the idea
appears never to have been considered on the Conti¬
nent, and questions on this score elicit stares of amaze¬
ment. It is only in democratic England that such a
practice could prevail. Even in England there are
1 Quite the reverse is true of the heads of the county forces of
England and Wales. Only eleven out of fifty-eight have come from
the ranks. Of the remaining forty-seven, thirty-seven are ex-army
officers.
159
European Police Systems
those who doubt its advisability, not on the grounds of
social distinction, to be sure, but because they hesitate to
place their police forces in the hands of men of limited
education and point of view. " Once a constable always
a constable," is the remark that one occasionally hears —
which is another way of stating the argument that a man
whose preliminary education and advantages were such
that he could secure nothing better than a position as a
patrolman, is not equipped to handle large questions in a
large way, or deal administratively with the intricate
business of a complex department. "We would greatly
prefer an Oxford or Cambridge graduate thoroughly
drilled in police work," said the Chairman of the Watch
Committee of a large English city in discussing the mat¬
ter with me.
But there is another side to the question. The men
who join the police forces as constables and subsequently
are promoted to the top are frequently men of good edu¬
cation, who have entered upon their work with the de¬
liberate intention of making it a life career. Better
equipped officials it would be difficult to obtain. They
have served their apprenticeships in the smaller forces
of less important towns ; they have risen gradually
from one position of responsibility to another ; they are
thoroughly acquainted with their tasks. Indeed, this
is the point of view generally accepted in England
and Scotland. The present Chief Constables of Liver¬
pool, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Edinburgh, Notting¬
ham and Bradford, not to mention a score of other im¬
portant municipalities, have thus come from the ranks.
Similarly, the chief constables of smaller towns and
160
The Commissioner
cities are often recruited from the inferior officers of
larger departments. Former superintendents, inspectors
and even sergeants of the Metropolitan force of Lon¬
don are at present the Chief Constables of Cardiff, Lin¬
coln, Brighton, Highwycombe, and Barnstable; while
Chester, Bolton, and Wigan have recruited their Chief
Constables from the Liverpool force. All of these men
at one time served in the ranks.
Police administrators in England and Scotland are oc¬
casionally taken from the Royal Irish Constabulary. The
present Chief Constables of Birmingham, Glasgow, New-
castle-on-Tyne, Hull and the City of London, not to men¬
tion a number of others who have recently retired, served
long apprenticeships with this force, entering as district
inspectors after competitive examination. College grad¬
uates from Oxford and Cambridge, army officers who
have served their term, representatives of prominent fam¬
ilies, all attracted by the possibilities of policing as a
profession worthy of intelligence and ability, enlist as
commissioned officers in its service.1 In fact, the de¬
mand for district inspectorships is greater than the sup¬
ply, and the waiting lists are always full.2
1 Applicants for appointment as commissioned officers must be
unmarried and between the ages of 21 and 26. An officer in the
army or navy having five years' service may be admitted up to
the age of 28. (See Regulations under which Gentlemen are admit¬
ted as Cadets to the Royal Irish Constabulary, issued by the In¬
spector General from Dublin Castle, September 1, T910.)
2 District inspectors in the <£ R. I. C.," as it is familiarly known,
are recruited in part from the ranks and in part from outsiders
who pass the competitive entrance examinations. These examina¬
tions, which are conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners,
cover many subjects, including the following: Arithmetic, English
Composition, Geography, British History, Latin or French, Ele¬
mentary Principles of Law, Law of Evidence.
The successful candidates receive their appointments as " Cadets,"
161
European Police Systems
The case of Mr. Leonard Dunning is a typical illustra¬
tion of the way the system works. An Oxford graduate,
he entered the Royal Irish Constabulary as a district
inspector. After twelve years of efficient service, he
was appointed Assistant Head Constable in Liverpool, a
position which he occupied for nine years. At the end
of that time he was made Head Constable, seven years
later he received an appointment as His Majesty's In¬
spector of Constabulary for the Southern District of
England under the supervision of the Home Office, a
position which he now occupies. " A trained policeman,"
one of his colleagues called him. So, too, the experience
of Sir William Nott-Bower, C.V.O., Commissioner of
the City of London Police, is illustrative not only of this
system of training, but of the opportunity for advance¬
ment which it presents. Formerly a captain in the Eng¬
lish army, he joined the Royal Irish Constabulary as a
district inspector. After a few years' service in that
capacity he was called to the City of Leeds as Chief Con¬
stable ; from Leeds he went to Liverpool, where he served
as Head Constable for twenty years ; he was then called
to the commissionership in the City of London, the posi¬
tion that he now holds.
In this manner, it would be possible to furnish illustra¬
tion after illustration. The point is this : no English city
of size or importance would think of selecting a man as
chief constable who had not already demonstrated his
ability in police work, either in connection with a munici¬
pal force, or as an officer of the Royal Irish Constabulary
and for from six months to a year are thoroughly drilled in law,
military tactics and practical police duty. They are appointed to
district inspectorships as vacancies occur.
162
The Commissioner
or other similar organization. The Chief Constable of
Edinburgh served with the Northampton County Police ;
the Chief Constable of Manchester held the same position
in Oldham and Canterbury for terms of seven and five
years respectively before he was called to his present post.
When the authorities of the Town of Preston wanted a
chief constable, they did what is often if not generally
done by an English community seeking a trained public
official: they advertised in the newspapers.1 Of the
seventy candidates who applied they selected a man who,
at that time, was Superintendent of Police in the small
town of Devizes, having previously served in the ranks
at Swindon. Their choice was justified by the fact that
this same man was later selected by the Watch Committee
of Liverpool as Assistant Head Constable out of forty
or fifty candidates who presented themselves as the result
of an advertisement. In the same way when the Watch
Committee of Liverpool wanted to secure the services of
a second assistant head constable, they chose out of the
eighty applicants a graduate of Cambridge, who at that
time was serving his fifth year as a district inspector in
the Royal Irish Constabulary. J. V. Stevenson, Chief
Constable of Glasgow, and C. H. Rafter, Chief Constable
of Birmingham, served as officers in the Royal Irish Con¬
stabulary for seventeen and twelve years respectively be¬
fore they were called to larger duties. Leonard Dun¬
ning's title could well be applied to them also: they too
are " trained policemen."
1 This is not at all unusual in Great Britain. Many different
kinds of vacancies are filled in this manner. Thus, universities
advertise for professors, hospitals for doctors, etc. There is no
obligation to appoint from the list of applicants. It is hardly more
than a method of notifying the public of a vacancy.
163
European Police Systems
It is safe to say that the majority of the police execu¬
tives in the provincial towns and cities, and in the coun¬
ties as well, are obtained in this fashion. The result is,
that except in cases of promotion, it is seldom that
the official is a resident of the city which chooses him.
He may hail from anywhere between John O'Groat's
and Land's End. There is no catering to home talent.
Indeed, residence in the same town is, if anything, a handi¬
cap to availability. " He had too many local connec¬
tions," was the terse explanation given to the writer in a
typical English city when he asked why a certain man of
prominence and ability had not been appointed chief
constable. In brief, the English provincial city inevi¬
tably selects as its police executive the man whom it
deems best fitted, without regard to birth, residence, or
any other incidental factor.
The police commissionership of the London Metro¬
politan district involves the handling of such impor¬
tant problems and responsibilities that it deserves
separate consideration. The Commissioner is the head
of the largest uniformed police force in the world, with
jurisdiction over the largest municipal police area. His
is a post of honor and distinction, requiring the highest
ability and statesmanship. Outside of the Cabinet itself,
there are few more important offices in the entire king¬
dom, for the influence of the Commissioner and of the
organization under him makes itself felt in every city and
town. The selection of the right man is therefore
a matter of grave concern to the Home Office. Six
commissioners have commanded the Metropolitan
force since its institution in 1829. The first, Sir Richard
164
The Commissioner
Mayne, whose energy and capacity placed the force on a
working basis and established it in the confidence of the
people, was a graduate of Dublin and Cambridge and an
attorney of distinction.1 His successor, Sir Edmund
Henderson, had been trained as a soldier, although he
came to the commissionership from the head of the Prison
Department of the Home Office. General Charles War¬
ren, the next incumbent, was a well known officer of
Engineers, whose talent for administration had been
proved in Bechuanaland and elsewhere and who relin¬
quished the governorship of the Red Sea Littoral to take
up the commissionership in London. His successor, Mr.
James Monro, had been an assistant commissioner prior
to his appointment, although his original experience was
obtained in the Indian Civil Service. Sir Edward Brad¬
ford, who followed him, was an army officer who had
also served with distinction in India. Sir Edward Henry
is the present incumbent. His previous training is per¬
haps typical of the kind of man that the Home Office
seeks as a Commissioner. In 1873, he entered the Indian
Civil Service as an Assistant Magistrate. In 1888, he
was placed in charge of the District of Bahar, where an
ingenious tribe of criminals called Doms gave him oppor¬
tunity for the exercise of his special abilities. In 1891,
he was appointed Inspector General of Police in Bengal,
and later was made Commissioner for the entire southern
district of India. During the South African War, he
1 From 1829 to 1850 the force was administered by a double-
headed commission, Col. ^ Sir Charles Rowan, a ^ soldier of distinc¬
tion, who had already gained some experience with the Royal Irish
Constabulary, serving with Sir Richard Mayne. Colonel Rowan
resigned in 1850. In 1856, the Department was organized under
a single commissionership with a number of deputies or assistants.
165
European Police Systems
organized the civil police of Johannesburg and Pretoria.
Appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan
police of London in 1901, he was placed in charge of the
Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard.
In this position, he established the finger print method
which he had brought with him from India. Upon the
resignation of his predecessor in 1903, he was appointed
Commissioner. With von Brzesowsky of Vienna, and
Roscher of Hamburg, he represents the best equipped type
of police official in Europe.
It is noteworthy that of the Commissioners of the
Metropolitan force, one had been an attorney, two had
been in the civil service of India and had afterward ac¬
cepted appointments as assistant commissioners at Scot¬
land Yard, while the remaining three were trained in the
army, although they had occupied various civil positions
under the government. Military experience has never
been regarded as a necessary qualification in England.
In fact, of recent years there has been a growing convic¬
tion, both in the Home Office and in Scotland Yard, that
far better results can be secured with a civilian head,
preferably a man who has had some previous govern¬
mental experience either in connection with police organ¬
ization, or perhaps, in one of the ministerial or colonial
offices. In his interesting memoirs, recently published in
England, Sir Robert Anderson, for thirteen years As¬
sistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan force, ex¬
presses the following opinion :
" Sir Charles Warren's appointment to the head of
the force was a risky experiment : The police cannot
166
The Commissioner
tolerate military discipline, and this was their first ex¬
perience of a military chief commissioner. For it is
no disparagement of Sir Edmund Henderson (General
Warren's predecessor) to say that he was more of a
civilian -than a soldier ; and moreover, he came to Scot¬
land Yard from Whitehall, where he had been at the
head of the Prison Department. The effect was pre¬
cisely what might have been anticipated. I speak with
knowledge such as few others possessed, and I can say
with definiteness that there was a dangerous want of
sympathy between the Commissioner and the rank and
file." 1
It is interesting to note that General Warren's term of
office lasted but two years. His career emphasized the
conviction that the handling of a large police force is not
a military problem, nor is the military model too closely
to be followed, either in organization or discipline. Mr.
James Monro, who succeeded General Warren in office,
expressed the matter as follows :
" The police are not the representatives, of an arbi¬
trary and despotic power, directed against the rights or
obtrusively interfering with the pleasures of law-abid¬
ing citizens: they are simply a disciplined body of men,
specially engaged in protecting ' masses,' as well as
' classes,' from any infringement of their rights on the
part of those who are not law-abiding." 2
1 The Lighter Side of My Official Life, Sir Robert Anderson,
K.C.B., p. 127, London, 1910.
2 Quoted in W. L. Melville Lee, loc. cit., London, 1901, p.
332.
167
European Police Systems
This is the emphasis which one finds continually ex¬
pressed in regard to the Metropolitan Police Force and
its leadership.
It follows naturally that when men are as carefully
trained and selected for commissionerships as they are
ordinarily in Europe the length of their term of office
should in no way be limited or defined. Hence the Euro¬
pean police commissionership is indefinite in tenure.
There is not a single city of size or importance in Eng¬
land or on the Continent, the head of whose police force
is appointed for a definite period. In fact, the idea of
fixing in advance the term of a police commissioner, of
establishing by some arbitrary rule the time when his
administration shall come to an end, seems never to have
occurred to European authorities. They appoint their
commissioners as a board of directors selects a general
manager or other official, not for a definitely established
term, but on the basis of satisfactory work. That is, it is
assumed that a commissioner will hold office so long as
he can give efficient service, or, at least, until his conduct
proves unsatisfactory to his superiors. The fact that the
European police department is ordinarily responsible to
the state rather than to the local government facilitates
this arrangement, although the principle holds even in
those cities which maintain a municipal control over their
police. Periodic changes may indeed be made in the per¬
sonnel of the Watch Committees of English provincial
cities or in the administrative boards (Magistrat) of the
smaller German municipalities, but there is no correspond¬
ing change in the police head. Such action would be
totally repugnant to the European idea of efficiency.
168
The Commissioner
" Why introduce a new man to the position ? What is
wrong with the present incumbent ? Our commissioners
have too much valuable experience which has accumulated
in years of effective administration. We cannot afford to
change." This remark of a prominent civil official in a
large German town is illustrative of the European spirit.
Indefiniteness of tenure in no wise jeopardizes the
ability of European governments to rid themselves of in¬
efficient or dishonest commissioners. The Home Secre¬
tary of England can at any time remove the head of the
Metropolitan force, just as the respective Ministers of
the Interior in Austria and Prussia can discharge the
Police Presidents of Vienna and Berlin, or the Watch
Committees of any of the English or Scottish provincial
cities can dispense with the services of their Chief Con¬
stables.1 That is, there is nothing in the law or in the
agreements between governments and police commis¬
sioners to prevent summary action when necessary. Oc¬
casionally indeed, such action is taken, as, for example,
when the Watch Committee of Carlisle removed its Chief
Constable on the charge of accepting free rides from a
taxicab company,2 or when the Assistant Commissioner
of Kiel, Germany, was not only discharged, but sentenced
to prison for a term of years for dishonesty involving
thousands of marks,3 or when the Police President of
Cologne was forcibly retired, ostensibly for abusing the
1 In Germany, Austria, France, and other Continental countries,
as we shall see in Chapter VII, royal officials and those occupying
the^ higher state ranks are tried before special courts of discipline,
which, under ordinary circumstances, present their findings of fact
to the Minister of the Interior for action.
2 In 1912.
3 In 1911.
169
European Police Systems
rights of a Russian prisoner, but in reality because his ad¬
ministration was tainted with graft and dishonesty.1 Ex¬
amples of this kind, however, are strikingly exceptional,
and they are noted only to show that the power of sum¬
mary discharge exists and can, when necessary, be in¬
voked. As a matter of fact, it is only in rare instances
that police commissioners have for any reason whatever
been removed from office. Such a thing has never oc¬
curred in Vienna, Berlin or London, although, as we shall
see, in the latter city there have been three resignations
more or less forced by the Home Secretary. Indeed, so
seldom have actual removals taken place, that in several of
the German cities the police authorities, when questioned
on this matter by the writer, were obliged to consult their
law books to find out how such action could be taken.
Ordinarily, unsatisfactory officials are allowed to resign,
or they are retired on a pension, or, on the Continent, they
are transferred to some other branch of the govern¬
ment service. But instances of unsatisfactory commis¬
sioners are difficult to discover, so careful and painstaking
is their selection, and so great is the desire of the state
and municipal authorities to secure and to retain as long
as possible the services of thoroughly trained men.
As a consequence, a term of office extending over many
years is the rule rather than the exception. In the 85
years in which the Metropolitan Police Force of London
has been in existence there have been, as we have seen,
but six commissioners; that is, Sir Edward Henry, the
present incumbent, is the sixth in line since 1829, which
makes an average of a little over fourteen years apiece.
1 In 1914.
170
The Commissioner
Taking into consideration the fact that two of the com¬
missioners served but two years each, the usual average is
greatly increased.1
London's experience is in no way peculiar. Chief Con¬
stable Stevenson of Glasgow has been in office twelve
years ; Robert Peacock has served Manchester in a similar
capacity for sixteen years ; C. H. Rafter has been thirteen
years Chief Constable at Birmingham; Leonard Dunning,
as we have seen, was seven years Head Constable at
Liverpool after nine years' service as Assistant Head Con¬
stable. Louis Lépine, the former Prefect of Paris,
who resigned in 1913, had served continuously since 1899,
besides a term of four years in the same position between
the years 1893 and 1897. ^he police president of Dres¬
den has held his office for nine years, Hamburg's president
for fourteen years, Vienna's president for seven years,
Amsterdam's commissioner, eleven years, Copenhagen's
commissioner, twenty-six years. Dr. von Jagow is the
tenth police president of Berlin since 1848, an average of
nearly seven years for each incumbent. Three of his
predecessors died in office ; three were promoted to high4er
positions in the government service; the remaining four
were honorably retired.2
1 The terms ran as follows :
Sir Richard Mayne, K.C.B 1829-1868
Col. Sir Edmund Henderson, K.C.B 1869-1886
General Sir Charles Warren, G.C.M.G 1886-1888
Mr. James Monro, C.B 1888-1890
Col Sir Edward Bradford, Bart., G.C.B 1890-1903
Sir Edward Henry, G.C.V.O., K.C.B., C.S.I !903-
2 The names of the ten commissioners and their terms of service
are as follows:
von Hinckeldey 1848-1856
von Zedlitz-Neukirch 1856-1861
von Bermuth 1862-1867
171
European Police Systems
To this general rule there are a few exceptions to
which, on account of certain weaknesses which they illus¬
trate, it is necessary to call special attention. It occasion¬
ally, though rarely, happens that a police commissioner is
sacrificed in the clash of political or other interests. In
Budapest, in 1905, Police President Selley was summarily
removed by a political party just come into power on the
ground that he had been instrumental under the direction
of the opposing party in dissolving many assemblies and
meetings. So too in Dresden, some nine years ago, a
police president who had served effectively for ten years
was compelled to resign, following a sharp difference of
opinion with the Minister of the Interior in a matter in¬
volving a royal scandal.1 Paris, the city of shifting
sentiment and fickle tradition, has had perhaps the unhap-
piest experience of all. Until M. Lépine's administration
added an element of stability to the office, there was a
long period of constant change. Forty-nine Prefects
have held the position since 1800, the year of its estab-
von Wurmb 1867-1872
von Madai 1872-1885
von Richthofen 1885-1895
von Windheim 1895-1903
von Borries 1903-1908
von Stubenrauch 1908-1909
von Jagow 1909-
1 In a number of the store windows of Dresden appeared pic¬
tures of the schoolmaster with whom the Crown Princess of
Saxony had eloped. The police president, Le Maistre, was ordered
by the Minister of the Interior to seize the pictures. He declined
to do» so on the ground that there was no law forbidding their
exhibition. After his resignation, his successor confiscated the pic¬
tures in question. It is interesting to note, however, that the High
Court of Saxony subsequently held with Le Maistre that there was
no law forbidding the exhibition of the pictures, but the resignation
of the police president having already gone into effect, was allowed
to stand.
172
The Commissioner
lishment,1 an average of two years and four months to
each incumbent. From the formation of the Third Re¬
public in 1870, to 1893, when M. Lépine first took up the
responsibility, there were thirteen different Prefects in of¬
fice, an average of one year and nine months to each man>
one official following another in rapid succession after a
short and occasionally inglorious career.2 The kaleido¬
scopic change of ministries, the constant quarrels between
the prefecture and the Interior department, the frequent
outbursts of public criticism and mob violence combined to
make the post the most precarious in the governmental
service.
Even the Metropolitan force of London, with its stable
traditions and relatively long tenure of office of the com¬
missioner, has not been without its sudden and inexpli¬
cable shifts in program and personnel. Ordinarily the
support which the Home Office has given the Commis¬
sioner has been cordial and sustained, but to this policy
1 Year VIII. See note 3, p. 88.
2 The names of the prefects from 1870 to the present time to¬
gether with their terms of service are as follows :
Comte de Kératry 1870
Edouard Adam 1870
Ernest Cresson 1870-1871
Albert Choppin 1871
Général Valentin 1871-1873
Léon Renault 1873-1876
Félix Voisin 1876-1877
Albert Gigot 1877-1879
Louis Andrieux 1879-1881
Ernest Camecasse 1881-1885
Arthur Gragnon 1885-1887
Léon Bourgeois 1887-1888
Henri Lozé 1888-1893
Louis Lépine 1893-1897
Charles Blanc 1897-1899
Louis Lépine 1899-1913
M. C. Hennion 1913-
173
European Police Systems
there have been exceptions at once glaring and regrettable.
For example, on February 8th, 1886, a mob collecting in
Trafalgar Square made its way to Hyde Park, breaking
windows and looting shops en route. The disturbance
caused a storm of newspaper criticism levied at the police
for their stupidity in handling the situation. In the heat
of the excitement, the Home Secretary,1 who had just
come into office, publicly censured the Police Commis¬
sioner, Sir Edmund Henderson, and in spite of his seven¬
teen years of honorable and effective service he was al¬
lowed to resign.2 His successor, Sir Charles Warren,
was, as we have seen, a military officer of imperious tem¬
per, selected because he was regarded as preëminently fit¬
ted to handle the outbreaks of mob violence which had
terrorized London in the spring of 1886. His term in of¬
fice was a period of constant friction. Hampered by his
training, disliked by his subordinates, and unsupported,
as he rightly or wrongly believed, by the Home Office, he
resigned after two years.3 His successor, James Monro,
fared little better. Sir Robert Anderson, who served as
his principal assistant, presents the case as follows : " His
1 Hugh Childers, in the Conservative Government of 1886.
2 Captain Lee, in his book, A History of Police in England, is
inclined to excuse the action of the Home Secretary, referring to
Sir Edmund Henderson's resignation as " perhaps inevitable under
the circumstances." " During his tenure of office," he says, " the
peace had been so well maintained, and the police mechanism had
worked so smoothly that his experience had taught him to under¬
estimate the dangers that lurk below the surface in all large crowds,
and to over-estimate the preparedness of the men under his com¬
mand to deal with any possible outbreak" (pp. 385-386). But see
Sir Robert Anderson, loc. cit., pp. 123 f¥. " Mr. Childers' tenure of
the Home Office was happily brief," he says, referring to the at¬
tempt of the Home Secretary "to make a scapegoat" of the Com¬
missioner.
3 " He could no longer brook the nagging Home Office ways of
that period," says Sir Robert Anderson, loc cit., p. 129.
174
The Commissioner
predecessor had been driven out by the Home Office and
he soon yielded to the same influence . . . Godfrey Lush-
ington's intervention and influence as Under-Secretary
(of the Home Office) were generally provocative and his
manner irritating. To show how grotesquely Mr. Monro
was misjudged at Whitehall, I may mention that when he
summoned the police heads to a private conference on the
Police Pension Bill, he was suspected of a design to
foment sedition and an appeal was made to me confiden¬
tially to watch the proceedings/' 1 Much, perhaps,
might be said in defense of the Home Office officials.
Certainly they were anxious to remain on amicable terms
with the Commissioner and made an honest endeavor to
support his policies. However, difficulties soon arose
which required tact and good humor on both sides to com¬
pose. A period of friction ensued, and like his predeces¬
sor, Mr. Munro resigned in two years.
It is a noteworthy fact that of the five commissioners
whose connection with the Metropolitan force has ter¬
minated, one died in office, one was retired for old age,
while three have resigned after difficulties with the Home
Secretary. It must be remembered, however, that all
three resignations referred to occurred in the four years
between 1S86 and 1890; for the first fifty-seven years of
its history, and during the twenty-four years just past,
1 Loc. cit., pp. 130-131. This, it must be remembered, is the testi¬
mony of a man who did not himself succeed in maintaining very
friendly relations with the officials with whom he had to deal,
either at the Home Office or at Scotland Yard. There is probably
no English civil servant whose memory is more respected and even
revered than Sir Godfrey Lushington, and it is safe to say that
the responsibility for the friction which notoriously distinguished
the Metropolitan police administration during the rule of General
Warren and Mr. Monro did not rest wholly on one side.
175
European Police Systems
the relations of the Metropolitan force with the Home
Office were marked by the utmost cordiality, the latter de¬
partment supporting the police through many difficulties
and in more than one crisis.1
These various incidents in the history of the European
forces have been mentioned merely to show that even
with a method as excellent as that which Europe employs
to choose and support her police commissioners, there
must inevitably be a few failures. No device is abso¬
lutely perfect; no machinery runs without occasional
breakdown. The failures noted, however, have in
Europe been surprisingly few — one must search the
records to find them -— and even when occurring, they
have left no permanent mark to prejudice the quality or
efficiency of the force. If there is any one factor which
contributes predominantly to the popular respect with
1 For example, in 1855, under the régime of Sir Richard Mayne,
Lord Robert Grosvenor attempted to pass through Parliament a
Sunday Observance Bill for the Metropolitan district. The bill
was met with strenuous objection, and popular feeling ran high.
Public sentiment was expressed in the following doggerel which
was current at the time:
" Sublime decree, by which our souls to save —
No Sunday tankards foam, no barbers shave,
And chins unmown, and throats unslaked display
His Lordship's reverence for the Sabbath day."
Ultimately, a series of riots broke out which culminated in a
grave clash with the police. So sharply were the police criticized
on this occasion for their alleged brutality and misconduct, that a
committee of three was appointed by the Government to hold an
investigation. During its progress every attempt was made by his
enemies to discredit Sir Richard Mayne, the Commissioner, and
many charges were laid against him. However, he came through
the investigation unscathed, and for thirteen years more maintained
his command of the force, rounding out a distinguished career of
39 years of service. For an interesting account of this and other
incidents relating to the history of the force, see W. L. Mel¬
ville Lee, loc. cit.
176
The Commissioner
which the European police are regarded, it is the person¬
ality of the Commissioner, whose character alone is a
guarantee of the integrity and efficiency of the force which
he commands. In her appreciation of this fact, Europe
has come close to the heart of the police problem. To ob¬
tain the right men she has made the position one of great
honor. The police commissionership of a European city
is a career of prominence and dignity attracting the best
talent that the university or the government service can
produce. Of the six commissioners of the Metropolitan
force, five have been knighted in addition to receiving
other honors and decorations. The Police President of
Vienna has been made a baron and his titles received in
Austria and from other countries fill ten lines of type in
the police hand-book. Similar honors have been con¬
ferred upon the Police President of Berlin and to a lesser
extent, perhaps, upon the police heads of other German
cities.
Not only in honors but also in substantial remuneration
does Europe show her appreciation of an effective police
commissioner. As will be seen from the table on the op¬
posite page, a police head is invariably retired with a
pension after satisfactory service. If he is called from the
department of one city to another, he draws a pension
from the city he leaves, dependent ordinarily upon his
tenure of office there.1 In many cities he is provided
with an official residence. His salary is, for Europe, al¬
ways a large one, in every case greatly exceeding the rate
which is paid most of the higher governmental officials.2
1 Thus the present Commissioner of the City of London, having
previously been Head Constable in both Leeds and Liverpool, re¬
ceives a pension for the time served in both cities.
2 In the next table will be noticed the sharp contrast in sal-
X 77
ANNUAL SALARIES OF EUROPEAN POLICE COMMISSIONERS.
vr
oo
City
Annual Sal¬
Equivalent
ary of Com¬
in American
Additional Perquisites.
missioner.
Money.
London :
Metropolitan Police...£ 2,500
$12,165
$500 horse allowance. Pension on retirement.
City of London. .
£ 1,250
$ 6,072
Pension on retirement.
Liverpool
$ 4,866
to
to
Pension on retirement.
£ 1,500
$ 7,290
Manchester
—£ 1,250
$ 6,072
Pension on retirement.
Birmingham
,. . .£ 1,100
$ 5,353
Pension on retirement.
Edinburgh
$ 4,379
Pension on retirement.
Glasgow
£ 1,000
* $ 4,867
Pension on retirement.
Berlin
$ 3,098
Pension on retirement. $715 special allowance,
Official residence. $670 carriage allowance.
Hamburg
.. .M. 16,000
$ 3,808
Pension on retirement.
Dresden
$ 2,213
to
to
Pension on retirement.
M. 10,500
$ 2499
Stuttgart
$ 2,142
to
to
Pension on retirement.
M. 12,000
$ 2,856
M
c
o
a
PÛ
P
o
i—»
H-» •
o
o>
Uî
en
rt>
3
cn
Annual Sal- Equivalent
City aryofCom- in Amer.
missioner. Money.
Vienna Kr. 14,000 $ 2,842
Budapest Kr. 12,000 $ 2,436
Paris Fr. 40,000 $ 7,720
Marseilles Fr. 8,000 $ 1,544
w Lyons Fr. 8,000 $ 1,544
Copenhagen Kr. 6,000 $ 1,620
Christiania Kr. 6,800 $ 1,822
Stockholm Kr. 9,000 $2,412
to to
Kr. 10,000 $ 2,680
Rome Lire 7,000 $ 1,351
Madrid Ps. 20,000 $ 3,600
Amsterdam Fl. 5>5°° $ 2,211
Rotterdam Fl. 5,000 $ 2,010
Additional Perquisites.
Pension on retirement.
Pension on retirement.
Pension on retirement. Entertainment expenses, $1,-
800. Rent allowance, $900.
$402 house allowance. Pension on retirement.
Pension on retirement. Official residence.
Pension on retirement. $1,218 special allowance.
$974 horse allowance. $487 special allowance. Offi¬
cial residence. Pension on retirement.
Pension on retirement. Rent allowance. $2,779 car¬
riage allowance. H
$386 local allowance. Burial and disinterment fees,
about $193. Official residence. Pension on retire¬
ment. o
Rent allowance. Pension on retirement. g
$135 entertainment allowance. Pension on retire- g
ment.
Proceeds from articles found and unclaimed, about
$161. Pension on retirement.
m
cn
t—»
O
P
a>
European Police Systems
With such an income he lives in dignity and comfort, se¬
cure in the thought that his position is established and that
when he wishes to retire, he can do so on a substantial
pension. Demanding much of her police administrators,
Europe gives much in return.1
aries as between one city and another. To a certain extent, this
must be interpreted in the light of the marked variations in the
cost of living between the different countries of Europe. Thus the
cost of living, on the whole, is greater in Holland than in Germany;
Vienna is a more expensive city to live in than Berlin; the rate of
living in Budapest is generally higher than in Paris. It must of
course be borne in mind in interpreting these figures that the cost
of living in the United States is greatly in excess of that in
European countries.
1 For a tabulation of the qualifications and modes of appointment
of European police commissioners, see Appendix VIII.
180
CHAPTER V
the assistant commissioners and their
deputies
London.—• The provincial cities.— Continental aversion to pro¬
motion from the ranks.— Berlin's method of training.— Methods in
Germany.— In Amsterdam and Rotterdam.—-Austrian method most
thoroughgoing.— The result in Vienna.— The practice in Italy.—
The Scientific Police School of Rome.— Advantages and disad¬
vantages of recruiting officers from outside the department.— The
Vienna District Commander and the London Superintendent.— A
compromise between the two extremes desirable.
We have now to consider the assistant commissioners
and their deputies, the men who in rank come between
the head of the force and the officials promoted from the
grade of patrolman. Who are they? What kind of
training do they receive? What are their relations to
the Commissioner?
In respect to the superior officers, there is con¬
siderable divergence between England and the Continent.
In London, the ultimate promotion of the constable of
the ranks to the grade of superintendent, leaves only the
assistant commissioners, four in number, and the chief
constables, six in number, between the Commissioner and
the uniformed force. The chief constables, as we have
seen,1 have supervisory functions, each having charge of
1 For discussion of the functions of chief constables and as¬
sistant commissioners, see Chap. III.
181
European Police Systems
a certain district embracing a group of divisions.1 The
assistant commissioners share with the Commissioner the
responsibilities of administration. The latter are ap¬
pointed by the Crown upon recommendation of the Home
Office; the former are appointed directly by the Home
Secretary, presumably with the advice and consent of the
Commissioner. Of the four assistant commissioners
serving at the present time 2 in London, three were trained
as lawyers, while one was an army officer; one has held
his office for thirty years, one for twelve years and two
for eleven years each. One served as chief constable
for fourteen years before he was promoted to the grade of
assistant commissioner; another was assistant commis¬
sioner of the City of London police for twelve years prior
to his appointment to the Metropolitan force. Two have
been knighted by the Crown for their services. Of the
six chief constables, four are ex-army officers, each with
the rank of major. The fact that the chief constable in
the course of his supervisory duties is brought directly
into contact with the uniformed force of his district has
made it appear advisable in the minds of the London au¬
thorities to choose for this office men of disciplinary
training. Army experience, however, as in the case of
the Commissioner, is not the sine qua non of qualifica¬
tion. Two of the six chief constables are university
men, chosen because of peculiar fitness.
The provincial cities of England and Scotland follow
London's ideas in regard to promotion. Superior officers
up to the grade of superintendent are recruited from the
*As we have seen, one of the chief constables serves as deputy
to the assistant commissioner in charge of the detective bureau.
a 1913. Some retirements have taken place since this was written.
182
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
uniformed force, a circumstance which leaves but one or
two administrative officials in each department under the
rank of Commissioner to be appointed from outside
sources. As I have already shown in the previous chap¬
ter these officials are taken from smaller forces in less
important towns or they are recruited from the Royal
Irish Constabulary.
On the Continent, as we have observed, officials under
the rank of Commissioner are uniformly introduced into
the department from outside sources. The Continental
aversion to extensive promotion from the lower classes
makes it necessary to appoint to the higher places in the
police department men who hitherto have had no connec¬
tion with it. Although this policy may have its root in
a social prejudice, it has nevertheless a certain rational
basis. It is founded on the belief that the superior offi¬
cers of a department should possess a degree of education
and culture which the men who enter the force as patrol¬
men usually lack. A perspective and point of view other
than those of the rank and file are deemed essential to
an officer whose function touches important and com¬
plicated social and political activities. On this theory,
therefore, practically all the police officials of the Con¬
tinent above the grade of first sergeant are appointed,
not by promotion from the ranks, but from outside
sources.1
Berlin furnishes an excellent example of this prac¬
tice. The patrolmen of the force are recruited from the
army and may be advanced as far as the grade of first
sergeant (Oberwachtmeister). The next rank is that of
1 This question is discussed more at length in Chap. VII.
183
European Police Systems
the lieutenants who have charge of the precincts. In¬
stead of being promoted from the grade of first sergeant,
they are chosen from outside the department. They
come directly from the army, where they have been com¬
missioned officers, or from the university where they have
studied law, or, in a few cases from miscellaneous profes¬
sions. If not active army officers they must be officers in
the Reserve.1 Before receiving permanent appointments
as lieutenants in the police force, they are obliged to
undergo a training lasting eighteen months, during which
period they receive no salary and wear no uniform. Ac¬
cording to the requirements, they must possess " excellent
manners and be in a position to give evidence of a broad
general education, which proof will be regarded as given
by producing a certificate of examination from a Gym¬
nasium or other institution of learning of equal stand¬
ing." 2 Candidates must be able to give satisfactory ref¬
erences, must be over 24 and under 30 years of age, must
have a minimum height of five feet, seven inches, must
successfully pass a physical examination, and must prove
to the authorities that they have private incomes of 1,800
marks per annum to cover the period of training. When
finally appointed, they receive a salary of from 3,000 to
4,500 marks per annum with an allowance of 800 marks
for house-rent and additional fees (Zulage) amounting
to 300 marks.
The eighteen months' training period is spent in prac-
1 Or they must be retired officers with a prospect of appointment
in the civil service, or they must have obtained at least the rank
of sergeant major of the Reserve. See Bestimmungen uber die
Annahme von Anwdrtern fur den Exekutiv-P olizeidienst in Berlin.
Form 977.
2 Ibid.
184
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
tical work in various sections of the police department,
where the candidates are obliged to become thoroughly
familiar with business and routine. Thus, the first three
months are spent in a precinct station, or perhaps in two
or three different stations, where the applicants work
under the direction of the superior officers. Of the next
twelve months, five are spent in the detective bureau, two
in the bureau that supervises business establishments
(Abteilung IX), three in the division which supervises
health matters (Abteilung II), one in the traffic division
(.Abteilung X), and one in the bureau that has clerical
charge of the police penalties (Strafverfugungen).
The last three months of the training period, like the
first three, are spent in precinct stations. During all this
time, the lieutenant gets from four to six hours a week
in direct instruction in the shape of lectures given by
higher officials on police organization and practical de¬
tective work. At the end of the eighteen months the
candidate is obliged to pass a written examination which
covers the subject matter of his entire course both as to
lectures and practical work. If successful, he is given
the rank of temporary lieutenant at a small salary 1 and
is permanently appointed with full title when a vacancy
occurs. The appointment is made by the Minister of the
Interior upon the recommendation of the Police President.
It is noteworthy that the lieutenant's training does
not cease with his appointment. From time to time
lectures are given at headquarters on subjects con¬
nected with police work, which the lieutenants and even
the captains and majors are obliged to attend. These
11,500 marks per annum.
185
European Police Systems
lectures, given by surgeons, chemists, lawyers and other
experts in various lines, cover many phases of police ac¬
tivity. In this way, the officials are kept in active touch
with the developments of their profession; every superior
officer becomes a trained police expert, well acquainted
with all phases of his work.1
The uniformed force of Berlin constitutes but a single
division out of twelve. At the head of the other divi¬
sions and in their principal subdivisions are officials who
in rank generally surpass the officials of the uniformed
force. They are dignified with the titles Regierungsrat
and Polizeirat; some, indeed, particularly those who are
the first assistants of the Police President, have the title
Oberregierungsrat. These men do not come from the
army as is the case with most of the uniformed lieuten¬
ants. They are university graduates in law who have
entered the governmental service as a profession and have
been advanced through various grades either in the police
department or in another branch of the state employ.
Some of them have thus been brought into the depart¬
ment from county or provincial service or from one of
the numerous ministerial offices. «Probably, too, they
will ultimately be promoted from the police department
1 If capable, the lieutenant may be promoted to the rank of cap¬
tain (Hauptmann) in charge of a district ; from this grade he may
be advanced to that of major, and if fortunate in this, he may
eventually become the head of the entire uniformed force under
the control of the police president. It is probable that he could
never become police president; at least, no member of the uni¬
formed force has ever had such a promotion. The police president,
as we have seen, is generally taken from the Prussian civil gov¬
ernmental service where he has had charge of a county or has been
an assistant in a province. These men, as we shall see, represent
a still higher step in the Prussian bureaucracy and are all university
graduates in law.
186
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
to higher offices in the state. In Dresden, where the
same system is in force, as indeed it is in force through¬
out Germany, the writer talked with four officials hold¬
ing the rank of Regierungsassessor, which corresponds
roughly to that of deputy assistant commissioner, who
expected soon to be promoted to other branches of the
state service, one entering the Royal Insurance Office,
and three going to take charge of county governments in
Saxony. Similarly in Munich, and in every other Ger¬
man city where the police force is part of the state
service, the higher officers, the officers who may be termed
assistant commissioners, the men who are connected with
the administration of the department, are all university
graduates in law, trained specialists who have made gov¬
ernment work their profession. The police department
is but one of many offices to which they may be assigned ;
indeed, it is but one rung in a long ladder of promotion.
Administrative service of every kind in Germany has
become a profession for which men must qualify by
thorough training and an examination which varies ac¬
cording as the candidates intend to pursue a strictly ad¬
ministrative, a judicial or a semi-judicial career. Mem¬
bers of this service are representatives of the upper class
of German society and constitute what is known as the
governmental bureaucracy.
With more or less variation, Germany's system is to be
found in almost every city on the Continent, particularly
in the cities whose police departments are under the con¬
trol of the state. Some years ago in Amsterdam, the
inspecteurs, who correspond to Berlin's lieutenants and
represent the first rank above the grade of sergeant, were
187
European Police Systems
customarily promoted from the lower orders of the uni¬
formed force. Indeed, this was the practice in a number
of Dutch cities. It has almost without exception been
abandoned. " The police authorities were unable to get
the kind of men they wanted," the Head Commissioner
of Amsterdam told me. rr Inspecteurs were ignorant and
sometimes dishonest ; they lacked stability." To-day, in
Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and in all the other Dutch cities,
inspecteurs are recruited from outside sources. They
come from the middle class of Dutch society and must
have received what is equivalent to a good high-school
education. Entering the police department between the
ages of 22 and 26/ they must be intelligent and well-
bred, physically healthy and of good character, and the
references which they are obliged to present from all
former employers running back to their school days must
be satisfactory in every respect. Before being admitted
to the training class, they are required to pass a written
and oral examination in Dutch, French, German and
English, which languages they must speak and write
fluently. In addition, they are examined in the geogra¬
phy and history of Holland. They are then admitted
as probationary inspecteurs and are assigned to practical
work in the different parts of the police organization, a
course of training similar to Berlin's. In Amsterdam,
the training lasts for a year; in Rotterdam, for six
months.
In addition to these features Rotterdam's system in¬
cludes a regular school course consisting of lectures and
1 This is true of Amsterdam ; in Rotterdam applicants must be
between the ages of 20 and 30.
188
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
recitations which the candidates are obliged to attend.
At the end of the training period, they must pass an ex¬
amination covering such subjects as police organization,
the penal code, the laws of evidence and the laws relating
to citizenship, associations, weights and measures and
many other regulations. Moreover, they must have be¬
come fairly proficient in the working of the Morse code
of telegraphy. These various subjects involve not only
careful attention to their daily work, but a large amount
of evening study. If successful in passing the examina¬
tion, they are appointed to vacancies as they occur.1
All the higher officials in the department with the excep¬
tion of the commissioners in the largest cities, who, as
we have seen, are taken directly from the army, are pro¬
moted from the men who enter the police service in the
manner just described.
This elaborate training of those brought in from out¬
side sources to fill the higher places in the police de¬
partment is characteristic of many other cities on the Con¬
tinent. It exists in Brussels, Copenhagen, and even in
Paris, although the leveling effect of French democracy
has to a certain extent curtailed the development of the
system.2 In Christiania, Norway, and in other northern
cities, the Commissioner, the inspectors, the chief of
detectives and the lieutenants must all be university
graduates in law.
1 In Amsterdam, there are two classes of inspecteurs, in Rotter¬
dam, three classes. After a period of training, a man enters the
lowest class. He may be promoted from time to time after pass¬
ing other qualifying examinations.
2 Examinations for the higher ranks are practically open to all,
both within and without the uniformed force. The severity of the
examinations, however, serves to eliminate the unfit.
189
European Police Systems
Austria and Italy, however, have developed the most
thoroughgoing method for the training of their supe¬
rior police officers. In Vienna the operation of the
Rangsklasse system makes it necessary for every
official above the grade of non-commissioned officer to be
a university graduate in law. Fresh from the university
where he has perhaps spent five years and obtained his
doctorate in law,1 the candidate takes the severe exam¬
inations for entrance into the government service. If
successful he may be assigned to any one of a number of
public departments. If he comes to the police depart¬
ment he enters as a Praktikant in the eleventh rank-class.
Here his course of training lasts five years, the first of
which is served without pay.2 During this long period
he receives class-room instruction four months in the
year (9 a. m. to 2 p. m.), and the rest of his time is spent
in practical work in the various bureaus. He is drilled
in police laws and ordinances, in the organization and
administration of the different branches of the depart¬
ment, in criminal methods and procedure. It is the in¬
tention of the authorities to develop a fully trained police
expert who will devote his life to his specialty as a pro¬
fession.
The result is that the heads of the precincts of Vienna
and their lieutenants, the heads of the detective bureau,
and the chiefs of all the specialized detective squads at
headquarters, in fact, all persons of importance in the
1A student enters the university at the age of 18 or 19 from
a Gymnasium or other similar institution of learning. A four
years' course is required before the candidate is eligible to try the
governmental examinations. To become a doctor of laws requires
at least five years and sometimes a longer period.
2 His salary begins at 1,000 Kronen ($200) per annum.
190
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
department from the Police President to the Praktikant
are university trained men. A citizen who makes a com¬
plaint at his precinct station, who calls on the chief of the
Lost and Found Bureau at headquarters, or who comes to
see any other department head, will probably transact his
business with a college graduate, who must be addressed
with the title " Doctor/' Service in these upper ranks
of the police department offers a career of dignity and
distinction. It attracts the best talent. It is eagerly
sought after as an honorable profession in which promo¬
tion is practically unlimited. Its conspicuous representa¬
tives are often decorated by the Crown for effective serv¬
ice, or by visiting rulers from foreign countries, and more
than one official at headquarters and even in the divisions
is able to write after his name the coveted " Ritt."
Throughout all the cities of Austria and even in Hungary
this system is in force; and while comparisons are diffi¬
cult to draw it is scarcely too much to say that in point of
culture and education the higher police officers of cities
like Vienna and Budapest are generally superior to those
to be found elsewhere in Europe.
Hardly less thorough and effective, however, is the
method which Italy has adopted to train the administra¬
tors off her police forces. The Italian system is unique
in that it comprehends a national constabulary, equipped
and officered on military lines, but directed, so far as its
police functions are concerned, by -a corps of trained
civilians — the members of the Division of Public Se¬
curity. The representatives of this staff — there are
over 1700 of them in Italy in different grades of the
service — are taken from the legal profession, which they
191
European Police Systems
must have followed for at least two years. Their aver¬
age age is twenty-seven. Many of them have received
university degrees in law or in sociology. Chosen on the
basis of a competitive examination, they at once enter
upon the four months' course of the Scientific Police
School of Rome,1 presided over by the renowned Dr.
Ottolenghi.2 Maintained by the Ministry of the In¬
terior, this school combines the training course of police
executives with the national identification service of
Italy. Here are located the criminal files, the record
photographs and finger prints by which the Italian police
everywhere keep track of the criminal population. This
service is under the control of the well-known Dr. Gasti.3
Here, too, is the chemical and physical laboratory used
by the police of Rome in their investigations. In the
vicinity is the jail or remand prison,4 in which are con¬
fined the prisoners awaiting trial or sentence. In other
words, a wealth of material for school purposes is near
at hand and the aim is to give the students an intimate
knowledge of practical police work. The course consists
of lectures, recitations, and demonstrations. Adapted to
the developments of Italian criminal procedure it is de¬
signed to teach the candidates how to cross-examine a
prisoner and how by the use of simple psychological fac¬
tors to break down the defense of a suspect. It, includes
instruction in dactyloscopy, record-keeping, photography
and the penal law, together with a series of remarkable
1 Scuola di Polizia Scientific a. ^
2 Formerly Professor of Criminology of the University of
Sienna.
3 For a description of this system, see Chap. IX, p. 329.
4 Carceri giudiziarie.
19 2
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
lectures by Dr. Ottolenghi and Dr. Gasti on the motives
and methods of criminals. How far-reaching has been
the influence of this latter course may be gathered from
the fact that not a few of the school's graduates have con¬
tributed materially to the sociological literature of Italy
in a series of scientific and highly interesting monographs.
Examinations conclude the four months' course.1 If
successful, the candidates enter the division of public se¬
curity as delegati, and are assigned to active service in
some town or city of Italy. Ultimately, as we have seen,
they may be promoted to the rank of commissario and
later to that of questore; in the latter capacity they have
sole charge of the police forces of a province.2
The Continental practice of introducing new but well-
trained material from outside sources to take practically
all the superior positions in the police departments has
this undoubted advantage: it procures a better grade of
official than is the case where the higher positions are
filled by promotion from the ranks. The Continental
officers, particularly in Austria and in many of the cities
of Germany, bring to their work a vision and a training
which English officers often lack. One gets the impres-
1 The Scientific Police School of Rome has been in existence
twelve years. The course for delegati is given once a year. In
1914, this course contained 77 pupils; in 1913» 105 pupils. In the
same school is also given, twice a year, a four months' course for
twenty-five selected City Guards, who are instructed in the portrait
parlé system and other phases of practical detective work.
3 Every year twelve of the most promising commissari are se¬
lected by the Ministry of the Interior to attend an advanced course
in applied criminology given by the University of Rome under the
direction of the celebrated Dr. Niceforo. The course is attended
by magistrates, prison employees and other governmental servants.
It includes instruction in judicial statistics, identification, the prin¬
ciples of evidence and practical criminology.
193
European Police Systems
sion that more real intelligence is devoted to police work
on the Continent than in Great Britain, and certainly the
contrast between the university-trained district com¬
mander of Vienna, for example, and the London superin¬
tendent who has risen from the ranks bears out the im¬
pression. Where the former is quick, keen, farsighted
and resourceful, the latter is slow, somewhat unadaptable,
ploddingly faithful, working with little imagination.
This description is roughly impressionistic — there are
sharp variations on both sides — but it serves to bring out
the general distinction. The distinction cannot be laid
to national or racial characteristics ; at least such char¬
acteristics play but a small part in the results. It is due
to divergent principles in training and selection and to
different social environments.
The Vienna official enters the police department fresh
from the university. Starting with a trained mind, he
is given every facility for acquiring a practical grasp of
his work ; he is promoted from one responsible post to
another as his abilities warrant. He belongs to a supe¬
rior social order. The life, the thought, the habits of mind
of the lower grades of the uniformed force are unknown
to him. His acquaintances and friends are university
men like himself. He moves in a world of practical
scholarship. After years of responsible work he is made
head of a Bezirk or division — a position of honor and
distinction in the community, which carries with it a re¬
muneration ample for Vienna, an official residence, and of
course the ultimate right to a pension.1 lie can reason-
1 The salary of the district commander approximates 7,000
Kronen ($1,421) per annum, besides certain small extras. His resi-
194
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
ably anticipate further promotion to still higher posi¬
tions in the department.
The London superintendent, on the other hand, comes
unlettered and untrained from the country districts of
England. Entering the force as a constable he rises
slowly by gradual promotions. The quickest, shrewdest
minds in the department are absorbed in the detective
bureau; his own promotion in the uniformed ranks fol¬
lows more as the reward of faithfulness than of brilliancy
or adaptability. Indeed, of these latter qualities he has
none. He is a big, slow-moving, "rugged type, working
deliberately and carefully. His point of view is largely
that of the uniformed ranks. He would probably lack
the initiative and imagination to make an efficient com¬
missioner or to carry on unaided a big administrative
project. In education, training and potential ability he
is distinctly inferior to his brother officer in Vienna.1
But recruiting the superior officers of a police depart¬
ment from outside sources rather than by promotion from
the ranks has certain disadvantages. In the first place,
this method, by limiting the possibility of promotion, dulls
dence is furnished free. The London superintendent gets £340 to
£450 ($1,654 to $2,146) per annum besides various extras of a
somewhat liberal character, but has no official residence allowed
him.
1 But see the testimony of the Commissioner of the Metropolitan
police, Sir Edward Henry, before the Royal Commission in 1907.
" There is a great advantage," he said, " in having a man (as
superintendent) who has been right through the mill. If twenty
or thirty men come through and become superintendents, it must
be because they are exceptional men and have strong qualities.
They have seen police work in all its phases and they know how
a constable in the street ought to behave. ... If I were a dictator
I would not be prepared from my actual knowledge at the present
moment to change the system.'' (Report of the Royal Commission,
Vol. II, p. 15.)
195
European Police Systems
the spirit and perhaps the effectiveness of the rank and
file of the uniformed force. The Continental policeman
may become a sergeant, but he can seldom go higher.1
His position is fixed. Merit and ability may bring him
the gratitude of his superiors but increases in rank and
income are denied him. Save for the fear of discipline
there are few compelling inducements to efficient work.
His actions tend to become perfunctory and his attitude
listless. He is a cog in a machine, without the incentives
which spur the English constable to faithful effort. He
is not dissatisfied, because with his social environment he
does not expect promotion, but he does not grow in ability
as the English policeman grows. As we shall see in a
later chapter, the rank and file of English police forces are
in spirit and intelligence generally superior to the Con¬
tinental rank and file. Undoubtedly one of the con¬
tributing factors in this situation is the incentive to faith¬
ful and painstaking work which the possibility of exten¬
sive promotion holds out to the English police.
In the second place, the introduction of new material
from outside sources to fill the higher positions in the
force produces an organization that is socially stratified,
and in some departments results in a certain lack of unity
and sympathetic cooperation in the performance of offi¬
cial business. The point of view, the habits of thought,
and even the grievances of the lower ranks are utterly
unknown to many Continental officials. On the other
hand, the attitude and perspective of the officials are not
understood or are misunderstood by the rank and file.
Each group lives its own life, touching the life of the
1 See Chap. VII, under heading " Promotion."
196
Assistant Commissioners and Their Deputies
t
other only in official relationship. Outside of the Italian
Carabinieri, a distinctly military organization, welded to¬
gether by an iron discipline, one looks in vain on the
Continent for the splendid esprit-de-corps which per¬
meates the entire Metropolitan Police Force of London.1
The social cleavage in the Continental department is too
sharp and well-defined to admit of any such feeling.
Three distinct classes of society are represented in the
Berlin force and no bridge can span the gulfs that sepa¬
rate them. Under such circumstances, it is idle to expect
the same kind of conscious unity, departmental pride, or
even cooperation which one finds in an organization so¬
cially more composite.
It is difficult to arrive at any settled opinion as a result
of this comparison of English and Continental methods.
In this, as in other matters, local conditions and national
administrative ideals must be taken into the reckoning.
One cannot overlook the advantages of introducing
into the department well-trained officials of a higher
grade of efficiency than can usually be obtained by
promotion from the ranks. On the other hand, the
results of this practice, if consistently carried out, are
not entirely wholesome. A compromise between the ex¬
tremes of the two systems might prove the best solution.
Certainly for the sake of efficiency the uniformed men
should be allowed to advance further than the grade of
sergeant. On the other hand, it is possible that much
might be accomplished even in London if the superin-
1As we have seen, there are only eleven positions on the Metro¬
politan Force which are not filled by promotion from the lower
ranks : the commissionership, four assistant commissionerships, and
six chief constableships.
197
European Police Systems
tendents and perhaps the chief inspectors, the men who
command the large divisions, were recruited from those
whose education has been more extensive and who would
enter the force as trained administrators after a special
schooling in police work. This suggestion, however, is
debatable. The London superintendent suits London.
He is honest and reliable, he does his work slowly but
well. The sole question is whether men of broader train¬
ing and larger imagination would not do the work better.
Perhaps the most that can be said in the form of a
general proposition is that every police department ought
always to be able to introduce outsiders into the higher
positions when more effective men can be secured in this
manner than by promotion. A department obligated by
law or rigid custom to choose its officials from its own
ranks is apt to become mechanical in carrying out its
routine work and unadaptable in meeting new problems.
Where there is no possibility of outside competition,
where no fresh imagination can ever revitalize the task,
the department suffers from perfunctory service. The
right to correct this condition by the infusion of new
blood in high administrative positions should never be
denied a police organization.
CHAPTER VI
the uniformed force
Continental policemen taken from the army.— English policemen
taken from private life.— The country districts the source of Lon¬
don's recruits.— Methods of recruiting in London.— In the provincial
cities.— The army under-officer the basis of the Continental depart¬
ment.—-Kind of men obtained.— Older than the English policemen.
— Police training school in Vienna.— In Berlin.— In Paris.— In
London.— Variations in Great Britain and on the Continent,—
Courses generally too brief.— Lack of adequate equipment.— In¬
struction too narrow.—- Army versus private life as source of recruits.
— Objections to army men.— Berlin Schutzmann versus London
constable.
We must now turn our attention to the men who con¬
stitute the rank and file of the uniformed force, and upon
whom the burden of police work falls — the patrolmen.1
We must note the sources from which they are obtained,
their training and equipment, their opportunities for pro¬
motion, their pay, and their pension systems. Finally
we must observe the patrolmen at work, their life and
habits, and the methods by which they are supervised
and controlled.
At the outset, we are again confronted by a contrast
between Great Britain and the Continent. The Con¬
tinental policemen almost without exception are taken
1 These men have varying titles in different cities. They are
called " Constables " in London and throughout England generally ;
"Agents" in Holland; " S chut zmanner" in Berlin; " Sicherheits-
wachmanner" in Vienna; and "Gardiens de la paix" in Paris.
199
European Police Systems
directly from the army, where they have served as sol¬
diers in the ranks. The English constables, chosen
from private life, come for the most part from the
country districts, and have only in rare instances served
in the army. This fundamental distinction finds its
basis in the separate points of view from which, as
we have already noticed, England and the Continent con¬
ceive the object and purpose of a police force. In Eng¬
land, the police are civil employees whose primary duty
is the preservation of public security; on the Continent,
on the other hand, and particularly in Germany and
Austria, the police force is the right arm of the ruling
classes, responsible to the Crown or the higher authori¬
ties rather than to the people. The police problem on
the Continent is chiefly a military problem, whereas in
England and Scotland, it is a problem of civil adminis¬
tration. The Continental authorities, therefore, in their
search for well equipped policemen, naturally look to
the army, while it is just as natural for the English to
avoid military training in a policeman and to turn for
recruits to the more peaceful trades and callings.
Taking London as typical of English habits and ideas
in this respect, we find the majority of her 17,000 patrol¬
men recruited from the agricultural districts of the coun¬
ties of England and Scotland. Only a small proportion
of the men—-approximately twenty per cent.—come
from London itself. There are two reasons for this.
In the first place, London in common with other cities
and towns of Great Britain does not care to have on her
force policemen with local ties and connections. Prob¬
ably one-fourth of the municipalities of England refuse
200
The Uniformed Force
to permit men to join the constabulary who for any
length of time have lived in their cities,1 and while Lon¬
don does not carry the matter to this extreme, her au¬
thorities regard a long established residence in the
Metropolitan district as a disqualification. In the second
place, the police officials of London entertain serious
doubts as to the serviceability of city bred men in the
force. " They know too much," said the head of the
police training school,2 in discussing this matter with the
writer, " too much that is detrimental to good discipline.
You have to knock so much out of their heads before you
can begin their training." The London " Bobby " is,
therefore, recruited for the most part from the country
districts. Miners, chauffeurs, plumbers, and clerks are
taken, but farmers are preferred. " We like to take
them right from the plow," Sir Edward Henry told the
writer. " They are slow but steady ; you can mold them
into any shape you please."
In the absence of accurate statistics, it is a safe as¬
sumption that sixty per cent, of London's constables have
been country born and bred.3 Probably the most prolific
sources of supply for recruits are the counties in the
west and south-west of England, although men are often
chosen from as far north as Scotland. Recruiting agents
are constantly traveling from place to place in the coun¬
try districts of England and even in Scotland and Wales,
looking for available men. They go about their business
1 Personally communicated.
2 Supt. A. W. Gooding.
3 Personally communicated by officials. Some of them, of course,
come from the provincial cities. Occasionally they are taken from
other police forces, but only under exceptional circumstances.
20I
European Police Systems
very much as an army recruiting squad handles its work,
by means of newspaper advertisements and bill posters
setting forth the attractiveness of service in the Metro¬
politan force.1 News of their coming is heralded in
advance, and applicants are advised that they may pre¬
sent themselves for examination at a given time and
place. The candidates must conform to certain physical
requirements as to age, height and general condition, they
must be able to read, write, and have a fair knowledge
of spelling, and must pass a very rudimentary and in¬
formal examination in arithmetic. If able to conform
to these simple tests, they are tentatively accepted by the
recruiting agents,2 provided their testimonials are satis¬
factory, and are sent to the police training school in
London, of which we shall speak later. In case of need,
their expenses to London are advanced.
In making these preliminary tests the greatest care is
taken to weed out the unfit. The testimonials above re-
1 The newspaper advertisement is the usual method of attracting
recruits in the provincial cities. An example of the form used
follows :
"Liverpool City Police. Wanted: Young men of good
character, 21 to 25 years of age ; height over 5 ft. 9^2 in. ;
commence at 27s. a week. Good prospects for intelligent
men. Ample facilities for recreation.—Apply, giving age,
height, and occupation, to Head Constable, Liverpool."
A typical bill poster reads in part as follows :
METROPOLITAN POLICE
RECRUITS WANTED.
There are vacancies for several hundred young men of
good health, character and education.— Good prospects of
promotion — permanent employment and pension for life
after 25 years' service— free medical attendance provided
during sickness with continuance of pay — annual holidays.
2 The recruiting party consists of a Superintendent, who is the
head of the recruiting department of Scotland Yard, two assistants,
and one medical man.
202
The Uniformed Force
ferred to are regarded as of prime importance. Not only
is the candidate required to furnish the names and ad¬
dresses of two responsible people who have known him
for more than five years, together with the names of the
persons by whom he has been employed during the pre¬
ceding six months, but the statements from, these parties
in regard to the character and standing of the applicant
are carefully obtained, and are verified in every case by
the local police officials of the community in which the
candidate lives. These local officials are asked to sub¬
scribe to the following form:
" I certify that I have seen the persons named by the
Candidate as reference and employer, that they have
given the answers shown against the questions, and
that they are persons whose recommendations are de¬
serving of the confidence of the Commissioner of Po¬
lice. I have also enquired in the neighborhood, and I
am unable to learn anything to the prejudice of the
Candidate, and I believe his connections and associates
to be respectable. It is not known that the Candidate
has ever served in any Police Force, or that he has
had any employment other than that stated/'1
It is estimated that from 2j^% to 5% of the appli¬
cants, otherwise acceptable, are dropped as a result of
these independent inquiries.2 It is not necessary that
the candidate should have a criminal record to effect his
rejection. Any flaw in his character or any uncertainty as
to his general standing in the community is sufficient.
1 Metropolitan Police. Form No. 20a.
2 Personally communicated.
203
European Police Systems
Cases are on record where men have been refused because
they came of families whose reputation was unsavory»
" We cannot afford to take chances; we must be sure of
our men," was the significant remark of the Superin¬
tendent of the London Training School.
The practice of recruiting from country districts is not
peculiar to London alone. It obtains in every important
municipal police force of Great Britain. " Give us the
hardy northern farmers," said the Head Constable of
Liverpool. " They are the easiest to train and make the
best officers." This same preference was expressed in
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham.
Indeed, competition to secure the best of the able-bodied
farmers for the city police forces sometimes engenders a
feeling approaching resentment between the municipali¬
ties. " They might stay in their own territory," com¬
plained one of the superintendents of the Glasgow force,
referring to the recruiting squad of the Metropolitan po¬
lice. " They take the best of Scotland because they
are in a position to offer superior inducements. It's
striking below the belt for them to come up here."
The provincial cities are as painstaking as London in
weeding out the unfit candidates. In every instance, the
applicant's references are verified by the independent
scrutiny of the local police.1 In Liverpool, satisfactory
1 The forms used are practically the same for all the provincial
cities. For example, a typical letter from a Chief Constable to the
head of another police body is as follows :
" Sir : I should be obliged if you will kindly have enquiry made
as to the character of ——- —— who applies for appointment to
this Force, and inform me at your earliest convenience whether his
statement is correct, and, in your opinion, his antecedents are such
as to qualify him for appointment as Constable." (Liverpool City
Police, Form No. 13.)
204
The Uniformed Force
recommendations are required from the candidate's em¬
ployer or employers for the previous ten years ; in Glas¬
gow, for the previous five years ; in Manchester, separate
character references are required, which, together with
the employer's references, must cover the previous ten
years ; in the City of London the references must include
the whole scope of the applicant's life, beginning with
his school days. As with the Metropolitan force, great
emphasis is laid on the standing and reliability of the
men'who endorse the candidates. So careful are the
recruiting authorities in this respect, that in Glasgow I
was told that certificates of clergymen are generally not
considered with favor. " They are too kind-hearted,
too apt to overlook flaws," said the superintendent, " or
perhaps they are unaware that the flaws exist ! "
In marked contrast with the English point of view is
the practice prevailing on the Continent. There, police¬
men come directly from the army where ordinarily they
must have reached a certain grade or rank. Thus,
throughout Germany, Austria and Hungary, the recruit
must be an UnterofUzier, a grade approximately corres¬
ponding to the English rank of corporal.1 The length of
army service required varies in different cities. Berlin de¬
mands a minimum of nine years; Hamburg and Dres¬
den, six years ;2 Stuttgart, five years ; Budapest, three
1 The grades of the rank and file of the German army are as
follows :
Gemeiner (Private)
Gefreiter
Unteroffizier
Sergeant
Vize-Feldwebel
a"We prefer a longer service in the army if we can secure it,"
205
European Police Systems
years. Vienna does not specifically prescribe army serv¬
ice as a necessary qualification, but preference is by law 1
given to the UnterofUzierand it is seldom that recruits
are taken from any other class. Formerly Dresden re¬
quired twelve years' service in the army, and even now
the regulations call for nine years,2 although the diffi¬
culty of obtaining the necessary number of men under
this rule has led to the temporary substitution of six
years. On the other hand, Berlin formerly required six
years' army service; later the period was changed to
seven years; and in 1907, the present nine year term was
made obligatory. These changes were brought about
through the instrumentality of the Prussian War Office
which felt that the army was being deprived of the serv¬
ices of too many of its younger and more valuable non¬
commissioned officers, through its inability to compete
with the police force in the matter of salaries.3
was the remark of the Police President of Hamburg in discussing
this matter with me.
1 Law of April 19, 1872. R. G. Bl. No. 60.
2 Dienstvorschriften fiir das uniformierte Stadtgendarmeriekorps
der Ko nig lie h en Polizeidirek Hon zu Dresden. § 29.
3 As we shall see, the Berlin Schutzmann receives 1,400 M. per
annum; the army UnteroMzier, in addition to his maintenance, re¬
ceives 8.40 M. every ten days, or approximately 306 M. per annum,
together with certain small and comparatively insignificant extras
—" ZulageP
The Unteroifizier in the German army is encouraged to serve a
longer rather than a shorter period by the operation of the law
relating to civil papers, or " Zivilversorgungsschein." (Imperial
Law, May 31, 1906 — Reichsgesetzblatt 593. See also Bundesrats-
beschluss of June 20, 1907.) According to this law, the positions
of the lower officials and clerks in the state and imperial service
are reserved exclusively for soldiers who have served twelve years
in the army; that is, at the end of such a period, a soldier is en¬
titled to a position as postman, clerk, etc., in one of the government
branches.
If, however, the soldier leaves the army at the end of nine years
and enters a police department, he must serve there for six years
206
The Uniformed Force
l
In Amsterdam and Rotterdam, there is no specific re¬
quirement of army service for policemen, but prefer¬
ence is always given to army men, and it is estimated
that eighty per cent, of the police force have had previous
military training.1 The same condition is true in
Brussels, Paris, and throughout the French cities gen¬
erally. Army training is not specifically demanded, but
candidates for the police force are required to have served
their prescribed term under the compulsory enlistment
laws,2 and preference is given to the men who have
reached the grade of sous-ofUcier. Occasionally it hap¬
pens that a civilian is appointed to the Paris force. In
that case, however, he is placed on a year's probation,
while the man who has served in the army is at once
permanently appointed.3
more, fifteen years altogether, before he is entitled to his Zivilver-
sorgungsschein. The effect of this law is to keep many men in the
army who otherwise would leave for more desirable situations.
1 Personally communicated by the police officials of Rotterdam.
2 Compulsory enlistment laws are common throughout the Con¬
tinent. Every man in Germany must serve two years in the army,
although there is an exception — the Einjahrigen system — by which
men of higher school education are allowed to serve for one year
provided they pay their own expenses. According to the new
French enlistment law, the term of conscription is raised from two
years to three years. The new German war measures do not in¬
volve the lengthening of the compulsory term of enlistment, but
provide for more regiments. In Germany, if a man serves longer
than his prescribed two years, he is appointed automatically to the
grade of Unteroffizier.
3 In this chapter I have purposely avoided reference to the
national police of Italy, that is, to the Carabinieri, inasmuch as it
cannot be considered as a municipal force. It cannot be said
that their recruits are chosen from the army, for the corps
constitutes part of the army. A well-qualified Italian may serve
his required military term with the Carabinieri or with some other
corps, except that if he joins the Carabinieri, he must serve three
years rather than two. The City Guards, on the other hand, are
chosen from those who have fulfilled their two years' army require¬
ment. Enlistment in this corps is for five years.
207
European Police Systems
The army under-offioer, therefore, forms the basis of
the police forces on the Continent. In every case his
army record must have been satisfactory before he is
accepted. To that end his history is carefully scruti¬
nized. In Vienna he must present certificates of char¬
acter covering the period from the time of his tenth
birthday. Breaches of army discipline which have re¬
sulted in punishment or demotion are regarded as suf¬
ficient cause for rejection. In Berlin candidates are
obliged to file sworn statements showing the amounts of
their debts, including the payment of alimony. For
the most part, also, the under-officers applying for ap¬
pointment on a police force are subjected to a medical ex¬
amination, and in some cities, to a preliminary though
rather elementary test of intelligence. " Non-suitable
candidates will at once be sent back to their regiments
without refunding of fees or traveling expenses " is the
rather ominous declaration of the Berlin entrance re¬
quirements,1 in referring to this point. As a, matter of
practice, however, throughout Germany and Austria it is
generally assumed that a man who has reached the grade
of non-commissioned officer in the army is intelligent
enough to become a policeman, and while mental ex¬
aminations, both written and oral, are occasionally given
before permanent appointment, they generally follow the
prescribed period of training of which we shall speak
later in this chapter. In Paris and other French cities,
sous-oMciers in the army must pass satisfactorily in arith¬
metic, reading and writing before they can enter the
1 Einstellungsbestimmungen. A. V. Bl. Nr. 19 vom 13. Septem¬
ber, 1912. § 4.
208
The Uniformed Force
police training schools. As a matter of fact, non-commis¬
sioned officers in European armies are all passably well
educated, that is, they have had the regular common
school education. Indeed, in Germany, the non-com¬
missioned officers in the army are obliged to attend
school classes during the winter months where they re¬
ceive instruction in writing and spelling as well as in
arithmetic and geography, with the idea of refreshing
their early training. To a lesser extent, perhaps, this is
true of the armies in other European countries, so that
the non-commissioned officer who applies for admission
to a police force is by no means an uneducated man.
Indeed, in respect to his school advantages, he probably
compares favorably with the constable of London or any
of the, English provincial cities, while in his military
training, he is, of course, greatly superior to the English
policeman.
The requirement of army service as a necessary pre¬
requisite to admission into the police ranks has the effect,
as will be seen from the table on the next page, of
increasing the age at which men enter the force. In
London, constables are not admitted who exceed the age
of 27; Liverpool and Glasgow will not admit constables
over 25 ; Manchester fixes the maximum at 28. Across
the Channel the maximum age limit is greatly increased.
Berlin and Vienna, and in fact most of the cities of
Germany, Austria, Holland, and Belgium, take police¬
men up to the age of 35. With a required army service
of nine years, as is the case in Berlin, it would be practi¬
cally impossible to fix an age limit lower than this. A
man who enters the German army at the age of twenty,
209
AGE, HEIGHT AND ARMY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICEMEN OF EUROPEAN
CITIES.
City. Age. Minimum Army Service Required.
Height.
London : ^
Metropolitan Force.20-27 5ft.9 in.\ - £
City of London 20-27 6 ft. J °ne* q
Liverpool 21-25 5 ft. gèin. None. ^
Glasgow 25 max. 5 ft. 9iin. None.
Manchester ..28 max. 5 ft. 10 in. None.
to Amsterdam 23-35 5 ft. 7 in. Must have satisfied compulsory enlistment laws. 5
O Rotterdam 23-35 5 ft. 9 in. Must have satisfied compulsory enlistment laws. fTi
Berlin 35 max. 5 ft. 5 in. Nine years in army, with rank of Unteroffizier. fi>
Dresden 25-35 5 ft. 7 in. Six years in army, with rank of Unteroffizier.
Hamburg 25-35 5 ft. 5i in. Six years in army, with rank of Unteroffizier. ^
. . c™^
Stuttgart 24-35 5 ft. 54 in. Five years in army, with rank of Unteroffizier. n>
Vienna 24-35 5 ft.k2iin. Former Unteroffizier in army preferred. gj
Budapest 25 max. Three years in army, with rank of Unteroffizier.
Paris 21-30 5 ft. 7 in. Must have served prescribed term under compulsory
enlistment law. Preference to Sous-officier.
Brussels 23-35 5 ft. 7 in. Must have served prescribed term under compulsory
enlistment law.
The Uniformed Force
wishing to take advantage of the civil rights accruing
from full service,1 will be thirty-two before he can apply
for admission to a police force; or waiving his civil
rights, he will be twenty-nine before the Berlin force can
receive him. As a matter of fact, the average age of
entrance into the police service of Berlin is 31,2 whereas
in London it is 23. Accordingly, the police force of
Berlin is manned by older and correspondingly less active
men. It is a noteworthy fact that the young, fresh, keen,
vigorous look of the London " Bobby" is almost totally
lacking in the Berlin Sckutzmann, who, although he may
snap his heels together and salute with more precision
than his fellow officer in London, has a heavy, inactive
appearance. The Berlin authorities do not hesitate to
admit that their men are rather too old for the kind of
service required. Without in any way disavowing their
belief that the army furnishes the best training for police¬
men — a principle with which they are thoroughly im¬
bued— they are frank to state that nine years is too
long for a. required term of service, and that the former
requirement of six years is preferable. One or two
of them even express qualified indignation that in the
clash between the interests of the army and the police,
the police should be made to suffer.
Let us now examine the methods by which the new
men are trained for their work. Police training schools
for recruits have long been established institutions in
European municipalities. The first one —in Paris —
was founded in 1883. At the present time there is no
*See note 3, p. 206, relating to the Zivilversorgungsschein pro¬
visions.
2 Personally communicated.
211
European Police Systems
city of size or importance in Europe that does not pro¬
vide some kind of school training for its police recruits.
Some of the schools are elaborate organizations with
separately constructed buildings and complete equipment ;
others are scarcely more than names to cover a desultory
and rudimentary instruction. On the whole, the schools
of the Continental cities are better equipped and the
courses more complete than those operated in connec¬
tion with the English police. Ordinarily the required
school term of the Continental course covers a longer
period than the English school term. London's course
lasts for eight weeks ; Liverpool's, for eight weeks ; Glas¬
gow has a term of " two months more or less," a period
which frankly varies with the need for new men; Man¬
chester's school term averages from two to three months,
although the term is in part dependent upon the adapta¬
bility of the candidate; the term of the Paris school is
four months ; Berlin's, five weeks ; Dresden's, six weeks ;
Hamburg's covers two periods of six weeks each, sep¬
arated by practical service on the street for a term of six
weeks ; Vienna's school term extends over an entire year,
although during part of this period the men are on
active duty in uniform; the Budapest school lasts for four
months. The Carabinieri and City Guards of Italy have
six months' training. Some of the schools require the
entire time of the recruit during the period above men¬
tioned; in others, theoretical training goes hand in hand
with practical duty on the street.
The scope of the police training school and its methods
of operation vary sharply from city to city, even in the
same country. The difference between the training
212
The Uniformed Force
schools of Hamburg and Berlin is almost as striking as
the difference between those of London and Berlin. In
order that we may see in what this difference consists
and arrive at a common basis for discussion, brief atten¬
tion is called to the courses of instruction in the schools
of Vienna, Berlin, Paris, and London.
Vienna's school for recruits is by far the most elaborate
and the best equipped in Europe.1 Utilizing the old
university buildings for the purpose, the police authori¬
ties have fitted up class rooms and dormitories, with such
accessories as a museum, a library and a gymnasium.
The school has 350 pupils, and the course, as we
have said, lasts for one year. During this period the
recruits are obliged to live in the dormitories and to take
their meals in the school dining-room. They are divided
into classes of twenty-five, called Kameradschaften.
Each class has its leader or teacher, generally a non¬
commissioned officer of the police force. The class is
the working unit of the organization. By classes, the
recruits eat and sleep ; by classes they are taught to swim
and row, to shoot and fence, to use the Morse telegraph
and the appliances for first aid to the injured; by classes,
too, they attend fires and riots, where the work of the
regular police is carefully studied. Occasionally they are
themselves called upon to assist when some public cele¬
bration or parade, or a riot or disturbance, creates a dif-
1In making this statement, I have not taken into consideration
the training school of the Carabinieri in Rome. This institution
is a military school rather than a police school, and as such cannot
be compared with the institutions in Vienna, London, Berlin and
Paris. In so far as size, buildings, and general equipment are con¬
cerned, it is immeasurably superior to any of the police schools of
Europe.
213
European Police Systems
ficult situation. In this respect the school recruits con¬
stitute a reserve force for the regular organization.
For the first eight weeks of their stay in the police
school, the recruits are drilled in the practical duties of
patrol. This work is supplemented by occasional lectures
on rudimentary legal matters delivered by the higher police
officers before groups of classes. During this period,
their school hours run from 8 to 11 a. m., and from 2.30
to 5.30 p. m., the lectures and recitations following each
other in close succession. At the mid-day recess, the
recruits are sent into various sections of the city with
maps to learn the location of buildings and monuments,
the routes of street cars and busses, and the general
geography of Vienna. In the evening, they practise
gymnasium exercises and fencing. At the end of eight
weeks, they receive their uniforms and begin their work
on the street in the company of experienced policemen.
From now on, the school exercises consume only the
mornings, the afternoons being devoted to patrol work.
After three months, the recruits are allowed to patrol
alone. During the last six months of his probation
period, each man is assigned to a model precinct located
in the heart of the city where he assumes his regular
hours of police work, his entire class being on duty with
him at the same time. His theoretical training, how¬
ever, is not neglected during this period. In addition to
his instruction in practical police duty, he must become
thoroughly familiar with the operations of the Austrian
criminal code and the code of criminal procedure; he
must have a working knowledge of the elaborate legal
provisions relating to the various functions of the police;
214
The Uniformed Force
he must be able to read and write fluently in the German
tongue, and is occasionally instructed in foreign lan¬
guages; he is taught the mystery of bombs and explo¬
sives; he must understand poisons and their antidotes;
he is instructed in bullet-marks, blood spots, knife
wounds, and methods of identification; he must be an
expert telegrapher, and have a practical knowledge of
first-aid appliances. He attends illustrated lectures on
traffic conditions and the control of crowds ; he is taught
by object lessons to read the numbers and license signs
on swiftly moving vehicles; finally, he is thoroughly
drilled in the conduct and bearing befitting a policeman
of Vienna. Much of his work is done with the aid of an
elaborate series of police textbooks prepared for the uses
of the school. At the end of the year's term, he must
pass written examinations in the subjects which he has
studied ; if successful, he is promoted to the regular force
and assigned to a precinct.
His life during his year's probation is not at all un¬
pleasant. He is paid seventy cents a day,1 the meals
which he obtains at a nominal price in the school res¬
taurant constituting his only expense.2 He is gradu¬
ated in splendid physical condition, and with a thorough
grasp not only of the practical and theoretical aspects of
police work, but of the intricacies of Austrian criminal
law and procedure. His education, however, does not
stop when he leaves the police school. His whole official
life is one long period of instruction. Every precinct
house has its schoolroom, and at least once a week the
13 Kronen, 68 heller.
2His breakfast costs four cents; dinner, twelve cents; supper,
ten cents.
215
European Police Systems
patrolmen 1 are obliged to meet in classes, regardless of
their length of service or experience. In these classes
matters relating to new ordinances and decrees and to
recently promulgated traffic regulations are thoroughly
discussed, and lectures are given on new methods of
detecting criminals. Similarly, new phases of police
duty, mistakes in patrol work or in report writing, are
taken up for discussion and elucidation. The school¬
rooms are very attractively equipped with desks, black¬
boards and maps, and the whole life in the precinct cen¬
ters around this unique institution. From the standpoint
of training, there is no police force in Europe which can
excel the Sicherheitswache of Vienna. Indeed, the only
police department which even approximates it in this
respect is Budapest's, where the Vienna model has been
more or less closely followed.2
In comparison with Vienna's method of training her
recruits, the Berlin school seems inadequate. Not only
does the term last but five weeks, but there is no regular
school building, nor indeed any centralized or coordi¬
nated system of training. Berlin's faith in the intelli¬
gence and serviceability of army under-officers is in no
way better illustrated than by the casual manner in which
she prepares them for active police work. Of the five
1 Sicherheitswachmanner.
2 Budapest, however, as we have seen, has reduced the period
of school work to four months. Recruits are not given their uni¬
forms or allowed to do any practical work on the street until they
have satisfactorily passed the written examinations which are held
at the end of this period. They are then assigned in groups of
two or three to the control of a sergeant, and with him they begin
their practical work. After two months of this supervision they
receive a permanent appointment, provided, of course, their conduct
has been satisfactory.
216
The Uniformed Force
weeks during which the school lasts, the first nine days are
spent by the recruits at Police Headquarters, where they
listen to lectures on such topics as the principles of dis¬
cipline, the necessity for secrecy, the duties and rights of
officers, and the use of automatic pistols. During the
remaining four weeks of the term, the recruits are as¬
signed to a precinct where they are instructed by higher
police officers in a great variety of subjects, mainly theo¬
retical, and by the station sergeants in practical duty and
routine. Their theoretical training includes a drill in
some of the more important provisions of the German
criminal code and code of criminal procedure. It re¬
lates also to' the functions of the police in connection
with buildings and repairs, health matters, pawn shops,
societies and meetings, newspapers, public amusements,
traffic, post and beat duty. For two hours each day
during this period of four weeks, the probationer is as¬
signed to patrol duty on the street in company with an
older officer. His uniform and full pay as a Schutzmcmn
are given him when he first enters the school. At the
end of the five weeks' term, without examination or test,
written or otherwise, he is assigned to a precinct for
regular duty, and while his actual probationary period
does not expire for six months, he is to all intents and
purposes a full-fledged patrolman. There are no con¬
tinuation instruction classes such as we have seen in
Vienna.
The Paris recruit begins his regular work as a police¬
man from the first day he enters the force. While his
instruction in the training school extends over a period
of four months, he goes but once in three days, from
217
European Police Systems
eight to eleven o'clock in the morning, the rest of his
time being occupied with his regular duties on the street.
The school, which occupies three or four rooms at head¬
quarters, aims merely to assist the new policeman in
working out the practical difficulties with which he finds
himself confronted. As in Berlin, the fact that a recruit
has been a -soius-officier in the army is considered a suffi¬
cient guarantee of worth and effectiveness. The school is
not used as it is in Vienna and London as a means of elim¬
inating the unfit. The inspector in charge of the Paris
school refused to admit that there might be sous-offciers
totally unfitted by temperament to become policemen. In¬
stead of dropping a recruit who appears stupid or dull in
his classes, the authorities at Paris retain him for a
longer period at the school. Adapted only to immedi¬
ately practical ends, and organized so as not to interfere
with the regular work of the recruits, the course of the
Paris school is plain and simple. The gymnastics and
broadsword work, the drill in the technique of identifica¬
tion, and in the rudiments of law and medicine, which play
so prominent a part in the Vienna school, do not figure
in the Paris course. The work consists of a course on
the proper method of writing reports, together with lec¬
tures on the subject of emergencies, arrests, fires, and the
general behavior of policemen.1 No examination con¬
cludes the course. The school is not expected to aid in
the selection of effective policemen; rather it is organ¬
ized to initiate into their work the men who have already
been chosen. Furthermore, there is no continuation in-
1M. Hennion, the new Police Prefect of Paris, has recently-
introduced the cinematograph as an aid to instruction, following
the lead of Vienna.
2l8
The Uniformed Force
struction given in the arrondissements to which the men
are assigned.
London's school is necessarily adapted to the peculiar
conditions surrounding the recruiting of her police force.
Her recruits, taken from the country districts, are raw,
untrained and awkward ; they -have nothing of the mili¬
tary carriage which distinguishes the recruit in the Con¬
tinental cities. If assigned immediately to active street
work in uniform concurrently with their school duties,
as is the case in Paris, they would make a sorry showing.
The authorities, therefore, do not even provide them with
a uniform until their school term has been completed.
For the first two weeks of their eight weeks' course their
instruction consists principally of physical exercise ac¬
cording to the Swedish system, and formation drill, a dis¬
cipline which appears to liven them both mentally and
physically. This drill is continued periodically during the
entire eight weeks. The third week begins their in¬
struction in practical police work, the details of beat and
point duty, the necessary action to be taken in case of
accident or emergency. At the end of each lecture, a
specific case of disturbance by accident is described con¬
cerning which each recruit must draw up a report. This
course of instruction is continued through the fourth
week together with lectures on ordinances, regulations,
and the criminal laws, the latter course lasting through
the following week. In the sixth week, the recruit is
taught to observe identification plates on swiftly moving
vehicles, his legal instruction is continued, and he is
given a thorough drill in the-art of presenting his evi¬
dence and testifying in court. During the final two
219
European Police Systems
weeks, he is reviewed in all the subjects that have been
brought before him, and is given a course of short talks
on some of the necessary attributes of English con¬
stables, such as truthfulness, civility, and courtesy*
Hand in hand with this instruction during the six weeks
goes a drill in reading, writing, grammar, spelling, com¬
position, and the use of maps. Throughout the course,
a careful record is kept of each man's work, and while
no written examination is required, recruits who at any
time show themselves unfit or unadaptable are immediately
dropped. In cases where a recruit shows signs of prom¬
ise but has not fully satisfied the school authorities as to
the quality of his work, he is assigned to a division on
trial, where, as we shall see, he receives further instruction.
It is estimated that 20 per cent, of the graduates of the
school are sent out under this condition. Of this number,
approximately 1 per cent, are subsequently dropped.
London has perhaps the best planned police school
building in Europe—" Peel House erected in 1907,
with eating and sleeping accommodations for 210 men,
each of whom has his separate room or cubicle. With
a billiard room, a library, a rifle range, and a gymnasium,
it represents a well considered attempt to provide the
recruit with every possible advantage. Food is served
at club rates, costing each man approximately $1.87 a
week; but the allowance which is made to the recruit of
$3.75 a week is ample to cover this and other expenses.
Like Vienna, London has devised a system of continua¬
tion work, which, however, instead of dealing with police
duty, is confined to instruction in reading, writing, spell¬
ing and arithmetic. Unless he has had exceptional edu-
220
The Uniformed Force
cational advantages, every patrolman who leaves the
London training school is obliged to attend the night
school or the continuation classes maintained by the Lon¬
don County Council. Six hours a week for six months
he must give to his work, under the instruction of the
city's regular teachers. Periodically during this term
the teacher reports to the Superintendent of the division
the progress of the patrolman in his studies. If a satis¬
factory showing is not made, the man is recommended
by the Superintendent for dismissal.1
In this way it would be possible to consider the police
training schools in the smaller cities of Great Britain
and the Continent. For the most part, however, they are
variations of one of the forms which we have just de¬
scribed. Amsterdam requires a written examination at
the end of a two months' course, but continues the in¬
struction for ten months longer, the recruits dividing
their time between patrol work and school work. At the
end of the ten months' period they must pass another
written examination, and only then do they become full-
fledged patrolmen. Rotterdam's system is practically
the same. Dresden's six weeks' course is modeled after
Berlin's. On the theory that a recruit will comprehend
his theoretical instruction more rapidly and completely
if he has been engaged in actual practical service, Ham¬
burg has developed a system of two periods of training,
\
1 At the end of three months the division Superintendent files
a report with the Commissioner on the aptitude and general effi¬
ciency of every new man assigned to him from the training school.
(Form No. 267.) The report comments on the man's degree of
success in his continuation studies, his progress in police knowledge,
his manner and deportment, etc. Unpromising men are allowed to
resign.
221
European Police Systems
separated by an equal period of uninterrupted patrol
work. Stuttgart requires three full months of schooling
relieved by occasional patrol work. The training schools
of the provincial cities of England and Scotland are
neither so well equipped nor so systematically maintained
as the Continental schools. In Liverpool and Man¬
chester, the facilities and courses are fairly satisfactory;
indeed, in Liverpool they are very good, including an
excellent system of continuation instruction in police duty
for a period of ten months after the recruit leaves the
school. In Glasgow, on the other hand, the instruction
in police duty is exceedingly limited, sometimes lasting
but two weeks " in the case of very bright men/' Most
of the work consists of physical drill. " I lecture to
them half an hour a day on police duties," said the In¬
spector in charge of the school, although he admitted in
the same breath that he had had no opportunity during
the previous two months to give them even the half hour.
" But they pick it up fast enough," he continued, " from
the older constables with whom they are assigned to
patrol." This haphazard system of training is plainly
evidenced in the rank and file, who, frequently coming
from the Gaelic Highlands, are often unacquainted both
with the geography of Glasgow, and the essentials of
criminal law. Indeed, in a few cases, they appear to have
little knowledge of the English language, accustomed
as many of them are to the use of the Gaelic tongue. Of
the large police forces which I had the opportunity of
observing in Great Britain and on the Continent, I have
no hesitation in saying that Glasgow's is the poorest both
in training and equipment.
222
The Uniformed Force
On the whole, however, the police training schools of
European cities are effective institutions. At least, they
tend to equip men to handle the practical aspects of police
work. The brevity of the courses offered by some of
them is, however, open to criticism. It is impossible to
believe that the great amount of technical information
which a Berlin Schutzmann is supposed to possess, over
and above a knowledge of his routine work, can really
be gained in five weeks. The same remark applies to all
the German cities. The immense responsibilities which
are given to the German police, the wide sweep of au¬
thority which they enjoy in the regulation of the every¬
day life of the citizen, would seem to make doubly neces¬
sary a thorough and complete training. Obviously this
necessity is not so great in England or Scotland, where
the functions of the police are comparatively limited —
certainly there would be no need in Great Britain for a
course extending over an entire year, as is the case in
Vienna — but even in England there is reason enough for
providing well-trained, well-drilled men. The work of a
policeman is everywhere of the most arduous nature,
demanding not only integrity and capacity, but a cool
judgment and a sense of proportion. The individual
officer upon the spur of the moment must exercise a level¬
headed discretion in matters of difficulty, acting promptly
and decisively, with but little time for reflection. The
Royal Commission appointed to investigate the Metro¬
politan force expressed itself on this point as follows:
" When one reads in the Instruction Book the disci¬
pline to which members of the force have to conform,
223
European Police Systems
one cannot help realizing that it either presupposes in
recruits or creates in Constables a condition of mental
and physical strength and health of a degree greater
than that possessed by average workers in this coun¬
try." 1
In view of his responsibilities, it is of prime import¬
ance that the policeman's training should be deliberate
and thorough. Even the splendid equipment of the
school cannot overcome the superficiality of London's
method of instruction. The London " Bobby " who en¬
ters the force after his eight weeks' training is a rough
and untried specimen. A month more at the school, or
two months more, with practical duty on the street in
the company of an older officer, would greatly improve
him. This, the officials of Scotland Yard willingly con¬
cede. Indeed, it is a point to which much attention has
been given and it is possible that within a year or two
the period of training will be further lengthened.2
In this respect, the police school of Vienna is really
the model. The thorough drill which her recruits re¬
ceive during their year's course, the painstaking manner
in which the training is shaped to meet not only the
practical needs of policemen on the street, but the de¬
mands of a community for intelligent public servants,
is in marked contrast to the attitude not only of English
and Scottish cities, but those of Germany and France as
well.3
1 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. I, p. 56.
a The course was recently lengthened (October, 1913) from six
weeks to eight weeks.
3 The haste and superficiality which characterize the methods
of training in many English and Scottish cities at the present time
224
The Uniformed Force
Another objection to be urged against many European
training schools is their inadequate equipment and their
lack of building accommodations. Only in London,
Vienna and Budapest can arrangements be called satis¬
factory. In many other cities the training school is con¬
fined to two or three dingy rooms at police headquarters,
as is the case in Paris, or, as in Berlin, it has no quarters
at all, but is scattered throughout the precincts wherever
available space can be found. London and Vienna have
shown that the best results are obtained in a particular
building or group of buildings — a police college, if you
like — where, with ample accommodations and a fair
degree of comfort, the recruits meet daily by classes and
groups. Indeed, " Peel House " in London might well
be imitated by every city in Europe.
Aside from the defects above pointed out, the general
character of the instruction in many European police
schools is open to criticism. The training is too often
limited to a bare rehearsal of laws and ordinances and a
statement of their interpretation in terms of police ac¬
tion, supplemented by physical drill. Instruction of this
kind tends to turn out a machine rather than a man. It
develops a narrow-visioned official who does not appre¬
ciate properly either his position or his duties. The
are attributable to a large extent to the operation of the " One-day-
rest-in-seven Bill," which went into effect on April i, 1913. The
Police (Weekly Rest-day) Act 1910, 10 Edw. VII and 1 Geo. V c.
13. This law, which provides that every police officer shall have
one day's rest in seven, necessitated a large augmentation of the
police forces of England and Scotland, with the result that in many
cases men had to be hastily recruited and trained to meet the emer¬
gency. With the police forces adjusted to this new measure a
greater degree of thoroughness and care is hoped for in the train¬
ing methods.
225
European Police Systems
human element, the place of the policeman as a social
factor, the relation of the police department to social
problems, the interpretation of crime in terms of its
causes, are matters which, except in Vienna, and to a
slight extent in the English cities, are seldom touched
upon. To be sure, the police of many of the Conti¬
nental cities, particularly in Germany, have health func¬
tions, poor-relief functions and other duties more or less
related to the larger social problems ; but these matters
are for the most part segregated into specialized depart¬
ments with which, except on rare occasions, the uni¬
formed men in the street have nothing whatever to do.
The failure of the European cities to give the police¬
man on beat a larger place in dealing with their social
problems, to use him in connection with the preventive
and remedial efforts of other organizations, public and
private, to resort to him as a source of information con¬
cerning conditions which ultimately produce crime, is due
to the necessarily subordinate position which the police¬
man occupies in the organization of the whole de¬
partment, to his lack of extensive mental equipment
and to the novelty of the conception itself. The hur¬
ried manner in which the recruit in so many European
cities is trained to handle the merely practical aspects
of his work is to some extent also a factor. As I say,
Vienna and some of the English cities have made a
beginning — a faint beginning, perhaps — in a new line
of teaching by placing some emphasis upon the human
relationships of the ordinary policeman and his connec¬
tion with the complex problem of poverty and crime.
The Liverpool Police Instructions contain the follow-
226
The Uniformed Force
ing paragraph : " Anything which helps the very
poor and so relieves them from the temptation to crime,
and anything which helps to take the children of the
criminal classes away from evil surroundings and com¬
panions, and, while there is yet time, implants in them
instincts of honesty and virtue, is true police work; and
a policeman should throw himself heart and soul into
such work just as readily as he does into the ordinary
work of preventing and detecting crime." 1 I believe
that the next developments in the police training schools
will be along this line — giving the uniformed men a
new point of view, acquainting them with the modern
ideas of society concerning the criminal, and the larger
social problems in which he plays an ominous part.
The distinction between the police forces of Great
Britain and those of the Continent, so far as the source
of their recruits is concerned, has already been pointed
out. The former select their men from private life, the
latter from the army. This distinction furnishes the
1 See Liverpool Police Instructions3 p. 9. In this connection the
efforts of the Police-Aided Clothing Association of Liverpool are
typical of the work that is being done. This association is a private
organization, maintained by outside funds, formed to furnish clothes
to " all insufficiently clothed children who come under the notice
of the police, irrespective of any questions as to why their clothing
is insufficient, or whether their parents are drunkards or bad char¬
acters, able or unable to buy clothing."
The Police Standing Order No. 13 reads as follows : "If a
police constable sees or has his attention called by others to a child
who seems to him to be insufficiently clad, he will question him or
her, being careful to do so kindly so as not to let the child think
it has got into trouble ; he must find out where the child lives, and,
if it lives on his beat, tell his Sergeant of the case on his next visit.
The Sergeant will then accompany the constable to the home and
will assist him in inquiring into the circumstances of the child. If
they think the child should be clothed, the constable will, at the
first convenient time, fill in Form A." This form is thereupon
sent by the Head Constable to the offices of the Association.
227
European Police Systems
key to a number of peculiarities both in organization and
personnel to which attention should be called.
The idea that an army training produces the best
police officer is based, as we have seen, upon the military
conception of the police commonly held in Continental
countries. This conception runs through the entire or¬
ganization of the departments and shows itself in many
outward forms. It finds expression, for example, in
police orders and service books. The Berlin regulations
begin as follows : " Members of the police force are
under military discipline, and must mold their conduct
while on duty in accordance with military forms. . . .
The feeling of military subordination must always be
expressed in the bearing of the individual toward his
superior/'1 Then follows a series of rules describing
with minute care the method and occasions of saluting
the Emperor and members of the Royal Household, to¬
gether with cabinet ministers and other dignitaries.
Throughout the regulations emphasis is laid upon the
necessity of maintaining " a military posture/' In
Dresden the emphasis is perhaps even more pronounced.
The proper bearing of the patrolman toward his supe¬
riors is prescribed in extravagant detail — how and when
he must salute them, his proper attitude in passing
through a doorway, his proper posture on a bicycle and
the manner in which he shall accompany his fellow
officers on the street. " When a subordinate is in the
company of a superior/' reads the regulation, " he is to
walk on the left side. If the superior is in the company
1 Allgemeinc Dienstvorschrift filr die Konigliche Schutzmann-
schaft in Berlin, par. 4.
228
The Uniformed Force
of several subordinates, the subordinate who is older in
service or in rank must be 011 the left, the other on the
right side of the superior." 1 Or again: "The speech
of the police must be short, definite and clear, and should
not be accompanied by explanatory gestures, or motions
of hand or body. The hair of the head and the beard
are to be trimmed in accordance with military instruc¬
tions." 2
In London and in the English provincial cities we look
in vain for such details. The word "military" is not
mentioned in the official instruction book of the Metro¬
politan Police except where a reference is made to army
deserters. The same is true of the instruction books of
the provincial cities. Indeed, the police forces of Eng¬
land are not military forces in any sense of the word.
Englishmen have no sympathy with the view that the
preservation of the King's peace is a military problem to
be entrusted to military hands.
But the English objection to a force composed of ex-
soldiers and commanded by ex-army officers has more
than a sentimental basis. From a practical standpoint
all the important advantages lie with the civilian police.
1 Dienstvorschriften, par. 75.
a Ibid., par. 68. In this connection it is interesting to note the
respect and reverence with which army men are treated by the
police. Any interference with an army officer by a policeman is
a serious matter, not lightly to be undertaken. The Berlin police
regulations on this point read as follows: "If an army officer
should forget himself and his position to the extent of committing
a crime, and if there is danger of jeopardizing the public peace and
order by delaying in the matter, then, and then only, have the
police the right to interfere ^ directly, and if necessary, make an
arrest. . . . But the responsibility which the police incur in direct
interference with army officers is a grave one. . . . The uniform of
His Majesty the King must not be compromised." Allgemeine
Dienstvorschrift, par. 28.
229
European Police Systems
An army does its work through groups of its units —
divisions, brigades, regiments and companies — in all of
which the private is little more than a cog. Initiative
and imagination not only have no- place in his career, but,
for the sake of discipline, their exhibition is discouraged.
The work of a police force, however, depends upon the
capacity of the individual policeman. On his beat or at
his post he must do his duty alone, usually dealing with
emergencies by his own unaided action. However diffi¬
cult or novel the circumstances which confront him, he
must decide instantly on his own responsibility whether
or not they call for his interference. Only occasionally
is there an opportunity for concerted action in connec¬
tion with his brother officers. For the most part he
must depend upon his own resourcefulness and orig¬
inality, characteristics which an army training leaves un¬
developed. Certainly, in hard-headed common sense, in
ability to meet situations and handle perplexing and
unanticipated problems, the ordinary English constable
is far superior to the Continental Schutzmann or gardien
de là paix. Initiative and imagination have been too
largely drilled out of the German policeman by the rigid
discipline of his army life, leaving him with an excellent
physical carriage and a certain military smartness, but
otherwise not so well adapted as the English constable to
meet the perplexing responsibilities which he individually
is called upon to handle.
Army training for the policeman has another result
that goes to the heart of the distinction between English
and Continental police systems. With the rank and file
of a police force recruited from non-commissioned of-
230
The Uniformed Force
ficers who have spent from six to twelve years in the
army, a certain degree of indifference to the general pub¬
lic tends to develop. The German policeman is apt to
lose sight of his function as a protector and guide, and
to treat the citizens as he was accustomed to treat the
awkward squads of raw recruits whom it was his duty
to knock into shape during his career as an UnterofUzier
in the army. Although the official orders make fre¬
quent reference to the necessity for courtesy and kind¬
ness in dealing with the public,1 the German police, par¬
ticularly in the larger cities, are at times unsympathetic,
even harsh. Traffic is handled in Berlin by dint of much
shouting and some verbal abuse. A citizen who inad¬
vertently, perhaps, disobeys a rule of the road is apt to
be made the object of an impassioned denunciation
audible for half a block. A German policeman on patrol
is armed as if for war. At night a Berlin Schutzmcmn,
in addition to his heavy short-sword, carries an auto¬
matic pistol strapped outside his coat, while the Dresden
patrolmen carry swords, pistols, and brass knuckles.
Nor are these weapons merely ornamental. I have my-
^Thus the Berlin service regulations speak of the " accommo¬
dating, fraternal " attitude required in the relations of the police
to the public. (Allgemeine Dienstvorschrift, par. 4.) The Dres¬
den regu-lations provide as follows : " Officers of the local po¬
lice force must maintain a polite and accommodating attitude to¬
wards the public, yet they must be serious and sedate, and avoid,
on principle, any annoyance of the public by pettiness, unnecessary
severity or interference in affairs which do not touch the service.
They must in all matters be certain of the fact that they are in¬
tended to be the protectors of the public against violators of the
law, or against disturbers of the public peace and order. Yet they
must not aim to improve their efficiency by making many complaints
regarding transgressions, but rather by warning the public as much
as possible against perpetrating such transgressions and keeping
them from such acts." (Dienstvorschriften, par. 66.)
231
European Police Systems
self seen a poor wretch bleeding from saber cuts brought
into a Berlin police station for a misdemeanor. At the
so-called " Battle of Moabit," a strike riot in Berlin in
1911, four English newspaper men standing in an auto¬
mobile watching the proceedings were cut down by the
police, who, apparently losing their heads, slashed right
and left, sabering even the members of their own force
who had been detailed to the scene in plain clothes.
Similar incidents have occurred in other German cities.
In view of their occasional behavior in public, the con¬
tinual charges of brutality levied against the police all
over Germany, of beatings and abuse received in police
stations behind closed doors, can scarcely be without
some foundation. Certainly the policeman in Germany,
and to some extent in Austria, is the object of marked
dislike on the part of the lower classes.
It cannot be claimed,, of course, that the attitude of the
German police toward the public is attributable solely to
their military training, although that factor undoubtedly
plays a prominent part in their conduct. German society
is organized throughout on severe class lines. The police¬
man deals for the most part with his social inferiors, and
the accepted code of general behavior does not require
any particular degree of diplomacy or finesse on his part.
If military service were universal in England and Lon¬
don's police officers had all served from six to nine years
in the army, it is scarcely conceivable that they would
be inconsiderate or even undiplomatic in their treatment
of the English public, for the reason that English society,
even with its class distinctions, is comparatively demo¬
cratic. Manifestations of severity or contempt on the
232
The Uniformed Force
part of one social class toward another are not readily:
tolerated. The instruction book of the Metropolitan
police aptly covers the point : " The first requisite of
discipline/' it says, " is obedience to superiors, the second
is consideration for inferiors." 1 Or again : " Every
member of the force must look on himself as a servant
and guardian of the general public and treat all law-
abiding citizens, irrespective of their social position, with
unfailing patience and courtesy."2 The same note is
struck in the report of the Royal Commission previously
referred to. " It is extremely important," it says, " es¬
pecially in dealing with a people in which the sentiment
1 Metropolitan Police Instruction Book, Chap. Ill, par. i. Simi¬
larly the Liverpool Instruction Book emphasizes the same point:
" The first duty of a member of a disciplined force such as this is
to show proper respect for and to give unquestioning obedience
to the commands of his superiors ; and the second is to give con¬
siderate treatment to his subordinates ; the punishment for failing
in the latter is not less but greater than that for failing in the
first." Liverpool City Police Instructions, p. io.
2 Ibid.j Chap. I, Par. n. Recruits at the Police School are thor¬
oughly inoculated with this spirit. I watched a class at Peel House
that was being drilled in the methods of presenting a case of arrest
to the Inspector at the station house, the instructor of the class
acting for the time being as the Inspector. The following dialogue
ensued :
^ Recruit : "At 2140 this afternoon, sir, I was on duty, in Oxford
Street, when I heard loud cries of 4 Stop, thief ' ! I saw this man
running toward me, closely followed by the prosecutor. I stopped
him until the prosecutor came up. He said (here the recruit re¬
ferred to his official pocket-book) : * This man has stolen a gent's
gold wristlet watch from my shop; I wish to charge him.' The
prisoner then said (again referring to his pocket-book), * This is
monstrous ; I really must protest.' I then took him into custody
and brought him here, sir."
Instructor (suddenly) : " Suppose he had been a well-dressed
man and had said, 4 You are a fool, constable. I am Lord So-and-
so, and I shall report you to the Commissioner for this stupid in¬
solence.' "
Recruit : " I should still have brought him to the station, sir."
Instructor : " Certainly ; all men are equal before the law in
England, regardless of rank or social position. Don't forget that."
233
European Police Systems
of liberty is so ingrained and intolerance of authority so
marked as is the case in this country, that executive
powers should be used in as wise and as gentle a manner
as is consistent with the maintenance of public order/51
This point of view is reflected in the very weapons which
the London " Bobby " carries. Instead of a sword and
pistol, supplemented by a black-jack and brass knuckles,
he has a light wooden truncheon, incapable of inflicting
serious damage.
It is this distinction which stands out most prominently
in any comparison of English and German police. The
London " Bobby 55 from the time he enters the force is
persistently drilled to treat the public with courtesy and
patience. The police instruction book speaks of it most
emphatically. " Above all, remember always to keep
your temper," it says. " A policeman in a passion is not
only ridiculous but useless/5 2 Or again : " By the
employment of tact and conciliatory methods the public
ordinarily can be induced to comply with directions and
thus the necessity of employing force may be obvi¬
ated.55 3 The calm, patient, undisturbed attitude of the
London constable, sometimes under circumstances of the
most irritating and provoking nature, has become prover¬
bial. I saw a large squad of them standing unmoved
and apparently unobservant, when well-aimed stones
were being hurled at them by a group of strikers. When
1 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. I, p. 51.
2 Metropolitan Police Instruction Book, Chap. IV, par. 4.
8 Ibid., Chap. I, par. 12. The instruction book contains much
good advice to policemen. For example : " All sorts of questions
are addressed to a policeman, and you must answer them civilly and
to the best of your ability, and should not be put out by silly or
impudent enquiries or remarks." Chap. IV, par. 3.
234
The Uniformed Force
ordered to charge they did so, calmly and deliberately.
Scorning to use their truncheons, they rolled up their
rubber ponchos and with these weapons beat back their
assailants. The disorder was effectually quelled and no¬
body was hurt. A similar situation in Berlin would have
meant bloodshed and perhaps loss of life. I have seen
London " Bobbies " handle with the greatest good nature
and gentleness crowds of violently disposed suffragettes.
" Now, lady," I heard one of them say, as he picked his
battered helmet from the ground, " I don't want to make
you any trouble, but if you do that again I shall be
obliged to take you into custody." Had the dignity of
a Berlin Schutzmann been thus ruffled, I hesitate to think
what might have happened to the assailant. " I am sev¬
enteen years on the force," a London " Bobby " told me,
" and never once have drawn my club." This remark
reflects the prevailing spirit of the force.
To this general attitude there are unfortunately occa¬
sional exceptions. In a force of 20,000 men human feel¬
ings are at times bound to make their appearance. In
January and February, 1913, a number of constables
were discharged from the force and three were given
prison sentences for " clubbing " and other brutalities.
Occasionally one hears complaints of unnecessary rough¬
ness and discourtesy and even violence, some of which
are probably well based. On the whole, however, the
force enjoys a splendidly deserved reputation for cour¬
tesy, patience, and consideration in its dealings with the
public. Indeed, a London " Bobby " is more or less a
favorite with the people. He is liked, respected, and
generally admired. I once saw a crowd of working-men
235
European Police Systems
roughly handling a chauffeur whose machine had nar¬
rowly escaped knocking down a constable on point duty.
" If 'e'd 'it you, we'd ha' killed 'im," they told the
" Bobby " when he went to the man's rescue. This pub¬
lic attitude of support, which seems to amount almost to
affection, is the product of many years of unstrained
relationship between police and people. It is due to the
fact that the public generally is in full accord not only
with the methods of their constables, but with the laws
which the constables are called upon to enforce. With
unpopular methods or with laws which lack the support
of the community, no such friendly relations can exist.
It is this fact which chiefly accounts for the cordiality
with which the police of Great Britain, as distinguished
from the police of the Continent, are generally regarded.
236
CHAPTER VII
the uniformed force (continued)
Salaries.— General inadequacy of pay.— Extra allowances.— Pro¬
visions for care of police.— Promotions.— Pensions.— Hours of
duty.—Discipline.— Absolute power of Commissioner in enforcing
discipline.— Exceptions.— Methods of controlling force.— The cen¬
tralized supervision of the Paris Contrôle général.— Objections to
this method in London and Berlin.— Vienna's Bureau of Organiza¬
tion and Control.— Annual divisional examinations in Budapest.—
Berlin's "Beat Control Book."—>Variations in Amsterdam, Ham¬
burg, and London.— Periodic change of London's beats.— Berlin's
records of employees.— Mechanical equipment in Berlin headquar¬
ters.— Presence of supervising inspectors in London police courts.—
Daily reports of London's divisions.
In connection with the uniformed force, questions re¬
lating to salaries, promotions, pensions, hours of duty,
discipline and the general systems of report and control
remain to be considered in this chapter. For the sake of
clearness and convenience, these various topics will be
discussed under appropriate headings.
Salaries.
The salary schedule of European policemen ap¬
pears in the table on the next page. The average
maximum wage is $464.61 per annum. The average
minimum wage is $326.01 per annum. These figures
do not include certain small extras which are often given
the police, such as boot, coal and rent allowances, and it
should be remembered that the men receiving these sal-
237
European Police Systems
ANNUAL SALARIES OF PATROLMEN IN THE PRINCI¬
PAL CITIES OF EUROPE
City Minimum Maximum
London :
Metropolitan Force $336.96 $436.80
City of London 355-68 549-12
Liverpool 336.96 449-28
Manchester 336.96 449.28
Glasgow 3I3-04 436.80
Berlin 333-20 499.80
Hamburg 464.10 666.40
Dresden 404.60 499-8o
Stuttgart 380.80 571.20
Paris 405.30 482.50
Vienna 283.18 503.44
Budapest 203.00 203.00
Amsterdam 292.60 344-85
Rotterdam 282.15 344-85
Brussels 347-40 434-25
Rome (Municipal Police) 231.60 231.60
Madrid 180,00 225.00
Barcelona 180.00 225.00
Lisbon 180.00 270.00
Berne 425.00 618.00
Zurich 386.00 637.60
Christiania 348.00 536.00
Bergen 351.00 432.00
Copenhagen 348.00 509.00
Stockholm 402.00 616.40
Average 326.01 464.61
238
The Uniformed Force
aries are not required to furnish their own4 uni forms and
equipment. Throughout Europe uniforms are provided
either directly by the departments, or in the shape of
specified annual allowances which the men are not per¬
mitted to exceed. Other details of their equipment are
furnished directly by the departments.1
In estimating the apparent inadequacy of these wages,
there are several factors which must be considered. In
the first place, each policeman, at the completion of a
fixed period of definite service, is assured of a pension
which in part at least will relieve the anxieties of his de¬
clining' years.2 In the second place, it must be remem-
1 In most European cities, the uniforms are provided by the de¬
partment's tailors. In fact, the tailoring branch of a police force
is often a very elaborate establishment and the budget item is cor¬
respondingly large. In London, the annual cost to the department
for clothes and equipment averages $575,000, approximately $25.00
for each man. In Liverpool, the cost amounts to $65,000; in Am¬
sterdam, $47,000; in Paris, $360,000. The uniforms range all the
way from the extreme simplicity of the English constable's costume
to the elaborate military regalia used in some of the Continental
cities. The poorest uniforms of any of the police departments
which I visited I saw in Glasgow, where, as I have already re¬
marked, the whole force presented a down-at-the-heel appearance;
the most elaborate uniforms were seen in Hamburg. Generally
speaking, the uniforms of the Continental police are cut on a strict
military pattern, while the English uniforms are for the most part
loose-fitting garments, not suggestive of the military.
_ The equipment of the European police follows along similar
lines. In London, a constable carries no firearms of any descrip¬
tion, his only weapon being, as we have seen, a light truncheon.
On the Continent, the policemen invariably carry swords and pis¬
tols. Generally the former weapons are short and serviceable. In
some countries, particularly in Austria and Hungary, very^ heavy
cavalry swords are carried, implements which frequently impede
the movements of the police in regulating traffic, etc. In addition
to these weapons, the Continental police often carry " black¬
jacks" and brass knuckles. In Amsterdam the police carry around
their waists ropes fitted with hooks to rescue unfortunates who
have fallen into the canals.
2 The matter of pensions is discussed in a later section of this
chapter.
239
European Police Systems
bered that the cost of living in European cities, particu¬
larly on the Continent, is comparatively moderate, in no
way approaching that of the cities of the New World.
A salary that would be totally inadequate in New York,
San Francisco or Rio Janeiro, would not necessarily be
so in London, Berlin, or Madrid. Not only is the cost
of living lower in Europe, but the standard of living is
lower. The stratified organization of European society
involving the fixed position of those classes which con¬
tribute the recruits to the police departments, produces a
type, which, because opportunities for great advance¬
ment are closed, is contented with far less in the way of
comfort and convenience than would be the case in a
less rigid social order, where all may compete more or
less freely for great prizes.
The low salaries of the European police are further
offset by the painstaking provision which is made by
the departments to enable their men to live economi¬
cally and with a fair degree of comfort. In London,
approximately 4,500 unmarried men are housed in regu¬
lar police barracks, called section houses, of which there
are twenty-eight. These houses are equipped with such
conveniences as billiard and lounging rooms, libraries,
locker rooms and baths. Each man has his separate
cubicle or sleeping apartment, neatly and often attrac¬
tively arranged with a writing table, a clothes press and
other appropriate furniture. Breakfasts and teas he
prepares for himself in the section house kitchen; din¬
ners are served on the club plan. Each section house
has its " canteen," where bread, biscuits, and other food
stuffs, together with ale, beer and stout, can be had ap-
240
The Uniformed Force
proximately at cost. The expenses of the house, includ¬
ing the cleaning, are averaged weekly among the men
and amount approximately to $1.75 for each individual.
Married constables are generally given a lodging allow¬
ance of from 36 to 62 cents a week, according to the dis¬
trict in which they live. In the City of London proper,
the corporation owns 52 tenements which are reserved
for the use of married policemen and which rent for from
$1.37 to $2.37 a week. For its unmarried constables,
the city maintains six section houses with accommodations
similar to those in the Metropolitan district. Liverpool
has no such system for housing her police. Twenty years
ago, a large section house was maintained for 300 un¬
married constables. It was abandoned, however, as a
consequence of many complaints concerning gambling
and the misuse of the canteen. In Glasgow, 130 married
policemen and their families live in houses owned by the
corporation, the rent in each case being a moderate one,
graded according to location. In addition, there are two
rather inferior barracks, housing altogether approxi¬
mately 175 men, where each has his own room for which
he pays 43 cents a week. Dinners are served on the club
plan, as in London. No canteens are allowed.
Berlin, Paris and Hamburg are without police bar¬
racks and the policemen live in their own homes. Many
of the Continental cities give weekly or monthly allow¬
ances to members of their police forces to cover the cost
of rent. Berlin, indeed, spends over $1,000,000 a year
on this item alone, the individual allowances varying
from rank to rank. In Vienna, each division has its
own barracks for single men where the constables are
241
European Police Systems
housed in immaculate dormitories containing from three
to seven beds, rather than in rooms or cubicles. The
lodging is free. The barracks are well equipped with
lounging rooms and lavatory facilities, and each has its
own canteen. As in London, the men obtain their break¬
fasts and teas themselves, and dinners are served in the
barracks on the club plan at a cost of 13 cents (64 heller).
Policemen are not allowed to marry until they have been
three years in the service, and after marriage they are
given an allowance of $40.00 (200 Kronen) annually
for house rent. Budapest has six excellently equipped
barracks, where the men are housed on the dormitory
system at a very small cost. In Dresden, the precinct
stations are attractively fitted up to serve as barracks,
with baths,1 lounging rooms, and other conveniences. In¬
deed, a Dresden police station with its lawns and flow¬
ers looks more like a private residence than an official
building.
Policemen throughout Europe are entitled also to free
medical service. In many cities this privilege includes
their families, and in some instances the other advantages
to which they are entitled are worth taking into account.
Thus, in Rotterdam, a policeman's children in bad health
may be sent to the seashore, or his wife may enter a sani¬
tarium, at the expense of the city.
But even with the efforts which are made in many cities
to furnish the policemen with living conveniences at
moderate cost, it cannot be denied that the salaries paid
them are, in many instances, too low. In Rome, for
1 As an example of the German passion for system, each pre¬
cinct station in Dresden has its " shower-bath registry book " to
control the bathing of the men.
242
The Uniformed Force
example, $230 a year is not a living wage for a man with
a family. The same remark is applicable to other cities.
The recent police demonstration in London over the
question of salaries and the recurring attempts to
" unionize " the force find substantial basis in a real need.
The willingness of the police in many English and Con¬
tinental cities to accept tips from the public is ascrib-
able in part at least to the fact that they are underpaid.
Even the rugged London constable is not free from the
habit. Indeed, it is seldom that one finds a " Bobby "
who will not gratefully receive a small recompense for a
favor. I have seen one of them, upon the receipt of a
sixpence, run half a block to call a cab.
This condition, of course, is not entirely due to low
wages. It is due as much to social custom. In a coun¬
try like Austria, where one must tip the street-car
conductor and the shop-keeper, the sales-girl and the
bank-clerk, where many hands are outstretched for a bit
of silver, it is not surprising that the police should expect
their proportionate share.1 But a niggardly policy such
as is practised in many cities puts too great a strain upon
the ability of the average policeman to withstand the
temptation from which, more than most governmental
employees, he should be specially shielded. Sooner or
later, European cities will have to face this situation.
Hamburg and Stockholm have led the way with some
substantial increases. London, Glasgow and the English
1 Occasionally the greed for tips ripens into something ^ worse.
The American consular officers of some of the smaller cities in
Spain inform me that the dishonesty of their police forces is no¬
torious and is due to nothing less than the inability of the police¬
man to live upon the salary which he receives.
243
European Police Systems
cities generally, together with Paris, Berlin and all the
other Continental municipalities, cannot long afford to lag
behind.
An interesting point in connection with the matter of
salaries is the fact that police departments often charge
private individuals and companies for the wages of men
specially detailed. This system obtains in many of the
Continental cities, and especially in London and the pro¬
vincial cities of England. It is based on the theory that
every person in the community is entitled to an equal
share of police protection; if an individual wishes an
excessive share he can have it only if he pays for it.
Thus, the police of London are often detailed to wed¬
dings, receptions and other social functions, or to rail¬
road-stations and theaters, and the parties benefited are
charged for the service, the charge consisting of the sal¬
ary of the men on duty for the time of the detail and in
addition the proportionate overhead cost of maintenance
and supervision. Similarly the owner of extensive
property may have a constable or constables in his
grounds during the night if he is willing to pay.1 Cer-
tain manufacturers have policemen in uniform at their
gates twenty-four hours out of the day. At Ascot and
Derby, the great racing events are all policed by the Lon¬
don Metropolitan police and are paid for, not by the de¬
partment, but by the proprietors of the race tracks.
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 1912, the Metro¬
politan Police Force received roughly $83,000 from
1 Private " patrols " operated by private companies as an extra
precaution against criminals are not allowed on the public streets
of London, although there is no objection to maintaining watch¬
men or guards on one's own property.
244
The Uniformed Force
business corporations and individuals for what might be
called " extra-police " work. Similarly in Liverpool, 400
men are continuously assigned for duty to the Mersey
Dock and Harbor Board, and their salaries, the cost of
their clothes, and their proportion of supervision charges,
amounting to $225,000 per annum, are paid by the Board
to the police department.
Promotions.
We have seen that promotion from the grade of
policeman to higher grades in the department, is possi¬
ble in Europe only to a limited extent. In Berlin, Stutt¬
gart, Budapest, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and many other
cities, the patrolman may not rise above the grade of
first sergeant. In Vienna, he may occasionally become
a commissioned officer of low rank, but such promotions
are exceptional. In Dresden and Hamburg, he may
never become a commissioned officer, although he ap¬
pears frequently to perform the functions of one.1 In
Paris, while there is no regulation to prevent promotion
to the rank of captain (officier de paix), the severity of
the qualifying examinations serves as an intentional
check, and few patrolmen ever reach even the grade of
lieutenant. Only in England are the restrictions to pro¬
motion removed, and even here definite limits are some¬
times imposed, as, for example, in London where no con¬
stable is allowed to rise above the rank of superintendent.
In nearly all European departments these promo-
1 In Dresden and Hamburg patrolmen may rise to the rank of
Inspektor and Distriktkommissar respectively. The former title
corresponds to Berlin's first sergeant (Oberwachtmeister) ;
the latter is more than a first sergeant, and less than a lieutenant.
245
European Police Systems
tions from rank to rank, wherever allowed, follow as a
result of qualifying examinations and sometimes of a
prescribed course of school work. This, however, is not
always the case. Even in so progressive a department as
Dresden's there were, until recently, no courses or exam¬
inations of any description, and the promotions were
made by the Minister of the Interior of Saxony upon the
recommendation of the Police President. The general
English system of promotion is by examination; the Con¬
tinental system ordinarily involves a special school course
given by the police authorities.
London's methods in this matter are sufficiently char¬
acteristic of the English system to warrant separate
consideration. A candidate for promotion to the rank
of sergeant in London must have served at least five
years as a constable,1 and must receive from the Com¬
missioner, before he tries his examination, a certificate of
fitness issued upon the recommendation of his division
superintendent. The Commissioner has the absolute
right to bar a man from trying an examination when he
believes him unfit on the ground of character, tempera¬
ment, general efficiency, or for any other reason. Ordi¬
narily, however, the Commissioner intervenes only when
a man's record of punishments 2 is such as to raise doubts
as to his general steadiness or sobriety.
The candidate attends no regular school or class.
Whatever knowledge he acquires he must pick up for
himself from his officers or from the " general orders
book " and police manuals. There are two sets of exam-
1 The average length of service of a constable before promotion
to the grade of sergeant is eight years, three months.
3 Called " Defaulter Sheet " in London.
246
The Uniformed Force
inations which he must try—- one given by the Civil
Service Commission to test his general educational capac¬
ities, and the other, a very searching one, by the officials
of the police department in police duty. The latter
examination is regarded as of far greater importance ;
it is both oral and written, the oral examination being
given by a board of three superintendents and a chief
constable. The civil service examination is not a stat¬
utory obligation. Officially the Civil Service Commis¬
sion has nothing whatever to do with London's police
force as regards either entrance or promotion. Its ex¬
aminations are given only upon the invitation of the
Police Commissioner and are not binding upon him in
any way. Its services are employed merely to assist the
police department in weeding out men whose lack of
education makes them unfit for promotion. In special
cases, men are promoted who cannot pass the civil service
examination, although under such circumstances, it is
generally customary to secure the formal approval of the
Home Office. Thus a thoroughly equipped policeman,
with a good record, who gives promise of making an
excellent officer and passes his examinations in police
duty with no difficulty is occasionally promoted regard¬
less of his inability to satisfy the Civil Service Commis¬
sion. The entire system rests upon the judgment of the
Commissioner. It is assumed — and the assumption is
well based — that favoritism and politics will play no
part in the result, because it is greatly to the advantage
of the department, and of the Commissioner as head of
the department, that the best men obtainable should be
secured as officers. Who, therefore, has any greater in-
247
European Police Systems
terest in securing the best men than the Commissioner
himself?
With the examination passed, promotion does not
necessarily follow in the order of marks received. Here
again the matter rests entirely in the discretion of the
Commissioner. Marks alone count for little ; police
serviceability is the all-important factor. Lists are made
up of those who have passed the examinations, the names
being arranged in order of merit as determined by the
Commissioner, his assistants and the superintendents
who have had relations with the men. The Commis¬
sioner is not obliged by statute or otherwise to promote
men whom he does not regard as fitted for the new tasks.
Indeed, it sometimes happens that men who have satis¬
factorily passed their examinations never receive a pro¬
motion. This is true not only in London, but in every
provincial city of England and Scotland, although for
the most part undesirable candidates are not allowed to
take the examinations in the first place. The Head Con¬
stable of Liverpool expressed himself to the writer on
this point as follows : " Examination for promotion is
important, but it is the least important standard. The
personal equation must always be the final determin¬
ing factor." 1 The officials of the Home Office spoke
in similar vein. " An examination cannot test a man's
iThe system in provincial cities is very similar to that of Lon¬
don. In Liverpool, a candidate for the grade of sergeant must
have served seven years as a constable before he is allowed to try
his examination, which is a written one, and includes police duty,
arithmetic, and writing from dictation. Promotion from sergeant
to inspector is also by written examination, in police duty, arith¬
metic, geography, and "general intelligence," the last named de¬
signed to bring out not only the general efficiency of the candidate
but his ability to express himself in English.
248
The Uniformed Force
ability or fitness for promotion/' said one of them.
" He may neglect his duties and cram on fine points that
look and sound well, so that in the examination he ap¬
pears to far better advantage than the man who has in
him the makings of a better officer/' Perhaps the most
emphatic testimony on this point came from Manchester.
For some years they tried the system of promoting men
in the order in which they passed their examinations.
Eventually they gave it up. " It did n't work," the Chief
Superintendent told me. "We were n't getting in our
best men as officers. We came to the conclusion that an
examination is only one test out of many of a man's
efficiency."
With more or less variation, the process of examina¬
tion which I have outlined above and the method of
selecting the candidates which follows from it are re¬
peated for promotion as between all ranks, that is, in
London, from sergeant to station sergeant, from station
sergeant to inspector, from inspector to subdivisional in¬
spector, from subdivisional inspector to chief inspector.
No separate examination is necessary, however, for pro¬
motion from chief inspector to superintendent.1 That
such a system of promotion is successful in bringing to
1 In his testimony before the Royal Commission^ Sir Edward
Henry, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, gave the
following average periods of total service in the force before pro¬
motion from one rank to another:
Years Months
Constable to Sergeant
.. 8
3
Sergeant to Station Sergeant
.. 14
7
Station Sergeant to Inspector
». 15
11
Inspector to Subdivisional Inspector
S
Subdivisional Inspector to Chief Inspector...
5
(Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. II, p. 5.)
249
European Police Systems
the front the best men available, that it is carried through
without favoritism or political considerations, that in its
fairness and justice it has the confidence of the uniformed
force, is a splendid commentary, not only on the integrity
of the Commissioner and his administrative assistants,
but on the stability and sound traditions of the entire
department.
In marked distinction to the English method, promo¬
tion to the rank of sergeant ( Wachtmeister) in Berlin
involves a prescribed course of study, with lectures, reci¬
tations and other features of a regularly organized
school. Indeed the Wachtmeister school is one of the
important activities of every well organized police de¬
partment in Germany and Austria. According to the
German theory, a course of private study by an indi¬
vidual with the idea of passing an examination is not
sufficient in itself to equip a policeman for his new duties
as a sergeant. He must enter a school and be thor¬
oughly drilled by competent police instructors. In Ber¬
lin,1 therefore, the first step is to select from the ranks
of the patrolmen the most promising material. These
selections are made by the captains of the districts upon
the basis of record, aptitude, and intelligence, and ap¬
proximately thirty men are chosen at a time. In charge
of the higher commissioned officers of the department,
both from the uniformed and detective forces, the course
is repeated twice a year, for two hours a day, a total of
120 hours. It includes instruction in reading, writing,
geography, arithmetic, and history, together with a thor¬
ough drill in German police theory and duty. In this
1 The course in Berlin was first established in 1895.
250
The Uniformed Force
last respect it covers the laws relating to construction of
buildings, hospital regulations, homeless children, the
supervision of business and the many general functions
in which the Berlin police interest themselves. It also
includes instruction in some of the advanced sections of
the penal code and the code of criminal procedure, and
in matters relating to the prevention and detection of
crime, such as the various methods of identification, the
Meldewesen and Steckbrief systems,1 and other similar
aids.2 At the end of the course the candidates
are obliged to pass a series of examinations, both written
and oral. If successful, they become " trial " Wacht-
meisters, and are promoted to vacancies in the order of
the marks which they have received.
In Vienna, the term of the promotion school lasts an
entire year, occupying two hours a day for three days a
week, and the course is even more elaborately organized
than in Berlin. Candidates are required not only to
understand the intimate details of Austrian criminal law
and police duty, but also to have an expert knowledge
of telegraphy and to be intimately acquainted with many
of the technical arts and sciences which are associated
with the policeman's profession. In addition to this, in¬
struction is given in geography, history, reading and
writing.3 As is true of the Vienna training school for
recruits, so too the Vienna promotion school is the best
^•See Chap. IX, p. 350.
2 For a complete syllabus of the course, see Lehrplan fur die
Vorbereitungsschule der Polizei-Wachtmeister-Aspiranten, a leaflet
issued by the police department.
3 An outline of the course is given in the police instruction
book, Organisation und Instruktion der Wiener k. k. Sicher-
heitswache, pp. 69 ff.
251
European Police Systems
of its kind in Europe. The man who becomes a police
sergeant in Vienna is a thoroughly trained officer, with a
broad knowledge of police duty and the basis of a good
education.1 To a greater or less extent this statement
is true of every city on the Continent.2
Pensions.
Almost without exception the police of Europe are
entitled to a pension upon retirement, or at least a
money premium or superannuation allowance. For the
county and borough forces of England and Wales, in¬
cluding the Metropolitan system, pensions are governed
by a general act of Parliament.3 Under that act a
police officer is entitled to a pension for life when he has
completed twenty-five years of approved service, or if,
after completing fifteen years of service, he becomes in¬
capacitated, or at any time if he becomes incapacitated
1 Space is lacking in which to describe fully other schools of
promotion. In Amsterdam, the candidates for promotion are
chosen to try the qualifying examinations on the basis of seniority.
Only a passing mark is # required and the men are appointed to
vacancies as they occur, in the order of seniority. Rotterdam, on
the other hand, has a promotion school to which men are appointed
on the basis both of capability and seniority. Stuttgart holds its
Wachtmeister school in the evening, so as not to interfere with
the^ regular work of the men.^ In Dresden, there is a new Wacht¬
meister school, which began its work in 1914, and which extends
over a period of eight and a half months. It is divided into two
parts : the first, of four hours a week, includes theoretical instruc¬
tion; the second part has to do with practical instruction and lasts
from 8 to 12 and from 3 to 6 o'clock for the last three weeks of
the course. The course concludes with a written examination.
2 In the general absence of any machinery of promotion above
the rank of sergeant, there is, of course, no necessity to repeat the
system of instruction with other grades.
8 The Police Act of 1890, supplemented by the Act of 1906.
Pensions of the police of the City of London are similar to those
of other English police bodies and are based on the police super¬
annuation act of 1889 and 1894.
252
The Uniformed Force
as a result of an injury received in the execution of his
duty. Elaborate scales, on a minimum and maximum
basis, have been worked out under the authority of the
law. At the end of twenty-five years' service, a police¬
man may ordinarily retire with a pension of 3i»50ths of
his pay. If he elects to continue for another year or
more, he receives a maximum pension of two-thirds of
his pay. The pensions based on injury have their own
rates and scales.1
In Paris, practically similar arrangements are in force.
A policeman is entitled to a pension at the end of twenty-
five years' service, which includes, however, his service
in the army. The pension amounts to the average yearly
salary for the previous three years, although at any time
after fifteen years of service he is entitled to a pension
which is estimated at the rate of one-fiftieth part of the
average salary of the previous three years for each year
of approved service.
In Amsterdam, pensions are granted to police officials
who have served thirty consecutive years and have
reached the age of sixty-five, or who at the time of retire¬
ment are seventy years old, or who become incapaci¬
tated for duty. Ordinarily, the pension is one-half the
amount of the salary at the time of retirement. In case
an official is retired who has served less than thirty years,
the pension is one-half of his salary at the time of his re¬
tirement, minus one-fiftieth thereof for each full year
less than thirty that he has served.
1 For a complete statement of the # working of the pension act
in England, see the article on " Police " in the Encyclopedia of
Local Government Law. The article is written by H. B. Simpson,
Principal Clerk in the Home Office.
253
European Police Systems
In Berlin and in German and Austrian cities gener¬
ally, owing to the fact that the police departments are
usually controlled by the government rather than by the
municipalities, the police pension system has no separate
existence, but is part of the general system for the pen¬
sioning of all government employees. In Berlin, ser¬
geants and policemen, at the end of eighteen years of
service with the police force, are entitled each to a pre¬
mium of 1,000 M. in addition to their regular pension
under the Civil Pension Act. The pension is given only
in cases of actual unfitness for duty, so that a policeman
serves until he becomes incapacitated instead of being
retired at the end of a stated period.1 As we have al¬
ready seen,2 however, fifteen years' service in the army
and police force combined entitles a policeman to his civil
papers ( Zivilversorgungsschein ) by which he has the pre¬
ferred right of employment in the governmental service;
and most of the policemen of Germany, availing them¬
selves of this privilege, enter some other branch of the
government where so active a life is not demanded.
In Vienna, after ten years of service, a policeman is
entitled to a pension amounting to forty per cent, of his
salary.8 To this sum two per cent, is added for each
1 Bearing in mind the fact that in Prussian cities, except in the
case of officers who have reached the age of 65 years, pensions are
given only in cases of unfitness for service, the pension amounts
after ten years of service to 2%oths of the salary, the length of
service including the time served by the police officer in the army.
For each additional year up to the thirtieth year of service, %oth
of the salary is added, andt thereafter H2oth per year is added
up to a total of 4%oths. Final decision is in the^ hands of the
Minister of Finance. For a description of the various classes of
the Civil Pension Act, see Hue de Grais, loc. cit., par. 74.
2 See note 3, p. 206.
3 Law of April 20, 1873.
254
The Uniformed Force
additional year of service, so that after forty years the
full salary is due in the form of a pension. Ordinarily,
however, the full salary as a pension is allowed after
thirty-five years' service. In case of bodily injury re¬
ceived in the execution of his duties, ten years are added
to a policeman's service record in calculating the amount
of his pension.
Hours of Duty for Policemen.
Nearly every European city has developed its own sys¬
tem in regard to the hours of duty of its police force. In
English cities, the police work a total of eight hours a day
and no more. In London, for example, the night duty of
the patrol beats is from 10 p. m. to 6 a. m.; day duty is
divided into two reliefs. The men of the first relief per¬
form their duty between the hours of 6 a. m. and 10
a. m., and 2 p. m. and 6 p. m., while the second relief is
on duty from io a. m. to 2 p. m. and from 6 p. m. to io
p. m.1 In addition to this regular duty there is " point "
duty (largely for the control of traffic), also divided into
two reliefs, the first relief being on duty from 9 a. m.
to 1 p. m. and from 5 p. m. to 9 p. m., and the second
relief from 1 p. m. to 5 p. m., and from 9 p. m. to 1 a. m.
In addition, there are men on " reserve patrol duty " for
crowded sections, covering the principal highways and
difficult traffic points. Their hours are from 10 a. m. to
7 p. m., with one hour off for lunch. There is also an
1 This statement holds true for the inner divisions only : that is,
for the divisions where business and population are most thickly
centered. In the outer divisions the hours of duty are eight hours
straight.
255
European Police Systems
" evening patrol " to augment the regular beats, from 7
p. m. to 3 a. M.
In Liverpool and other of the provincial cities of Eng¬
land, the " beat duty " consists of three shifts of eight
hours each, from 6 a. m. to 2 p. mv from 2 p. m. to 10
p. m. and from 10 p. m. to 6 a. mv the last shift contain¬
ing twice as many men as the first two shifts combined.
In addition to this there is fixed point duty and evening
patrol, similar to London's system. Throughout Eng¬
land, under the operation of the new law,1 every patrol¬
man has one day's rest in seven.
Berlin has experimented with many systems, and has
finally adopted an alternating form under which her po¬
licemen are on duty for twenty-four hours and free for
the succeeding twenty-four hours. A policeman in
Berlin goes on duty at 1 p. m., and between that time and
11 p.m. he alternates between street duty and reserve
duty at the station, in two and a half hour periods.
From 11 p. m. to 8 a.m., the alternating periods are
three hours long, the reserves at the station being al¬
lowed to sleep. At 8 a. m., the day's service with its
two and a half hour periods again begins. At 1 p. m.
he is relieved for 24 hours. For example, a patrolman
goes on duty at 1 p. m. and is assigned to the reserve at
the station house. At 3.30 he goes to his beat; at 6
o'clock he is again on reserve; at 8.30 he goes on the
street; at 11 p. m. he is on reserve and is allowed to sleep
until 2 a. m., when he once more goes on street duty, re¬
turning at 5 a. m. He sleeps until 8 a. m., then resumes
his patrol duty until 10.30 a. m. Between 10.30 and 1
1 Act of 1910. 10 Edw. VII & 1 Geo. V. c. 13.
256
The Uniformed Force
p. m. he is on reserve at the station. He is then relieved
for twenty-four hours, having had six hours' sleep at the
station, or three hours if he had the first tour of night
duty on the street.
The systems of Vienna, Budapest, and Hamburg are
similar to that of Berlin: twenty-four hours' duty is fol¬
lowed by twenty-four hours' free time. In Vienna and
Budapest, however, there is no distinction between day
and night duty in terms of two-and-a-half and three-hour
periods as in Berlin, the alternating periods being uni¬
formly three hours each. In Dresden and Hamburg, the
alternating periods are two hours each. Paris has its
own peculiar system. The force of each arrondisse¬
ment is divided into three parts, known by the letters A,
B and C, each relaying the others in accordance with the
following table :
First
Second
Third
Hours on duty
day
day
day
Midnight to 6 o'clock
A
B
C
6 o'clock to noon
B
C
A
Noon to 6 o'clock
C
A
B
6 o'clock to midnight
A
B
C
Under this system a policeman is on duty twelve hours
every third day and six hours on other days, an aver¬
age of eight hours a day. Reserve duty is performed
by regular reserve men stationed at headquarters, who
have their own hours and are used for this particular
kind of duty only.
257
European Police Systems
Discipline.
In discussing the methods by which discipline is en¬
forced in the European police departments, we must
first call attention to one or two general principles. Al¬
most invariably the right to discipline members of the
police force, particularly of the rank and file, rests in
the last analysis with the Commissioner, although to
this there are exceptions. The usual attitude of a Eu¬
ropean city toward its Police Commissioner is one of
trust. When, after careful selection, it chooses a
man to head its police force, it endows him with ample
powers and expects him to use them wisely. Only in a
few of the provincial cities of England, in the Dutch
cities, and in the smaller municipalities of Germany, is
there any disposition to tie the hands of the Commis¬
sioner, or to prevent his exercising free and almost un¬
restricted control over the men who constitute the uni¬
formed force. Seldom is there an attempt to surround
him with any system of checks and balances, or to erect
barriers against the possible abuse of his powers. Thus,
in London, the Commissioner is the final and absolute au¬
thority on all matters of discipline, and while occasional
endeavors are made to secure from the Home Secretary
a reversal of the Commissioner's decisions, such at¬
tempts have invariably proved fruitless. The Commis¬
sioner may levy fines, make reductions in rank or in rate
of pay, or dismiss uniformed members of his force, and
no court, tribunal or other external body, has power to
review his action. This is true in nearly every large city
of Europe. To be sure, in Berlin and in other German
258
The Uniformed Force
cities where the police department is controlled by the
central government, and where its members are part of
a vast and intricate official system, the higher officers
and even the representatives of the uniformed force who
have received life appointments must, before they can
be removed, be tried before a special court1 of which we
shall speak later; but as a matter of practice the police
president experiences little difficulty in ridding his de¬
partment of inefficient men.
We have seen that in the Dutch cities and in some of
the smaller cities of England and Germany there is a
disposition on the part of the authorities to hamper the
action of their police commissioners in matters of dis¬
cipline. We have also seen2 how the restrictions
which the Watch Committees of some of the English
towns throw around their chief constables have often
led to unhappy consequences. The fact that the chief
constable is often overruled in his attempted disciplin¬
ary measures and the opportunity offered an accused
policeman to solicit sympathy and support among the
individual members of the Committee have resulted in
inharmonious conditions, and occasionally in badly dis¬
organized departments. Indeed, where the Watch Com¬
mittee has assumed to pass in the first instance on all
disciplinary cases, as in Manchester, situations bordering
on demoralization have more than once developed.
In Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Stuttgart, Leipzig, Ulm,
and in other cities where the municipal authorities have
asserted their right of interference, similar conditions
1 Disciplinargerichtshof. See p. 262.
2 See Chap. II, page 53.
259
European Police Systems
have arisen. In Stuttgart, for example, the Commis¬
sioner's disciplinary power is limited to transfer, demo¬
tion, or fines not exceeding fifteen marks. Fines from
fifteen marks to one month's salary can be levied only
with the consent of the Burgomaster. Dismissal is im¬
possible except with the concurrence of the town council
(Gemeinderat). As a result the force has at various
times been badly disorganized and the relations between
the council and the Commissioner (Polizeidirektor) are
often strained. There are cases on record in Stuttgart,
as has already been pointed out, where an officer has
been dismissed by the Commissioner three times, only
to be reinstated in each instance by the town council.
In speaking to me of this matter, the Commissioner gave
three reasons why he is so often overruled: the failure
of the town council to understand the case, politics, and
" soft-heartedness." " They do not appreciate," he said,
" the effect of their actions on the discipline of the force."
Stuttgart's disastrous experience is, however, exceptional.
In most of the cities of Europe, certainly in the larger
capitals and centers of trade, the Commissioner possesses
adequate authority to discipline the men of the rank and
file as he deems best.1
As may be expected, the machinery by which disci-
1 In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the Dutch cities generally,
and in many of the smaller towns on the Continent where the po¬
lice department is under the control of the municipality, police¬
men can only be removed by the burgomaster, although lesser
punishments are ordinarily imposed by the commissioner. In
Rotterdam, all members of the police force, except the Head
Commissioner and his assistants, who, as we have seen, are desig¬
nated by the Crown, are appointed by the burgomaster for one
year only, a survival of an ancient city ordinance. Legally, the
burgomaster could at any time appoint an entirely yew police
force. Advantage, however, has never been taken of this situation.
2ÔO
The Uniformed Force
pline is enforced in the different police departments varies
widely. In London, punishments are meted out by the
superintendents of the divisions, by the chief con¬
stables, and by a Disciplinary Board, consisting of the
Administrative Assistant Commissioner, a chief consta¬
ble and a superintendent. The cases which come before
the superintendent involve minor derelictions committed
by constables, punishable with a maximum of two days'
pay. The chief constables handle the more serious cases
relating to constables and sergeants punishable with fines
amounting to not more than four days' pay. The as¬
sistant commissioner handles cases relating to higher
officers or involving severe penalties, while the Disci¬
plinary Board, which is called at the direction of the
assistant commissioner, sits practically as a court-mar¬
tial to consider cases punishable with dismissal or re¬
duction in rank or pay. There is an appeal from a
punishment imposed by a superintendent to a chief con¬
stable; from the chief constable to a Disciplinary Board;
and from the Board to the Commissioner, from whose
decisions there is no appeal. An appeal is only allowed,
however, if the accused has made his whole case and
called all his witnesses at the original hearing, and it
must be lodged at the time the punishment is imposed.
The higher authority may reject or allow the appeal or
may vary the original decision either by increasing or
reducing the punishment.1 A fine cannot exceed seven
days' pay. On the other hand, reductions in rates of
pay are often made. A strict record is kept of all
penalties imposed on any police officer. If a man has
1 See Metropolitan Police Instruction Book, Chap. Ill, par. 6.
261
European Police Systems
no offense recorded against him for ten years, and if his
service has been meritorious, the Commissioner may
allow entries on his defaulter's sheet more than ten years
old to be canceled.1
In the provincial cities of England, the Watch Com¬
mittees have full authority to discipline the officers and
the men of the police force.2 The right of the chief
constables, therefore, depends altogether upon the pow¬
ers delegated to them by the Watch Committees. Some
chief constables are given large powers in the way of
discipline, and their acts are ratified without question.
Others are compelled to seek from the Watch Commit¬
tees authority for every act, a necessity detrimental not
only to good discipline but to the general morale of the
force.
In Berlin, all disciplinary cases are investigated in the
first instance by the Hauptmann or head of the divi¬
sion, who makes a report to his major. Matters in¬
volving only a reprimand are handled directly by the
three majors; more serious delinquencies are punished
by the head of the uniformed force ( Oberst) or by the Po¬
lice President. From the decision of the Police President
there is no appeal. The punishments include reprimand,
fine, imprisonment, not exceeding eight days, transfer
and dismissal. In case a policeman has received a life
appointment, which is ordinarily given him after he has
served creditably for seven years in the department, he
may not be removed except after a trial before the Dis-
ciplinargerichtshof, a state court composed of a president
1 Ibid., Chap. Ill, par. 5.
2 See Chap. II, page 51.
262
The Uniformed Force
and five associates which sits to determine the guilt or
innocence of royal officials. This holds not only for Ber¬
lin but also for other Prussian cities whose police forces
are royal forces controlled by the central government.
All officials, whether in the police department or not,
whose tenure of office is for life, have the right to be
tried before this court for offenses involving dismissal.
If found guilty they are dismissed by the Prussian Min¬
ister of the Interior, to whom an appeal may be taken
from the finding of the court.1 The wishes of a police
president, however, readily find support.
Vienna's system embodies certain modifications of the
foregoing plan. There is no administrative court for
the trial of officials, as in Berlin. Cases involving demo¬
tion or dismissal are heard, as in London, before a dis¬
ciplinary court, appointed by the Police President. The
personnel of the court changes with each case; it con¬
sists ordinarily of four commissioned officers of vary¬
ing ranks, one of whom, the chairman, is not allowed to
vote. Only the Police President has the right to demote
or dismiss and he may accept or reject the finding and
recommendation of the disciplinary board. However, an
appeal is allowed from the action of the Police President
to the Statthalter, or royal governor of the province of
Lower Austria, the officer under whose general super¬
vision, as we have seen, the entire management of the
police department falls.2 Appeals must be filed within
fourteen days.3 As a matter of fact, few appeals are
1 Prussian Disciplinary Law of July 21, 1852. (Gesetzsamm-
lung, 465.)
2 See Chap. II, p. 79.
3 Imperial Order of March 10, i860. (R. G. Bl. 15.)
263
European Police Systems
ever taken, and it is a characteristic circumstance that the
judgments of the Police President have not been reversed
within the memory of headquarters officials.1 Minor
derelictions are punished by the Zentraliuspektor, or head
of the uniformed force, the punishments consisting of
reprimands, which may or may not be published in the
orders of the day, and the imposition of extra tours of
duty. Fines are not included in the list of penalties in
Vienna.2
There is one fact in connection with the question of
discipline which holds for all police departments through¬
out Europe: trials of charges against police officials in¬
volving the possibility of punishment are invariably held
in camera. They are regarded as private affairs between
the commissioners and the defendants, domestic diffi¬
culties to be settled behind closed doors. " It is a matter
of internal economy and does not concern the public;
there is no more reason for making such a matter public
than for holding an army court-martial in public." This
was the remark of one of the officials of Scotland Yard.
A Glasgow superintendent was even more frank. " We
could not afford to wash our dirty linen in public," he
said. " A man on charges receives the fairest kind of
treatment anyway and publicity would do him no good.
It would have the disadvantage of creating the suspicion
that everything on the inside of the police department
is rotten. Many people will judge an institution by
one or two exceptional instances."
Not only is there no publicity in regard to police trials,
1 Personally communicated.
2 For discussion, see Organisation und Instruction der Wiener
k. k. Sicherheitswache, pp. 44-45.
264
The Uniformed Force
but a policeman on charges is never allowed to appear
with an attorney; indeed my question on this score
seemed incomprehensible to most of the police authori¬
ties both in England and on the Continent. " What
would be the object of his having an attorney? " they
invariably asked. " It is a matter of discipline, not a
breach of law." Throughout Europe a commissioner
need only satisfy himself as to the guilt or innocence of
the accused. The methods by which his opinion is
reached are largely his own concern. Once announced,
his opinion is seldom challenged, nor is there any dis¬
position to question his justice, disinterestedness, or com¬
petency.
Method of Control.
It is impossible, in the space allowed, to describe the
great variety of methods by which the European police au¬
thorities control the activities of their uniformed forces.
Instead, therefore, of attempting a catalogue of the sys¬
tems, we shall note a few of the more interesting phases of
control in particular cities. In adopting this course, it is
not implied that the systems described are characteristic
only of the cities mentioned.
Generally speaking, there are two methods by which
police administrators may control the work of their uni¬
formed forces : through regular supervision by divisional
or precinct officers and through the direct oversight of
a centralized headquarters staff. These two methods
are not mutually exclusive. As a matter of practice, the
second, when employed at all, is used only to supplement
the first. In France, Belgium, and Holland, the police
265
European Police Systems
departments generally adopt the second method. That
is, each department is equipped with a bureau or staff —
sometimes popularly known as a " shoo-fly squad "—
whose purpose is to control from headquarters, by a sys¬
tem of espionage, the uniformed men assigned to the
various divisions. The police officers of this bureau, de¬
tailed to duty in plain clothes, watch for and report to
the disciplinary authorities any police delinquency that
they observe. In Paris, the bureau, known as the Con¬
trôle général, constitutes a very important part of the
police organization. Established in 1854,1 it has for
years, been the principal method of testing the effective¬
ness not only of the uniformed force but of all branches
of the department. Of late, owing to the resentment
which its activity always has awakened in the rank and
file, less emphasis has been placed upon secret surveil¬
lance and the force of the bureau, reduced to thirty in¬
spectors, has been used rather to investigate complaints
and to search out the weak points of the organization.
Even with its modified functions, however, it is still the
main instrument by which the Prefect keeps in touch
with his department.
In the same form, and with the same functions, this
bureau is an essential part of the police organizations of
Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and other cities in the
Low Countries. In Germany, Austria and England,
however, it is looked upon with great disfavor. While
plain clothes men are occasionally assigned to observe
some suspected weakness in organization or personnel,
1 Decree of September 17, 1854, modified by the Law of July
29, 1881.
266
The Uniformed Force
the systematic employment of a regular squad to watch
the activities of fellow officers is, in these countries,
universally condemned. " We want no spies on our
force," said one of the assistant commissioners at Scot¬
land Yard. Similar sentiments were expressed by of¬
ficials in Berlin and Vienna.
In Austria and Hungary considerable attention is paid
to the question of " constructive control," by which is
meant the constant striving for improvement in organi¬
zation and method. As we have seen, the Vienna de¬
partment has a so-called bureau of organization and con¬
trol, established to adjust the relationships of the various
branches and subdivisions, to eliminate friction and to
make any changes or install any devices deemed neces¬
sary. This bureau, really a bureau of scrutiny inside
the department, is headed by a practical expert whose
long experience in police business is a guarantee against
useless innovation. His duty involves the continual
study of other police departments both in Austria and in
foreign countries in the search for better methods and
more effective systems. Budapest has no such bureau,
but once a year an exhaustive examination is made of
each of the precincts or divisions (Kommissariate) by
a carefully selected headquarters committee. The exam¬
ination includes a study of functions and practices, and
especially of the relations of the precinct force, in point
of numbers and service, to the changing needs of the
neighborhood. The complaints and suggestions of the
local officers are carefully considered, and improvements
follow immediately upon the recommendations of the
committee.
267
European Police Systems
In supervising the work of her uniformed force, Ber¬
lin adopts the expedient of maintaining a " Beat Control
Book " for each of the beats into which a section is
divided. The book is carried by the patrolman and is
passed from one succeeding relief to another. In it the
patrolman enters with an indelible pencil the time of any
particular event, as for example, when he steps into a
yard to try a door, or when he leaves the beat at the
call of another officer. In this book, too, the sergeant
or lieutenant on his rounds, writes his initials and the
hour. There is thus maintained a continuous history of
the patrol.1 Amsterdam has modified this system by
having a book for each man rather than for each beat
which, viséed and initialed by the sergeants and other
supervising officers, and turned in to headquarters at the
end of the day's work, furnishes a control both of the
sergeant and of the patrolman. In Hamburg, too, each
patrolman has a book in which he jots down the streets
which he traverses on his beat, together with the hour.
The sergeant on his rounds initials the entries.
Each London constable has an " official pocket book "
in which he writes the history of any important occur¬
rence coming within his notice on his point or beat, such
as the remarks of a prisoner arrested, a warning given
to a street-walker, a summons served on a reckless driver,
the names and addresses of witnesses. These notes,
initialed by the sergeant, are subsequently copied into the
1 Berlin has also a series of " Post instruction books " in which
the duties pertaining to each fixed post in the city are minutely
described. There is one such book for each precinct; an officer
assigned to a new post has only to turn to the book to find an
exhaustive enumeration of his duties. Berlin has no fixed posts
at night.
268
The Uniformed Force
" Occurrence Book " at the station house by the station
officer. The pocket book is used by the constable to re¬
fresh his recollection in cases of subsequent procedure,
judicial or otherwise, and is often produced before the
magistrates in the police courts.
The beat of a London constable is changed regularly
every month ; there are no permanent assignments either
for patrol or point duty. A man is seldom transferred
out of his division, but he is shifted periodically from
beat to beat and from point to point, progressing from
one part of his division to another and constantly coming
under the supervision of new sergeants and inspectors.
During one month, his beat may be in a residential dis¬
trict; the next, in a business section; the following month
may find him on fixed point duty or handling traffic at a
crowded corner. Under this system of monthly trans¬
fers, it takes him two or three years to work from one end
of his division to the other. The professed object of this
arrangement is to develop the constable, to acquaint him
intimately with the various phases of police duty. Inci¬
dentally, the London authorities believe that this ar¬
rangement eliminates evil influences. " It prevents a
constable from getting too thick with any particular
people," the Superintendent of a large division told me.
" I believe that the system makes it quite impossible that
there should be any systematized form of blackmail,"
said Sir Edward Henry in his testimony before the Royal
Commission, in referring to the steps taken by the de¬
partment to guard the police against the efforts of street¬
walkers to purchase protection.1
1 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. II, p. 10.
269
European Police Systems
Berlin aims to keep in touch with the life and record
of each of her officers. To that end, a file or " book "
is maintained at headquarters for each employee of the
department which gives all the personal details of his
service — his age, height, military record, date of mar¬
riage, names of his parents-in-law, names and dates of
birth of his children, residence, punishments, commenda¬
tions, transfers, ratings, promotions, and salary. In this
book, too, are kept all letters of complaint, anonymous or
otherwise, which have formed the basis of any disciplin¬
ary action in relation to the officer in question, together
with papers and records of every description relating to
him or to his work. Some of these " books " contain a
thousand pages. There is thus at hand a detailed history
of each officer from the time he enters the department.
Berlin also aims to maintain continuous contact be¬
tween police headquarters and the station houses. The
headquarters building and the 118 precinct stations are
bound together by a telegraph system which works on the
principle of a stock exchange " ticker." A single operator
flashes to all the precincts at once, or to any group
desired, the news of crimes committed, descriptions of
stolen property, general alarms, or other information of
police interest. Appearing on the tape in the station
houses it is read and discussed by the entire uniformed
force.1 The various departments of the huge headquar¬
ters building are connected by swiftly moving mail-chutes
(Rohrpost), operated on the principle of department-
store cash carriers. Papers, telegrams and despatches fly
1 Most of the Continental departments have their own telegraph
systems and a study of the Morse code constitutes an important
phase of the work of the training school.
270
The Uniformed Force
from one bureau to another and back again in a few
seconds. In its mechanical equipment the Berlin organi¬
zation is greatly superior to the other organizations both
in England and on the Continent.
As a matter of fact, every department has its own
points of excellence. For example, the attitude and bear¬
ing of police officials in presenting their cases in court is
a matter to which London gives close attention. The
constables must present their testimony concisely and un¬
falteringly, they must answer questions courteously, and
above all, they must adhere to the facts. To control
this important phase of police work, therefore, an Inspec¬
tor is assigned to every police court in London and to
every other criminal court where constables are called as
witnesses. He is a factor of great importance. Armed
with a list of the cases on the calendar, he knows the wit¬
nesses to be called and the testimony to be given in each.
He reports daily to the division Superintendent on the
conduct of the constables on the witness stand and the
character of evidence submitted. Furthermore, he con¬
trols the amount of time which the constables spend in
court. Each constable appearing as a witness carries
with him a " court card " which, when the testimony is
completed, is initialed by the Inspector and stamped with
the hour. Returning to the station house for assignment
to further duty, the constable presents the card to his su¬
perior officer who is thus in a position to know of the time
spent on the case.
Each of the European departments has its own system
of daily reports by which the administrative officials at
headquarters are kept in touch with the work of the force
271
European Police Systems
in the various divisions. These systems vary greatly
from city to city. In some departments they are ex¬
ceedingly perfunctory, maintained merely for the sake of
having reports, but seldom utilized. In other cities, in
fact, in most cities, they furnish the basis of all control;
by them the efficiency of a division is accurately deter¬
mined. London has perhaps developed the most complete
system of reporting, and in discussing this important
topic, I shall confine myself briefly to her plan. Three
reports are received daily at New Scotland Yard from
the head of each of the twenty-two divisions. The first
is called the " Report of Occurrences," popularly known
as the " Morning Report." Based on information for¬
warded from the subdivisions, it contains a list of all im¬
portant and unusual occurrences during the preceding
twenty-four hours. A murder, a burglary, a riot, a fire
— events above the ordinary and the trivial — are all
listed in this sheet; so that on the Commissioner's desk
each morning is an accurate statement of the city's health
in terms of police activity.
This report is supplemented by the " Morning Report
of Crime," which, compiled in the same manner, contains
a complete record of indictable offenses occurring in the
divisions during the preceding twenty-four hours, to¬
gether with a statement of officers engaged and action
taken. Less comprehensive in scope than the first report,
it is more elaborate in detail. It is forwarded first to the
chief constable in whose district the division is located
and by him, after examination, to the assistant commis¬
sioner in charge of the detective bureau (Criminal In¬
vestigation Department). Both the chief constable
272
The Uniformed Force
and assistant commissioner make notes on the report,
suggesting further inquiry, commending an officer, or¬
dering a reward or a rebuke. These orders, whatever
they are, are entered on a form and sent for execution
to the superintendent of the division concerned, while the
report itself is forwarded to the Statistical Branch for
filing.
The third report is called the " Morning State " sheet.
Compiled by the superintendent of the division and for¬
warded daily to the Administrative Assistant Commis¬
sioner, it contains a statement of the general condition of
the force in matters relating to numbers, health, and dis¬
cipline.
Around these three main reports, centers the control
of New Scotland Yard over the work of the divisions.
Of course they are supplemented by special reports on
the more important subjects of which they briefly make
mention. The Commissioner or one of his assistants has
only to enter a note after any item in the reports to obtain
a complete statement from the officers concerned. But
the three daily reports furnish the framework of opera¬
tion, the basis of administrative control. In the happy
figure of a Scotland Yard official, they are the Commis¬
sioner's " reins."
273
CHAPTER VIII
THE DETECTIVE FORCE
Two main types of detective organization in Europe.— The cen¬
tralized plan and the decentralized plan.— Centralization develops
specialized detectives.— Decentralization develops general detectives.
— Decentralized system in London.—-Centralized system in Berlin.
— Vienna's organization a compromise.— Paris changing from cen¬
tralization to decentralization.—-Advantages and disadvantages of
the two plans.— Selection and training of detectives in different
European cities.— Superiority of the English detectives over the
German.— Reasons for superiority.— Equal success of German de¬
tectives.— Legal advantages of German detectives over English
detectives.— Superior office facilities of detective bureaus in Ger¬
many.
In the preceding chapters we have discussed the or¬
ganization of the uniformed forces, their methods of
work and the systems by which they are controlled. We
shall now consider another branch of the police organiza¬
tion, common to all departments both in England and on
the Continent — a branch as essential to the preservation
of public security as the uniformed division itself. I re¬
fer, of course, to the detective bureau which I shall dis¬
cuss in this chapter under three heads:
I. The plan and structure of the various types of
organization.
II. The selection and training of the detectives.
III. The character of the detective force.
274
The Detective Force
x
In analyzing the structure of the detective department,
it is first necessary to distinguish between two main types
of organization found in European cities. For want of
better names, they may be designated respectively as the
centralized plan and the decentralized plan. Under the
former the activities of the detective force are controlled
from headquarters and the detectives are assigned to
the performance of specialized duties; that is, central¬
ization in control involves a specialization in task. Under
the latter plan, each division or district has its own
permanent detective force operating exclusively in the
territory to which it is assigned. The centralized system
makes of the detective branch a distinct group of tech¬
nical officials working independently of the uniformed
force and having but little connection with its organiza¬
tion. The decentralized system utilizes the district lines
of the uniformed force and to a certain extent its method
of control, and tends to develop in these districts detec¬
tives for general work rather than specialists for par¬
ticular tasks. Roughly speaking, the centralized system
is the Continental system, while the decentralized plan
represents the English method of operation, although this
classification is, of course, as we shall see, subject to
modification.
London.
The London form of detective organization is typical
for England and Scotland. Indeed, in respect to the
" Criminal Investigation Department/' as the detective
275
European Police Systems
bureau is usually called in English cities, London has
served as a model which the other municipalities have
been at pains to follow.
The detective bureau of London is in charge of an
Assistant Commissioner, with offices at New Scotland
Yard. The bulk of the detective work, however, is done
by divisional detectives — squads of men permanently at¬
tached to each of the twenty-two divisions into which the
Metropolitan district is separated. Within the divisions,
men are assigned to particular station houses. Each
squad or group confines itself to the area of the division
and precinct to which it is assigned, handling all crimes
occurring therein of whatever description. The detect¬
ives in a station house are in charge of a detective ser¬
geant or inspector; the detective work of a division is
controlled by a " divisional " detective inspector, who is
primarily responsible to the uniformed superintendent
of the division, on the theory that the superintendent must
be fully acquainted with the work of his district in all its
branches. In a truer sense, however, the divisional in¬
spectors are under the direct control of Scotland Yard
where the whole work of the detective department is cen¬
tered in the hands of the Assistant Commissioner.
The control of the uniformed superintendent over the
detectives of his division is almost exclusively confined
to matters of discipline. He seldom interferes with their
actual work, for the reason that his experience has been
entirely with the uniformed force. He reads the reports
that pass from the divisional detective inspector to head¬
quarters, in order to keep in touch with occurrences in his
division, but his approval of the reports is largely a mat-
276
ORGANIZATION OF THE DETECTIVE BRANCH OF THE METROPOLITAN FORCE OF LONDON
commission e r
ass j st a nt commj
chtef" constable"
f i n ser
print
branch
T
convict
pccord
offic e
CH I E F
1 NS REC¬
TO R
finger print file
(finger prints taken
by prison officials-
mot by police)
DIVISIONAL DETECTIVE ORGANIZATION
furnishes to metropol¬
itan detective force
and to provincial po¬
lice information as to
convicts about to be
released,or who mat
be in custody, or
wanted for fur¬
ther offenses-
special release book"
registers pedigrees
and records o f
habitual criminals
general supervision
of convicts on
parole
control of
convicts* property
during confinement
SUPERINTEN¬
DENT OF EACH
D1VI SI OH CON¬
TROLS UNIFORM¬
ED FORCE AND
DETECTIVES
DIVISIONAL
DETECTIVE
INSPECTOR
divisional
detectives
each division¬
al detective
force con»
f i n es its
efforts to
Crimes occur¬
ring in its
territory
guards royalty and
cabinet ministers
naturalization
matt e rs
SUPERIN¬
TENDENT
special
branch
an archists
investi gation of inqu1r-
i es for director of
public prosecution
suff ragette
disturbances
assists provincial
police in diffi¬
cult c as es
]
forgery and
coinage matters
su peri n-
teh dent
central
off! ce
The Detective Force
ter of form. Nevertheless, there is some feeling at Scot¬
land Yard that the detective force should be entirely
divorced from the uniformed force, and a project has even
been discussed according to which London would be di¬
vided into four criminal districts each in charge of a chief
constable with full control of the detectives of his terri¬
tory, thus completing the absolute separation of the de¬
tective and uniformed forces.1 As yet this plan is un¬
official. Indeed, lacking the support of the present Com¬
missioner, who believes firmly in a close relationship be¬
tween the two branches of the service, the project may
never materialize.
The detective bureau at Scotland Yard consists of a
Central Office Squad and four branches, namely: The
Special Branch,2 the Criminal Registry, the Convict
Supervision Office, and the Finger Print Branch. The
Central Office Squad,3 under the control of a superin¬
tendent, has functions at once peculiar and important.
Not only does it aid the Assistant Commissioner in his
supervision of the detective work in the twenty-one di¬
visions, acting in an expert and advisory capacity, but it
^This plan has been adopted in Dresden, where the city has been
divided into four detective districts in no way corresponding to
the geographical divisions used by the uniformed force. At the
head of each district is a detective officer responsible directly to
headquarters.
2 The " special " squad handles secret service matters relating to
the protection of royalty, cabinet ministers, etc. It further has
charge of anarchistic disturbances, naturalization frauds, suffragette
riots, etc. The Criminal Registry files all papers, reports and cor¬
respondence relating to crimes; its work is entirely of a clerical
nature. Of the Convict Supervision Office and the Finger Print
Branch we shall speak in a later chapter.
3 The Central Office Squad consists of one superintendent, four
chief inspectors, ten detective inspectors, nineteen detective ser¬
geants, and fourteen detective constables.
277
European Police Systems
also assumes direct charge of grave and complicated cases
occurring in any of the divisions, or cases which relate
not to any one division but to the entire Metropolitan
district, even extending its work to the provinces if
necessity demands. Thus any one of the provincial cities
can obtain on short notice the services of a member or
members of this squad for the detection of local crimes
of a specially serious nature.1 Moreover, the squad is
engaged in such cases of an international character, as
involve extradition, " white-slave " matters and fugitive
offenders.
Unlike the headquarters forces of the Continental de¬
partment, this Central Office Squad of Scotland Yard is
not divided into groups of specialists — men trained for
the detection of a particular crime. The fact that all
local crimes are handled in the divisions makes any such
intensified specialization unnecessary. There is not
enough of any one variety of crime to demand the entire
attention of these headquarters men. Nevertheless, a
certain sort of specialization comes about almost spon¬
taneously in the Central Office Squad. The detectives are
encouraged to make themselves proficient along certain
given lines, and crimes like forgery or counterfeiting, for
example, are generally handled by the same men. Oc¬
casionally, too, those who have proved themselves adapted
to the work are sent out on a roving commission to look
for pickpockets, although this matter is generally left to
^^Home Office Circular of April 20, 1906, addressed to Chief
Constables of English cities. In this respect the services of the
squad are similar to those of the Brigade mobile of France. (See
(p. 288.) In both countries it is the intention of the government to
give the smaller cities the advantages of the highly skilled detec¬
tives of the capital city.
278
The Detective Force
the division detectives. But in the sense of maintaining
fixed groups of men to handle specific classes of crime
there is no specialization in the Central Office Squad.
Similarly there are no definitely specialized groups among
the division detectives, although men are often picked for
their tasks on the basis of ability or aptitude. Indeed,
under a decentralized plan of organization, definite spe¬
cialization is impossible, as a small group of detectives
assigned to a district or precinct must deal with all classes
of crimes from serious felonies to minor misdemeanors.
It is this decentralization with its consequent lack of
specialization which sharply distinguishes the English de¬
tective organization from the system prevailing on the
Continent.
Berlin.
Prior to 1876, Berlin's form of detective organiza¬
tion was somewhat similar to London's at present. A
policy of limited decentralization was in force. The city
was divided into six criminal districts, each in charge of a
detective officer and a squad of men who handled all cases
of crime occurring within its limits. In 1876, however,
began the process of specialization and centralization.
" The criminals specialized, so we had to," the head of
the detective force told the writer. At first two or three
trained groups were assigned to headquarters to deal
with prevalent crimes. From this modest beginning spe¬
cialization and centralization were gradually developed
until, at the present time, there is hardly a serious crime
covered by the penal code which does not have its cor¬
responding squad of detectives at headquarters. This
279
European Police Systems
intense centralization is in part, at least, a reflection of a
national characteristic. The Germans, particularly the
Prussians, believe in centralization. To them it spells
strength and efficiency. Their industrial organizations
are built around this principle; the government of their
entire state is based upon it. That the detective bureau
should be so constructed is a circumstance which can oc¬
casion no surprise. There are now at the Berlin head¬
quarters thirty-one specialized squads, each, under the
control of a trained officer (Kriminalkommissar), dealing
with a specific crime or group of crimes. The thirty-
one squads are as follows :
1.— Church thefts, counterfeiting, safebreaking.
2.— Thefts on squares, in streets, staircases, hallways,
cemeteries and gardens, including thefts of leadpipe, zinc
and other metals.
3.— Thefts of luggage and packages in railroad sta¬
tions, including thefts committed against foreign travel¬
ers.
4.— Thefts in large stores, storage rooms, offices, in¬
stitutions, hospitals, etc.
5.— Burglaries in jewelry and watchmaking stores;
thefts in museums.
6.— Larcenies in flats or tenements ; receivers of stolen
goods, " fences."
7.— Thefts in disorderly flats, in bathing places, and
from children.
8.—■ Thefts of packages from delivery wagons and
tricycles.
9.— 10.— Thefts in saloons, and burglaries in flats.
280
ORGANIZATION OF THE DETECTIVE
BUREAU OF BERLIN
POLICE PRESIDENT
oberr eqierunqsrat
HEAD OF DETECTIVE DEPARTMENT
ph o to <3 r a p m s»
division
detectiv
forces
all
petty
cases
(criminal.
inspection
*a.l"
ctstrîcts
i-2-3-a-13
(criminal.
inspection
"a
a n
drstriciri
s~ g-7-ô
kr1minau
inspection
districts
3-10-11-12
each of the
13 districts
in charge of
_ akriminalr
commissar
who super¬
vises the
work of
-* the pre¬
cinct de¬
tectives.
MURDER
COM¬
MISSION
precinct de¬
tective forces
~y~idetê ê t*i vë~sër""
geant and 2. detect¬
ives in each of
the 119 precincts,
personnel
changed
each month
h eadquarter
spec i ali 2 el d
detect i v e
s q u a 05
all. im¬
portant
felonies
and misde¬
meanors
S ITT EN—
polizei
cm orals
po lice)
sicher-
h e i ts
polize i
m15dem eanors
of children
under 10.
cr i'm inal
in sanity
-\
k ri min ali n sp ektor
s "it
squads 15-22 each
composed of from
3 to 7 men in charge
ofa k ri minalkqm mis5 arj
kr1minalinspektor
—'~7r~ p
squads 1-i-* each
composed of from
3"tot "men in charge
ofa krimlnalkommissarl
x v
x i x
check forgeries
©egging , qu a cke r y
white slave traffic
xvi
x x
forging of order blanks
telephone swindle
xvii
marriage swindle
©ank draft swindle
profe
s s 1 on al
gam
blinû
xxi
massage parlors
xviii
xxii
crimes against
morality
cadets
viii
'thefts fro ml
de livert wagons
thefts in
railroad stations
burglaries in flats
XII
burglaries i in
uewelry stores
thefts from vacant
flats, docks, etc.
vi
xiii
larceny in flats
receivers of stolen .goods
thefts of meat
from markets
vii
xiv
DEPARTMENT OP
CRIMINAL IDENTIFI¬
CATION AND REGISTRY
ÇERKENNUNGSDI EN ST)
criminal
arch iv
kr1minali n5pextor
squads 2s-3i each
composed of from
3 to7 m en incharge
ofa krim1nalkomm15sar
finger prints
alphabetic registries
of missing and dead
persons
register of
persons want e d
(steckbrief)
cata lo sue of sa -
loons, dance halls, etc.
newspaper clippings
handwriting files
xxiii
xxvii
insolvency crimes
offenses against
mortgage rights
xxiv
xxviii
offenses against
postal and rail¬
way regulations
ban k and stock
exchange swindles
xxv
xx i x
business crimes
5ecu ring of
fraudulent loans
x x vi
xxx
copyright, patent
law, and trade
mark offenses
m i s c e l laneou s
xxxi
The Detective Force
11.— Thefts of overcoats, umbrellas and canes from
restaurants, reading rooms and institutions ; thefts from
show-cases and hand wagons.
12.— Thefts on boats and from untenanted flats; in
boat-houses, stables and sheds; thefts on docks.
13.— Thefts of meat from markets.
14.— Miscellaneous thefts, including ladies' handbags.
15.— Swindling, forging of checks, safe deposit books,
diplomas, titles ,and decorations; fraudulent begging;
" Spanish treasury " swindle ; quackery.
16.— Forging of order blanks and rent contracts; tele¬
phone swindle.
17.—■ Marriage and matchmaking swindles; bank draft
swindles ( Wechseifallen).
18.— Abortion and crimes against morality.
19.—-Pederasty; perversion; white slave traffic.
20.— Bookmaking, professional gambling, etc.
21.— Massage parlors, newspaper advertising for im¬
moral purposes.
22.—* Cadets.
23.—- Crimes and offenses against the regulations con¬
cerning insolvency and bankruptcy.
24.—■ Usury, offenses against postal and railway ad¬
ministration.
25.—-Business crimes, including violation of limited
liability acts, lottery acts, etc.
26.—• Copyright, patent law and trade-mark offenses.
27.— Offenses against mortgage rights.
28.— Bank and stock exchange swindles, fraudulent
procuring of advertisements from real estate agents.
281
European Police Systems
29.— The securing of fraudulent loans.
30.— Miscellaneous.
31.— Perjury.
In addition to these squads there are murder commis¬
sions, each composed of seven or eight men, chosen every
month to handle any murder cases which may occur dur¬
ing that period. No commission is allowed to handle
more than one murder at a time. If there are two mur¬
ders in a month a second commission is immediately ap¬
pointed.1 Finally, under the detective bureau there are
special squads of plain clothes men to supervise prostitu¬
tion (Sittenpolizei) ,2 and a force (Sicherheitspolizei)
which handles cases of misdemeanors committed by chil¬
dren under eighteen years of age, criminal insanity, etc.
These two groups are separately organized under special
officers and are responsible directly to the head of the de¬
tective bureau.3
1A murder commission consists of three or four officers of the
detective force, a police surgeon and a photographer, assisted by
the detectives assigned to the squads of the Kriminalkommissars,
who are members of the commission. The object of changing the
personnel of the commission every month is to develop as many
clever men as possible so that the work may not be exclusively
handled by one or two experienced detectives whose deaths or
resignations would cripple the force before other men could be
trained. During the month of service the members of the com¬
mission must be available day and night. This commission ^ oper¬
ates for Greater Berlin, that is, for the five police jurisdictions
under the control of the Police President (see Chap. Ill, p. 109).
2 For a discussion of the organization and methods of the Sitten-
polizei, see Prostitution in Europe, Abraham Flexner, New York,
1914, (p. 147, pp. 270-273, 281-282, 341-342), published in this same
series.
3 There are various other groups of police engaged in work of
a detective or semi-detective nature, such as the Gasthofspolizei
(see p. 113), for example. These groups, however, are responsible
not to the detective bureau but to other branches of the police
department. (See discussion in Chap. III.)
282
The Detective Force
Each of these thirty-one regular squads above enumer¬
ated is in charge of a Kriminalkommissar/ who has un¬
der him a number of detectives varying from three to
seven. The squads are grouped into three divisions.2
Each division is in charge of a Kriminalinspektor who
represents a higher rank of detective official. The In-
spektors are responsible to an Oberregierungsrat, corres¬
ponding to an assistant commissioner, who has under
his supervision the entire detective organization.
Thus all important felonies and misdemeanors are
handled directly from headquarters, and the administra¬
tion in its actual working is highly concentrated. Petty
cases are cared for in the precincts (Reviere), that is,
each of the 119 precincts includes in its force two detect¬
ives and a detective sergeant, responsible in the first in¬
stance to the uniformed head of the precinct.3 For
minor cases,4 there is thus a well developed plan of de-
1 Three of the squads are in charge of detective sergeants, that
is, of non-commissioned detective officers. As we shall see, the
Kriminalkommissar s are commissioned officers who are brought into
the department from private life and not by promotion from the
ranks.
2 Squads 1-14 inclusive constitute^ the first division; 15-22 the
second division, 22-31 the third divison. They are popularly re¬
ferred to at headquarters as " B. I.," " B. II." and " C," respectively.
3 The work of these men is supervised, however, by thirteen
Kriminalkommissar s at headquarters, one for each of the thirteen
districts (Hauptmannschaften) into which Berlin is divided (see
Chap. Ill), so that each Kommissar has from eight to eleven pre¬
cincts under his control. As is the case with the headquarters
force, the Kommissars are in turn responsible to Inspektors, of
whom there are three, controlling three separate groups. These
groups are popularly known as " A I," " A II," and " A. III."
4 The precinct detectives also handle manslaughter and arson
cases on the theory that such crimes are committed by persons in
the locality. If, for example, the crime of arson should become
widespread, there would undoubtedly be a special squad formed at
headquarters to handle it.
283
European Police Systems
centralization, similar to the arrangement which London
uses for all crimes.1
Vienna.
The detective organization of Vienna is representa¬
tive of the unreconciled clash between theories of cen¬
tralization and decentralization. Each of the twenty-
two police divisions (Kommissariate) has its own small
detective squad which handles not only the petty misde¬
meanors, as in Berlin, but many of the more important
cases, such as burglaries and assaults. At first glance,
therefore, the system appears similar to London's. The¬
oretically, the only crimes which the Vienna division de¬
tectives may not handle are forgery, counterfeiting, us¬
ury and matters involving international criminals. But
Vienna is unable wholly to escape from the Continental
belief in centralization, and like Berlin, has a highly
specialized central office force. All larger matters, such
as felonious assaults and serious defalcations are han¬
dled by headquarters detectives, though not exclusively.
Such is the arrangement of the work that there are gen¬
erally two sets of detectives working on all important
cases, one from the division in which the crime occurs
and the other from headquarters. There are thus two
independent examinations of every serious crime, con-
1 Berlin's centralized plan of detective organization, with a large
number of specialized squads at headquarters, has been followed
in most of the German cities. In Dresden and Hamburg, criminal
districts have been established, and more latitude is allowed the
district detectives. All serious crimes, however, are handled di¬
rectly by headquarters men as in Berlin. In curious contrast to
the German cities in this respect are the Dutch cities, in which
crimes are handled almost exclusively by the divisons.
284
The Detective Force
ducted without cooperation, sometimes with actual fric¬
tion.
The headquarters staff in reality consists of two staffs:
one (called the Agentenreferat) assumes charge of the
discipline, assignments, transfers, and material well-being
of the entire detective force. It also handles many im¬
portant cases directly, such as burglaries, thefts and as¬
saults, often duplicating the work of the division men.
The other branch, the Sicherheitsbureau, which, as a
matter of organization has no relation to the Agenten¬
referat, acts in the capacity of expert adviser to the whole
detective organization. The Sicherheitsbureau is made
up of twelve branches or departments, each in charge of
a highly trained detective officer, and each specializing in
a particular variety of crime.1 To these bureaus detec¬
tives are assigned by the Agentenreferat as their serv¬
ices are needed. As a matter of fact, this expert Sicher¬
heitsbureau is the heart of the entire detective organiza¬
tion. It has the right to assume exclusive jurisdiction
of cases which are of leading importance. For example,
if a burglary is committed in one of the divisions, it is im-
1 The twelve squads (Referent) of the Sicherheitsbureau are as
follows :
I.— Usury ; title and decoration swindles ; offenses committed on
the Bourse; supervision of pawnbrokers' shops.
II.— International swindles.
III.— Business swindles; check frauds; forgeries, etc.
IV.— Fraudulent beggars; sharpers; gamblers; thefts of goods in
transit.
V.— Burglary, including " fences." t
VI.— Burglary, including bicycle thieves.
VII.— Sneak thieves.
VIII.— Pickpockets ; extortion ; blackmail ; incest.
IX.— Counterfeiting ; mail frauds.
X.— Missing persons and suicides.
XI.— Fortune tellers.
XII.— Administrative, including editing of official reports.
285
European Police Systems
mediately taken up by the detectives of the division as
well as by the detectives of the Agentenreferat and two
independent inquiries may be started. Either or both of
these inquiries may receive the expert assistance of the
Sicherheitsbureau. If the case is of sufficient importance
the Sicherheitsbureau assumes exclusive control and con¬
ducts the investigation in* its own fashion with detectives
who must be assigned by the Agentenreferat. Thus the
Sicherheitsbureau is the controlling factor in every sit¬
uation which may arise.
Paris.
The detective organization of Paris is at present in
a state of transition. Until the year 1913 it probably
represented centralization of function and concentration
of administration to a greater degree than any other or¬
ganization in Europe. The new administration of Police
Prefect Hennion, however, has largely modified this con¬
dition, as will be seen from the opposite chart, and the old
organization is rapidly being made over.
The aim of the reform is decentralization, " to ventilate
§
the entire organization," as the Police Prefect has ex¬
pressed it.1 Instead of centralizing the functions at
headquarters, the London model has been followed and
the detective work has been given to the ten districts into
1 The details of this plan of organization were outlined by the
Prefect of Police, M. Hennion, in a communication dated July 4,
1913, addressed to the Paris Municipal Council and printed in the
Bulletin municipal officiel. The Prefect's plan involved other fea¬
tures than are noted here; for example, the formation of two
flying brigades to visit suburban towns lying within the police
periphery, and the establishment of a central archives department
for statistical purposes.
286
organization of the detective bureau >f paris
The Detective Force
which Paris, for police purposes, is divided.1 As was
pointed out in a previous chapter,2 each of these districts
is in charge of a commissaire divisionnaire, responsible
both for the uniformed forces and the detective forces
assigned to him. The detectives in a district are immedi¬
ately under the control of a commissaire subordinate to
the commissaire divisionnaire. This decentralized plan
is in marked contrast to the system in force in Paris up
until 1913. Instead of having 665 detectives operating
from headquarters, approximately fifty detectives in each
of the ten divisions now handle the crimes occurring
within their own territories.
This plan, however, does not entirely eliminate the
headquarters staff. Approximately 265 men are assigned
to the main office to deal both with the more important
crimes which call for prolonged investigations and with
the international phases of detective work. In other
words, on a somewhat enlarged scale, this headquarters
squad has practically the same functions as the Central
Squad at Scotland Yard.
The headquarters force in Paris is organized into a
number of divisions or bureaus. For example, one bureau
composed of thirty-seven inspectors and special agents
devotes its time to questions of commercial fraud. The
Brigade des moeurs has exclusive charge of the regulation
of prostitution. The Brigade de sûreté, divided into a
number of departments or sections, takes charge of the
more important specialized cases which are handled by
headquarters rather than by the districts.3 The Identifi-
1 Each of these districts is made up of two arrondissements.
2 Chap. Ill, p. 130.
3 The principal subdivisions of the Brigade de sûreté are the
287
European Police Systems
cation Bureau, until recently under the control of the cele¬
brated M. Bertillon,1 has charge of the anthropometric
and finger-print records. The judicial commissaires,
both for the suburbs and the regular arrondissements, are
also placed under the control of the director of the de¬
tective bureau, and the whole department, both in the dis¬
tricts and at headquarters, forms a distinct branch of
police activity, officially known as the Police judiciaire.2
Thus of the four great capitals of Europe, Berlin alone
Brigade criminelle, the Centre, and the Voie publique. The first
of these, which in turn is divided into three sections, handles such
matters as murder, theft, swindling, etc. The Centre, where all
novices begin their work, handles the minor matters. The Voie
■publique supervises questionable resorts and " shadows " persons
of suspicious reputation.
1 Died February 13, 1914.
2 Although not strictly within the limits of our subject, mention
must be made of the famous Brigade mobile of France, the na¬
tional detective organization, created in 1907 and placed under the
control of the Minister of the Interior. This special detective
department coordinates the various measures for the prevention of
crime and the detection of criminals. Under this plan, France is
divided into fifteen criminal districts, the office of the Brigade
mobile in Paris acting as a clearing house for criminal information
throughout the country. Thus, the names, measurements and
photographs of all persons arrested in France are sent to the Paris
bureau for identification and comparison. The bureau works in
conjunction with all local police forces. It has a staff of 39 officers
and 160 detectives who are distributed through the fifteen districts
as their services are needed. Each district is under the control
of a special officer (commissaire divisionnaire). If a local police
force is unable to cope with some baffling crime, the Brigade mo¬
bile immediately comes to the rescue with its detectives. It further
issues a weekly bulletin (Bulletin hebdomadaire de police crimi¬
nelle) of persons wanted for crime, ^ containing pictures or descrip¬
tions, or methods of operation Since its creation in 1907, the
Brigade has effected 18,320 arrests, 2,575 being for serious crimes.
This department should not be confused with the local Identifi¬
cation Bureau of Paris, above noted. The two organizations work
in close cooperation. By special t arrangement finger-print and an¬
thropometric records for all criminals are filed in the Identification
Bureau, together with the photographs of local criminals; the
Brigade mobile has the photographs of criminals from outside of
Paris, relying on the Identification Bureau for other information.
288
The Detective Force
maintains a policy of extreme centralization in the or¬
ganization of its detective bureau. Vienna, while in a
measure favorable to centralization, has hit upon a
compromise which involves a duplicate investigation of
crimes, one by the precinct and one by headquarters.
Paris, from a policy of rigid concentration, is swinging
rapidly toward decentralization, with a form of organiza¬
tion which will perhaps ultimately approximate the or¬
ganization of Scotland Yard. The detective force of
London is arranged throughout on a decentralized basis.
Both centralization and decentralization as forms of
organization for a detective force have merits and defects.
As has been suggested, centralization almost without
exception involves specialization. When detectives oper¬
ate from headquarters they group themselves instinc¬
tively, if not officially, to handle particular crimes or
varieties of crime; whereas detectives assigned exclu¬
sively to a district or precinct, necessarily few in number,
are forced to cope with all crimes of whatever nature
occurring in their territory, and hence have little oppor¬
tunity for specialization.
A detective' working from headquarters, handling all
cases of a given crime for an entire city, has a great ad¬
vantage over the precinct detective, in developing acute-
ness and proficiency, by reason of his wider experience.
He comes to know the professional criminals in his line,
their characteristics, haunts, and methods of operation.
His entire attention and energy are directed toward one
activity. He is in position to study and follow up with¬
out distraction the particular crimes that fall within his
province. In Berlin the chief of each of the special-
289
European Police Systems
ized squads at headquarters keeps a minute and de¬
tailed index of all complaints and offenses coming within
his jurisdiction,1 and cases are never classified as " dead/'
They are always alive, always fresh in the minds of the
detectives. There are cases on file to-day that are four
or five years old. " We never give up. We never for¬
get/' said the head of the detective bureau.
On the other hand, the supporters of decentralization
argue that many crimes are local in character, requiring
a special and detailed knowledge of neighborhoods and
their people. Certain classes of criminals tend to operate
in restricted localities rather than over an entire city, and
a precinct detective who has studied local conditions thor¬
oughly and is intimately acquainted with the people is far
more likely to succeed in his work than a headquarters
man who can have at best but a superficial knowledge of
particular neighborhoods. Moreover, not only does spe¬
cialization produce a narrow type of official fitted for lit¬
tle else than his own given task, but the whole plan results
in inefficiency and waste of time by reason of the fact that
no given crime, indeed no group of related crimes, is prev¬
alent enough to keep a squad continuously busy. Conse¬
quently idle periods of long duration are unavoidable.
In Berlin it is admitted that market thefts and burglaries
are not frequent enough to demand the continuous atten¬
tion of a specialized group, and even a pickpocket squad
has leisure periods. On the other hand, the sup-
1 The index, on the card catalogue plan, consists of three parts :
(i) Criminals known but not caught (Alphabetical list) ; (2)
criminals seen, but not known, classified by height and age; (3)
cases where there is no knowledge of offenders, chronologically
arranged, giving description and details.
290
The Detective Force
porters of centralization argue that a decentralized sys¬
tem often results in a lack of cooperation between the
various divisional detective groups, each division or dis¬
trict being so anxious to effect an arrest and make a rec¬
ord that it fails to furnish other divisions with informa¬
tion which they ought to have. This is a criticism justly
lodged against London's form of organization ; in the
rivalries that exist between the various divisions it hap¬
pens occasionally that a criminal makes good his escape.
On the other side of the question is the argument that
centralization tends to divorce the preventive functions
o'f the police from their detective functions to the detri¬
ment of both. That is, it draws so sharp a line between
the uniformed and the plain-clothes forces of a depart¬
ment that thoroughgoing cooperation between the two
groups is impossible. As a result, the uniformed man is
inclined to regard himself free from further duty as soon
as the detective steps into the case. Indeed, because he
feels that the credit for the entire case will be claimed
by the detective, he is at pains to give him no assistance
whatever. This jealousy between the two branches of
the service is not so marked under a decentralized con¬
trol which throws representatives of both groups into
a precinct or division where under the management of a
single officer the line of distinction is less sharply de¬
fined and cooperation is more effectively enforced.
The champions of centralization and decentralization
respectively are waging their battles in the police depart¬
ments throughout Europe. In Vienna, the subject has
perhaps been most heatedly debated, with a resulting
compromise giving complete victory to neither party.
291
European Police Systems
The brilliant and talented head of the Sicherheitsbureau,
whose work is known throughout Europe, is one of the
stanchest supporters of centralization. " Give me thirty
specialized squads," he told the writer, " operating here
at headquarters, and I will handle all the crimes in Vienna.
The precinct (Bezirk) men have too much to do, too
many different kinds of crime to take care of, with the
result that important cases are treated as if they were
trivial, or their significance is unnoticed and they are left
unsolved." On the other hand, the Police President of
Vienna, as well as the head of the Agentenreferat, men
of recognized ability and standing, take the opposite
ground. In an official document about to be issued by
the department setting forth the details of organization
for the benefit of members of the force occurs this sig¬
nificant paragraph, expressive of the opinion of the police
administration : " A direct official treatment of all
crimes by headquarters, in spite of its obvious advantages,
would carry many shortcomings in its train, and would
be felt by the public as an oppressive measure. . . . Due
appreciation must be given to the advantages, up to a
certain point, of decentralization." 1
The controversy does not admit of a single or simple
solution. Rigid adherence to either system universally
would be impracticable, as the problem to be faced is a
shifting problem modified by local conditions. It is
therefore impossible to lay down any specific rule to fit
all cases, or to draw any hard and fast lines. Too great
1 This document or pamphlet is being published by the Bureau
of Organization and Control (see Chap. Ill, p. 123). Through the
courtesy of Regierungsrat Form, to whom I am indebted for many
kindnesses, I was allowed to see the advance sheets in manuscript
form.
292
The Detective Force
a degree of centralization produces a clumsy, unmanage¬
able machine and thus defeats its own purpose; on the
other hand, decentralization in excess is scattering and
ineffective. There are, however, one or two factors
which may aid in determining which of the two general
>»
types of organization is in the main better adapted for a
given city. Of these the first is the size of the city. Ber¬
lin's strongly centralized system may suffice for that
city for the reason that its police area covers only
twenty-four square miles, a comparatively limited dis¬
trict. London's police district covers seven hundred
square miles. To attempt to centralize at Scotland Yard
the activities of the number of detectives necessary to
cover this immense territory would be quite impracticable.
Confusion with a consequent loss of efficiency would in¬
evitably result. Such an arrangement would preclude any
intimate knowledge of particular neighborhoods on the
part of plain-clothes men. In other words, a territorial
distribution of detectives is practically unavoidable in a
police department that covers a large area. This is the
lesson that Paris has learned; this is what M. Hennion,
the Police Prefect, meant when he spoke of the necessity
of ventilating his detective organization.1
Again, the type of detective organization best adapted
to a city depends to a large extent upon the volume and
variety of crime to be handled. The detective force of
a quiet, orderly city like Stuttgart or Munich, for ex¬
ample, in which the number of serious crimes is com¬
paratively limited, may well be centralized at headquar¬
ters, for the reason that there is not enough work to keep
1 Bulletin municipal officiel of July 13, 1913.
293
European Police Systems
precinct men busy, and no immediate advantage is to be
gained from specializing in particular neighborhoods.
In a city like Paris, however, where crimes against the
person and against property are proportionately much
more numerous and more varied, requiring local vigilance
and local knowledge, territorial distribution of detectives
is apt to prove far more effective. In the same way it
may be argued that where a particular crime is common,
as assassination is in Palermo, or blackmail in Naples,
specialized groups of detectives can cope with the situa¬
tion with greater success. Even then, local conditions
have to be considered. If an intimate knowledge of
particular neighborhoods were essential to success, a de¬
centralized organization might even, under these circum¬
stances, prove more effective. In this connection the
relative homogeneity of a population is a factor of great
importance. A city population, made up of various na¬
tionalities, each with its own particular characteristics,
as far as prevailing crimes and methods of committing
crimes are concerned, may easily make necessary a series
of special groups to handle the situation. In a district in .
which Italians, Russians, Sicilians and Poles, for example,
constitute the bulk of the population, it is self-evident that
the problem of crime cannot so readily be dealt with by a
single squad of general detectives as it can be by three
or four small groups of men, trained in the customs and
habits of the particular nationalities represented. This
is a condition, however, met with only occasionally in Eu¬
ropean cities. Their populations, as we have seen,1 are
for the most part surprisingly homogeneous.
1 Chap. I, p. 6.
294
The Detective Force
Finally, the type of detective organization best adapted
to a given city depends in large measure upon the quality
and experience of the detectives themselves. Inexpe¬
rienced or untrained men, or men in regard to whose in¬
tegrity there is even a shadow of doubt, ordinarily re¬
quire a greater degree of centralized control than thor¬
oughly tested and reliable officials. Decentralized su¬
pervision can succeed only where the men in charge of
the various units are trustworthy and efficient. Other¬
wise a form of organization which will bring the activi¬
ties of the detective force more closely under the super¬
vision of headquarters is necessary. " Never attempt to
decentralize until you are sure of your men," they told
me at Scotland Yard — a precept well founded in experi¬
ence. On this principle, therefore, a detective organiza¬
tion in a given city might well be altered from time to
time as the personnel of the detective force improves.
Beginning with a rigid headquarters control and an or¬
ganization strongly centralized, it could work toward de¬
centralization slowly by the gradual adoption of local
areas of activity, shifting the supervision from headquar¬
ters to the districts as rapidly as they are formed, and
gradually increasing the number of the districts by de¬
creasing their size. How far this process should go must
depend upon local conditions, as must also the precise
number of specialized squads to be maintained at head¬
quarters. It is possible that the size of the city or some
other factor, such as a peculiarity in population, might
favor an intermediary form of control between head¬
quarters and the districts, such as has been adopted for
Dresden and Hamburg and has been suggested for Lon-
295
European Police Systems
don; that is, three or four criminal areas or divisions
which would each include a number of districts. But no
hard and fast rule can be laid down. Subject to the gen¬
eral principles above stated, local conditions and local
problems must ultimately determine the question.
II
Selection of Detectives.
Throughout Europe generally, detectives are pro¬
moted from the uniformed force. To this there are
a few exceptions. In Berlin, the police regulations
make it possible for fifty per cent, of the detectives
to be taken from civil life. As a matter of prac¬
tice, however, the proportion is one to twenty. The
prejudice against men who have not served the nine-year
term in the army prescribed for those who enter the police
force is difficult to overcome. The head of the detective
"training school in Berlin expressed the general opinion
when he said, in speaking of detectives coming from
private life, " They are not drilled the way the S chut z-
mann is ; they have no discipline ; they do not know how
to stand or salute a comment which raises the query
as to the true function and purpose of a detective.1
In Paris, the great majority of detectives at the pres-
1 In addition to the regular detectives, there are in Berlin ap¬
proximately one hundred men and women employed by the police
as " stool pigeons " for private detective work. They are paid three
marks a day and their expenses, but have no official standing and
are not allowed to make arrests. Popularly known as police spies,
they are cordially hated by the public. There are also a varying
number of political detectives or spies employed by the police, whose
purpose is to find out the secrets of the different political societies.
Perhaps one reason for the hatred with which the German police
are generally regarded is the fear of these secret officials.
296
The Detective Force
ent time have come not from the uniformed force but
directly from the army, where they have served as un-
der-officers. It is possible for men entering the police
force to choose whether they will go into the uniformed
force or the detective ranks. Coming from the army
where they have served their compulsory enlistments,
they naturally divide themselves into two groups, those
who spring from the working classes and those who come
from the business and professional classes — the French
middle class. The latter group represents a higher grade
of education and ultimately finds its way into the de¬
tective service, for the reason that keener intelligence is
there demanded. The former group enters the uni¬
formed force. In Vienna, while a few of the detectives
are chosen from the uniformed force, most of them
come from the state Gendarmerie, where they have al¬
ready had some experience in detective work in the coun¬
try districts. Men who desire to be promoted from
the uniformed force must have served three years in that
force and have shown special aptitude. A few detectives,
perhaps fifty in all, are taken from private life because
of some special qualification in the way of languages or
technical education. In Budapest, approximately forty
per cent, of the detective force is chosen from outside the
department. Army officers, sheriffs of small towns,
town clerks, and others possessing equal fitness, repre¬
sent the kind of men selected. In some of the smaller
German cities it is possible to find three or four detec¬
tives who, because of their ability to speak a foreign lan¬
guage, or for some other particular qualification^ are taken
into the detective force from outside the department.
29 7
European Police Systems
In London and throughout the English cities generally,
detectives are chosen invariably from the uniformed
force.1
Training of Detectives.
With detectives ordinarily chosen from the uniformed
force, some course of training or apprenticeship is obvi¬
ously necessary to fit them for their new tasks. The
European cities have adopted various systems. In Lon¬
don, promotion from the uniformed force to the detec¬
tive force is by examination. A constable must have
served at least twelve months as a patrolman before he is
eligible; thereafter he may be selected to take the exami¬
nation by his superior officers on the basis of aptitude,
intelligence and appearance. Ordinarily the men who are
chosen to try the examination have already shown their
ability in plain-clothes work ; they have been selected for
special duty by their superior officers to handle such spe¬
cial problems as begging, street betting, and prostitution,
which are committed to the uniformed force rather than
to the detective division. In London, a distinction is
made between detectives and plain-clothes men. The
latter are merely patrolmen who are assigned from time
to time to clear the streets of special nuisances.
1 In Liverpool, and in one or two of the English cities, clerical
assistants in the detective bureau — that is, the men who have
charge of the finger-prints and the criminal registers and histories
— are taken not from the uniformed force, but from outside the
department, inasmuch as it is believed that the necessarily higher
grade of intelligence demanded for this kind of work can be more
readily obtained from that source. These men, of whom there are
ten in Liverpool, hold regular police titles and draw the correspond¬
ing salaries. It is an interesting fact that the present Head Consta¬
ble was promoted by gradual steps through this clerical force.
298
The Detective Force
The examination which the constable takes for pro¬
motion to the rank of a detective is both written and oral,
and is given by a police board composed of a chief con¬
stable and two chief inspectors. It consists of reading,
writing, composition and arithmetic as well as questions
on practical police duty and procedure. It involves on
the part of the applicant a fairly thorough knowledge of
detective work and of the criminal law,1 and while there
is no special school course, the candidate must necessar¬
ily have given to the subject a considerable amount of
private study. In this work he has the assistance of the
" General Orders Book," which contains much practical
information; he also observes the work of detectives in his
own precinct, and profits by his association with experi¬
enced officers.2
1 The examination questions for previous years are issued in
pamphlet form, by the Metropolitan police as a guide to candidates.
Some of the questions asked are as follows:
1 — In cases of burglary and housebreaking, what are the prin¬
cipal points to which an officer should direct his attention, and
what precautions should he take?
2 — To establish a charge of receiving stolen property against an
accused person what evidence is necessary?
3 — What are the principal publications issued by the police to
assist in the investigation of crime? Describe each of them
and say how they should be utilized.
2 Promotion from the rank of detective to that of detective ser¬
geant is also by examination. The ranks in the London detective
force are as follows:
Detective or "patrol."
Third-Class Sergeant.
Second-Class Sergeant.
First-Class Sergeant.
Detective Inspector.
Divisional Detective; Inspector.
Chief Inspector.
Superintendent.
There is no examination for promotion from the rank of third-
class sergeant to that of second-class sergeant, nor from second-
299
European Police Systems
Practically similar arrangements for training detectives
are to be found in the provincial cities of England and
Scotland; promotion to the grade of detective follows as
a result of an examination for which men are selected on
the basis of special qualifications after a prescribed period
in the uniformed ranks.
Berlin's method is quite different. After one year's
service as a Schutzmann, a man is entitled to apply for
entrance to the detective force. As a matter of practice,
however, he must have served in the uniformed force five
or six years. If his application is granted, and this is
determined by the recommendation of the head of his
precinct and the need for additional men, he is assigned,
on a year's probation, to the small detective force which,
as we have seen, is attached to each precinct. Here he
studies the files and systems used by the detectives and
accompanies the older and more experienced men in their
practical work. There is no regular school course and
no examination. Permanent appointment at the end of
the year depends upon the recommendation of his su¬
perior officer. The detective who comes from civil life
must go through the same course of training, except that
at the end of the year he must attend the beginning school
class sergeant to first-class sergeant, the advancements being
made on the basis of recommendations. Promotions from first-
class sergeant to the grade of detective inspector follow as a
result of a civil service examination designed to test the applicant's
educational qualifications, and a medical examination. As is the
case with promotion in the uniformed ranks, the Civil Service Com¬
mission gives its examination on the invitation of the Commissioner
and not as a result of statutory obligation. It is very seldom that
a man is promoted to the grade of detective inspector under six¬
teen years of service. There are no further examinations for pro¬
motion to the higher ranks, advancement depending on past record
and ability.
3OO
The Detective Force
of the uniformed men which we have described in a
previous chapter.
Promotion to the rank of detective sergeant (Kriminal-
wachtmeister), which is as high as a man can go in this
branch of the service, follows as the result of a course
of study at the regular Wachtmeister school, which is the
same school provided for those members of the uniformed
force who would become uniformed sergeants.1
We have already seen that each of the thirty-one spe¬
cialized squads at headquarters is supervised by a detec¬
tive official known as a Kriminalkommissar, and that the
minor work which is cared for in the precincts is also
under the direction of officers of the same rank. The fact
that there is no promotion in Berlin above the grade of
detective sergeant makes it necessary to introduce, as in
the case of the uniformed force, special officers from out¬
side the department. Unlike the uniformed lieutenant,
who, as we have seen, is ordinarily chosen from the
ranks of army officers, the Kriminalkommissar is often
a university man.2 For detective officers a general edu¬
cation is preferred to military training. At the same time
the candidate must have fulfilled the requirements which
the general conscription law makes necessary for every
able-bodied citizen of Germany. Like the uniformed
lieutenant, the Kommissar must be of good health, must
be endorsed as to character by respectable parties and must
give proof of an annual private income of at least 1,800
1 Occasionally police sergeants are promoted to the rank of de¬
tective sergeants, in which case a special course is given in order
that they may brush up on the work which they had in the regular
Wachtmeister school.
2 Approximately 45 per cent, of the Kommissars are university
graduates in law.
301
European Police Systems
marks for the period of two years, commencing with the
date of service. As in the case of the uniformed lieuten¬
ant, too, the period of training lasts eighteen months, dur¬
ing which time the candidate serves without pay. The
training consists of practical work in the shape of assign¬
ments to different sections of the police department,1 to¬
gether with courses of lectures on police organization and
police theory which approximate from four to six hours a
week. At the end of the eighteen months' course, the can¬
didate is obliged to take a written examination. If suc¬
cessful he is appointed as vacancies occur. It is a note¬
worthy fact that his education as a detective officer does
not cease with his appointment. As is the case with the
uniformed lieutenant, the Kommissar is obliged to attend
frequent lectures which are given at headquarters by
experts in various lines — surgeons, chemists, criminolo¬
gists, and higher police officials. The lectures deal with
subjects relating to some branch of detective work or
theory.
In Vienna, inasmuch as most of the detectives are
taken from the state gendarmerie, and have already had
considerable experience in detective work, the school
period, which lasts from six to seven months, is not al¬
lowed to interrupt the regular duties of the men. They
are assigned to detective tasks, ordinarily in a minor
1 The assignments are as follows :
Three months in a precinct.
Three months in the detective bureau with an experienced
Kriminalkommissar engaged in precinct work.
One month in Division IX of the police department (supervision
of businesses, etc.).
Two months in a precinct.
Nine months in the detective bureau with the various specialized
squads and in the criminal identification registries, etc.
302
The Detective Force
capacity, but are allowed an hour or two a day to attend
the lectures and recitations of the school. The men are
drilled in the theory and methods of detective work and
criminal identification. They are also given a certain
amount of instruction in geography, history and compo¬
sition. Promotion to the rank of detective sergeant may
follow ordinarily after ten years of service as a detec¬
tive. In this case, too, the men are obliged to attend a
school whose term extends over an entire year, three days
a week, two hours each day. Before admission to this
school, the men are obliged to try an examination for
qualification, the candidates being chosen for the examina¬
tion on the basis of merit and aptitude. The school
course, which is elaborate, includes lectures and recita¬
tions in such subjects as geography, ethnology, history
and composition, together with a drill in Austrian crim¬
inal law and the theory and practice of criminal police
work. The lectures are held at headquarters in class
rooms well fitted up and equipped ;1 indeed, the promo¬
tion school is the best of its kind which the writer saw
anywhere. Vienna thus carries the education of her
detectives, as she carries that of her police, further than
any other city in Europe.
In Paris, as we have seen, the detectives are taken di¬
rectly from the army after passing qualifying examina¬
tions of a rudimentary nature. At first they are assigned
to the simplest kind of detective work in that branch of
1 Ordinarily there is no promotion above the rank of detective
sergeant. As we have seen in a previous chapter, all the higher
officials of the department, both in the uniformed force and the
detective force, enter under what is called the rank-class system,
and may be called upon to perform any kind of police work.
SOS
European Police Systems
the Service de la sûreté which is known as the Centre.
Later they are attached to one of the other branches of
the service. Lectures are given on detective work, but
no great importance is attached to them. No detective,
however, may be appointed to the Brigade criminelle,
that is, to the section of the headquarters force which
handles the more serious crimes, unless he has passed an
examination after a course of study at the Identification
Bureau. This study consists of a practical exposition
of the workings of the Bertillon system, together with
lectures on the organization of the Prefecture, the
elements of the penal code and the general administration
of justice in France. The lectures do not cover any
fixed term; indeed, they are given perfunctorily and ir¬
regularly, and the whole method of training, in com¬
parison with Vienna's system, appears meager and in¬
adequate.
hi
The Character of the Detective Force.
As a result of our review of the methods of training
detectives in the four large capitals of Europe, it is
easy to summarize the situation by classifying London's
system as " good," Berlin's, " fair," Vienna's, " excel¬
lent," and that of Paris as " meager." But local condi¬
tions as well as national characteristics make it im¬
possible to judge of the merits of the respective systems
or to estimate the efficiency of the different forces so sum¬
marily. London may reasonably claim that, looked at
from the standpoint of results, from the standpoint of the
ability and success of her officials in apprehending crim-
• 304
The Detective Force
inals, her record compares favorably with Vienna's,
in spite of the fact that Vienna's system of training
detectives is more elaborate than her own. Such a
claim may or may not be true. Unfortunately there is
no statistical basis by means of which exact comparisons
can be made. The diversity of laws, customs and crim¬
inal problems make such comparisons useless and mis¬
leading. The best that we can do in attempting to
estimate the results of the training and the effectiveness
of the forces is to point to certain outstanding character¬
istics of a general nature by means of which the detective
bureaus may roughly be distinguished.
To an outsider, conscious of no prejudices, endeavor¬
ing to judge men and systems impartially, the striking
difference between English and German detectives lies
in the originality and initiative of the former. We have
seen that the English constables are brought from the
country districts at an age which in most cities cannot ex¬
ceed twenty-five years. Coming to live in the city for the
first time, they are modest and frankly ignorant. Their
easy susceptibility to impressions is used to advantage by
their instructors during their training period and by their
officers in the divisions. Discipline, patience, courtesy
are the lessons driven home. Big, slow-moving, honest,
steady men, they develop rapidly into reliable officers.
They are young enough and their minds are open enough
to acquire through contact with their work and with
their fellow-officers a certain ease and resourcefulness in
meeting new and unexpected situations. The esprit de
corps which exists in the force awakens a pride in achieve¬
ment; the possibility of promotion spurs ambition. They
305
European Police Systems
see high tip in the department men who started like them¬
selves, gaining promotion not through influence but
through effective work. The competition is fair, there
are no favorites, and the best man wins. Under this
stimulus, they begin their careers. After due trial and
careful elimination, those showing the keenest and quick¬
est minds are chosen for the detective force. The neo¬
phyte detective is perhaps 27 or 28 years old. He is de¬
veloping a certain shrewdness and longheadedness in his
work because these qualities are essential to promotion.
He realizes that it pays to succeed; he grows with each
case. In time there is developed the typical Scotland
Yard detective, cool, keen, patient, resourceful.
To this kind of training and to this result the German
detective offers a marked contrast. In Berlin, for ex¬
ample, as will be remembered, a candidate for admission
to the police force must have served at least nine years
in the army. During this period he is subject to the
rigid discipline of military life from which independence
and initiative are excluded. Indeed, whatever initiative
he has is drilled out of him. He is converted into a well-
fitting cog of a perfect machine. When he enters the
police force he is thirty years old, although in Berlin he
may be thirty-five. For five or six years he serves in the
uniformed ranks, patroling streets, regulating traffic and
handling crowds. There is no opportunity, as in London,
for plain-clothes work to test his ability or train him
for his new tasks. He is thirty-seven or forty years of
age before he is taken into the detective division, where
he is called upon, all unprepared, to display a high de¬
gree of originality and initiative. Once appointed, he
306
The Detective Force
finds few opportunities for promotion. True, he may
become a detective sergeant, but that is as high as he is
allowed to aspire. In that position, he is fixed for the
rest of his official life. There are no prizes for success
as in England in the way of constant promotion to spur
his ambition. He is of the lower social order and he can¬
not climb higher. True to his army training and to the
limitations of his outlook, the detective leads a life
of perfunctory routine, doing his work ploddingly, often
grudgingly, seldom brilliantly. " Out of a thousand of
them there are only fifteen or twenty that are good for
anything." This was the remark — exaggerated, per¬
haps,— of a high official of the Berlin detective force,
whose position lends some authority to his words.
It would not be fair to imply — indeed, the statement
would be far from true—'that all German detectives
work without imagination or initiative. There are many
individual cases in which the representatives of the Berlin
bureau are fairly comparable with those from Scotland
Yard. The most that can be said is that Scotland Yard
as a whole shows a far higher degree of resourcefulness
and common sense in its work than the Berlin detective
force — a fact easily explicable, as we have seen, on the
basis of training and social environment.
In view of these facts, the question naturally arises as
to the reason for the success of German detectives.
Why should their activities result in the apprehension of
criminals to a degree which is perhaps comparable with
the work of Scotland Yard? For surely the lack of a
statistical basis of comparison does not justify us in as¬
suming that the German detective is strikingly less suc-
307
European Police Systems
cessful than his brother officer in London. Indeed, from
what can be gleaned from the Berlin statistics and from a
knowledge of crime conditions in German cities, it can
be confidently stated that such is not the case. Crimin¬
als are apprehended as readily in Berlin as in London.
In the light of the inadequate and even misshapen train¬
ing of the German detective, why should this anomaly
exist ?
The answer is easy to discover. The German laws, as
we have already seen, confer upon the police forces ex¬
traordinary powers with which the English police are to¬
tally unacquainted. The constitutional safeguards by
which the freedom of the individual is protected in Eng¬
land, the theory that a man's house is his castle and may
not ruthlessly be entered, the principle that no person shall
be obliged to give evidence against himself, the whole
conception of liberty as implied in the use of the writ of
habeas corpus — in short, the bulwarks which English
tradition and the common law have erected against official
tyranny and abuse are unknown to the German people.
The German police, therefore, simply by the use of their
legal powers can discover evidence and extort facts which
in England can be obtained only by devious and often
laborious means. Said Sir William Harcourt: "You
must not be surprised if the English police are sometimes
foiled, baffled, and defeated by wits they cannot match.
It is the price England pays for a system which she justly
prefers." 1 Where the work of the London detective de¬
mands resourcefulness and ingenuity as well as time and
1 Quoted from Sir Howard Vincent's testimony before the Royal
Commission, Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. II, p. 1088.
308
The Detective Force
patience, the German officials employ methods far more
direct. The mere rise of their inquisitorial powers
alone frequently obviates the necessity of real detective
work. Persons suspected of crime or of some knowl¬
edge direct or indirect of the commission of a crime,
are brought to headquarters and closely questioned by
the police. They may be and often are detained for
twenty-four hours, although there is no charge against
them and no reasonable ground for suspicion. In cases
of serious crime whole neighborhoods are sometimes
treated in this fashion. Indeed, the aim of the police
is by gradual elimination to discover the guilty man,
to break down his defense and force him to confess
either before or after arrest. For this purpose, " third-
degree 99 methods are frequently resorted to. Some¬
times these methods take the shape merely of threats;
occasionally, at least, more drastic expedients are em¬
ployed, and the stories which one hears — often un¬
corroborated, to be sure — of the operation of this sys¬
tem in certain German cities would not make pleasant
reading. Certainly the system is one which, except in
judicious hands, is capable of great abuse.1
In England the police have no such powers. A person
cannot be detained until he has been arrested, and he can-
1 Coercive methods, popularly known as " third-degree " methods,
are strictly prohibited by Section 343 of the German Criminal Code
(Strafgesetzbuch), which reads as follows: "An official who ap¬
plies or permits the application of coercive measures in an inquiry
to extort a confession or declaration shall be punished with penal
servitude up to five years." The difficulty in the way of enforcing
this section, of course, arises from the fact that the police invari¬
ably claim that no coercive measures were employed in obtaining a
confession — and the word of a civilian has little weight against
the word of an official.
309
European Police Systems
not be arrested until there is evidence to warrant it, evi¬
dence which must be satisfactory to a judge in open
court. Neither judge, magistrate, jurymen nor police
can interrogate an accused person. Indeed, the police
are strictly forbidden to put any question to a person
whom they have arrested, or are about to arrest, touching
the crime of which he is accused, and the first statement
made to a prisoner in a police station is in the nature of a
caution that he is not bound to say anything to incrimin¬
ate himself.1
In contrast with this practice, the German police make
frequent use of what is called the Razzia system.
Raids are made on certain classes of saloons or cafés,
and even on lodging houses of a lower order, and all per¬
sons who cannot give a satisfactory account of them¬
selves, or in regard to whose identity there is some sus¬
picion, are taken wholesale to police headquarters, where
they may be detained twenty-four hours. Here their
employment cards are viséed,2 their names, residences
and changes of address are verified by the official regis-
1 For a discussion of the relations between the police and ar¬
rested prisoners, see An Address to Police Constables on Their
Duties, by the Right Hon. Lord Brampton, printed as a foreword
in Sir Howard Vincent's Police Code} London, 1912.
2 Employment cards are issued by the government under the
state insurance plan; the employer attaches a stamp for each week's
service by the employee. The card, therefore, not only constitutes
a means of identification for the employee, but shows the police
when and where he last worked. If it appears from the card that
he has not had recent employment, he is served with a_ written
order to find work, which, if disobeyed, and if no proper justifica¬
tion can be given for his failure, renders him liable to fine and im¬
prisonment by the police.
Every German citizen, particularly among the lower classes, cus¬
tomarily carries papers of identification. These may be either em¬
ployment cards, army discharge papers or other documents which
can serve a similar purpose.
3IO
The Detective Force
ters, and the records are searched to ascertain whether in
any German city they are wanted for crime. Any in¬
fraction of the minute police regulations renders them
liable to punishment, and the careful scrutiny made of
each individual record frequently results in the discovery
of criminals guilty of serious offenses.
Similarly the powers of the German police in the mat¬
ter of the right of search simplify the detective prob¬
lem. Section 102 of the German Code of Criminal
Procedure gives wide scope to the exercise of this au¬
thority. It reads as follows : " The dwelling or other
premises of any person suspected of being the perpetrator
or accomplice of any culpable act, or of having counte¬
nanced such act, or received stolen goods, as well as the
person of any such individual and all his property, may
be searched, either with the purpose of arresting him,
or when it is believed that such search will lead to the
discovery of evidence." The right to order a search
rests with the courts, or in case of urgency, with the pub¬
lic prosecutor and his assistants. Under the German
law,1 however, the entire detective force is an auxiliary
to the public prosecutor's office, with the result that the
right of search, as far as practical purposes are con¬
cerned, lies entirely within the discretion of the police,
and elaborate searches for evidence, in a manner and to
a degree unheard of in England, are customary accom¬
paniments of German criminal cases. In Berlin any
police lieutenant in charge of a precinct, or officer of
equal or higher rank, can order a house searched and
property seized. No authority is required in the shape
1 Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz. § 153.
311
European Police Systems
of a writ or a warrant. All that is necessary is a sus¬
picion that incriminating evidence exists. If a seizure
is made, the police official must, within three days, apply
to the court, through the office of the prosecuting attor¬
ney, for authority to keep the evidence in question. If
the application is denied, the seizure must be returned,
but the victim whose house has been searched is without
redress. " I can search my neighbor's house and lock
him up for twenty-four hours, although he may be as in¬
nocent as a lamb," a Berlin lieutenant told the writer.
Other comparisons could be made between the powers
of the English and German police with a view to showing
the increased difficulties of detective work under the lib¬
eral British laws, and the correspondingly larger require¬
ments in the way of ingenuity and resourcefulness de¬
manded of Scotland Yard's representatives as compared
with those of the Kriminal-Abteilung of Berlin. In¬
deed, if we had space, the comparison could be enlarged
to include Austria, Italy, France and other Continental
countries, for, in the matter of the limited powers of the
police in apprehending criminals, British practice has no
parallel 011 the Continent.
The extensive legal powers of the German police are,
to a large extent, responsible for their success in detect¬
ing criminals. But there is another reason equally im¬
portant. The German detective bureau is far better
equipped than the average English bureau. Its office
methods are greatly superior. A Berlin detective in
Scotland Yard would find none of the thoroughly elab¬
orated mechanical aids in the way of criminal indexes
and registers to which he has been accustomed to re-
312
The Detective Force
sort in his own country. He would find a rule-of-thumb
method in place of the scientific attention to details
which characterizes the work of his own bureau. All
the more elaborate appliances for the apprehension
of criminals, such as the use of chemical and physical
analyses, the extensive application of photography, the
infinite number of devices for establishing identification,
are missing. Indeed, such is the difference between
England and Germany in this respect that a quiet, little
city like Stuttgart, with 300,000 population, has better
crime indexes than Scotland Yard, while Dresden, with
550,000 is so far ahead of Scotland Yard in mechanical
contrivances of this kind that comparison is almost
out of the question. In the scientific aspects of detec¬
tive work, Germany has developed beyond England.
In the former country it has become a progressive sci¬
ence to which each of the larger cities has contributed its
share. In Great Britain, on the other hand, all the pro¬
vincial cities have followed Scotland Yard, and Scotland
Yard, after taking the lead in the introduction of finger¬
prints, has been passed and outclassed in the further ex¬
tensions of criminal identification and crime detection by
its more scientific and painstaking neighbors across the
North Sea. For the last ten years there seems to have
been a deep-rooted opposition at Scotland Yard to change
and innovation, an opposition which, with the recent shift
in the head of the detective bureau,1 shows encouraging
signs of weakening. It is in these ten years that Ger¬
many's constructive additions have largely been accom-
1 In 1913 Basil Home Thompson, formerly of the Prison Comr«
mission of the Home Office, was appointed head of the detective
organization.
313
European Police Systems
plished, and it is in part due to their assistance, as I have
already suggested, that the German detective succeeds
where, because of his limited training, he might fairly
be expected to fail.
The subject of detective methods and systems is of
such importance and bears so directly upon the efficiency
of a plain-clothes force that I shall devote the following
chapter to its discussion.
3H
CHAPTER IX
methods of crime detection
Criminal record files.— Necessity for such files.— Chief problem ol
detective bureau furnished by professional or habitual criminals.—
Berlin's elaborate records.— Criminal records dependent upon ac¬
curate method of identification.— Anthropometry and dactyloscopy,
— History of the two systems.— Their rivalry.— Advantages ol
dactyloscopy.— Dactyloscopic bureaus.— Necessity for cooperation
in the exchange of finger-prints.— Scotland Yard the clearing house
for Great Britain.—The national identification service of Italy.—
Unsatisfactory conditions in Germany.— Necessity for international
cooperation.— Crime indexes.— Various classification of photo¬
graphs.— Tattoo and deformity register.— Nickname and alias regis¬
ter.— Handwriting classifications.— Newspaper clipping classifica¬
tions.— Classifications of crimes by methods.— The " M. O." sys¬
tem.— The German Meldewesen or registration system.— Its opera¬
tion and uses.— Its relation to the detection of crime.— The new
science of crime detection.— Criminal laboratories in European uni¬
versities.—The results of their work.
The detection of crime involves two sorts of inves¬
tigation, one having to do with inquiries made at the
scene of a crime or in the actual pursuit of an offender,
and the other dealing with the methods by which the re¬
sults of these inquiries are sorted, classified and com¬
pared. In this chapter we shall discuss the latter. Our
discussion will include consideration of criminal record
files, of the two main systems of identification and the
operation of dactyloscopic bureaus, of the various ar¬
rangements of criminal registers and indexes, of the ad¬
vantages afforded by the German system of registration
(Meldewesen)y and finally, of the new movement, spring-
315
European Police Systems
in g from the universities, to create a definite science of
crime detection.
Criminal Record Files.
The prime requisite in the office equipment of a de¬
tective bureau is a criminal record file. The police must
be acquainted with the criminal propensities of specific
individuals ; they must be armed with accurate knowledge
of the past records of those whom they arrest or suspect.
Such knowledge is not only essential to successful de¬
tective work in providing a basis for action, but it fur¬
nishes a guide to magistrates in pronouncing sentence.
The bulk of crime, certainly of crime against property,
is committed by those who have previously been in the
hands of the police. The chief problem of a detective
bureau is furnished by the professional or habitual crim¬
inal, by the man upon whom the possibility of another
prison sentence exercises no restraint. Of the 159,747
criminals received in the prisons of England and Wales
during the year 1911, 100,605 had been previously con¬
victed.1 During the same period, of the 10,646 persons
1 Judicial Statistics, England and Wales, Part /.— Criminal Sta¬
tistics1911, p. 138. The following table is compiled from these
statistics :
Number of Number of times
persons convicted. previously convicted.
23,023 Once
12,154 Twice
9,104 Three times
7,057 Four times
5,474
17,431
13,783
12,579
Five times
Six to ten times
Eleven to twenty times.
Above twenty times
Total, 100,605
316
Methods of Crime Detection
sentenced for serious offenses in the Courts of Assize and
Quarter Sessions, 7,474 had been previously convicted.1
Of the 2,881 persons sentenced for offenses against prop¬
erty with violence, 2,306 had had previous convictions.2
For twelve years, the proportion of convicted persons in
England and Wales, recognized as having previous con¬
victions, has averaged between 60 per cent, and 70 per
cent.3 Similarly in Scotland, in 1911, of 2,898 persons
sentenced for crimes against the person, 1,556 had been
previously convicted ; of 980 persons sentenced for
crimes against property with violence, 499 had been
previously convicted.4 The same proportion of previ¬
ous convictions is shown in the judicial statistics of prac¬
tically every nation in Europe.
To enable the police to meet this situation intelligently
criminal record files have become the principal part
of the equipment of every detective bureau in Europe.
In Berlin and Vienna these records are perhaps most
completely developed. Comprising a number of card in¬
dexes, large and small, they show the records and sen¬
tences of all criminals who have at any time been in the
hands of the police, classified phonetically rather than
alphabetically, and cross indexed to other registers where
papers, documents, and personal statistics are filed re¬
lating to each particular crime. If the police of Berlin
wish to ascertain the early criminal record of Carl
Schmidt, they have at hand not only the minute details
of each offense with which he was connected, but a reg-
1 Judicial Statistics, etc., p. 52.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., p. 10.
4 Judicial Statistics of Scotland, 1911, p. 66.
317
European Police Systems
ister of his companions, friends and accomplices, of his
family relations and his employers, all classified in such
fashion that the information is available at a moment's
notice. The German genius for arrangement and detail
is nowhere shown to better advantage than in the crim¬
inal files of the Berlin department.1
Such records as these, however, classified by names, do
not in themselves furnish an infallible instrument for the
use of the police. Without an accurate method of
1 In the Vienna department are filed the records of all criminals
convicted in lower Austria. Budapest has the criminal records for
all of Hungary. Police departments, however, are not the only de¬
positories of criminal records. Throughout Germany such records
(Strafregister) are filed in the city, town or village where a man
was born, either in the office of the public prosecutor, as in Prus¬
sia, or in the office of the Magistrates' Courts (Amtsgericht) as in
Saxony and Badèn. In fact, one of the chief duties of the criminal
courts in Germany is to forward to the place of birth, for the pur¬
poses of the Strafregisterj the record of any sentence imposed upon
a prisoner. In France, criminal records for the entire nation were
formerly filed in the office of the Ministry of Justice in Paris. As
the number of sentences began to assume large proportions, how¬
ever, it was deemed advisable to decentralize the system and to es¬
tablish a series of local bureaus (casiers judiciaires), one for each
arrondissement of France. Criminal records, therefore, are now
filed in the arrondissement of birth.
Other countries maintain national or centralized bureaus of crim¬
inal records, notably Belgium and Italy. The system in the latter
country is perhaps the most complete of its kind in Europe. In the
office of the Minister of Justice in Rome are filed the records of all
crimes, large and small, committed in Italy or by Italian subjects
abroad. Each crime is listed on a card which is classified according
to the tribunal in which the commune of birth of the criminal is lo¬
cated, the secondary classification being the name of the criminal and
his parents' names. At the present time, the file contains 1,200,000
cards, and is growing at the rate of 160,000 cards a year. Criminal
records in Italy are also maintained at the tribunal in which the
commune of birth is located. Each court in Italy, therefore, sends
out two records of the result of a conviction, one to the office of the
Minister of Justice in Rome, and the other to the tribunal in which
the commune of birth of the prisoner is located. If the criminal is a
foreign subject, a third record is sent to the Foreign Office of his
country through diplomatic channels. (See p. 329.)
318
Methods of Crime Detection
identification, the simple invention of an alias or any-
other disguise will, if undetected, invalidate the entire
system. Indeed, the usefulness of criminal records de¬
pends upon the ability of the police to fasten upon each
human being an identity from which he cannot escape.
Criminals must be differentiated from the rest of the pop¬
ulation as well as from each other. Means must be dis¬
covered to prevent a person guilty of crime from losing
or destroying his identity. Formerly the police were
forced to depend on descriptions and photographs, but
these methods proved by no means reliable, for the mod¬
ern criminal is an adept in altering his personal appear¬
ance. More reliable methods were essential, and for
years the science of crime detection concerned itself solely
with the search for an infallible system of identification.
When to-day, therefore, we speak of criminal records,
we cannot readily differentiate them from the identifica¬
tion methods by which they are made practicable. In¬
deed, in most police departments, criminal records and
identification devices are but parts of one huge interre¬
lated system, approachable from many angles. In order
to comprehend the system, however, we must study it
from the point of view of the identification methods
which control it.
Anthropometry and Dactyloscopy.
Within thirty years, two scientific systems of criminal
identification have been developed in Europe — anthro¬
pometry, the science of bodily measurements, and dacty¬
loscopy, the use of finger-prints. The former is the crea¬
tion of the late Alphonse Bertillon, head of the Criminal
319
European Police Systems
Identification Department of Paris; the latter is largely
the work of Sir William Herschel and Sir Francis Galton,
although the means of classification by which this system
was first made practicable was perfected by Sir Edward
Henry, now Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police
Force of London.1
Anthropometry, introduced in France by M. Bertillon
in 1883, is based on the fact that the dimensions of
certain bony portions of the human frame do not vary
during the period between adolescence and extreme old
age. M. Bertillon selected certain specific measure¬
ments, each primary classification being successively sub¬
divided. On this basis he built up a system of identifi¬
cation which was adopted by most of the countries of
Europe.2
1 Finger-prints appear first to have been scientifically studied in
Europe by Purkinje, of the University of Breslau. In 1823, he read
before the faculty a Latin thesis on finger-print impressions, which,
however, attracted no particular attention.
The Chinese seem to have used finger-prints for identification
purposes from very early times. Indeed, M. Bertillon always in¬
sisted that this method represented an old idea even in Europe.
Shortly before he died he sent me as a proof of his contention a
photograph of the title page of an English book on which the orig¬
inal owner had inscribed the date, " January 1, 1824," followed by
the print of his forefinger and the words : " Thomas Bewick, his
mark."
2 M. Bertillon selected head length, head breadth, middle finger
length, foot length, and cubit, and distributed them as belonging to
one of three equally numerous classes : " Small," " Medium," and
" Large." Each of these primary headings is subdivided on the
same general principle according to height, span, length and breadth
of ear, the height of the bust and the eye color, this last providing
seven divisions.
To these measurements he added, as sub-classifications of his sys¬
tem, his famous descriptive photography^ (portrait parlé) and his
method of grouping colors and characteristic marks. Later, as we
shall see, he added finger-prints. The Bertillon criminal card, there-
320
Methods of Crime Detection
Dactyloscopy, first tried by the English authorities in
India, was introduced at Scotland Yard in 1901. It is
based on the fact that the papillary lines on the surface
of the finger tips form certain typical patterns capable of
accurate classification. These patterns have been shown
by experiment to make their appearance three months be¬
fore birth and to disappear after death only with the dis¬
solution of the body. Furthermore, the ridge character¬
istics in each set of finger tips are distinctive. No two
impressions have ever been discovered that are exactly
identical. On this basis, therefore, it is possible to estab¬
lish an absolute system of identification. When Sir Ed¬
ward Henry devised a method of classifying finger-print
impressions so that their position in a file could be ac¬
curately determined, the system became immediately
practicable.1 Other methods of classification have since
fore, while classified under measurements, involves other methods of
identification.
1 Sir Edward Henry's book, Classification and Uses of Finger
Prints (Fourth Edition, London, IQ13), is the leading text-book on
the subject. The details of the Henry system of classification are so
generally understood that I have not thought it necessary to elabo¬
rate them here. To the uninitiated, however, the following facts
may be of interest:
Finger-print impressions are divided into four types, namely:
arch, loop, whorl, and composite. In the primary classification,
arches are classed with loops and composites with whorls, so that
only two patterns are dealt with. The ten impressions are divided
into five pairs : right thumb and right index, right middle and right
ring, right little finger and left thumb, left index and left middle,
and left ring and left little finger.
Of the two patterns, only the whorl is given a numerical weight,
no numerical value being attached to the loop. When a whorl ap¬
pears in the first pair, it counts 16, in the second pair, 8; in the
third pair, 4; in the fourth pair, 2; and in the fifth pair, 1. The
value of each of the first fingers of the five pairs is totaled and to
this 1 is added. This gives the denominator. A total is taken of
each of the second fingers of the five pairs and 1 is added. This
321
European Police Systems
been devised, although the Henry method is still the one
most widely used. It is employed in Great Britain, Hol¬
land, Belgium, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, and in
Germany, with the exception of Hamburg and Berlin.
In these two cities a modification of the Henry system
has been adopted.1 Rome and the other Italian cities use
the "Argentine system," invented by Vucetich, and
widely employed in South America. Modifications of
this system are used in Madrid and Copenhagen. In
Paris, finger-prints of women and children, to whom
the anthropometric system cannot successfully be ap¬
plied, are classified after a method devised by Bertillon.2
Between these two systems of identification, the Ber¬
tillon and the Finger-print, a bitter struggle has devel¬
oped, with the result that some of the European cities,
uncertain of the merits of the controversy and unwilling
to lose the advantages of either method, have, at the cost
gives the numerator. Primary classifications arrange themselves
in fractions from I over i to 32 over 32, as follows :
A, A, A to 25; h, A, A to 25, and so on up to A, A, A, to 2?.
1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 32 32 32 32'
making the total number of combinations obtainable 1,024, which is
the square of 32.
The secondary or sub-classification is required further to identify
large accumulations of primary classification numbers. The details
of this secondary classification cannot here be considered.
1 Dr. Gustav Roscher, Police President of Hamburg, has devised
a method which he describes in his pamphlet, Handbuch der Dakty-
loskopie fur Selbstunterricht bearbeitet. The method used in the
Berlin department is scarcely more than a modification of the Henry
system.
2 In a paper read before the Congress of International Judicial
Police, in 1914, Professor Reiss, the well-known director of the In¬
stitute of Scientific Police of the University of Lausanne, urged the
universal adoption of the Vucetich system of finger-print classifica¬
tion on the grounds of its simplicity. (Premier Congrès de Police
judiciaire internationale, pp. 38 ff.)
322
Methods of Crime Detection
of convenience and at great expense, adopted both. The
Bertillon anthropometric system, however, has gradually
lost ground. In London and the English provincial
cities, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Dresden, Munich, Vi¬
enna, Budapest, and Rome, it has been altogether dis¬
carded for the finger-print method.1 In Berlin and
Hamburg, it is employed only for international or " rov¬
ing " criminals who may have records in France. For
all other purposes dactyloscopy is used.2 It is only in
the French cities and in Russia and Switzerland that the
Bertillon system has a foothold. Even Bertillon was
obliged to admit the value of dactyloscopy, and after
many years of resistance, made it a part of his own sys¬
tem, producing the so-called Parisian fiche, which is made
up partly of bodily measurements and partly of papil¬
lary line patterns. Of the ten fingers, Bertillon utilized
at first only four of the left hand. Only recently did he
consent to use all ten.
Since M. Bertillon's death in 1913, it has become ex¬
ceedingly doubtful whether the anthropometric system
will be continued even in France. It is fast losing ground
everywhere. As a means of identifying criminals it is
distinctly inferior to dactyloscopy. It cannot suc¬
cessfully be applied to women or children ;3 the instru-
1 London discarded the Bertillon system in 1902 after several years
of unsatisfactory experiment in combining the two systems. Vienna
began with the Bertillon system in 1899; in 1902 the finger-print
method was introduced and both systems were employed until 1907,
when the anthropometric method was dropped. Similar illustrations
could be given from other cities.
2 Thus in 1912 the Hamburg department measured sixteen per¬
sons and took finger-prints of 11,231 (I ahresb eric ht, etc., p. 13).
3 M. Bertillon was obliged to supply this gap in his system by a
separate finger-print file for women and children.
323
European Police Systems
ments required for its work are liable to get out of order;
a margin for error must always be allowed, as no two
officials make exactly the same measurements; men in
charge of the system must be specially trained for the
work; the method of classification frequently causes de¬
lay and uncertainty in searching the files. Finally, it is
by no means proven that advancing age and pathological
alteration of the organs will not frequently produce a
change of bodily measurements. On the other hand,
the only accessories needed to take finger-prints are a
piece of tin and some printer's ink. Any person, whether
educated or not, can perform the function with half an
hour's practice. There is no possible margin of error, as
finger-prints are absolute impressions taken from the
body itself. Moreover, the ordinary system of classifica¬
tion is so simple as to facilitate ready search.1 Finally
the finger-print method is advantageous in affording the
police frequent opportunity to discover the perpetrator
of a particular crime through marks which he leaves be¬
hind him.2
1 See Report of Committee to Examine into Identification by Im¬
pressions, submitted to the Government of India, March 31, 1897,
printed as an appendix in Sir Edward Henry's book, The Classifica¬
tion and Use of Finger Prints. See also, Mona Lisa und die Dakty-
loskopie in Die Woche, Number 3, 1914, by Polizeirat Robert Heindl
of the Police Department of Dresden.
As an example of the speed with which a search can be made
under the Henry system of classification, my finger-prints were
taken at Police Headquarters in Vienna, properly classified and
filed with perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand others. An official
who had not been present was called in and after taking my finger¬
prints afresh, was able, after a three minutes' examination, to find
my card in the files. This experiment was repeated for me in per¬
haps a dozen cities in Europe.
2 The finger-print system is, therefore, available for two pur¬
poses : first, after arrest to identify a prisoner with a previous crim¬
inal record ; second, to discover the author of a particular crime be-
324
Methods of Crime Detection
The inability of the Parisian police authorities to dis¬
cover the author of the theft of Mona Lisa was due not
to any fault in the finger-print system, but to Bertillon's
peculiar method of classification. The thief, Perugia by
name, had been in the hands of the Paris police on a
previous occasion, when his finger-prints were taken.
Finger-print impressions were left on the frame of the
picture, but his record in the file was not found, because
measurements■, rather than finger-prints, constitute the
fore any arrest is made by comparison of finger-prints left behind
him with finger-print cards on file at headquarters. The system
is, of course, employed primarily in carrying out the first function.
Remarkable illustrations of its efficacy in respect to the second func¬
tion are given in Sir Edward Henry's book cited above, pp. 54 ff.
Many illustrations of a similar kind were obtained by the writer in
Continental cities.
The extensive uses to which the finger-print system may be put
are shown in Sir Edward "Henry's book, pp. 6-8. He says :
"In India the employment of the new system has not been re¬
stricted to the police department, but has been introduced into all
branches of public business, being particularly well suited to the
requirements of a country where the mass of the people are unedu¬
cated and where false personation is an evil which even the penal¬
ties provided by the penal laws are powerless to control. All mili¬
tary and civil pensioners are now required to give their finger im¬
pressions and this precaution is effective against fraud. In the
registration offices of the Province of Bengal, and in all the prov¬
inces of India, persons who, admitting execution, present documents
for registration, are required to authenticate their signature or
mark by affixing the impression of their left thumb both on the
document and in a register kept for that purpose. In the Opium
Department, employers who make advances to laborers, or pay
them salaries, or enter into contracts with them, now protect them¬
selves by taking their finger-prints on the receipt or agreement.
All emigrants signing contracts under the Emigration Act are re¬
quired to give the impression of their le ft thumb on the contract
and on the registers. With large establishments, such as are em¬
ployed by the Survey of India, this system is used to prevent the
reëmployment of undesirable persons whose services have been dis¬
pensed with. The system has also been adopted by the Director-
General of the Post Offices in India and by the Medical Depart¬
ment. In the latter case, the local medical officer and the Medical
Board, when giving certificates, invariably take the thumb impres¬
sion of the person examined." (Quotation abridged.)
325
European Police Systems
primary classification. Under a pure dactyloscopic sys¬
tem, such as is employed in Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Mu¬
nich, Dresden, London, or any of the provincial cities of
England, the identity of the thief could have been estab¬
lished in half an hour.
In terms of actual results, the superiority of the finger¬
print system can be readily established. In England and
Wales, for the year ending December 31, 1911, the num¬
ber of identifications made by the finger-print system was
twenty times greater than the largest number effected in
previous years by the anthropometric method. A study
of the identifications made by the anthropometric and fin¬
ger-print systems in Scotland Yard shows similar results.
Beginning with 1898, when the Bertillon system was in
force, there were, for the year, 152 identifications; in
1899, 243; in 1900, 462; in 1901, 503, which included 93
identifications by the finger-print method. In 1902,
when finger-prints had completely superseded the Bertil¬
lon system, the figures jumped to 1,032. In 1903, there
were 2,062; in 1904, 2,611; in 1903, 2,853, since which
time they have been steadily mounting as the number
of cards on file at Scotland Yard has become annually
larger. In 1912, 10,677 identifications were made, that
is, 10,677 People were identified with previous criminal
records. Statistics of a similar nature were obtained in
Vienna and elsewhere.1
1 Professor Reiss of the University of Lausanne urges that the
Bertillon system be not discarded but be worked in conjunction
with dactyloscopy. In his paper before the International Congress
(above referred to) he argues that the Parisian fiche of M. Ber¬
tillon possesses means of identification, such as the portrait parlé
and the color and characteristic scar or mark classification, by
which a system of pure dactyloscopy may well be supplemented.
(See next page)
326
Methods of Crime Detection
Dactyloscopic Bureaus.
With the finger-print system of identification firmly es¬
tablished in most of the European police departments,
the next step has been to devise some system either of
centralization or of distribution by which the records of
one city can be available for all. For, under modern
conditions of life, the traveling criminal has come to play
a predominant part in the police problem. The same
man will commit burglaries in London, Manchester and
Carlisle. The same footpad will terrorize Worcester
and Hereford. A man arrested for vagrancy in Dres¬
den may be wanted for picking pockets in Berlin and
Hamburg. For the lack of certain finger-prints filed in
Lyons, the Paris police may allow a well-known coun¬
terfeiter to go free. No single department by itself can
cope successfully with the traveling criminal. The prob¬
lem calls for wide cooperation, and cities, districts, and
even countries must combine in their efforts to solve it.
To this end various methods have been adopted. In
Great Britain, Scotland Yard has been made the clear¬
ing house for all information relating to identification.
In England and Wales the permanent dactyloscopic rec¬
ords are taken by prison officials ; in Scotland, by the po¬
lice.1 In all cases, however, they are sent to the Finger
In effect, he says that it is the duty of the police to employ all
methods of identification available. Outside of France this point
of view finds little support. In London, Liverpool, Vienna, Rome,
Rotterdam, Dresden and Munich, not to mention smaller cities,
the idea of operating these two systems in the same department is
ridiculed, although, as we shall see, photographs, scars, marks and
other factors are often used as separate rather than supplementary
classifications.
1 In Great Britain, finger-prints are taken after appearance be-
327
European Police Systems
Print Branch of Scotland Yard, where all dactyloscopic
impressions taken in the United Kingdom are on file.
Several cities, to be sure, such as Liverpool and Man¬
chester, maintain their own registers for local or im¬
mediate reference, but, for important cases — indeed,
we may safely say, for all cases—Scotland Yard is
consulted. For example, a man is arrested in Leeds on
the charge of burglary. His finger-prints are immediately
forwarded by the police of Leeds to Scotland Yard to as¬
certain who he is and whether he has had a previous
record. The files of Scotland Yard, which contain
200,000 records, may show that he is an habitual crim¬
inal who, perhaps, is wanted in other cities for the same
offense. In any case an answer is at once returned by
wire. By means of this centralized system, the county
and borough forces of England, Scotland and Wales,
fore a magistrate, during "remand," in cases requested by the
police, or after conviction in the case of all persons sentenced at
Quarter Sessions or Assizes to not less than a month's imprison¬
ment or at Petty Sessions to more than a month's imprisonment
without the option of a fine. The statement that the prints are
taken by prison officials in England and Wales needs some quali¬
fication. This is true in London. It is also true of the permanent
records taken after conviction. In the provincial cities, however,
the police themselves take finger-prints (after appearance before
a magistrate) either for their own files or for those at Scotland
Yard, but in the latter case, these records are supplanted by the per¬
manent records taken later by the prison officials. If a prisoner
who has been finger-printed during " remand " is acquitted on his
trial, his prints are ordinarily destroyed, but to this there are " oc¬
casional exceptions,"— somewhat reluctantly admitted by officials
at Scotland Yard.
At the race tracks at Epsom and Ascot finger-prints of sharp¬
ers are taken on the spot, although not until the prisoners have
been arraigned before a magistrate sitting at the track. This is
the only case in which members of the Metropolitan Police Force
themselves take finger-prints. In all other cases, as I have pointed
out, they are taken by prison officials.
328
Methods of Crime Detection
and the Metropolitan force of London are able to present
a united front against the professional criminal.
Even more complete is the identification service in
Italy, where special advantages are afforded by the
national police system. The finger-print bureau, under
the well-known Dr. Gasti, is a branch of the Ministry of
the Interior and is located at Rome.1 In this central
bureau are filed the finger-prints for the entire detective
service of Italy, sent in from 550 police offices and prisons
throughout the Kingdom. Prints are taken, under
uniform rules, of all persons charged with committing
dangerous crimes, of all foreigners under arrest, of those
in regard to whose nationality there is doubt, and of the
unidentified dead.2 " When in doubt, take finger-prints/'
Dr. Gasti told the writer. Instituted on the present scale
in 1908, the bureau has rapidly become one of the most
complete in Europe. Its records are increasing at the
rate of 1,500- a month. A record card includes not only
the criminal's finger-prints, which constitute, of course,
the major classification, but his photograph and his de¬
scription. In this respect, and in respect to the uniform
conditions under which finger-prints are taken through-
1 This bureau is located in the Scuola di Polizia Scientiûca. As
we have already observed (Chap. V, p. 192), Italy combines her
school for the training of police executives with the national iden¬
tification service. This identification bureau should not be con¬
fused with the criminal record file maintained at the Ministry of
Justice (See note 1, p. 318). The two are quite distinct. The
latter contains the records of all crimes and misdemeanors, classi¬
fied by the place of birth of the delinquents. The former has to do
with serious offenses only, and is classified dactyloscopically. The
two bureaus continually cooperate and unsuccessful searches in one
are prosecuted in the other.
2 The finger-prints of Italian subjects arrested for crime in for¬
eign countries are also' filed here whenever such records can be
obtained.
3^9
European Police Systems
out the country, the system is superior to Great Britain's.
The latter system is a cooperative arrangement between
local forces ; the former is a national service covering the
entire country.
In Germany, conditions are not so satisfactory. The
division of the Empire into self-governing states has pre¬
vented the fullest cooperation. Five cities maintain in¬
dependent registries — Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Mu¬
nich and Stuttgart — and each operates for itself and the
surrounding territory.1 Most of the cities appeal to Ber¬
lin in cases of doubt, and Berlin has, indeed, the largest
finger-print file. But hitherto, there have been no es¬
tablished rules for the whole of Germany governing either
the taking of finger-prints or the conditions under which
they shall be sent to Berlin. As a result, therefore, there
has been no extensive cooperation, and, of course, no
complete file as in Great Britain and Italy.2
German officials have not been slow to see the disad¬
vantages of this arrangement. In 1912 an inter-state
police congress (D euts cher Polizeikongress ) was called
at Berlin by the Prussian Minister of the Interior
in which the police bodies of every state of the Empire
were represented. The object of this gathering was to
bring about, through uniform methods, systematic co¬
operation in the identification of criminals. Its program
included questions relating not only to the exchange of
finger-prints and the possibility of establishing a central
1 Thus Dresden operates for Saxony, Munich for Bavaria, Stutt¬
gart for Wurttemberg.
2 In Prussia, however, where the principal police forces are under
the direction of the Minister of the Interior, Berlin has been made
the central bureau to which all finger-prints must be sent.
330
Methods of Crime Detection
bureau for Germany, but to other cooperative measures,
such as a common telegraph code and a national criminal
newspaper. The Congress appointed a commission of
representative officials to work out the details of these
suggestions, and their results will be submitted for ap¬
proval or disapproval to another Congress to be sum¬
moned later. If out of this movement uniformity in
method and procedure can be achieved, Germany will un¬
doubtedly have an identification service as effective as
that of Great Britain or Italy.1
In France, where, as we have seen, the anthropometric
system is in vogue, the Paris police department is the cen¬
tral bureau of criminal identification. All measurements
taken, not only by the municipal police and prison
officials throughout the Republic, but by the agents of the
1 The German ^ finger-print files, such as Berlin, Dresden and
Hamburg maintain, are much more elaborate than those in Eng¬
land. Scotland Yard, for example, has two dactyloscopic files, one
classified according to the Henry system, and the other (a finger¬
print index) according to the names of prisoners. This latter file
contains the Henry formula for each prisoner, and is cross-indexed
to the regular file.
Dresden, to use as an illustration a typical German city, has four
files :
1 — The regular Henry classification file.
2 — A finger-print index system, differing from the London file
in that it shows the right forefinger print of a prisoner for each
time he is arrested, together with date and cause of arrest. Classi¬
fied according to names, as in London, this file reveals at a glance
the number of times that a prisoner has been in the hands of the
police, and his previous record, making unnecessary a further con¬
sultation of other classifications and documents.
3 — A finger-print file for housebreakers, the impression of only
one finger being placed on a card. Each convicted burglar has thus
ten cards in this file. The file is used to expedite comparisons
with impressions left behind by housebreakers on glass, metal or
woodwork.
4 — A finger-print file of all police officials, so that prints found
at the scene of a crime may be distinguished from those inadvert¬
ently made by the officers in the course of their investigations.
331
European Police Systems
national Brigade mobile 1 as well, are sent here to be
filed, and the Service de l'identité judiciaire, organized by
Bertillon, performs the same functions for France that
the Finger Print Branch of Scotland Yard performs for
Great Britain.
A national system of identification, although highly
serviceable, is not as effective as would appear at first
glance. The criminal world is to-day characterized by a
remarkable solidarity. Crime has become a career, an
industry, an art, with established customs and practices
and a recognized technique. The professional criminal is
a cosmopolitan. He knows no national boundaries. He
can counterfeit French money as easily as Austrian or
English. He can work a commercial fraud in Germany
as well as in Italy. If his record precludes further op¬
eration in one country, if his methods become too well
known, or the police too active, he can quietly slip to
another. The problem of the criminal is thus no longer
national but international. It is not enough that the
cities of England or of Germany should form a union for
their own protection. England and Germany themselves
must cooperate with France and Italy and the other
nations of Europe. The struggle against crime and the
criminal is the struggle of civilized society rather than
of individual nations or states.
1 See pote 2, p. 288. The central office of the national Brigade
mobile in Paris maintains an extensive file of photographs and
descriptions of French criminals. Indeed, it was M. Hennion's
plan, when he was head of the Sûreté générale, to create a national
identification bureau for France. It was found impracticable and
unnecessary, however, to maintain a separate Bertillon file, and the
identification department of the Paris police *orce is, therefore,
used for that purpose.
332
Methods of Crime Detection
The attempts to approximate this ideal by systematic
methods have hitherto been far from successful. There
has been no consistent international action worthy the
name. To be sure, criminal records are often exchanged
between nations on the basis of special treaties and a few
cities cooperate in reference to certain cases or classes of
cases. Thus, Stuttgart sends finger-prints to Zurich, and
Berlin to Vienna, or Paris sends descriptions to London,
and Hamburg to Copenhagen. But of broad coopera¬
tion on a systematic basis there is none. Indeed, the
difficulties in the way of such action are not to be min¬
imized. Diplomatic usage and the prescribed formalities
of official communication between nations have greatly
complicated the task. If a thief operating in Berlin is
thought to have made his escape to England, the Berlin
police may not communicate directly with Scotland Yard.
The information must first be sent to the Prussian Min¬
ister of the Interior, by him to the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, by him to the German Ambassador in London,
by him to the British Secretary for Foreign Af¬
fairs, by him to the Home Secretary, and by him to
Scotland Yard. If Scotland Yard requires further in¬
formation in regard to the thief before action can be
taken, the request and answer must both travel through
these same diplomatic channels. Effective cooperation
is obviously impossible under such conditions. Nor is
such formality peculiar to Germany and England. It is
the common practice among civilized nations everywhere.
To be sure, some of the police departments, particularly
Paris and London, occasionally communicate directly
with each other, leaving the diplomatic formalities to fol-
333
European Police Systems
low in their own good time, but this practice is irregular
and is generally frowned upon in high places.
Another obstacle to international cooperation in crim¬
inal matters has hitherto been the lack of a uniform sys¬
tem of identification. The Bertillon system, as we have
observed, is still used in France and is necessary in other
countries when French criminals are involved. It is
scarcely too much to say that the adherence of the Ber¬
tillon School to the anthropometric system of classifica¬
tion has been the greatest single obstacle to international
cooperation. With the passing of the Bertillon tradi¬
tion, however, the way is open to uniformity, and it will
probably not be long before all criminal registers in
Europe are classified on a dactyloscopic basis. With
this effected, the path will be clear for an International
Bureau of Identification, located perhaps at The Hague,
to which the finger-prints and records of all convicted
criminals considered dangerous from an international
standpoint will be sent for filing. Such a proposition is
not a Utopian dream. It was seriously discussed at the
last International Police Congress, held in Monaco,1 and
while its establishment may be indefinitely postponed, it
is the only feasible solution of the difficulties arising from
the present unsystematized arrangement.
An international identification bureau is not the only
step necessary to thorough cooperation in police matters.
Simplification of diplomatic routine is, as we have seen,
equally essential. So, too, a common police code or
1 Congrès de Police judiciaire internationale, April 14-20, 1914.
This subject was ably handled by M. Maurice Yvernès, Chief of
Statistics and Judicial Records in the Ministry of Justice, Paris.
334
Methods of Crime Detection
cipher is necessary to enable the officials of one country to
communicate accurately and rapidly with the officials of
another.1 A universal extradition treaty is also needed.
Again, a uniform method of distributing information
relative to crimes committed and criminals wanted would
add greatly to the efficiency of international police work.
At present, each force or each country has a publication
or group of publications relating to these subjects. Ger¬
many has more than twenty such notification journals
(Steckbriefregister). The Berlin force alone has three.
No recognized principle, however, governs the use of
these publications. There is nothing to guide officials
in determining the papers in which " wanted " notices
shall be inserted. Moreover, out of the mass of such
journals coming regularly to every police office, there is
no way of ascertaining which shall be regularly and sys¬
tematically read. An international notification service,
perhaps an international criminal newspaper would
remedy this situation.2 These suggestions and others
looking toward uniformity in police method, are receiv¬
ing earnest attention from European officials, particularly
on the Continent. There can be little doubt that these
various steps, slowly and perhaps reluctantly adopted, will
lead in time to complete cooperation between nations in
the prevention and detection of crime.
1 M. Lucien Mouquin, Directeur général honoraire of the Paris
police, argues strongly for the use of Esperanto in international re¬
ports. (Report of the Congrès, etc., pp. 14, ff.)
2 This subject is fully discussed by Dr. Robert Heindl of the
Dresden police department in Der Nachrichtendienst der Kriminal-
polizei prepared for the Deutscher Polizeikongress. It was also
treated by several speakers before the International Judicial Con¬
gress held at Monaco in 1914.
335
European Police Systems
Crime Indexes.
So far, we have spoken principally of the dactylo¬
scopic system of identification and its use, local and
national. It is important to remember, however, that
this system has its limitations. It is effective only
where the finger-prints of a criminal are already on
file. It merely establishes the identity of a man under
arrest and serves to connect him with a previous criminal
record. In the discovery of an unknown criminal or of
one known only by description, it offers no assistance.
As Professor Reiss pertinently remarked, " It is not easy
to run in the streets after every suspicious man and beg
him to be kind enough to let his finger-prints be ex¬
amined." 1 Further indexes, based on other means of
identification, are therefore necessary. The police must
be equipped with instruments which will expedite their
search for criminals whose identity is unknown. They
must have ready access to all information bearing upon
their subject, classified for immediate reference to cases
in hand. It was with this idea in mind that Bertillon in¬
corporated the portrait parlé and the characteristic marks
or scars of criminals as sub-classifications of his anthro¬
pometric system. This idea, too, led the Italian police
to add the photograph and description of a criminal to
his finger-print card. These additions, serviceable in
themselves, are nevertheless open to objection in that they
are subsidiary to a major key or classification, which must
be discovered before they can be made practicable. It is
useless to search the Italian records for the picture of a
1 In his address before the Congrès de Police judiciaire inter¬
nationale.
336
Methods of Crime Detection
burglar without having his finger-print formula. Simi¬
larly, it is wasted effort to look through a Bertillon file
for the characteristic scars of a pickpocket without know¬
ing his measurements. Additional classifications rather
than sub-classifications are necessary. Sub-classifications
furnish no new clues; they serve only to supplement the
major key.
Much ingenuity has been expended by European au¬
thorities in devising new criminal files and indexes. In¬
deed, this phase of police activity has become a distinct
science to which many police forces in various countries
have contributed. Perhaps the most widely employed
classification, certainly the oldest, is furnished by pho¬
tography. Until the inauguration of Bertillon's system
in 1883, photographs supplied the only means of identifi¬
cation known to the police. Even to-day their impor¬
tance in detective work cannot be overstated. There is
scarcely a police department in Europe which does not
maintain some kind of a photograph file either as a sub¬
division of its main system of identification, or as an in¬
dependent index to aid in the discovery of unknown
criminals. In carrying out this latter purpose, photo¬
graphs were originally classified by crimes. A man who
complained that he had been robbed on the street, for ex¬
ample, was given the opportunity to look through the
gallery of highwaymen to see whether he could identify
his assailant. As the number of photographs increased,
however, this method became impracticable.1 A man un¬
trained in the science of identification may correctly pick
1 It is still employed, however, in Berlin, where through its use
245 criminals were accurately identified by victims in 1912.
337
European Police Systems
his assailant from fifty or perhaps a hundred photographs,
but when the number runs into thousands, as it often does
in the Continental departments, the feat is practically im¬
possible.1 A system was thereupon devised which sub¬
divides crimes by methods on the theory that a criminal
will always commit his special offense in the same manner.
That is, the tendency of criminals is to specialize, not
only in a particular crime, but in a particular method of
committing it. The burglar who forces a back window
with a " jimmy " usually confines himself to that method.
Similarly, there are such specialties as stealing scarf-pins
in theaters or snatching pocketbooks on lonely streets.
In many departments, therefore, the photographs are di¬
vided and subdivided according to crimes and methods
respectively.2
1The Budapest authorities claim to have the photographs of over
a million criminals, although this is probably an exaggeration.
2 This specialization is carried to an amazing extreme. In Aus¬
tria and Hungary there are pickpockets who confine themselves to
the following method: Consuming enough garlic strongly to taint
the breath they board a crowded street car and stand close U> some
prosperous looking passenger. In his endeavors to escape the odor
breathed in his face, the victim presents an easy opportunity to the
pickpocket.
In this connection Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry Smith, K. C. B.,
Ex-Commissioner City of London Police, writes as follows :
" Criminals, if they will pardon me for saying so, show a strange
want of originality. The streets of London have thousands of
pickpockets : they began to pick pockets, and they continue to pick
pockets. The omnibus thief remains the omnibus thief ; and the
stealer of milk-cans steals milk-cans and nothing else. The stealer
of dogs might surely diversify his program by occasionally
stealing a cat; but no, the feline race concerns him not. With
strange stupidity they frequent the same line of omnibuses, return
to the same streets, and, till Nemesis overtakes them, steal
the same articles. In the higher walks of the profession these
peculiarities are still more striking. The bank robber and the for¬
ger are fascinated by their own style of business. They never have
an idea in their heads beyond bank robbery and forgery. The
coiner is always severely dealt with ; but who ever saw him take
338
Methods of Crime Detection
In Berlin, Vienna, Dresden, Munich and other cities
in Germany and Austria, still another system is in force.
The photographs are arranged primarily according to
crimes and the height of criminals, the former constitut¬
ing the horizontal classification and the latter the vertical.
Thus, pickpockets approximately five feet, six inches tall,
have a separate file, or burglars five feet, eight inches tall.
These files are further classified according to age, shape
of nose and shape of ear lobe, the whole system including
five distinct classifications. This arrangement furnishes
a valuable aid to a detective force in following minute
clues.1
In many cities the photographs of criminals wanted by
the police are mounted on separate cards for the pocket
use of individual detectives. Hamburg issues a small
folder, three inches by four inches, containing not only
the front and profile views of a criminal, but his full de¬
scription as well. This serves to keep the features of a
man wanted for crime constantly before the detectives.
In some cities, too, each member of a detective squad is
furnished with the photographs of all the more impor¬
tant criminals coming within his specialty. Thus each
to a less dangerous pursuit? The ruffian who robs with violence,
uniformly knocks his victims down as the slaughterer poleaxes an
ox ; the good old-fashioned ' stand and deliver ' would in the vast
majority of cases be quite sufficient, entailing possibly only six
weeks or two months instead of five years or ten."—(Blackwood's
Magazine, May, 1906. Quotation slightly abridged.)
1 This classification is described in Gross' Archiv fur Kriminal-
Anthropologie und Kriminalistik, Vol. 33, (" Kriminalphotothek").
It originated in the Munich department. In the Dresden depart¬
ment, where it has perhaps been most fully developed, the horizon¬
tal classification includes thirty-three species _ of crime, while the
vertical height classification runs from approximately five feet, two
inches, to six feet, two inches.
339
European Police Systems
member of a burglary squad maintains a small rogues'
gallery " of the well-known criminals in this particular
line who might reasonably be expected to repeat their
offenses.
Photography furnishes the opportunity for an exten¬
sive series of indexes, but like finger-prints, it has its limi¬
tations, and further classifications have been found neces¬
sary. One of the most interesting of these is the so-
called " Tattoo and Deformity Register," in use in most
of the Continental departments. This classifies all crim¬
inals according to characteristic physical features such as
marks, scars, and other disfigurations. The basis of the
classification is furnished by various parts of the anatomy
— right arm, left arm, cheeks, lips, eyes, ears, legs, etc.
A citizen complains that he has been robbed by a man
with a scar on his left cheek or perhaps a tattoo mark on
his right hand. A search of the file reveals all criminals
known to the police answering that description. The
file is cross-indexed to the photograph and criminal rec¬
ord classification and a speedy identification often fol¬
lows. Or again, the police arrest as a suspicious person
a man who is found to have a design tattooed on his arms
or body. A reference to the index may show him to be
an old offender. For this latter purpose, however, the
tattoo registry has been generally superseded by the
finger-print file.
Another effective index is the " Nickname and Alias
Register " of criminals, classified according to appella¬
tions used in the underworld. The fact that " Iron
Billy " is the name given by his confederates to William
Smith may prove the means of connecting him with a
340
Methods of Crime Detection
series of crimes. This classification has been especially
well developed in Berlin and Stuttgart.
Berlin has originated, too, an extensive handwriting
file classified after a system devised by Dr. Schneickert,
the well-known head of the Kriminal Archiv of the Ber¬
lin department.1 In this file are catalogued specimens of
the handwriting of criminals whenever and wherever they
can be obtained. Letters, bank checks, signatures in ho¬
tel registers and documents of various kinds representing
the handwriting of over six hundred criminals are here
classified for immediate reference. The system has been
especially effective in the detection of blackmailers and
the international hotel thieves.2
The Berlin department maintains a catalogue of news¬
paper clippings relating to crime and criminals in Ger¬
many.3 These clippings, which are carefully classified
and filed, serve to keep the department informed as to
the state of crime throughout the country. An unusual
1 Dr. Schneickert's position in the Berlin department is an ex¬
ample of the desire of Continental police departments to secure the
services of trained men for particular tasks. A university graduate
in law, he studied handwriting in ^ Munich, becoming one of the
best known handwriting experts in Germany. Appreciating the
value of his work in the detection of crime, the Berlin police au¬
thorities made a placé for him in the department.
2 This classification has been copied by the Dresden department.
It is described in Gross' Archiv, Vol. 39. Dresden has another in¬
teresting file which I did not find in any other city. It consists of
a classification of criminal slang and jargon, new words being added
as they are discovered. It includes also the cabalistic signs used in
the criminal world and often chalked upon houses and sidewalks.
Dr. Hans Gross has made quite a study of this phase of crime
life in his System der Kriminalistik.
3 The department is a regular subscriber to a clipping bureau.
Dresden has a similar system. In Berlin, the ^ clippings are filed
by crimes after a system devised by Dr. Schneickert. ^ Indeed, the
system forms part of his bureau, operated in connection with the
handwriting file.
341
European Police Systems
burglary in Munich, a swindle in Stuttgart, a murder in
Frankfort-on-Main, are thus immediately brought to the
attention of the Berlin authorities. It is possible that
the Munich burglar gained admittance by completely cut¬
ting away the lock of a door with a fine saw. This may
suggest the work of a particular criminal known to the
police of Berlin, and the Munich authorities are immedi¬
ately informed. Or again, a man is arrested for swin¬
dling in Stuttgart under circumstances which suggest to
the Berlin police that he has a criminal record in other
cities, perhaps in Berlin itself. They thereupon write to
Stuttgart for further particulars of the crime and for the
picture and finger-prints of the defendant. In this fash¬
ion they keep in daily touch with crime conditions
throughout the Empire. The clipping index has proved
especially serviceable and is rapidly growing in useful¬
ness.
%
We have already observed that European authorities
are beginning to classify their so-called " Rogues' Gal¬
leries " according to the methods by which crime is com¬
mitted on the theory that professional criminals tend
to commit their special offenses in certain regular
modes. One house-breaker will always help himself to
wine or food while robbing a dwelling; another will
bathe and change his clothes after the task is done,
robing himself in garments which he finds in the
house; another will operate only at certain hours or
in connection with certain classes of dwellings; still
another will gain entrance by deceitfully describing him¬
self as a gas inspector or an agent. Such facts as
these often furnish important clues to the discovery of a
34^
Methods of Crime Detection
criminal. Indeed, in the investigation of a crime there
is no point too trivial to be overlooked. In view of this
fact, Dresden has initiated the experiment of a separate
file for burglars and thieves, classified by their methods.
The information for this index is obtained from prisons,
newspapers, and police officials all over Germany. Here
is the file of sneak thieves who enter a window by way
of the veranda roof; here are the men who use skeleton
keys ; here are those who pry off a latch. Each such spe¬
cialization has its own separate file. In addition to this
arrangement by methods which, of course, forms the
major classification, each card in the index contains the
front view and profile photographs of the criminal, his
name and prison sentences, including the dates of entrance
and release. The last-named item is of peculiar impor¬
tance. During the term of his sentence a criminal can¬
not be suspected of contemporary crimes. If, on the
other hand, certain crimes break out in a locality follow¬
ing the release from prison of a convict who formerly
adopted the same methods now again employed, there is
reasonable ground for suspecting that he may be the
guilty party. The information regarding prison sen¬
tences is furnished to the Dresden department by the
prison authorities ;1 and the records in the file are sub-
1 The idea of using the dates of release of convicts from prison
as an asset to detective work was borrowed from England, where it
has been employed since 1896. On the basis of information fur¬
nished by the governors of every prison in England and Wales, a
Weekly List of Habitual Criminals is published by Scotland
Yard, giving notice of convicts about to be released from prison and
the locality to which they are expected to return^ This list is sent
to every police force in the country. It contains the names of
those habitual offenders who come within the provisions of Sections
5, 7 and 8 of the Prevention of Crimes Act of 1871 relating to sec-
343
European Police Systems
ject to continual modifications. The success of this
classification has been so pronounced that the Dresden
authorities are now at work on similar files for other
crimes than burglary and theft.1
What is probably the most ambitious plan of crime
classification by methods has been initiated in some of the
counties and boroughs of England. I refer to the so-
called " M. O." or Modus Operandi system devised by
Major L. W. Atcherley, Chief Constable of the West
Riding of Yorkshire Constabulary.
His system is more than an index for a single depart¬
ment. It is a cooperative arrangement by which habit¬
ual or traveling criminals can be traced from community
to community by a comparison of their methods of work.
Hitherto information relating to the modes and peculiari¬
ties of criminals has been recorded in the memory of some
particular policeman or on the books of some particular
force. No systematized arrangement has existed by
which this information could be placed at the service of
ond offenders and police supervisees. In addition to the above
information, the Weekly List contains a full description of each
such convict, including height, complexion, hair, eyes and char¬
acteristic marks, his aliases, the offense for which he was com¬
mitted and his " office number," corresponding to his record file and
finger-print form at Scotland Yard. The various police forces in
the country, therefore, have at hand a complete record of the
habitual criminals released in their neighborhoods.
1 The idea of classifying criminals by their methods of commit¬
ting crime was developed as early as 1896 at Scotland » Yard, al¬
though the classification was exceedingly cumbersome. It consisted
merely of a printed index to huge books published from time to
time, containing the names of criminals sentenced for various of¬
fenses. Not until 1913, long after the card index system had super¬
seded the unwieldy book index in nearly every city on the continent,
did Scotland Yard consent to alter its arrangement. As a result,
the Crime Index which it started in 1913 in point of com¬
pleteness and extensiveness, far behind the indexes of such cities
as Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Munich and Stuttgart.
344
Methods of Crime Detection
all police bodies operating in a given district. It is true
that " alarms " are constantly being exchanged between
departments, and each country has two or more official
criminal journals devoted exclusively to the publication
of crime news. But the information contained in these
papers is not classified; indeed much of it is not subject
to classification. Most of the notices inserted in these
" alarms " or journals consist of long lists of stolen prop¬
erty and occasionally a general description of a suspect.
The serviceability of this information depends on the re-
tentiveness of memories already overloaded with routine
work and local requirements. Indeed the ordinary atti¬
tude of a detective force is that it has more than enough
of its own to deal with, without attempting to apprehend
the criminals of neighboring cities. Meanwhile the
brotherhood of traveling criminals, profiting by the short¬
comings of the police system, continues to flourish.
Major At cher ley's system is designed to meet this con¬
dition. Briefly, it involves the establishment of a num¬
ber of cooperative clearing-houses of information for
certain areas comprising a number of counties or bor¬
oughs. In these clearing houses facts relating to crime
methods are collected, sifted, sorted, and stored for fu¬
ture reference and use in the investigation of subsequent
offenses. This plan necessitated a new classification, a
difficulty which was successfully met by the adoption of
Dr. Mercier's arrangement of offenses employed in his
well-known book, Crime and Insanity} Inasmuch as
offenses against property constitute approximately 90
per cent, of criminal work in England, the system has
1 New York, 1911, Chap. VIII.
345
European Police Systems
been limited for the time being to this category, although
it is capable of expansion to include other phases of crime.
Ten subdivisions or headings have been adopted, each
relating to a phase of the method employed by the crim¬
inal in the perpetration of his crime.1 These headings are
so arranged that they can be expressed in numerical fig¬
ures, and the whole crime can be accurately and minutely
described in a formula.2 For example, a burglary is com¬
mitted in Wakefield by an unknown person who pasted
a piece of sticky fly-paper over a window glass, so that
it would not fall when broken, then smashed the glass
and slipped the latch. The formula for this crime and
the necessary particulars are sent to the clearing house
1 The ten headings are as follows :
1 — Classword; kind of property attacked, whether dwelling house,
lodging house, hotel, etc.
2 — Entry; the actual point of entry, front window, back window,
etc.
3 — Means; whether with implements or tools, such as a ladder,
jimmy, etc.
4 — Object; kind of property taken.
5 — Time; not only time of day or night, but whether church
time, market day, during meal hours, etc.
6 — Style; whether criminal to obtain entrance describes him¬
self as mechanic, canvasser, agent, etc.
7—Tale; any disclosure as to his alleged business or errand
which the criminal may make.
8 — Pals; whether crime was committed with confederates, etc.
9—Transport; whether bicycle or other vehicle was used in con¬
nection with crime,
io—Trademark ; whether criminal committed any unusual act in
connection with crime, such as poisoning a dog, changing his
clothes, leaving a note for the owner, etc.
For full particulars of this system of classification see " M. O."
(Modus Operandi) in Criminal Investigation and Detection.
Major L. W. Atcherley, M. V. O., West Riding of Yorkshire, 1913.
2 Thus a theft from a place used for public worship is " M. O. 2,
3," or a misapplication of money in a confidential relationship is
" M. 0. 1."
346
Methods of Crime Detection
of the district. Here, by comparison it is shown that
similar burglaries have been committed under exactly the
same circumstances in other towns in the vicinity. Per¬
haps in one town the burglar was seen and a description
obtained. Perhaps the police of another place know his
identity. Gradually by comparison and elimination,
crime is linked with crime, offender with suspect, until
finally the case is brought to a point where an arrest can
be effected and the finger-print register employed to show
connection with previous sentences.
Major Atcherley's system is daily growing in useful¬
ness as its operation becomes more widespread. At
the present time it is confined practically to the Northern
District of England, where it is employed by both county
and borough forces. It is highly probable, how¬
ever, that it will soon be adopted in the Southern Dis¬
trict.1 So far, Scotland Yard has regarded it with some
suspicion. Indeed the London detective organization, as
we have already noticed, has been exceedingly slow in
adopting improvements relating to its office methods.
The advantages of the " M. O." system, however, or of
some similar system, will ultimately compel attention.
Classification of crimes by methods, operated through
clearing-houses over a wide territory, is bound to become
a permanent feature of detective work. Just as the in¬
vention of a formula has made identification by finger¬
prints a method of practical utility by connecting the pris-
1 For favorable opinion of the operation of the " M. O." system,
see Mr. Leonard Dunning's comment in his report on the condition
of the constabulary of the Southern District of England, published
in the Home Office pamphlet, Police, England and Wales, 1913.
347
European Police Systems
oner with his past record, so the application of a formula
to these other peculiarities of the criminal will be of
enormous value in facilitating his apprehension.1
In considering the various systems in use in the Eu-
1 Space is lacking in which to describe the details of various other
indexes and registers used in connection with detective work.
Mention should be made, however, of the elaborate Missing and
Dead files maintained in Berlin and Dresden. All persons re¬
ported missing and all unidentified dead are classified in parallel
files. The cards in both files are equipped with projecting tabs or
flaps in such manner that the height, age, color of eyes and hair
and condition of teeth are shown at a glance. On the face of each
card is a description of the clothes and personal effects found on
the body in the case of unidentified dead or upon the person re¬
ported missing at the time he disappeared. An elaborate physical
description is also given. The cards are arranged in the files ac¬
cording to dates — date of discovery of body or date of disap¬
pearance. When, an alarm is sent to headquarters in regard to a
missing person, a search is immediately made of the files to deter¬
mine whether any unidentified dead have been reported answering
to the description. Similarly the attempt: to identify dead bodies
begins with a search of the "missing" file. The Berlin and Dres¬
den systems both operate for all of Germany, although each of the
two cities pays particular attention to its own state. The informa¬
tion for the files is obtained from newspapers, police officers, courts,
etc.
Many Continental police departments maintain elaborate card
index systems of property reported stolen. In this respect, Berlin
and the German cities easily lead the way. The cards are grouped
according to classes — men's gold watches, men's silver watches,
women's gold watches, women's silver watches, plain gold rings,
various classes of jeweled rings, bicycles, passports^ etc.^ To be
classified the property must be capable of exact identification, that
is, it must bear some number, monogram, or distinctive mark.
Otherwise, it cannot be entered in the files. Lists of suspicious
property found in pawnshops, " fences," etc., are referred to the
index to determine the question of ownership. Hitherto, this in¬
dex has been comparatively local in scope. A plan is now on foot
in Berlin, however, to extend the system to cover all of Prussia and
eventually the entire Empire, and to include every kind of property
which can be stolen.
Many departments maintain elaborate Lost and^ Found Bureaus.
In London and Vienna, these bureaus are the object of particular
care and attention from the authorities. For the year 1912, the
London office returned 36,865 lost articles to their owners; in 1911,
32,499. During the same period, the Vienna office returned ap¬
proximately 25,000 articles a year. (See next page)
Methods of Crime Detection
ropean departments, the progressiveness of the German
cities is at once apparent. Police administration in Ger¬
many in all its phases appears to be more nearly a science
than in any other country. The departments are keenly
alive and eager to experiment with fresh ideas. There
seems to be little of the apathy and instinctive resistance
to the introduction of new methods which one often finds
in England. The friendliest rivalry pervades the depart¬
ments in the different cities, each eager to surpass the
other. To accomplish their purposes they freely borrow
ideas from one another. Munich introduced the classifi¬
cation of photographs by crimes and height, subdivided
by age, shape of nose and ear; Dresden and Stuttgart
borrowed it from Munich, Berlin borrowed it from Dres¬
den. So, too, Dresden originated the file system of news¬
paper clippings ; Berlin immediately adopted it. On the
other hand, Berlin's handwriting classification was bor¬
rowed by Dresden. Dresden's method of classifying the
missing and dead was copied by Berlin. The German
detective works with better tools than are ordinarily em¬
ployed in England or even in France. In everything
that pertains to mechanical equipment the German bu¬
reaus easily take first rank.
Berlin has an index of police presidents and commissioners
throughout Europe, cross indexed to a file of envelopes, stamped
and addressed, so that alarms can immediately be dispatched to
police departments over the entire continent. In connection with
this file a telegraph register (Fahndungskartothek) is maintained
on the card catalogue plan containing information as to train serv¬
ice and train points north, south, east and west of Berlin, together
with the police authorities located at those points. Alarms for
criminals escaping from Berlin can be telegraphed to these au¬
thorities without delay.
349
European Police Systems
The Meldewesen,
No discussion of detective methods in Germany and
Austria would be adequate without an understanding of
the Meldewesen or registration system, by which each
community, large and small, keeps track of the move¬
ments of its residents. This system affords a basis for
detective work which deserves extended consideration.
Continental countries, as is well known, exercise a closer
supervision over the private affairs of their citizens than
is practised in England. In no respect is this more
clearly illustrated than in the diverse ideas concerning the
registration of inhabitants. In Great Britain, there is no
official registration of any kind. In France, Holland,
Belgium, and Italy, the system, as far as the police are
concerned, is confined to foreigners, who, if they intend
to remain for any length of time, are obliged to file their
names with the department.1 In Germany and Austria,
however, the system includes citizens as well as foreign¬
ers. All inhabitants of a community, of whatever na¬
tionality, must report their coming and going to the po¬
lice.
This system has reached its greatest development in
Germany and to its operation in that country our discus¬
sion is confined. Briefly, the laws 2 oblige all persons
1 In France, Belgium, Holland and other Continental countries the
citizens of a community are generally required to file their names
and addresses with the civil officials at the city hall. This, how¬
ever, is not a police measure, being required solely for the purposes
of taxation and the census.
2 Under Par. io of the Law of Freedom of Removal (November
X, 1867) the registration of new arrivals is left to the discretion
of the states which make up the Empire. In some states, therefore,
the matter is handled by municipal ordinances^ as in Alsace-Lor¬
raine; in others by local police regulations, as in Prussia, Saxony,
350
Methods of Crime Detection
in a community to report their arrival, departure or
change of dwelling within the police boundaries. A citi¬
zen who moves, for example, from Coblentz to Berlin
must, within twenty-four hours after arrival, file with the
police of the latter city his Anmeldung or announcement
of appearance.1 This gives his name, his business, the
day, month and year of his birth, place of birth, his re¬
ligion, his former residence, and whether he is married,
single or widowed. If he is a foreigner or a transient
and stops at a hotel, the hotel proprietor must notify the
police of his appearance. A man of any nationality who
spends a single night at a hotel or lodging house in any
German town or city has his name filed at police head¬
quarters, although in the case of foreigners, it is not cus¬
tomary to procure the detailed information required of
German citizens.
Not only must a new arrival in a German city announce
Bavaria, Baden and Hessen; while in other states it is a matter of
state-wide legislation, as in Wiirttemberg, Brunswick, Mecklen-
burg-Schwerin, etc.
In spite of these divergences in source, the announcement laws
are largely similar. The efforts of the Imperial Chancellor in 1904
to coordinate them terminated without result in view of the objec¬
tions raised by the various states. Plans have from time to time
been suggested looking to a national system of registration with a
central bureau for all names in Berlin. The great cost of such a
system has hitherto prevented its adoption. At the present time
a plan is being developed to have a single bureau for Berlin and its
environs (Greater Berlin) instead of separate bureaus in each of
the suburbs as well as in the city. Even this plan will not be com¬
pleted for three or four years, so great is the clerical work involved.
1 In most cities, the announcement is sent to the precinct station
and by the precinct sent to headquarters. In Berlin, in addition to
the headquarters file, each precinct station (Revier) has a file of
the inhabitants in its own district. Strictly speaking each precinct
has two files, one with the names arranged alphabetically, and the
other with the names classified according to addresses. An Anmel¬
dung sent to the precinct station is, therefore, copied on two cards,
one for each of the files.
351
European Police Systems
himself to the police but in many places he must present
a certificate of character (Abzugsattest) from the police
of the locality which he left. He is also generally re¬
quired to produce other documents of identification, such
as his birth certificate, his marriage certificate, or his army
discharge papers. In many towns and cities the police
of the community from which he comes are communi¬
cated with and an inquiry made as to whether he has a
past criminal record. Similarly, if there is a birth in his
family, if he employs a new servant, if he has a visitor
from out of town, or if he changes his residence within
the city limits ( Ummeldung) the police must be notified.1
If he moves away from the city, he must not only an¬
nounce the fact (Abmeldung) but must obtain from the
police a character certificate to be presented to the police
of his new residence.2
No laws in Germany are more rigidly enforced than
those relating to the Meldewesen. Evasion is difficult
and when detected is severely punished.3 The police-
1 The law in Bremen requires the announcement of the beginning',
change, or termination of any business or calling.
2 In hotels or lodging-houses the obligation of giving notification
rests upon the proprietor.
3 In 1912, there were 26,876 penalties imposed by the police of
Hamburg for violations of the announcement law. These viola¬
tions for the most part concerned the failure or neglect of house¬
holders to notify the police of the arrival of newcomers within the
required time. Jahresbericht der Polizeibehdrde Hamburg, 1912, p.
11.
Under an opinion handed down by Imperial Court (Reichsge-
richt), false announcements to the police are punishable under
section 366 of the Penal Code. This is the section which, as we
have seen, has been used as the basis of the right of the police to as¬
sess fines and penalties. False announcements, therefore, are or¬
dinarily punishable directly by the police rather than by the courts.
(See Entscheidungen des Reichsgerichts in Strafsachen, Vol. 12, p.
228.)
352
Methods of Crime Detection
men on their beats are continually checking up new
arrivals and special squads of detectives cover hotels and
lodging-houses. In most cities hotel registers must be
sent to police headquarters every month for examination
and comparison. It is difficult for any one successfully
to conceal his identity. Residence can easily be traced.
Attempts to evade debts or escape the attentions of
friends or foes can be defeated. In so far as names and
addresses are concerned, the information at police head¬
quarters is at the disposal of any citizen. A small fee
of a few pfennigs will secure the address of any person
living within the police jurisdiction.1 The Vienna police
headquarters in 1912 furnished the addresses of 983,025,2
while Hamburg furnished 954,550 out of 1,025,551 asked
for.3 In Berlin, where the system has been in operation
since 1836, 12,000,000 cards are now on file, and the bu¬
reau, employing 200 men and occupying 130* rooms, is
one of the principal branches of the department. Its
size is evidenced by the fact that the letter " H " alone
fills ten rooms, while the letter " S " occupies fifteen.
Indeed the enormous detail involved in this system is
perhaps its most striking point. The cards give the names
of all persons who were born in Berlin or who have at
1 Wishing to test the efficacy of the system, I inquired at police
headquarters in Berlin for an American friend who had sometime
previously been traveling in Germany. Within a few minutes I was
informed that two months before he had stopped for three days at
the Hotel Bristol and had then departed for places unknown. Had
he been a German citizen I could have learned his destination in
Germany, and an application to the police of that place would
quickly have disclosed his address.
2Personally communicated.
3 Jahresbericht, etc., p. 11. The difference, 71,001, or 6.92 per
cent., represents inquiries for people who it was assumed might be
in Hamburg.
353
European Police Systems
any time been in Berlin.1 For example, a card shows the
name of Carl Schmidt, his place and date of birth, his
parents' names and the successive residences where he
has lived in Berlin, with the date of moving from each,
the date of his marriage and his wife's maiden name
(cross-indexed to his wife's family card) ; the names of
his servants ; the names of his children, and dates of birth
and death;2 religion, if any,3 and finally his criminal
record if he has one. Throughout Germany, as we have
seen, criminal records (Strafregister) are filed in the city,
town and village where a man is born. When, therefore,
Carl Schmidt, moving to Berlin from Diisseldorf, regis¬
ters at police headquarters, the police authorities write
to the police of Diisseldorf, to ascertain not only the
truth of the statements which Herr Schmidt makes in his
Anmeldung but to determine whether he has a criminal
record. It is possible that Herr Schmidt was not born
in Diisseldorf, but his criminal record, on file in the town
of his birth, follows him from place to place, and the Ber¬
lin authorities are free to refuse to allow him to live in
Berlin in case his record is not desirable.4 If a citizen
wishes a certificate of character for an employer he can
obtain one from the police that is authentic as far as the
criminal record is concerned.5 Or if he wishes to know
1 The file for foreigners (Fremdenliste) is kept distinct. There
is also a " dead file." People moving from Berlin are kept on the
"active" list for twenty years. No cards are ever destroyed.
2 A child moving away from home has his own card.
8 Required for the collection of church taxes.
4 Prussian law of December 31, 1842. This law, as we have seen,
gives to the Landespolizei authorities the right to exclude individ¬
uals from sojourn in case they have been sentenced to imprison¬
ment in a penitentiary or house of correction. See note 5, p. no.
5 A charge of two or three marks is usually made for a character
354
Methods of Crime Detection
where his father was living sixty years ago or the name
of a servant in his mother's family twenty-five years be¬
fore, he can obtain the information in three or four min¬
utes at police headquarters.1
The Meldewesen, maintained at great cost and often
great personal inconvenience, is used by the officials
for many purposes. The police department notifies
the tax board of new arrivals subject to taxation; it in¬
forms the school board of children who should be in
school under the compulsory system of education; it
notifies the military authorities of inactive officers, or of
men between the ages of 20 and 45 who have not served
in the army; it informs medical authorities of unlicensed
practitioners; it makes up lists of children to be vac¬
cinated under the compulsory vaccination law; it com¬
piles the election lists and furnishes information for the
purpose of the state insurance act; it works in close co¬
operation with the post office and has charge of making
up the annual city directory. In 1912, the Vienna police
headquarters furnished the post office with 151,899 ad¬
dresses which were missing; it furnished the tax office
with 191,376 addresses. The Hamburg police depart¬
ment in the same year furnished the Board of Education
with 3,166 notices of arrival of children of school age,
and gave the municipal department for the care of ju-
certificate. The annual income of the Berlin department for sup¬
plying addresses and certificates averages 100,000 marks.
1 These records at police headquarters are not all open to public
scrutiny. Any one may obtain an address upon application, but
criminal records are closely guarded. Thus it is not possible for
private citizens to obtain the police records, if any, of their neigh¬
bors, although a man may secure his own record in the shape of a
character certificate.
355
European Police Systems
veniles the addresses of 8,780 who, under the law, were
required to be vaccinated.
The application of this system to the problem of crime
detection, however, is our particular interest. It is no
exaggeration to say that in Germany and Austria the
Meldewlesen constitutes the core of the detective depart¬
ment. Through its agency the police can put their hands
on any citizen when they want him. A change of name
is the only way by which the system can successfully be
evaded and even this is a doubtful expedient in view of
the pains taken by the police to verify the details of the
Anmeldung.
The connecting link between the Meldewesen and
the detective department is furnished by the Steck-
brief. This is a notice or warning of men wanted for
crime. Each important police jurisdiction in Germany
and Austria publishes a daily or weekly paper or journal
(Fahndungsblatt) containing the names or descriptions
of such men, and neighboring police bodies are constantly
on the watch to identify and arrest them.1 The names
1 Of the F ahndungsblatter, the Deutsches Fahndungsblatt is per¬
haps the best known. Published daily by the Berlin department it
is circulated in Germany, France, Austria, England and other
European countries. Every German department sends news of its
important cases to this paper. The Konigliches Preussisches Zen-
tral-Polizei-Blatt, published three times a week by the department,
is circulated in Prussian cities only. Other important police papers
in Germany are the Internationales Kriminal-P olizei-Blatt, the
Konigliches Sdchsiches Gendarmerieblatt, the Konigliches Bayerisches
Zentral-P olizei-Blatt, and the Fahndungsblatt des Kôniglichen
W ùrtt ember gis chen Landjàger-Korps. Another important paper is
the International Criminal Record, published at Frankfort-on-Main
in three languages — English, German and French. This deals
only with international criminals. The principal police papers in
Austria are the Zentral Polizei-Blatt of Vienna, printed three times
a week, and the Zentral Polizei-Anzeiger for Lower Austria.
•356
Methods of Crime Detection
published in these journals are transcribed on cards which
in most of the German states form an integral part of
the Meldewesen.1 That is, the card containing the name
of a fugitive from justice is entered alphabetically
in the Meldewesen file exactly as if the man in question
had registered his appearance with the police. For this
purpose red ink is used instead of black. The name of
a man wanted by the Berlin police, therefore, will appear
in the Meldewesen file of perhaps fifty towns and cities.
If the man ever registers in any of these places, even
twenty years later, the fact that he is wanted by the
Berlin police is immediately discovered, for a red-inked
card bearing his name and the particulars of his case is
found in the alphabetic file. Through this means many
men are arrested in Berlin who are wanted by the police
not only of other German cities but of the cities of
France, Austria and Hungary, for it is customary to enter
in the file the names of all international criminals of
importance for whom alarms have been sent out by
foreign countries. In Vienna in 1912, 15,726 people
were thus caught.2 Similarly, whenever a man is ar¬
rested for any cause, the Meldewesen file is used to de¬
termine whether he is wanted for crime elsewhere. Or
again, suspicious persons or persons inhabiting disorderly
resorts are brought to headquarters pending a search of
the files. This latter method, indeed, under the name of
the Razzia system,3 is broadly employed. Lodging houses
of the poorer class, restaurants and cafés frequented by
1 In Berlin these alarm notices are also printed each on a sepa¬
rate card, for handy reference in the different brigades and bureaus.
2 Personally communicated by police officials.
3 See Chap. VIII, p. 310.
357
European Police Systems
suspicious persons, and even entire districts of an unde¬
sirable character are frequently raided by the police and
the Steckbrief system is used to determine whether any
of the men thus gathered in are wanted for crime. Thus,
on the evening of July 19, 1913, the Berlin police raided
the Jungfernheide, an amusement park of questionable
character in North Berlin. Over 300- persons who could
give no satisfactory account of themselves were taken
to police headquarters. Sixty of these were found to be
criminals for whom the police had for some time been
searching.1 A false name is the only way by which this
system can be defeated, and even this is of little avail in
the case of German citizens, who must satisfy the police
as to their identity by means of their military papers or
their employment and insurance cards. In cases of
doubt, men are held pending further investigation.
The Meldewesen, and its complement, the Steckbrief
system, together form an intricate network. Every town
and city has its files, maintained with the greatest care
and scrupulous attention to detail. In the smaller vil¬
lages and country districts, the files are kept by the Gen¬
darmerie. A farmer settling in Bavaria or a blacksmith
taking up his calling in a small hamlet of Saxony must
report his presence to the police, for the Gendarme on his
patrol has sharp eyes for newcomers. In city or country
the system is difficult to evade. A resident of Chemnitz,
for example, wanted for a crime, escapes to Berlin. His
name is immediately entered in Steckbrief files all over
Germany. He cannot stay at a lodging house or hotel
1 Personally communicated by police officials. The details of
this raid appeared in the Berliner Tageblatt of the following day.
358
Methods of Crime Detection
for his name would appear on the list of newcomers sent
to the police each night. He cannot remain in a private
house without incurring great risk both to himself and his
host. The individual policeman is trained to know the
members of every family on his beat, and a new face
immediately attracts attention. Nor can the fugitive
hope to escape by living as a vagrant, sleeping in parks
and under bridges. Such a course may gain him time,
but the police are vigilant in their search for these cases,
and sooner or later the Razzia system will catch him.
Even the assumption of an alias will not avail him perma¬
nently, for, as we have seen, the police are careful to
verify the details of each newcomer's announcement not
only by his military papers and his Abzugsattest, but by
personal communication with the police of his former
residence.1
From a detective standpoint the Meldewesen is not,
1A striking example of the operation of the Meldewesen and
Steckbrief systems^ upon the vagrant classes is afforded by the ac¬
tivities of the police at the Asyl der Obdachlosen, a large public
charitable institution in Frobelstrasse, Berlin. This institution pro¬
vides lodging, supper and breakfast for unfortunate men and
women. It opens to receive its inmates at five o'clock every after¬
noon and turns them out at 7.30 the next morning. A man is
allowed to come five times in one year without question. If on his
sixth appearance he cannot show that he has tried to obtain work,
he is handed over to the police to be dealt with as a vagrant. The
average nightly attendance at this institution is 2,300 in summer and
5,700 in winter. To this institution a small force of detectives is
continually assigned. Every man passing out in the morning^ is
obliged to identify himself by his military papers, his working
card, his insurance certificate, or in some other equally conclusive
manner. Those in regard to whom some suspicion exists, and those
who cannot satisfactorily establish identification are held for further
examination. The Steckbrief system is used to determine whether
any of the men thus detained are wanted for crime in Berlin or
elsewhere, and criminals are continually being discovered for whom
the police have been searching.
359
European Police Systems
of course, complete. It is immediately effective only
when men wanted for crime are known by name. In the
apprehension of unknown criminals or of criminals
known only by description it offers no assistance.
Further, it is of little avail against foreign criminals or
Germans with criminal records in foreign states. In this
respect its effectiveness is hampered both by the lack of
international cooperation and the absence of the identifica¬
tion papers carried by all German citizens. Its chief
utility centers around the advantage which "it affords the
police of knowing where each citizen in a community can
be found and what his past history has been.
That the Meldewesen or anything resembling it could
ever be successfully adopted in England or in any
country whose political philosophy is less paternal than
Germany's is difficult to believe. To a German or
Austrian there is nothing offensive in the fact that the
coming and going of a private citizen in the ordinary
routine of his life should be recorded at police head¬
quarters. It is simply indicative of the solicitude of the
state for its own. It is a systematic, domestic arrange¬
ment, representing internal order and discipline. It is
part of the German passion to have everything in its place.
Indeed, to a German, the failure of a State to keep an
accurate record of every citizen implies disorder. Utter
amazement was expressed by more than one German
official when informed by the writer that England has
no such system. " How do the English keep track of
each other? How would you find a person whose ad¬
dress you had lost ? How do the police know where any¬
body is living? "—these were their invariable questions.
360
Methods of Crime Detection
To an Englishman, on the other hand, the right to be let
alone, to go his way without the knowledge of any one,
if he so pleases, is part and parcel of his conception of
liberty. A system which made necessary a police record
of his coming and going and which gave friends or foes
an opportunity to find him when he desired not to be
found would be intolerable.
This divergence of opinion finds its basis, of course, in
national character, and it is unnecessary to do more than
mention it here. The Meldewesen is typically German.
Even in France and Italy, where police surveillance is
comparatively rigid, it could not easily be installed.
Other Methods of Crime Detection.
Appliances based on indexes and registers by no means
exhaust the methods which can be employed by a de¬
tective office in its search for the author of a crime.
The camera, the yard-stick, the microscope, the phys¬
ical and chemical laboratory, and a vast assortment of
special criminal apparatus, growing year by year in
variety and extent, are also serviceable. As we have
learned, the detection of crime has become a profes¬
sion involving scientific methods and specialized tools.
The old-time rule-of-thumb procedure which depended
only on a good memory for faces and a superficial
knowledge of criminals has been superseded by the sci¬
entific spirit. In recent years great impetus has been
given to the movement in Germany, Austria, France
and Italy. The study of criminology has been broadened
to include crime detection. The subject has been ap¬
proached as medicine and biology have been approached
361
European Police Systems
— from the standpoint of facts. A burglary is a fact,
the tools with which it was accomplished are facts, every
incident surrounding its commission is a fact. The sci¬
ence of crime detection springs from the analysis and
systematization of these facts. It is interesting to ob¬
serve that this new movement originated not in police
departments, but in the universities. Dr. Hans Gross
of the University of Graz, Dr. R. A. Reiss of the Uni¬
versity of Lausanne, and Dr. Alfredo Niceforo of the
University of Rome, are its prophets and sponsors. At
these universities and at Bucharest and Sienna, special
chairs have been established and men who ultimately be¬
come lawyers, magistrates, and prison and police officials
are being trained in criminal laboratories exactly as chem¬
ists or biologists are trained. In Austria, where the in¬
fluence of the University of Graz is especially marked, Dr.
Gross's students and the laboratories of his department
are called to aid in the solution of every complex crime.
The extraordinary work accomplished not only in these
laboratories but in the police departments where their
influence has been felt is worthy of more attention than
can be given in these pages. Every assistance that sci¬
ence affords has been brought to bear on the mysteries of
crime. Dentistry, medicine, chemistry, physics, psychol¬
ogy and anthropology have been enlisted in the work.
No fact connected with a crime is too trivial to escape
attention. The marks of teeth on pipes and cigar-ends
are examined ; blood stains are analyzed ; hair is the ob¬
ject of minute study. The results of these examinations
are often little short of astonishing. For example, Dr.
Gross tells of a cigar-holder with an amber mouthpiece,
362
Methods of Crime Detection
found near the scene of a murder, which was so shaped
that it could be held only in one position. A close exam¬
ination showed that it had two marks which must have
been made by two teeth of unequal length. While the
murdered man had no such irregular teeth, it was discov¬
ered that his nephew had. The suspicions of the author¬
ities were aroused by this simple but important fact and
they soon learned enough to arrest the nephew on the
charge of murder.1 Or, again, a razor was identified as
the instrument used by a murderer through finding in the
dried blood on its edge a shred of cotton identical with
the material of the murdered man's nightcap, which had
been cut through.2 Again, a man was gravely wounded
at night by an unknown person, who dropped his cap in
his flight. Inside the cap two hairs were found which
were subjected to microscopic examination. As a result,
the authorities were provided with the following descrip¬
tion of the criminal which enabled them ultimately to
apprehend him : " A man of middle age, of robust con¬
stitution, black hair intermingled with gray, recently cut ;
commencing to grow bald." 3
The range of topics covered by these analytic methods
is wide and varied. The practices of a criminal in dis¬
guising his face, in using false names, in pretending ill¬
ness or insanity, in shamming blindness, deafness, epi¬
lepsy, or paralysis; the customs of the underworld in the
employment of ciphers, graphic signs, and calls and
cries of warning; the use of invisible inks, the decipher-
1 System der Kriminalistik, Chap. V, § 2.
* Ibid., Chap. XIV, § 6.
3 Ibid., Chap. V, § 3.
363
European Police Systems
in g of burnt paper, the piecing together of torn paper,
the interpretation of footprints, the forgery of docu¬
ments, the action of poisons — these subjects are being
studied in university laboratories and the results ap¬
plied in practical form in the detective bureaus of the
Continent.
Clues are often discovered, for example, by a chemical
and microscopic examination of dirt and dust. To use
Dr. Gross's words : " The coat of a locksmith contains
a different kind of dust from that on the coat of a miller ;
the dust accumulating in the pocket of a schoolboy is
essentially different from that in the pocket of a chemist;
while in the groove of a gentleman's pocketknife a dif¬
ferent kind of dirt and dust will be found than that in the
pocketknife of a tramp. . . . For instance, upon the
scene of a crime a garment was found from which no
information could be obtained as to its owner. The
coat was placed in a strong and well gummed paper bag
which was vigorously beaten with sticks for as long a
time as could be done without tearing the paper. The
bag was then opened, the dust collected and submitted
to a chemical examination. The examination proved
that the dust was composed of wood fibrous matter finely
pulverized. The deduction drawn was that the coat be¬
longed to a carpenter, joiner or sawyer. But among
the particles of dust, gelatine and powdered glue were
found and as these are not extensively used by carpen¬
ters and sawyers, the further deduction was drawn that
the garment belonged to a joiner-—a fact which was
subsequently substantiated." 1
1 Gross, loc. cit., Chap. V, § 3.
364
Methods of Crime Detection
Again, the examination of a man's teeth may betray
his occupation. By the callous spots on his hands it is
possible to tell the kind of tools he has customarily
worked with. Long, delicate fingers, kept supple by the
application of glycerine and cold cream, indicate to a
trained observer the pickpocket's profession. Footprints
will often afford a description of a criminal adequate
enough to warrant arrest.
Particular attention has been given in the laboratories
to the methods by which theft and fraud are perpetrated.
The equipment of burglars, the use of accomplices, the
operations of gangs, the infinite variety of ways by which
entrance is effected, the artifices of sneak-thieves, the
tricks of counterfeiters, the methods of horse-frauds and
card-sharps, the manufacture of spurious antiquities and
works of art —on each of these subjects a distinct liter¬
ature has developed, brought about largely through the
influence of the universities.1 Not only are crimes and
crime methods the subject of study and analysis but the
pathology and psychology of criminals as well, including
such subjective phenomena as lying, hysteria, sugges¬
tion, defective mentality and self-deception. The crim¬
inal impulses that sway the epileptic, the effect of sug¬
gestion upon neurotic men and women in the commit¬
ment of hideous sexual crimes, the delusions that prompt
the mentally defective to confess offenses that they did
1 Probably the three best known books on the general subject of
crime detection are Niceforo's La Police et l'enquête judiciaire
scientifiques, Gross' System der Kriminalistik, and Reiss' Manuel de
Police scientifique. Dr. Gross' book has been translated into Eng¬
lish by John Adam and J. Colyer Adam, and is published in Madras,
India. It contains an extensive bibliography with references to
over 1,200 books and pamphlets.
365
European Police Systems
not perpetrate, or to swear to the truth of incidents they
never saw are factors for the consideration of a trained
investigator. So, too, the superstitions of criminals, the
belief in divination and fortune telling, the use of oaths
and chiromancy, the influence of omens, form a phase of
study not to be overlooked in an intelligent search for
clues.
In the last ten years the laboratory methods of the
universities have been adopted in many of the detective
departments of the Continent. In Italy twenty-seven
criminal research bureaus or laboratories have been es¬
tablished under the direction of the Division of Public
Safety in the office of the Minister of the Interior.
These bureaus, located in different cities, are equipped
with the latest apparatus, both physical and chemical, em¬
ployed in the detection of crime, such as appliances for
micro-photography, instruments by which footprints may
be molded and cast, and the ingenious mechanical devices
perfected by the late M. Bertillon in connection with his
system of metric photography.1 Each bureau is in
charge of trained investigators who assume responsibility
for the work in the territory in which they are located,
although the more serious cases are referred to the bu¬
reau in Rome.
Berlin has for years had a large chemical and physical
laboratory at headquarters, although until recently it was
1 Photographie métrique—the system by which pictures of the
scenes of crime may be reproduced so as to show mathematical dis¬
tances. See Bertillon's La Photographie judiciaire, translated
under the title, Legal Photography, by P. R. Brown, New York,
1897. The most recent publication on this subject is, Photographie
métrique de Alphonse Bertillon, a descriptive book published by La
Cour-Berthiot, Paris, 1912.
366
Methods of Crime Detection
used for testing foods and supplies rather than for crime
research. Under the inspiration of the work of Profes¬
sor Reiss and Dr. Gross, however, a large section of the
laboratory is now given over to this latter use. To this
bureau many interesting problems are presented. Blood¬
stains, ink-spots and hand-writing are made the subject
of micro-photography. By the use of chemicals the au¬
thorities examine finger-prints on anonymous letters sent
to the Kaiser. By magnified photographs they determine
whether blackmailing letters sent to a newspaper were
written on the same typewriter, or whether a forgery was
written in the same ink as the original. Again by physi¬
cal tests they ascertain whether a certain grade of wire
was manufactured in a given place. In 1913 a successful
clue to the discovery of a murderer was furnished by the
microscopic analysis of the ends of burnt matches found
at the scene of the crime. The matches had been torn
from a block, and thus were left with ragged ends. A
close comparison of these ends with a block discovered
in the pocket of a suspect led to his arrest and convic¬
tion.1
In other German cities work of a similar nature is car¬
ried on, although in many cases it is done by experts re¬
tained by the department rather than by the officials them¬
selves. In Dresden twenty-four burglaries were identi¬
fied as the work of one man through clay impressions
made of the marks left by his burglary tools. Similar
incidents have occurred in Munich and Stuttgart.
In England the influence of Dr. Gross and his disciples
is not yet perceptible. Indeed there are but few English
1 Personally communicated by officials.
367
European Police Systems
officials who know anything of the work that is being
done on the Continent. To be sure, many of Dr. Gross's
methods are adapted to that peculiar phase of Conti¬
nental criminal procedure known as the interrogatory
system, under which those suspected of crime may be
subjected to cross-examination before arrest — the
" sweating system," as it is often called. This system,
as we have seen, is illegal in England, and that part of
the new method which deals with the psychology of the
criminal and the means by which his defense may be
broken down and a confession obtained would have little
or no applicability in Great Britain. But there remains
a great field of criminal research, as valuable in England
as on the Continent, to which the police officials of the
former country have not yet opened their eyes. As a
result, Germany and Austria, with their scientific temper
and their love of detail, are developing a method of
criminal research which, in spite of the handicap imposed
by the poor quality of their detectives, will inevita¬
bly give them front rank in dealing with crime.
368
CHAPTER X
the integrity of the european police
Special temptations of the police.—Question of integrity a fair
question.— Excellent reputation of the European police.— Police
have the confidence of the public.— Glasgow's public key office.—
Report of the Royal Commission on the Metropolitan Police.— No
" system " in European police forces.— Existence of individual cases
of corruption.— Examples.— Integrity of police due to careful train¬
ing of commissioners and their unrestricted powers of selection and
removal.— Effect of the Continental class system on integrity.— The
class system and tipping.— Corruption diminished by character of
laws affecting public morality.— European police not called upon to
enforce personal standards of conduct.— The excise law in London.
— System of rewards and gratuities a deterrent to corruption.—
Conclusion.
In the preceding chapters, we have studied the or¬
ganization, management and work both of the uniformed
forces and the detective bureaus. We have noted the
various administrative systems by which their functions
are controlled. We have seen that the term of office of
the commissioner is in no way limited or defined and
that officers and men alike are selected and trained with
scrupulous care. We have observed the precautions
taken to avoid associations prejudicial to disinterested
service. It is only fair, therefore, in conclusion, to ask
how far such factors as these succeed in preserving the
integrity of the police. For this is a question of more
than local interest and importance. Everywhere there
are special pitfalls for the policeman, peculiar tempta-
369
European Police Systems
tions to which he is continually exposed. The prostitute
who walks the streets, the bookmaker who plies his trade
on the sidewalk, the public-house proprietor who would
keep open after hours, the prisoner on his way to a cell,
in short, every man or woman who would escape the
operation or the penalty of the law and is ready to pay
for immunity constitutes a menace to the integrity of
the policeman. From the very nature of his work, he
is surrounded by temptation. With a salary modest,
if not inadequate, he is placed in positions of peculiar
responsibility and confronted with opportunities to add
to his income by merely refraining from positive action.
For a policeman who desires to make money need not do
anything affirmatively. All that is necessary is that he
should turn his head. How does the European police¬
man stand this strain? To what extent is his integrity
impaired ?
On the whole, the police forces of Europe bear an
excellent reputation. Scandals are infrequent. With
few exceptions, both officers and men have the confi¬
dence of the public. It is only occasionally that one
hears of dishonesty. Even suspicions of dishonesty are
not common. The police are not associated with dis¬
honesty in the public imagination. The citizens of a
community are confident of the ability of the commis¬
sioner both to discover corruption if it exists and to deal
with it effectively when found. With a trained com¬
missioner, whose personal character is above suspicion,
and whose powers of action are large, the public is sat¬
isfied that the integrity of the rank and file will be rigidly
maintained. A European city, therefore, is inclined
370
The Integrity of the European Police
to take the honesty of its police force as a matter of
course.
This confidence is shown in the relations of the public
to the police. In many cities, for example, it is custom¬
ary for a citizen leaving his house for any period to give
the key to the patrolman who walks the beat so that
ready entrance may be had in case of fire or accident.
Similarly shopkeepers often give duplicate keys to their
premises to the policemen on beat. In Glasgow a Public
Key Office is maintained by the police in the center of the
city, where warehousemen and storekeepers voluntarily
leave their keys for emergency use by the officials.
Again, the Lost and Found Bureaus operated by the
London department and by those of Continental cities
often contain articles of great value. Suggestions made
in two or three of these cities that these bureaus be
placed directly under the control of the municipalities
have been rejected on the ground that ordinary municipal
clerks cannot be trusted to handle these articles with the
same care and honesty as the police.
Public confidence in the integrity of the police is not
undeserved. In Dresden, the officials were able to re¬
member, after some thought, the case of a policeman who,
ten years before, had been discharged for dishonesty.
Apart from his case, however, there have been no other
removals for like cause within the memory of the authori¬
ties. Similar conditions were reported in Amsterdam
and Rotterdam. In the larger cities, where the police
forces are numerically stronger, it is not possible, of
course, to present so clean a record. Yet even London,
with 20,000 men in the police force, is surprisingly free
371
European Police Systems
from extensive corruption, although instances of indi¬
vidual dishonesty occasionally develop. In 1906, as a
result of certain charges lodged against the Metropolitan
police in connection with their activities in making ar¬
rests, a Royal Commission was appointed under sign
manual of the Crown, and clothed with full power by
special act of Parliament to investigate the duties of the
force.1 Complaints were invited from all sources, the
testimony of many witnesses was heard, and full oppor¬
tunity was extended to the public to present its opinions
of the police. Particular attention was paid by the Com¬
mission to the charge that constables had made a practice
of accepting fees from prostitutes. The finding of the
Commission on this point is most interesting :
" We have come to the conclusion that there is no
ground for believing that there has existed, or that
there at present exists any widespread or systematic
bribery of the police by prostitutes in any part of
London. Although we cannot believe that isolated
instances of constables having received money gifts
from women have never occurred, we believe that they
have been and* are very infrequent." 2
Mr. William A. Coote, Secretary of the National Vigil¬
ance Association, testified before the Commission as fol¬
lows :
" During the twenty-one years that I have acted as
Secretary of the National Vigilance Association, I
16 Edw. VII, c. 6.
2 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. I, p. 130.
372
The Integrity of the European Police
have interviewed hundreds of women of questionable
character with the view of ascertaining how they be¬
came such, how they maintained themselves as such,
and what treatment they received from the police in
the various districts in which they plied their calling.
I have not in one instance had a charge made against
the police as a body or against an individual police¬
man of levying blackmail, or of exacting bribes of any
amount from these unfortunate women." 1
The testimony of Sir Edward Henry, the Commis¬
sioner, was in similar vein. " I have not received a
single letter," he said, " and no complaint, oral or written,
has been made to me during the three and a half years
I have been Commissioner, charging the police with levy¬
ing blackmail from women of the unfortunate class.
From what I know of the tone of the men themselves,
I am satisfied that if any individual man were to take
money from these women it would certainly come to
the knowledge of his comrades, and I am also certain
that his comrades would look upon him as an unmitigated
blackguard and that he could not remain on the force for
long." 2
The point to be emphasized is that in the European
police organization there is no " system," to use the
word in its evil association. No organized connection
exists between the police department and the under¬
world. No official collects for another or shares his
plunder with a group. There is no passing of money
1 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. I, p. 83. (Quotation
slightly abridged.)
2 Ibid., p. 81.
'373
European Police Systems
to " men higher up." Dishonesty, where it occurs, is
an individual matter between a particular officer and an
outsider seeking a favor. The London department, for
example, has had considerable trouble in protecting the
integrity of its constables against the advances of street
bookmakers. During the ten years ending December
31, 1906, thirty-two members of the force were found
guilty of receiving money from these gamblers or of
sustaining improper relations with them.1 The matter
was exhaustively investigated by the Royal Commission
above referred to, but no facts were found pointing to
" an extensive or effectual corruption of the men en¬
gaged in the work of putting down street betting." To
continue in the words of the Commission: " We have
considered the matter in all its bearings, and have come
to the conclusion that there is no reason for believing
that bribery of the police by bookmakers has been car¬
ried on according to any organized system." 2
While it is true that the police forces as a whole
possess the confidence of the public, and that systematic
corruption is rarely if ever encountered, it would be idle
to maintain that there is no corruption at all. At some
1 Report of the Royal Commission, Vol. I, p. 81. During this pe¬
riod, 548 complaints were received from private persons in regard to
the relations of the force with bookmakers. Of these complaints, 340
were against the police generally and 208 against particular con¬
stables. Every complaint was investigated by the Commissioner of
Police. In only twenty cases, however, was it discovered that any
foundation for the allegation existed. In addition to these twenty
cases, twelve complaints were preferred by superior officers against
members of the force, all of which were found to be well based.
During this ten-year period the total amount of fines imposed by
magistrates upon bookmakers for betting in the streets within the
Metropolitan Police District was £127,276. (Ibid., p. 100.)
2 Ibid., p. 131.
374
The Integrity of the European Police
time or other in every department, human weaknesses
are bound to make their appearance, and to this rule the
European departments constitute no exception. As we
have already noted, within a year the Chief Constable
of Carlisle, England, and the assistant to the Police
President of Kiel, Germany, have been removed on
charges of dishonesty, the latter official being sentenced
to a long prison term. Early in 1914, the Police Presi¬
dent of Cologne was forcibly retired when in the trial of
a libel case three Inspektors and two Kommissars of his
department refused to testify because they feared to
incriminate themselves. In Paris, in 1913, nearly a
dozen officials were removed for manufacturing evi¬
dence. In the same year, three members of the plain¬
clothes force of Berlin were arrested, and one was sen¬
tenced to prison, for blackmailing the prostitutes under
their supervision. During the year just past, this offense
has also led to disciplinary action in Frank fort-on-
Main and Miilheim-on-Rhine. Indeed, wherever the
control of prostitution by regulation has been attempted
it has been accompanied, if not by open corruption, at
least by grave suspicions that such corruption exists.1
Similarly, in 1914, two members of the Prussian
Gendarmerie corps were sentenced to prison for accept¬
ing bribes from bookmakers at the Berlin race-tracks.2
Several years ago, a Polizeirat of the Budapest force
committed suicide following revelations of extensive dis¬
honesty. In the English provincial cities, as I have al-
1 For full treatment of this point see Flexner, loc. cit., Chap.
VIII.
2 At the Hoppegarten and Karlshorfe tracks.
375
European Police Systems
ready pointed out, flagrant examples of corruption have
from time to time developed. In Manchester, partic¬
ularly, a condition was disclosed fifteen years ago de¬
noting widespread demoralization.
It is important to remember, however, that these in¬
stances are individual and exceptional. They by no
means represent typical or general conditions. They are
incidental to the employment of large groups of men
in responsible positions. Considering the number of
men involved and the character of their duties, the police
forces of Europe must be adjudged to be singularly free
from corruption.1
I have already emphasized the factors to which the
integrity of the European police is, in my judgment, to
be attributed. Primarily it is due to the careful training
of the heads of the departments and their freedom in
selecting and removing their subordinates. On no other
basis can the integrity of a police force be permanently
maintained. " Choose the head of your force with
scrupulous care; clothe him with full power; make him
responsible " This maxim was repeated by officials all
over Europe. A commissioner who is not free to take
direct action when reasonable suspicion falls on particu¬
lar policemen cannot be held ultimately responsible for
evil conditions in his force. In so far as the European
authorities have recognized this fact — and the recogni¬
tion has been all but universal — they have placed their
fingers upon the main key to the situation.
There are other factors, however, which simplify the
European problem. The rigid class distinctions of Con-
1 But see note i, p. 243.
376
The Integrity of the European Police
tinental society serve to erect barriers not only to class
advancement but to class ambition. The German
Schutzmann coming from the under class is troubled
by no tempting dreams of wealth or promotion, because
he knows that his position not only in the department
but in the whole social scheme is definitely established.
Lacking the opportunities materially to better his lot in
life, he lacks the impulse to push ahead. With no dreams
of advancement to disturb his vision he is content. He
can live as well as any of his class ; his position in the
department is secure ; at the end of faithful service, he
can retire on a pension. Indeed, in point of permanent
work and ultimate security, to say nothing of the author¬
ity incidental to his official position, he is in a more
fortunate situation than his neighbors. He is therefore
unwilling to run risks which will jeopardize his estab¬
lished lot.
Continental class distinctions serve also to minimize
temptation among the higher officers of a police force.
The official class, particularly in Germany and Austria,
is sharply defined. It has its own traditions, organiza¬
tions and distinct points of view. It is socially cohe¬
sive. Believing itself superior to the " citizen class," it
holds aloof from their interests and their aims. Indeed,
between the so-called bureaucracy of Germany and the
burgher class a gulf is fixed, with no basis for mutual
sympathy or understanding. The higher officers of a
police department, therefore, have no general acquaint¬
ances among the commercial classes of a city. The mer¬
chants, the trades people and the shop keepers are un¬
known to them. As a result, the basis for understandings
377
European Police Systems
of a pernicious character between representatives of the
two classes is wholly lacking. No easy avenue of ap¬
proach is afforded a police officer to drive a corrupt bar¬
gain or to sell immunity from interference to those who
for reasons of commercial advantage might desire to
avoid the law.
Class distinctions afford a' background for another
characteristic of the European policeman which is not
so creditable. We have already noticed the widespread
practice in the rank and file of the police forces of ac¬
cepting tips. This practice is by no means confined to
Germany. It is prevalent in London and the English
provincial cities, in France, Holland, Belgium and Italy,
while in Austria and Hungary it has reached startling
proportions. In this chapter, I have not considered tip¬
ping in the same class as bribery for the reason that
tips are given generally for special but usually legitimate
services rendered by the policeman, and not to secure im¬
munity from interference or punishment. The London
" Bobby " who calls a cab upon request, the Amster¬
dam Agent who points out the location of a street,
or the Vienna Wackmann who awakens a household
at a certain hour every morning will all gratefully re¬
ceive a bit of silver, although the practice is strictly for¬
bidden by the police rules. Incidents such as these
would have no special significance, indeed would be
scarcely worth mentioning, if it were possible to
confine them within altogether harmless limits. The
difficulty of drawing a sharp line, however, between what
is proper and what is improper is at once apparent. A
policeman who accepts a tip for giving a stranger a bit
378
The Integrity of the European Police
of useful information may not readily see the impropriety
of a Christmas gift from the public-house keeper on his
beat. From this latter practice to something worse is
an easy step, even though it be rarely taken. The only
position which the police authorities can afford to take
on this matter, therefore, is against the entire practice of
tipping in any form.
It is here that class distinctions exercise a pernicious
influence. The subservience which they tend to breed,
•the feudal conception of society upon which they are
based, make them formidable bulwarks of the tipping
system. The increase of the salaries of the policemen
may, to some extent, curb the further extension of the
practice, but the fact that it is a social custom, based on
social laws, will make impossible its complete eradication.
However, perhaps the most important safeguard
against police corruption is negative in character. The
European police are not called upon to enforce standards
of conduct which do not meet with general public ap¬
proval. There is little attempt to make a particular code
of behavior the subject of general criminal legislation.
The high moral standards of a few people are not the
legal requirements of the state. Only occasionally is
there any movement to place upon the statute books laws
which serve only to satisfy the consciences of those re¬
sponsible for them. This is a subject worthy of more
attention than can be given in these pages. It strikes
deep into the heart of the police problem. For example,
the public houses of London, within a four-mile radius
of Charing Cross, are allowed to open on Sundays, by
act of Parliament, between the hours of i and 3 p. m.
379
European Police Systems
and 6 and n p.m.1 This particular provision, which
from personal investigation I know to be generally en¬
forced, meets with the approval of London's citizens.2
It is a fair approximation to the tastes and standards of
the majority. I asked a high official at Scotland Yard
whose name in this connection I am not at liberty to men¬
tion, what would be the effect on the Metropolitan Police
Force if Parliament passed a law prohibiting the sale of
liquor on Sunday. " It would mean the demoralization
of the force/' he replied. " We cannot guarantee the
integrity of the police against the vicious influences aris¬
ing from unenforceable laws." In Berlin, where, as in
most Continental cities, no distinction is made in the
sale of liquor between week-days and Sundays, a similar
question propounded to a police official of high rank was
greeted with a stare of amazement. " Preposterous ! "
he exclaimed. " The entire German army could not en¬
force such a regulation." 3
1 Licensing (Consolidation) Act of 1910. Elsewhere in the Met¬
ropolitan District, or in any town in England with a population of
at least 1,000, saloons may be open on Sunday between 12:30 and
2:30 p. m. and between 6 and 10 p. m.
The week-day hours of saloons within the County of London or
within a four mile radius of Charing Cross are 5 a. m. to 12 130 a. m.
except on Saturday nights, when they must close at midnight. Else¬
where in the Metropolitan District, or in towns of England, with a
population of at least 1,000, saloons may be open between 6 a. m.
and 11 p.m. In towns of less than 1,000 population, saloons must
close at 10 p. m. Scotland has its own special excise laws.
2 The effect of having the saloons closed on Sunday in England
during specified hours is somewhat vitiated by the so-called bona
-fide traveler provision of the law under which a licensee is per¬
mitted to sell liquor to persons who can show that during the pre¬
ceding night they lodged at least three miles away by the nearest
public thoroughfare. Under this provision, hotels often succeed in
doing considerable business during prohibited hours.
3 Excise questions in Germany are determined on the basis of
"Die Gewerbeordnung fur das Deutsche Reich" of July 1, 1883.
380
The Integrity of the European Police
These illustrations are not intended as an argument
for open saloons on Sunday. That is a separate ques¬
tion to be determined on the basis both of national habits
and local conditions. The point is that a police de¬
partment cannot be used to enforce standards of con¬
duct which are widely disapproved or to regulate the
private habits of a population contrary to its wishes.
Attempts to enforce laws of this type which are not rep¬
resentative of public opinion invariably breed corruption.
" It would be idle to pass laws curbing the gambling
instincts of our people," a Swiss official told me, " be¬
cause there is no public demand for such regulation. It
could not be enforced." Indeed, according to the testi¬
mony of police officials all over Europe, it is not enough
that laws relating to public morality shall have the sup¬
port of some elements in the community. They must
have the substantial support of the entire community.
They must represent the standards which most people
desire to see enforced. " The thing that we dread,"
said a Scotland Yard official, " is the passage of laws
making a crime of actions which a great many people
regard as innocent." Fortunately, Parliament and other
European assemblies are not much given to legislation
This law lays down certain general principles in connection with
the granting of licenses, leaving the local regulations to be framed
by the police. Thus in Berlin the police fix the closing hours of
each saloon. Ordinarily, under the first concession, the closing hour
is established at n p.m. This may be extended to 12 p.m., and
ultimately to 2 a. m. Some public houses are allowed to keep open
even later. The police may also regulate the kind of drink to be
sold in public houses, whether beer, or spirits, or both.
In Vienna, the closing hour is generally^ 2 a. m. Places wishing
to keep open longer must apply for special permission from the
police. As in Germany, the police of Austria are given wide dis¬
cretion in the matter of licenses.
381
European Police Systems
of this kind. The distinction between what is criminal
and what is merely vicious is on the whole clearly drawn,
and the penal laws are not encumbered with provisions
the only purpose of which is to enforce by threat a given
standard of morality. The functions of the police are
not confused with those of the church, the school and
other organizations and influences by which civilization is
advanced. M. Lépine's definition of police which we
have already noted exactly expresses the European point
of view—"an organized body of officers whose primary
duties are the preservation of order, the security of the
person and the safety of property." 1 With the personal
morals of private citizens the European police have little
to do. In short, the police are not confronted at the
start with an impossible task. To this fact, perhaps
more than to any other, their integrity is ascribable.
Our consideration of this question could not properly
be brought to a conclusion without noticing one of the
methods by which the members of a force are encouraged
not only to avoid dishonesty, but to do effective work.
Nearly every department in Europe maintains a system
of financial rewards for meritorious service. These re¬
wards are not large — they seldom exceed five dollars —
but they are eagerly sought by the police. Typical
items taken from Liverpool's weekly list are as follows :
Promptly extinguishing small fire, 2 shillings, sixpence.
Special vigilance in detective work, 15 shillings. Clever
first aid to the injured, 3 shillings, sixpence. Stopping
runaway horse, 10 shillings. Assaulted in the perform¬
ance of duty, 20 shillings. In Berlin, the rewards are
1 See p. 4.
382
The Integrity of the European Police
slightly higher, running occasionally to 50 marks in cases
of extreme merit. London spends approximately $5,000
a year in rewards of this kind, the discretion resting in
each case, of course, with the Commissioner,
Not only are rewards given by the department as a
stimulus to efficiency, but gratuities are allowed from
outside parties to individual members of the force pro¬
vided they are reported to the commanding officers and
approved by the Commissioner. This is generally true
throughout Europe. A detective, for example, who has
been assiduous in the recovery of stolen property is given
five dollars by the owner to whom the property is re¬
turned. If the officer keeps it without reporting it, he
is dismissed if the fact is discovered. If he reports it,
however, the chances are that he will be allowed to keep
it, although it is possible that the Commissioner may
decide that the sum is out of proportion to the service
rendered. In the latter case, part of the gratuity is
returned to the owner. No member of a force is al¬
lowed to ask for a gratuity under penalty of dismissal.
If it is voluntarily given to him, he is obliged to turn
over the money to his commanding officer pending the
decision of the Commissioner.1 In case the Commis¬
sioner allows it, the beneficiary receives it with his regu¬
lar salary at the next pay day. European authorities
are generally impressed with the results of this system.
It distinguishes between graft and gratuities given for
1 In London and elsewhere regular printed forms are filled out
by the beneficiary of the gratuity showing amount received, by
whom given, for what service rendered, and with spaces for re¬
marks by the commanding officers and the Commissioner. See
Metropolitan Police Forms Nos. 360, 361, and 362.
383
European Police Systems
special or meritorious service. It lifts the ban from re¬
wards which are perfectly proper. It affords an op¬
portunity to an honest policeman to profit by his good
work without exposing him to the temptation of becom¬
ing underhanded and deceitful. " A very serviceable
system," the Head Constable of Liverpool called it.
If the foregoing pages may be assumed to portray the
leading features of European police systems, it is scarcely
necessary, in bringing our study to a conclusion, to
elaborate the points that have been made. It must be
clear that the European police department is, on the
whole, an excellent piece of machinery. To its construc¬
tion a high order of creative intelligence has been de¬
voted; in its operation an equally high order of intelli¬
gence is constantly employed. In the last resort, the
police problems of a modern city make a large demand
upon intelligence, and Europe has succeeded in formulat¬
ing and solving its police problem because, discarding
all inferior persons and agencies, it has utilized in this
work a superior type of intelligence.
Beneath all the variations which we have from time
to time commented on, there are certain common prin¬
ciples on the basis of which the efficiency of the Euro¬
pean police department can be explained. First, the
police are not called upon to compel conformity to moral
standards which do not meet with general public ap¬
proval. They are not asked to enforce laws which from
the standpoint of accepted public habit or taste are funda¬
mentally unenforceable.
384
The Integrity of the European Police
Second, control is centered where responsibility can
be definitely fixed — in a single official. This official,
thoroughly trained for his work and chosen with pains¬
taking deliberation, is clothed with independent author¬
ity. Secure in his position and free from external
interference, he enjoys the widest powers in dealing with
his subordinates. Perhaps the most striking fact in con¬
nection with the European police commissioner is not
only the absence of checks and balances by which a
possible abuse of power may be curbed or minimized, but
the sustained faith of the people that power will be
wisely employed.
Finally, the rank and file of the European police forces
are selected and trained with the same care and atten¬
tion shown in the case of their superior officers. Indeed,
in all ranks the character of the personnel is the essential
constant factor of efficiency. On this and on no other
basis is it possible to secure an effective organization.
Other features can indeed produce better conditions, but
without these fundamental human values there can be
no real or permanent efficiency.
385
APPENDICES
APPENDIX I
AN ACCOUNT OF MONIES EXPENDED FOR THE SER¬
VICE OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE OF LONDON
DURING THE FISCAL YEAR FROM APRIL
i, 1911, TO MARCH 31, 1912.1
I. Administrative Expenses.
£ s. d. £ s. d%
Commissioner's office.
One Commissioner (includ¬
ing £100 horse allowance) 2,600
Four assistant Commission¬
ers (including 2 horse al¬
lowances of £100) 5,030
18 clerks, 14 assistant clerks,
20 temporary clerks and
writers 12,606 3 1
79 police officers employed
on clerical duty 11,264 f5 5
13 police officers employed
as messengers L444 n 3
Receiver's office.
One Receiver 1,200
14 clerks, 11 assistant clerks
and writers 6,537 5 5
Legal expenses 155 13 6
Surveyors, draftsmen, asses¬
sors, technical clerks and
a Consulting Sanitary Ad¬
viser 4,112 8 10
Store-keepers, examiners of
clothing, tailors, inspectors
and messengers 2,935 12 7
Legal expenses 5,OI7 9 10
Cost of police printing office.. 3,118 16 9
Amount carried forward.. 56,022 16 8
l Compiled from the published expenditures of the Metropolitan Police Force,
London, 1912.
389
European Police Systems
£ s. d. £ s, d.
Amount brought forward. 56,022 16 8
Newspapers and advertise¬
ments 1,200 17 3
Postage 2,237 8 10
Books and stationery, porters,
charwomen and miscellane¬
ous 13,663 15 3
73,124 18
II. Office Expenses.
Maintenance of headquarters,
rates, taxes, erection of addi¬
tional offices, repairs, etc 19,084 5 8
III. Police Courts, Administrative Expenses.
29 clerks, 13 assistant clerks... 14,410 14 6
83 ushers, assistant ushers,
jailers, office keepers, etc.... 9,514 18 8
Printing, stationery, traveling
expenses, etc 5,256 1 3
29,181 14 5
IV. Pay, Clothing and Equipment of the Force.
Six Chief Constables
3,843
0
9
31 divisional and other super¬
intendents
12,365
9
9
Pay of inspectors, sergeants
and constables 1
,749,882
16
Allowances for rent.
51,565
19
6
Gratuities, rewards and extra
duty pay
1,424
8
Clothing and plain clothes al¬
lowances and accoutrements.
105,325
15
10
1,924,407 9 10
V. Medical and Funeral Expenses.
Salaries of Chief Surgeon and
divisional surgeons 8,842 16 9
Amount carried forward.. 2,045,798 7 11
390
Appendices
£ s. d. £ s. dt
Amount brought forward. 2,045,798 7 11
Medical attendance, medicines,
etc., for prisoners and poor
persons injured in public
thoroughfares 8,848 12 10
Funeral expenses of police of¬
ficers 160 10
17,851 19 7
VI. Horses, Vans and Carts.
Purchase of horses, forage,
police vans and carts 24,925 8 6
VII. Erection and Maintenance of Police Stations.
Expenses incidental to erec¬
tion 115,154 16 7
Expenses incidental to mainte¬
nance 46,736 18 4
■ > 11
161,891 14 II
VIII. Police Courts.
Erection and maintenance of
premises and incidental ex¬
penses 18,975 10
IX. Incidental Expenses in Connection with Police
Stations.
Coal, gas, cleaning, etc 55>334 8 1
X. Miscellaneous Charges.
Contingent expenses for re¬
freshments supplied to des¬
titute prisoners, expenses
incurred in the pursuit, ap¬
prehension and conveyance
of prisoners, duties per¬
formed beyond the Metro¬
politan Police district, tele¬
graph and telephone service,
steam launches and boats,
etc ! 101,393 3 4
Amount carried forward. 2,426,170 12 4
391
European Police Systems
XI. Public Carriage Office Expenses.
£ s. d. £ s. d.
Amount brought forward 2,426,170 12 4
Pay of clerks, office rent, sta¬
tionery, plates and badges,
etc 44)334 19 3
XII. Retired Allowances.
Under special act of Parlia¬
ment (This does not include
pensions) 7,461 5 6
XIII. Special Expenses.
Expenses in connection with
the Coronation of His Maj¬
esty the King 43)513 3 6
Incidental expenses 1)830 14 6
45)343 18
XIV. Repayments.
Deductions for lodgings, etc.,
paid to Admiralty and War
Departments, repayments to
parishes of police rate on
valuations reduced on appeal 6,650 17 10
XV. Pension Fund Deficiency.1
Transfer to police pension
fund 300,627 17 11
Grand Total 2,830,589 10 10
l The Metropolitan Police Pension Fund is kept separately from the expenses
above set forth. During the year April i, 1911, to March 31, 1912, the total
payments from this fund were £571,590, 5s., 6d.
392
APPENDIX II.
AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDGET FOR THE PREFECTURE
OF POLICE OF PARIS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 1914.1
Francs
I. Administrative Expenses 2,391,297
II. The Commissariats of Police, Inspection of the
Stock Exchange and weights and measures 2,510,317
III. Uniformed and Detective Forces. Salaries of
8,314 of the Uniformed Force and 1,236 of the
Detective Force, including Executive Officials,
together with various expenses, equipment, etc.. 34,946,258.60
IV. Horses and Vans 466,389
V. Supervision of Navigation and Ports 114,661
VI. Building Department 80,967
VII. Public Health and Hygiene 117,3*5
VIII. Medical Dispensary 56,020
IN. Public Ambulance and Medical Service 201,095
X. Supervision of Markets, Market-places and
Slaughter-houses 367,773
XI. Pensions and Relief 882,421
XII. Miscellaneous Expenses, including postage, tele¬
graph and telephone, printing, office furniture,
books, transportation of prisoners, etc 582,192
XIII. Fire Department 3,543,483
XIV. Chemical Laboratory 334,862
k
Total 2 46,595,050.60
1 Compiled from the Budget de la Préfecture de Policef Paris, 1914.
2 Of this sum, 13,980,744 francs was paid by the national government, the
balance by the city upon vote of the Municipal Council.
393
APPENDIX III.
AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDGET FOR THE POLICE DIS¬
TRICT OF BERLIN FOR THE FISCAL YEAR
JANUARY i, 1913, TO DECEMBER 31, 1913.1
I. Higher Administrative Salaries.
Marks Marks
One Police President 13,000
Three Oberregierungsrdte and 18 Regierung-
sràte 123,000
Extra allowances 8,100
144,100
II. Other Administrative Salaries.
Salaries of 69 officials of various ranks 330,800
III. Clerical Force.
741 clerical and telegraphic officials 2,184,600
IV. Auditing Force.
Salaries of 14 officials si,800
V. Care-takers, Messengers and Prison Helpers.
Salaries of 137 199,470
Amount carried forward 2,910,770
l This budget includes a small part of the expenses of the five police forces
presided over by the Police President of Berlin,— the city of Berlin, Charlotten-
burg, Lichtenberg, Neukolln and Schôneberg. No budget of the police force of
the city of Berlin is separately obtainable. The above outline is compiled from
the budget of the Minister of the Interior, Etat des Ministeriums des Innern,
Anlagen Bd. II, Nr. 28, Berlin, 1913.
394
Appendices
VI. Executive Officials of the Uniformed Force.
Marks Marks
Amount brought forward 2,910,770
One police Colonel 7,70o
Three majors 18,200
25 captains, 9 criminal inspectors, 2 tele¬
graphic engineers and one police prison
inspector 192,600
210 police lieutenants, 82 criminal commis¬
sioners (Kommissars) 1,137,700
1,349,200
VII. Uniformed Force.
22 first sergeants 54,050
739 sergeants 1,517,600
7,807 policemen 13,156,140
14,727,790
VIII. Rent Allowances in Addition to Salaries.. 5,126,640
IX. Additional Personal Allowances and Pay¬
ment of Supplementary Employees 697,335
X. Miscellaneous Expenses, Maintenance of
Morgue, Postage, Etc 1,007,901
XI. Maintenance of Police Stations, Including
a Few New Erections... 59,470
XII. Rent of Buildings for Police Purposes 60,109
XIII. Personal Expenses.
Horses, traveling expenses, miscellaneous rents 1,751,030
XIV. Clothing and Equipment of the Uniformed
Force 910,440
XV. Miscellaneous Expenses.
Substitutes, feeding of prisoners, medical inspection of
prostitutes, etc 1,093,030
Grand Total 29,693,715
395
APPENDIX IV.
AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDGET FOR THE POLICE DE¬
PARTMENT OF VIENNA FOR THE FISCAL YEAR,
JANUARY i, 1913, TO DECEMBER 31, 1913.1
I. Higher Administrative Salaries.
Kronen Kronen
One Police President 22,000
One Hofrat n>933
14 Oberpolizeiràte 116,627
150,560
II. Other Administrative Salaries.
151 officials of various ranks 768,605
III. Clerical Force.
Salaries of 373 officials 877,369
IV. Sanitary Force.
Examination of prostitutes, etc., salaries of
49 physicians of various ranks 227,300
V. Care-takers.
Salaries of 25 officials.. 97,826
VI. Miscellaneous.
Remuneration of occasional employees, re¬
wards, traveling expenses, printing, tele¬
graph and telephone, etc 892,817
Amount carried forward 2,972,044
1 Compiled from the budget of the Minister of the Interior, Staatsvoran-
schiag fur die im Reichsrate vertretenen Konigreiche und Lander fur das
Jahr 1913, Vienna, 1912.
396
Appendices
VII. Detective Force.
Kronen Kronen
'Amount brought forward 2,972,044
Salaries of 679 men, including officials 1,589,180
Miscellaneous, including clothing, rewards,
traveling expenses, etc 352*899
1,942,079
VIII. Executive Officers of the Uniformed Force.
Salaries of 68 officials 263,380
IX. Uniformed Force.
Salaries of 1,846 non-commissioned officers
and 2,668 policemen 9,090,139
Salaries of occasional employees, extra pay,
rewards, traveling expenses, rents, allow¬
ances, equipment, etc 2,598,986
11,689,125
Total 16,909,061
Deductions for pension purposes 42,433
Grand total 16,866,628
397
APPENDIX V.
Table i.
SUMMARY OF ANNUAL EXPENDITURES AS SHOWN IN PRECEDING APPENDICES.1
London Paris Berlin Vienna M
£
Total Annual Expenditure $13,784,971.03 $8,992,844.77 $7,067,104.17 $3,423,925.48 •-*
Cost per capita of Population $1.91 $2.16 $1.87 $1.69
: ro
1 In comparing these expenditures the extended functions of the Continental police must necessarily be taken into con- ^
sideration. P
o
00
VO
00 tr1
APPENDIX V. o*
n>
Table ii. xji
V!
COMPARISON OF COSTS OF SALARIES, ALLOWANCES, AND EQUIPMENT OF £
UNIFORMED AND DETECTIVE FORCES.2 2
London Paris Berlin Vienna
Annual Cost of Uniformed and Detective
Forces $9.371,86445 $6,744,627.91 $5,048,296.54 $2,820,600.55
Cost per capita of Population $1.29 $1.63 $i-34 $x*33
Ul
2 The variations in bookkeeping methods between the cities named make these figures approximate only,
Appendices
APPENDIX V.
Table iix.
AREA OF POLICE JURISDICTION.
Area in
Square Miles
London 699.42
Paris (Department of the Seine) 1S5
Berlin (City of Berlin proper) 24
Vienna 104.75
399
APPENDIX VI
ANNUAL BUDGETS OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS OF
THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF EUROPE1
City Year
Amsterdam 1913
Barcelona 1913
Berne 1913
Christiania 1911
Constantinople 1913
Copenhagen 1913
Dresden 1912
Glasgow 1913
Hamburg 1912
Leipzig 1912
Lisb-on 1913
Liverpool 1912
Madrid 1913
Manchester 1913
Moscow 1909
Oporto 1913
Rotterdam 1913
St. Petersburg 1913
Stockholm < 1913
Stuttgart 1913
Zurich 1913
Amount
$ 651,280
430,765
95,000
245,364
871,156
661,020
794,118
1,069,610
3,060,605
672,247
476,000
1,182,438
561,348
443.549
713,944
240,000
450.550
1,717,793
650,623
591,837
202,650
1 Exclusive of London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna, which have been given
in the foregoing tables.
400
APPENDIX VII
STRENGTH OF THE POLICE FORCES OF THE PRINCIPAL
CITIES OF EUROPE
Number of
officers
City Population and men
Amsterdam 580,960 1,416
Barcelona 560,000 1,53!
Bergen 72,25I I43
Berlin 2,071,257 6,374
Berne 85,264 129
Brussels 176,9471 817
Budapest 880,371 3,000
Christiania 241,834 459
Constantinople 1,200,000 2,500
Copenhagen 462,161 806
Dresden 548,308 1,238
Edinburgh 320,318 624
Glasgow 784,496 2,020
Hamburg 93L°35 1,697
Lisbon 356,009 1,680
Liverpool 746,421 2,148
London :
City of London 19,657 2 1,183
Metropolitan District 7,231,701 20,540
1 Includes only the City of Brussels. " Greater Brussels " including the
city and suburbs has a population of 660,000.
2 Night population. The day population is 364,061.
40I
European Police Systems
Number of
officers
City Population and men
Madrid 571,539 2,103
Manchester 714,333 *,350
Moscow 1,533,400 4,500
Oporto 167,955 763
Paris 2,888,110 8,597
St. Petersburg 1,962,400 5,726
Rome 542,123 2,619
Rotterdam 436,018 995
Stockholm 346,599 840
Stuttgart 286,218 442
Vienna 2,031,498 4,596
Zurich 189,088 320
402
APPENDIX VIII
EUROPEAN POLICE COMMISSIONERS— QUALIFICA¬
TIONS AND MODE OF APPOINTMENT *
Amsterdam — Hoofd-Commissaris (Chief Commissioner) appointed
by the Crown upon recommendation of the Minister of Justice.
An army officer generally chosen.
Barcelona — Jefe superior de Policia (Chief of Police) appointed
by the Minister of the Interior. No definite position or rank
of life taken into consideration in making the appointment
Berlin — P olizeiprdsident (Police President) appointed by the
Crown upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior.
An official from some other branch of the government service is
usually appointed.
Berne — Polizeidirektor (Director of Police) elected by popular vote.
He is one of the members of the City Commission (composed of
nine members in all) charged with the administration of munic¬
ipal affairs.
Bremen — P olizeiprdsident (Police President) appointed by the Bur-
gershaft or State Senate. He is usually promoted from among
the subordinate officers of the force.
Brussels — Burgomaster, appointed by the Crown, acts as the Chief
of Police, although the commander of the Central division per¬
forms many of the functions of the Chief.
Budapest — Fôkapitâmy (Police President) appointed by the Crown
upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. He is
always a university graduate in law who has spent his life in
the government service.
Christiania — Politimester (Police Master or Chief) appointed by
the Crown. He must be a university graduate in law, and for
not less than five years must either have practised law or have
been a deputy judge.
Constantinople — Chief of Police appointed by the Sultan upon
recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. He may be
1 For some of the material included in this table, I am indebted to the De¬
partment of State at Washington, which obtained it for my purposes through
the American Consular offices.
403
European Police Systems
promoted from among the subordinate police officers, or may be
appointed from among the governors or sub-governors, or from
among judiciary officials.
Copenhagen — Politidirektor (Police Director) appointed by the
Crown. Pie must be a jurist. He is usually, though not al¬
ways, promoted from among the subordinate officers of the
force.
Dresden — Polizeiprasident (Police President) appointed by the
King of Saxony upon recommendation of the Minister of the
Interior. Usually he is promoted from among the subordinate
officers of the force.
Glasgow—Chief Constable appointed by the joint action of the Mag¬
istrates Committee of the Town Council and the Sheriff of the
County. A man experienced in police work is usually appointed.
Occasionally he is taken from the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Hamburg—Polizeiprasident (Police President) appointed by the
Burgershaft or State Senate. He is usually promoted from
among the subordinate officers of the force.
Lisbon'—Commandante of Police appointed by the government
through the Minister of the Interior from among officers of the
regular army of the rank of Major or higher.
Liverpool—-Plead Constable appointed by the Watch Committee of
the Town Council. Usually called from similar position in a
smaller town.
London, City of — Commissioner appointed by the City with the ap¬
proval of the Crown. Army officer preferred.
London — Metropolitan District.— Commissioner appointed by the
Crown upon recommendation of the Home Secretary. Civilian
preferred, usually one who has had some previous governmental
experience.
Madrid — Inspector de Seguridad (Inspector of Police) appointed by
the Director General. This latter official controls all the police
forces of Spain save the Guardia Civil, an organization corre¬
sponding to the French gendarmerie. He is appointed by the
Crown upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior.
Generally a governmental official of high rank.
Manchester — Chief Constable appointed by the Watch Committee
of the Town Council. Usually called from similar position in a
smaller town.
Moscow — Gradonachalnik (Prefect of Police) appointed by the Em¬
peror. He is always a high ranking officer of the army.
Munich — Polizeidirektor (Police Director) appointed by the Crown
upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. A high
governmental official usually chosen.
Appendices
Oporto — Commandante of Police appointed by the government from
among the civil or criminal judges.
Paris — Prefect of Police appointed by the President of the Repub¬
lic upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. Army
officer or high governmental official usually appointed.
Rome — Questore (Chief of Police) appointed by the Crown upon
recommendation of the Minister of the Interior. The Questori
of the various municipalities and their assistants enter the police
service as delegati by competitive examination, being promoted
as their abilities warrant.
Rotterdam—•Hoofd-Commissaris (Chief Commissioner) appointed
by the Crown upon recommendation of the Minister of Justice.
An army officer generally chosen.
St. Petersburg — Gradonachalnik (Prefect of Police) appointed by
the Emperor upon recommendation of the Minister of the In¬
terior. Usually a prominent general of the army.
Stockholm — Polismdstare (Chief of Police) appointed by the
Crown upon recommendation of the Governor General of Stock¬
holm and the Civil Minister. Of late years it has been custo¬
mary to appoint an assistant in the department who has had legal
training.
Stuttgart — Polizeidirektor (Police Director) appointed by the
Gemeinderat (Council). Usually promoted from among sub¬
ordinate police officials of other towns.
Vienna — Polizeipr'dsident (Police President) appointed by the
Crown upon recommendation of the Minister of the Interior.
Always a university graduate in law who has spent his life in
the government service, being gradually promoted through the
operation of the Austrian official system.
Zurich — Polizeidirektor (Police Director) appointed by the City
Council from among officers holding the rank of lieutenant in
the Swiss army.
405
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The list of books which follows makes no pretense of
being exhaustive. It is merely a suggestive list to assist
those who desire to pursue further the study of certain
phases of the police problem. It should be said at once
that there are but few books dealing directly with the
subject of police organization and management. In fact,
in the English language, McAdoo's Guarding a Great
City (New York, 1906) and Fuld's Police Administra¬
tion (New York, 1910) are practically the only books
relating to the question, and even these are limited in
scope and treatment. Much has been written in Ger¬
man, French, Italian, and Swedish on special phases of
police activity, particularly the detection of crime; but
no comparative study of police organization on broad
lines has hitherto been attempted. The following list,
therefore, is made up for the most part of books which
either treat the police problem indirectly, or concern
themselves with specific phases of it.
GENERAL — GOVERNMENT, STATE AND LOCAL
Under this heading, I have included only a few of the better
known books and encyclopedias for reference purposes.
Atkinson, Mabel. Local Government in Scotland. Edin¬
burgh, 1904.
Block, Maurice. Dictionnaire de l'administration française.
2 vols. Paris, 1905.
409
European Police Systems
Dawson, William H. Municipal Life and Government in
Germany. London, 1914.
A sympathetic study of German cities at work.
Goodnow, Frank J. Municipal Government. New York, 1909.
Handworterbuch der Kommunalwissenschaften. Jena, 1914.
This encyclopedia of local government in Germany is not yet
completed. Made up of the contributions of eminent Conti¬
nental scholars, it promises to be the most important work
of its kind.
Howard, Burt Estes. The German Empire. New York, 1913.
James, Herman Gerlach. Principles of Prussian Adminis¬
tration. New York, 1913.
Lowell, A. Lawrence. The Government of England. 2 vols.
New York, 1912.
Munro, William Bennett. The Government of European
Cities. New York, 1909.
Ogg, Frederic Austin. The Governments of Europe. New
York, 1913.
Pollard, J. The Corporation of Berlin; A Study in Municipal
Government. 2d ed. London, 1894.
An elementary study, of service chiefly because there is little
else in English on the subject.
Redlich, Josef. Das Wesen der osterreichischen Kommunal-
verfassung. Leipzig, 1910.
A very engaging picture of Austrian local government by an
eminent Austrian scholar.
Redlich, Josef, and Hirst, F. W. Local Government in Eng¬
land. 2 vols. London, 1903.
Shaw, Albert. Municipal Government in Continental Europe.
New York, 1906.
Shaw, Albert. Municipal Government in Great Britain. New
York, 1898.
Webb, Sidney and Beatrice. English Local Government from
the Revolution to the Municipal Corporations Act. 2 vols.
London, 1908.
Wilson, Woodrow. The State. New York, 1898.
410
Bibliography
COLLECTIONS OF LAWS AND GENERAL REFERENCE
WORKS
Strafgesetzbuch fur das Deutsche Reich vom 15. Mai 1871.
German Imperial Penal Code. The only English translation of
the Imperial Code of the German Empire is by Geoffrey
Drage, London, 1885. Unfortunately, the book is now out of
print
S trafprozessordnung.
German Code of Penal Procedure. There is no English trans¬
lation of this code. Both the Penal Code and the Code of
Penal Procedure have been published in handbook form (C.
H. Beck, Miinchen, 1911-12).
Straf-Gesetz das allgemeine vom 2p. Mai 1852, bezuglichen im
Reichsgesetzblatte enthaltenen Gesetzen und Verordnung.
Austrian Penal Code.
Strafprocess-Ordnung vom 23. Mai 1873. Gesetz ilber die zeit-
weilige Einstellung der Wirksamseit der Geschwornengerichte.
Austrian Code of Penal Procedure. There is no translation in
English of the Austrian Penal Code or of the Code of Penal
Procedure.
Rault, J. and Phelipot, H. Manuel de Police. Paris, 1911.
This includes the Code Pénal and the special laws and decrees
relating to crime in France.
Vincent, Sir Howard. The Police Code. London, 1912.
A general manual of the English criminal law.
Stone's Justices' Manual. Edited by J. R. Roberts. London,
1910.
This is probably the most useful reference book on English
criminal law and procedure.
Renton, Robert Wemyss, and Brown, Henry Hilton. Crim¬
inal Procedure According to the Laws of Scotland. Edin¬
burgh, 1909.
A critical commentary on the peculiar criminal procedure under
the laws of Scotland.
Hippel, Robert von. Handbuch der Polizeiverwaltung. Ber¬
lin, 1910.
Police administration—-chiefly a collection of laws — but in
systematic arrangement.
European Police Systems
Eiben, H. Die Ortspolizei. Cologne, 1908.
Handbook of laws, for officials and private citizens.
Grais, Hue de, Count. Handbuch der Verfassung und Ver-
waltung. Berlin, 1912.
Perhaps the best known handbook of German government in
general, covering the imperial, state and municipal adminis¬
tration.
Brayer, Felix. Dictionnaire général de police administrative
et judiciaire. 4 vols. Paris, 1886-90.
Meyer, Georg. Lehrbuch des deutschen Verwaltungsrechts.
3d ed. Leipzig, 1910.
Mayer, Otto. Deutsches Verwaltungsrecht. 2 vols. Leipzig,
1895-96.
Stengel, Karl von, Freiherr. Worterbuch des deutschen
Staats- und Verwaltungsrechts. 2d ed. Tubingen, 1911-
13.
A very useful reference work.
Arnstedt, Oskar von. Das Preussische Polizeirecht. Berlin,
1905.
Carmtchael, Evelyn G. M. Compilation of " The County and
Borough Police Acts." London, 1900.
A collection of all the acts relating to the county and borough
police forces of England and Wales.
Alexander, G. Glover. The Administration of Justice in
Criminal Matters (in England and Wales). Cambridge
(Eng.), 1911.
An excellent outline of the English machinery of justice.
Kenny, C. S. Outlines of Criminal Lazv. Cambridge (Eng.),
1902.
HISTORIES AND COMMENTARIES
Anderson, Sir Robert. The Lighter Side of My Official Life.
London, 1910.
Sir Robert Anderson was for some time Assistant Commissioner
of the Metropolitan Police Force. His book is interestingly
written, but shows decided bias at certain points.
412
Bibliography
Curtis, R. The History of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Dub¬
lin, 1871.
Euvrard, F. Historique de l'institution des commissaires de
police; son origine. . . . leurs prérogatives. Montpellier,
1910.
Lee, Captain W. L. Melville. A History of Police in Eng¬
land. London, 1901.
A well written account of the various steps which led to the
reformation of the English police forces by the Municipal
Corporations Act of 1835 and the Rural Police Act of 1856.
MacNaghten, Sir Melville. Days of My Years. London,
1914.
Sir Melville MacNaghten was for many years the head of the
Criminal Investigation Department of the London Metropoli¬
tan police. He resigned in 1913.
Rey, Alfred and L. Feron. Histoire du corps des gardiens de
la paix. Paris, 1896.
Smith, Lieutenant Colonel Sir Henry. From Constable to
Commissioner. London, 1910.
Sir Henry Smith was formerly Commissioner of the City of
London police.
POLICE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Assessor, (pseudonym). Die Berliner Polizei. Berlin, 1907.
A sketchy account of police organization in Berlin.
Bland, J. P. The Metropolitan Police. (A pamphlet). Lon¬
don, 1909.
Largely a summary of the findings of the Royal Commission ap¬
pointed to investigate the Metropolitan Police. The articles
in this pamphlet were originally written for the London
T imes.
Budding, C. Die Polizei in Stadt und Land in Grossbrittanien.
Berlin, 1908.
Dr. Budding's book was written after an intimate personal study
of police conditions in England. It is descriptive rather than
critical.
413
European Police Systems
Encyclopedia of Local Government Law. 6 vols. London,
1906-1908.
Containing an article on Police by H. B. Simpson, Principal
Clerk in the Home Office, London.
Friedel, C. Die Polizeiliche Strafverfugung. Berlin, 1905.
A guide in the application of police punishments.
Guyot, I. La Police. Paris, 1884.
Laufer, Franz. Unser Polizeiwesen. Stuttgart, 1906.
A serviceable handbook on police organization in Germany.
Morel, Pierre. La Police à Paris. Paris, 1907.
A vigorous and rather biased attack on the Paris police organ¬
ization.
Mouneyrat, E. La Préfecture de police. Paris, 1906.
A serviceable, though not exhaustive, study of the office of
police Prefect in Paris.
Policej La. Paul Dupont, editor. Notions générales de police,
organisation de la police en France, police administrative,
préfecture de police. Paris, 1905.
Police en France, La. Published by the Minister of the In¬
terior, Direction de la Sûreté générale. Versailles, 1913.
An excellent descriptive account of police organization in
France.
Roscher, Gustav. Grossstadtpolizei; ein praktisches Hand-
buch der deutschen Polizei. Hamburg, 1912.
Dr. Roscher, the well known President of the police organiza¬
tion of Hamburg, has written perhaps the most complete book
on the subject of police organization in large cities. Unfor¬
tunately, the book is confined to conditions in Germany. He
gives a very interesting and detailed account of police ac¬
tivity in German municipalities.
Weidlich, Dr. Karl. Die Polizei als Grundlage und Organ
der Strafrechtspflege in England, Schottland und Irland.
Berlin, 1908.
Dr. Weidlich, who is a judge of the county court, or Amtsge-
richt, of Wurttemberg, is a well known student of local gov¬
ernment. His book contains an interesting comparison of the
powers and functions of English and German police.
414
Bibliography
CRIME AND THE CRIMINAL
In this list, I have included a few of the more important books
which deal in a general way with crime and the criminal.
Bosco, Augusto. La delinquenza in vari Stati di Eur op a.
Rome, 1903.
Ferri, Enrico. Uomicidio nelV antropologia criminate. Turin,
1895.
Ferri, Enrico. Das Verbrechen in seiner Abhdngigkeit von
dem jdhrlichen Temperaturwechsel. (Zeitschrift fur das
gesammte Strafwesen, Vol. II).
Mercier, C. A. Crime and Insanity. New York, 1911.
Niceforo, Alfredo. La delinquenza in Sardegna. Palermo,
1897.
Niceforo, Alfredo. Italia barbara contemporanea. Milan and
Palermo, 1898.
Ripley, W. Z. Races of Europe. New York, 1910.
Wright, Carrol D. The Relations of Economic Conditions to
the Causes of Crime. Philadelphia, 1900.
Special attention is called to the following books, which have
been translated into English and published under the aus¬
pices of The American Institute of Criminal Law and Crim¬
inology. In their field, they represent the best thought of
foreign scholars.
Aschaffenburg, Gustav. Crime and Its Repression. Trans¬
lated from the Second German Edition by Adalbert Albrecht.
Boston, 1913.
Bonger, W. A. Criminality and Economic Conditions. Trans¬
lated from the French by Rev. Henry P. Horton. Boston,
1914.
Ferri, Enrico. Criminal Sociology. Translated from the
Fifth Italian and Second French Edition by Joseph I. Kelly
and John Lisle. Boston, 1914.
Garofalo, Raffaelle, Baron. Criminology. Translated from
the First Italian and Fifth French Edition by Robert W. Mil¬
lar. Boston, 1914.
415
European Police Systems
Gross, Hans. Criminal Psychology. Translated from the
Fourth German Edition by Dr. Horace M. Kallen. Boston,
1911.
Lombroso, Cesare. Crime, Its Causes and Remedies. Trans¬
lated from the French and German Editions by Rev. Henry P.
Horton. Boston, 1912.
Quirôs, C. Bernaldo de. Modern Theories of Criminality.
Translated from the Second Spanish Edition by Dr. Alfonso
de Salvio. Boston, 1912.
Saleilles, Raymond. The Individualization of Punishment.
Translated from the Second French Edition by Mrs. Rachael
Szold Jastrow. Boston, 1911.
Tarde, Gabriel. Penal Philosophy. Translated from the
Fourth French Edition by Rapelje Howell. Boston, 1912.
METFIODS OF CRIME DETECTION
Archiv fur Kriminal-Anthropologie und Kriminalistik.
(Periodical.) Vols. 1-50. Leipzig, 1899-1914.
This periodical, edited by Dr. Hans Gross, furnishes current in¬
formation in regard to new methods of crime detection, new
ideas of criminology, etc.
Atcherley, Major L. W. " M. Of (Modus Operandi) in
Criminal Investigation and Detection. West Riding of York¬
shire, 1913.
Bertillon, Alphonse. Instructions for taking Descriptions
for the Identification of Criminals by the Means of Anthropo¬
metric Indications. Translated by Gallus Miller with a his¬
torical introduction by the translator. Chicago, 1889.
Bertillon, Alphonse. Signale tic Instructions, Including the
Theory and Practice of Anthropometric Identification.
Translated from the latest French edition, edited under the
supervision of R. W. McClaughry. Chicago, 1896.
Bertillon, Alphonse. La Photographie judiciaire. Trans¬
lated under the title Legal Photography by P. R. Brown.
New York, 1897.
416
Bibliography
Bertillon, Alphonse. Photographie métrique de. Published
by La Cour-Berthiot. Paris, 1912.
A well illustrated book, edited under the supervision of M. Ber-
tillon, outlining his system of metric photography.
Gross, Dr. Hans. Criminal Investigation. A Practical Hand¬
book for Magistrates, Police Officers and Lawyers. Trans¬
lated and adapted to Indian and Colonial Practice from the
System der Kriminalistik of Dr. Hans Gross, by John Adam
and J. Colyer Adam. Madras, India, 1906.
Dr. Gross's book is well known in Europe and India. It is
perhaps the best text-book on the subject of crime detection.
Henry, Sir Edward R. Classification and Uses of Finger
Prints. 4th ed. London, 1913.
This book has been translated into many languages. It de¬
scribes in detail the advantages of the finger-print system of
identification and the Henry system of classification.
Niceforo, Alfredo. La Police et l'enquête judiciaire scientif¬
iques. Avec préface du docteur Lacassagne. Paris, 1907.
This well known book ranks with Dr. Gross's System der Krim¬
inalistik. It is a practical handbook for detective officers.
Ottolenghi, Salvatore. Uestensione del " Bertillonage" e
la lotta contro gli anarchici. (Rivista d'Italia, anno 4, Vol.
II, p. 304-316. Roma, ipoi).
Reiss, R. A. Manuel de police scientifique. Preface by M.
Louis Lépine. Lausanne, 1911.
This book is comparable with Dr. Niceforo's book, cited above.
Reiss, R. A. La Photographie judiciaire. Paris, 1903.
Reiss, R. A. Le Portrait parlé. Paris, 1905.
Roscher, Gustav. Handbuch der Daktyloskopie fur Selbstun-
terricht bearbeitet. (A pamphlet.) Leipzig, 1905.
An outline of Dr. Roscher's system of classifying finger-prints.
SchneiCkert, Hans. Polizeiliche Handschriftensammlungen.
(Archiv fiir gerichtliche Schriftuntersuchungen und ver-
wandte Gebiete, p. 361-387. Leipzig, 1909.)
Throl, F. Das polizeiliche Meldewesen. Berlin, 1897.
Describes in detail the system of police registration and the
forms in use in the Berlin department.
417
European Police Systems
Vucetich, Juan. Dactiloscopia comparada del nuevo sistema
argentino. La Plata, 1904.
An outline of the Vucetich system of classifying finger-prints.
Windt, Kamillo, and Kodicek, Siegmund. Daktyloskopie.
Verwertung von Fingerabdrucken su Identiûsierungsswecken.
Vienna, 1904.
POLICE REPORTS.
Many of the European police departments, particu¬
larly in England and Scotland, publish annual reports of
their activities. Perhaps the most comprehensive is the
one published by the Metropolitan Police of London,
called Report of the Commissioner of Police of the Me¬
tropolis. Similar reports are published annually by the
Chief Constables of English and Scottish cities. In
Paris, the activities of the preceding year are included in
a document which accompanies the budgetary estimate
(Rapport. Conseil Municipal de Paris). Berlin no
longer publishes an annual report, but annual statistics
relating to convictions are presented in the Statistisches
Jahrbuch der Stadt Berlin. Perhaps the most complete
annual police report in Germany is the one published by
the Hamburg department (Jahresbericht der Polizei-
behorde Hamburg). The statistics in this report give a
vivid picture of the manifold activities of a German
police department.
In addition to the departmental reports, there are
the compilations of judicial statistics in various coun¬
tries, relating to crime and criminals. Among these
compilations, Judicial Statistics, England ■ and Wales,
published by the Home Office, is perhaps the most nota-
418
Bibliography
ble. These statistics, printed annually, include the
criminal returns from every county and criminal court
in England and Wales. A similar annual report is pub¬
lished by the Scottish office relating to the counties and
courts of Scotland.
Attention should also be called to the annual reports
of the Inspectors of Constabulary attached to the Home
Office, relating to the maintenance and condition of the
borough and county police forces of England and Wales
(Police, England and Wales), A similar return is
published annually by the Scottish office, relating to the
county and borough forces of Scotland.
The budgetary estimates and expenditures of the vari¬
ous state controlled police departments, such as those of
Berlin and other Prussian cities, Dresden, Munich, and
Vienna, can be found in the annual estimates of the re¬
spective Ministers of the Interior. Similarly the annual
expenditures of the Italian Carabinieri appear in the
budgets of the Minister of War and the Minister of the
Interior of Italy. The expenditures of the London
Metropolitan Force are printed each year in a report to
Parliament. The Paris police budget appears each year
in pamphlet form for the use of the Paris Municipal
Council.
The reports of commissions appointed to investigate
the activities of police bodies often furnish extensive in¬
formation. Perhaps the best known is the Report of the
Royal Commission on the Metropolitan Force, London,
1908. Attention should also be called to the Final
Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners on the Opera-
419
European Police Systems
tion and Administration of the Laws Relating to the
Sale of Intoxicating Liquors, London, 1899, and to the
Report of the Committee on Inquiry, ipoi, Dublin Met¬
ropolitan Police, Dublin, 1902.
POLICE INSTRUCTION BOOKS.
Nearly every police department in Europe has its
*
instruction book for the use of the police. Many de¬
partments, notably in Vienna, Dresden, and Hamburg,
have an elaborate series of such books, dealing with all
phases of official activity. In Hamburg, these books are
published in pocket editions, one for each branch of
the service, as, for example, Harbor Police, Detect¬
ive Bureau, Political Police, etc. In Vienna, three
large text-books ( Organisation und Instruktion der
Wiener k. k. Sicherheitswache, Vienna, 1910) are pub¬
lished for the use of the police. The London Metro¬
politan Police book {Instruction Book for the Guidance
of the Metropolitan Police Force, London, 1912), al¬
though small, is very serviceable. Liverpool's book
{Liverpool City Police — Instructions, Liverpool, 1911),
edited by former Chief Constable Leonard Dunning, is
perhaps the most complete in England. In Sweden, a
guide to the police has been published in the shape of
three elaborate volumes, dealing with the theoretical and
practical aspects of police work {Polishandbok, R. von
Schultz, Upsala and Stockholm, 1912-13). These books,
unfortunately, have not yet been translated into any other
language. They represent an excellent attempt to pre¬
sent the modern point of view of the police problem.
420
INDEX
INDEX
Aachen, state police force, 68
Addresses, German, police regis¬
tration of, 353
Administrative system in Aus¬
tria, 154
in England, 159-180
in Germany, 152
in Italy, 157
Advertising for candidates for
chief constable, 163
Age, maximum for recruits, 209
Amsterdam, annual equipment
cost, 239
chief commissioner of, 65
qualification and appoint¬
ment, 403
patrolmen, military training,
207
promotion of, 252
salaries of, 238
patrolmen's control books, 268
pension system, 253
police, budget, 66, 400
discipline, 260
integrity of, 371
number of, 401
organization of, 136, 138
service, qualifications for,
210
promotion system, 188, 245, 252
ratio of police to population,
138
salary of commissioner, 179
selecting and training inspec¬
teurs, 188
training school, 221
Anderson, Sir Robert, Ass't
Commissioner London
Metropolitan Police,
166, 174
Anglo-Saxon vs. Latin tempera¬
ment, 8
Anthropological phases of homi¬
cide, 10, 11
Anthropometry, 320
Antwerp, police organization, 67
Appeals from police decisions,
Austria, 33
Germany, 32
Arad, state police system, 81
Area of police jurisdictions, 399
Argentine system of finger-print
identification, 322
Army men as police, 228-231
Army officers as police commis¬
sioners, 150
Army service for police recruits,
205-209
Arrondissements of Paris, 131
Aschaffenburg, Gustav, compara¬
tive statistics of sui¬
cides, 11
Assistant Commissioners, Conti¬
nental, 183
in Germany, 187
of Dresden, 187
of London, 181, 1S2
Atcherley, Major L. W., deviser
of " M. O." identifica¬
tion system, 344
Augsburg, municipal police sys¬
tem, 69
European Police Systems
Austria, administrative prov¬
inces, 79
constructive control system,
267
criminal record files, 318
gendarmerie corps, 73
illegitimate births in, 13
'police management in, 79-83
registration system, 350
state control of police, 79
suicides in, 11
system of police punishment,
33
Austrian criminal procedure, 17,
33
official promotion system, 154,
190
police, analysis of, 82-83
censorship, 83
public assembly law, 83
Statthalter, 83
Barcelona, Chief of Police, qual¬
ification and appoint¬
ment, 403
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
number of, 401
Barmen, municipal police sys¬
tem, 69, 71
Barracks, of London police, 240
of Vienna police, 241
Bavaria, police control, 68
Beats and transfers, 269
Belgian burgomasters, appoint¬
ment of, 67
police powers of, 66
Belgium, «criminal record files,
318
gendarmerie corps, 73
illegitimate births, 13
police system, 66
registration of foreigners, 350
Belgium, suicides in, 11
Bergen, patrolmen, salaries of,
238
police, number of, 401
Berlin, area of police jurisdic¬
tion, 399
character of detective force,
306
classification of electors, 75
criminal record files, 317
decentralization experiments,
113
department's mechanical
equipment, 270, 271
detective officers, training of,
301
detective system, 279
detectives, promotion of, 300
training of, 301, 302
extent of police district, no
Greater, no, in
hours of service, 256
Inspektor of police, 118
Kriminalkommissar of the de¬
tective force, 283, 301
murder commissions, 282
homogeneous population of, 7
newspaper clippings file, 341
Oberwachtmeister, appoint¬
ment, training, salary,
184
officer's personal record books,
270
patrolmen, promotion of, 245,
250
salaries of, 238
"beat control book," 268
pension system, 254
personnel of police department,
115
photograph classification, 339
police, annual expenditures, 398
blackmail, 375
budget, 45, 394
Index
Berlin, police department, disci¬
pline, 228, 262
divisions of, 21
captain, duties, 116
colonel, duties, 117
commissioners of, 171
control, 69, 268, 270
cost per capita of popula¬
tion, 398
functions, 21-23
integrity of, 375
lieutenant, duties, 115
major, duties, 116
military discipline, 228
number of, 401
police organization and ad¬
ministration, no, 115
president, no, 153
qualification and appoint¬
ment, 403
presidents, list of, 171
rent allowance, 241
respect for army, 229
rewards, 382
service, requirements for,
210
weapons, 231
promotion system, 183-187
ratio of police to population,
. 130
regulations concerning rela¬
tions of police to pub¬
lic, 231
report of police department, 77
salary of commissioner, 178
saloon closing hours, 381
school for recruits, 216
Schutzmann vs. London con¬
stable, 230
Schutzmanner, 199
" stool pigeons," 296
telegraph and mail system, 270
" ticker " news service, 270
traffic regulation, 231
training detectives, 300
Berlin, twelve police branches
of, 112
Berne, Director of Police, quali¬
fication and appoint¬
ment, 403
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
number of, 401
Bertillon, Alphonse, creator of
anthropometry, 319
identification system, 320, 323
system in London, 313
in Vienna, 323
Bezirk, Revier and Wache, or
German precincts, 118
Birmingham, salary of commis¬
sioner, 178
Bittinger, Dr., Police Director
of Stuttgart, 152
Blackmail, 375
Blackstone's definition of po¬
lice, 3
Bochum, state police force, 68
Bookmakers, London, policing
methods, 374
Books, carried by patrolmen, 268
Bosco, Augusto, on comparative
criminology of Euro¬
pean countries, 11
Bosnia, suicides in, 12
Bradford, Sir Edward, police
commissioner of Lon¬
don, 150, 165, 171
Bremen, Police President, quali¬
fication and appoint¬
ment, 403
Bremen, registration laws, 352
Breslau, appointment of Com¬
missioner, 152
state police force, 68
Brigade mobile, of France, 278,
288, 332
Bromberg, municipal police sys¬
tem, 69
Briinn, state police system, 79
European Police Systems
Brussels, burgomaster, qualifi¬
cation and appoint¬
ment, 403
chief of police, 67
" Greater," 137
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, administrative sections,
}$7
organization of, 136, 137
number of, 401
ratio of police to population,
138
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
Brzesowsky, Karl Ritter von,
151
Budapest, burgomaster, method
of electing, 82
city government, 82
hours of service, 257
methods' of control, 267
O berkommandant and his du¬
ties, 125
patrolmen, promotion of, 245
salaries of, 238
photographs of criminals, 338
police, barracks, 242
budget, 45
exchequer, 81
number of, 401
organization, 124
president, 152, 403
system of, 80, 124
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 179
selection of detectives, 297
training system, 216
Budgets of police departments,
400
Bureau of identification, inter¬
national, proposed, 334
Burgomasters, Belgian, appoint¬
ment of, 67
Burgomasters, Belgian, police
powers of, 66
Budapest, choice of, 82
Dutch, police powers of, 65, 66
German method of appoint¬
ment, 76
German, police powers of, 70
Rotterdam, police powers of.
260
Vienna, choice of, 82
Carabinieri, of Italy, 73, 92-95
budget of, 93
school of, 213
Rome, 134
Cassel, state police force, 68
Castaldi, Dr. Domenico, 152
Centralized vs. decentralized
detective organization,
289-293
Charlottenburg, police system,
no
Chemnitz, municipal police sys¬
tem, 69
Chief Constables, candidates, ad¬
vertising for, 163
English, 53-55, 163
methods of appointing,
160-163
Glasgow, 55
London, appointment and du¬
ties, 105
Christiania, patrolmen, salaries
of, 238
police budget, 400
master, qualification and ap¬
pointment, 403
number of, 401
salary of commissioner, 179
Citizen, private, police powers
of, 15
City Guards of Italy, 94, 95
Index
City of London, police organi¬
zation, ioo
Civil Service Commission of
London, 247
Class distinctions, Continental,
377
Classification, " M. O." system,
344
crimes by methods, 342
criminal records, 338
handwritings, 341
missing and dead, 348
newspaper clippings, 341
nick-names and aliases, 340
property stolen, 348
tattoo and deformities, 340
Climate and homicide, 14
Coblentz, appointment of com¬
missioner, 152
state police force, 68
Cologne, appointment of com¬
missioner, 152
state police force, 68
Commissaires de police of
Paris, 86
appointment and duties, 133,134
Commissaires, special, France,
86, 87
Commis sari and delegati of Ital¬
ian police system,
.96
Commissioners, of Berlin, 171
London, 171
qualifications and mode of ap¬
pointment, 403
Commune, the unit of French
local government, 84
Constantinople, Chief of Police,
qualification and ap¬
pointment, 403
police, budget, 400 «
number of, 401
Continental class distinctions,
377
Continental conception of police,
18
Continental criminal procedure,
16
detective system, 275
police functions, origin of, 23
status of, 16
promotion systems, 183
vs. English police organiza¬
tion, 140
promotion system, 246
recruiting system, 199, 200
Control, methods of, 265-273
Coote, Wm. A., Sec'y National
Vigilance Ass'n, 372
Copenhagen, patrolmen, salaries
of, 238
police, budget, 400
director, qualification and
appointment, 404
number of, 401
salary of commissioner, 179
County police of England, 61
Courts, presenting cases in, 271
Crime and religion, 14
Crime, comparative percentages
according to popula¬
tion, 6
detection, science of, 361-363
indexes, 336
Criminal, classification records,
338
laboratories, 364-368
procedure, Austrian police, 33
German police, 30-32
record files, Austrian, 316, 318
French, 318
German, 318
Italian, 318
statistics of England and
Wales, 316
Crowds, policing of, 8
Czernowitz, state police system,
79
European Police Systems
Dactyloscopic bureaus, 327
Dactyloscopy, 321
Danzig, state police force, 68
Debreczen, state police system,
81
Decentralized vs. centralized de¬
tective organization,
289-293
Denmark, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
Detective forces, character of,
304-314
Detective organization, central¬
ized vs. decentralized,
^ 289-293
two main types, 275
Detective squads of Berlin, 280
system, Berlin, 279
Dresden, 277
London, 275
Paris, 286
Vienna, 284
Detectives, London examination
for, 299
selection of, 296-298
training, 298-304
system, English vs. German,
306
Discipline, 258-264
Dismissal of dishonest officials,
169, 374-375
Dresden, Assistant Commission¬
ers of, 187
criminal classification by meth¬
ods, 343
detective system, 277, 284
finger-print records, 330, 331
" Missing and Dead " files, 348
patrolmen, promotion system,
^ 245, 252
salaries of, 238
photograph classification, 339
police, barracks, 242
budget, 400
Dresden, police department
branches, 117
detention methods, 34
expenditure, 73
integrity of, 371
military discipline, 228
number of, 401
organization, 68
president, qualification and
appointment, 404
requirements for service, 210
stations, 242
weapons, 231
promotion system, 245, 252
regulations, relations of po¬
lice to the public, 231
report of police department, 77
salary of commissioner, 178
slang and jargon files, 341
training school, 221
welfare police (Wohlfahrts-
polizei), 22
Dublin Metropolitan Police, 65
Dunning, Leonard, Chief Con¬
stable of Liverpool,
162, 171
Dutch burgomasters, police pow¬
ers of, 65, 66
Economic conditions and homi¬
cide, 14
Edinburgh, police, number of,
401
police organization, 109
salary of commissioner, 178
Employment card system, Ger¬
many, 310
England, chief constables, 53-55
appointment of, 102
criminal statistics, 316
finger-print records, when
taken, 327
homicides» in, 11
Index
England, illegitimate births in, 133
Municipal Corporations Act,
48, 49 #
" one-day-rest-in-seven " law,
225
"Permissive Act" of 1839, 61
police, organization in provin¬
cial cities, 107
powers of Home Secretary,
.174 .
provincial cities, police disci¬
pline in, 262
Rural Police Act of 1856, 49
suicides in, 11
English detective system, 275
conception of police duties, 9,
18
county police, 61
Home Secretary's police su¬
pervision powers, 64
methods of appointing chief
constables, 162-163
methods of employing finger¬
print system, 327
penal procedure, 17
police, powers of, 310
system, defects of, 147
status of, 15
" Standing Joint Committees,"
62, 63
training system, 159, 182
vs. Continental police organiza¬
tion, 140
promotion system, 246
recruiting system, 199, 200
vs. German penal procedure,
17, 308-312 ^
system of training detec¬
tives, 306-308
Equipments, 239
Esperanto, proposed use of in in¬
ternational reports, 335
Essen, classification of voters, 75
state police force, 68
European cities, homogeneity of,
6-8
European police forces, state
control of, 38, 39
European states, comparative
criminality, 10
Excise regulation, 379-381
Extra-police work, 245
Extradition treaties, 335
Factory laws, 19
Ferri, Enrico, classification of Eu¬
ropean criminality, 10
Files, criminal record, 316
Finger-print files, German, 331
Finger-print identifications at
Scotland Yard, 326, 328
Finger-print records, England,
when taken, 327
Finger-print system, Argentine
method, 322
Rertillon method, 322
Dresden, 331
English methods, 327
growth of, 326
Henry method, 321, 324
Roscher's method, 322
Finger-prints, early study of, 320
Finland, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
France, administrative depart¬
ments, 85
commissaires de police, 86
criminal record depositories,
318
gendarmerie corps, 73, 86, 87
homicides in, 11
identification methods, 332
illegitimate births in, 13
Minister of the Interior, head
of police system, 87
police, budget, 87
management in, 84-90
powers of the Maire, 85
European Police Systems
France, police prefects, appoint¬
ment and powers, 85
police registration of foreign¬
ers, 350
suicides in, 11
unit of local government the
Commune, 84
Franchise classification, in Ber-
Jin, 75
in Prussia, 75
Frankfort-on-Main, appointment
of commissioner, 152
municipal laws, 69
state police force, 68
French patrolmen, military train¬
ing of, 207
Fulda, state police force, 68
Gambling regulation, 381
Garde Républicaine, Paris, 129
Gasti, Dr., of Rome, finger-print
bureau, 329
Geestemunde, state police force,
68
Gelsenkirchen, state police force,
68
Gendarmerie corps, of Austria, 73
of Belgium, 73
of France, 73, 86, 87
of Germany, 73
of Holland, 73
of Italy, 73
of Spain, 73
German army, ranks of non-com¬
missioned officers, 205
Unterofdzier, the, 206
autocracy, 77
burgomasters, appointment of,
76
police powers of, 70
Code of Criminal Procedure,
3°
conception of police duties, 9
German detective system, " third-
degree" prohibited,
309
detectives, character of, 307
domiciliary laws, ill
finger-print files, 331
Meldwesen, the, 22
military service laws, 207
orderliness, 9
penal procedure, 17
police, abuse of judicial pow¬
ers, 35
analysis of, 77-79
attitude towards the public,
232-234
control, 266
department reports, 77
functions, 20
legislative and judicial pow¬
ers, 29-32
ordinance-making powers,
25-26
" over-organized," 141
papers, 356
powers of, 308
"Razzia" system, 310
press censorship, 76
promotion system, 245, 250
provinces, municipal laws of,
69
public assembly laws, 73, 76
public prosecutors, 54
Sicherheitspolizei, the, 23
state control of police, 73-77
vs. English penal procedure,
I7, 308-312
system of training detectives,
306-308
Wohlfahrtspolizei, the, 22, 23
Germany, Assistant Commission¬
ers, training and pro¬
motion, 187
cities under municipal control,
68, 69
Index
Germany, citizens' identification
papers, 310
city police districts, 118
organizations, 117
criminal record depositories,
318
employment card system, 310
gendarmerie corps, 73
identification methods, 330
illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
Meldwesen or registration sys¬
tem, 351-355
police administration in, 67
prostitution, police supervision
of, 282
registration system, 350, 351
scientific police administration,
349
state vs. municipal control, 71
Steckbrief system, 356-358
Gewerbepolizei, the, of Germany,
22
Ghent, police organization, 67
Glasgow, appointment and re¬
moval of chief consta¬
bles, 55
Chief Constable, qualification
and appointment, 404
patrolman, salaries of, 238
police, barracks and houses,
241
budget, 400
force poorest in Europe, 222
number of, 401
organization, 109
uniforms of, 239
Public Key Office, 371
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 178
selection of patrolmen, 205
training school, 222
Graz, state police system, 79
Great Britain, police systems of,
# 39-64
promotion system, 160, 182
public prosecutors in, 54
Greater Berlin, no, 111
Gross, Dr. Hans, 362, 364, 365,
367
Guardia Civil, of Spain, 73
Hamburg detective system, 284
Dr. Roscher, police president,
153
finger-print records, 330
hours of service, 257
patrolmen, promotion of, 245
salaries of, 238
patrolmen's control books, 268
police, budget, 400
department branches, 117
number of, 401
officials appointed by state
senate, 69
president, qualification and
appointment, 404
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 178
training system, 221
Hanau, state police force, 68
Handwritings, classification of,
341
Hanover, Province of, municipal
laws, 69
state police force, 68
"Head Constables" of English
towns, 101
Health laws, development of, 19
Heindl, Dr. Robert, Ass't Com¬
missioner of Munich,
152
Henderson, Sir Edmund, police
commissioner of Lon¬
don, 165, 174
I
European Police Systems
Hennion, M., 152
plan of reorganizing Parisian
police, 144
Henry, Sir Edward, 150, 165,
171, 320, 321
Henry finger-print system, 321,
323, 324
Herschel, Sir William, origina¬
tor of finger-print sys¬
tem, 320
Herzegovina, suicides in, 12
Holland, "agents," 199
gendarmerie corps, 23
illegitimate births in, 13
Marachausses of, 73
police, administration, 158
powers of burgomasters, 65,
66
system of, 65
registration of foreigners, 350
selecting and training inspec¬
teurs, 188
Homicide and climate, 14
economic conditions, 14
Homicides in European coun¬
tries, 11
Home Secretary of England, po¬
lice supervising pow¬
ers, 64, 174
Hours of service, 255-257
Hungarian Press Law, 83
state control of police, 81
Hungary, administrative coun¬
ties, 80
illegitimate births in, 13
Identification Bureau, Interna¬
tional, 334
of Paris, 288
Identification methods, English,
327
French, 332
German, 330
432
Identification methods, interna¬
tional, 333
Italian, 329
papers of German cities, 310
photographic, 337
Illegal police action, procedure
after, 16
Illegitimate births, comparative
statistics, 13
Index of nicknames and aliases,
340
photographs, 337-339
police, of stolen property, 348
police presidents and commis¬
sioners, 349
system of " Missing and
Dead," 348
tattoos and deformities, 340
India, employment of the finger¬
print system, 325
Integrity of police, 370
International criminal news¬
paper, 335
Identification Bureau pro¬
posed, 334
notification service, 335
Ireland, homicides in, 11
illegitimate births in, 13
Royal Irish Constabulary, 4, 65
recruiting system of, 161
suicides in, 12
Italian police administration, 157
Italy, administrative provinces, 91
Carabinieri organization, pow¬
ers and budget, 92-95
City Guards, 94, 95
commissari of police system,
96
criminal identification meth¬
ods, 329
criminal record files, 318
delegati of police system, 96
gendarmerie corps. See Caret*
binieri
Index
Italy, homicides in, n
identification system, 329
illegitimate births in, 13
municipal police, 97
northern and southern com¬
parative criminality, 13
police management, 91-98
prefects, appointment and
powers, 91
registration of foreigners, 350
suicides in, 11
the questore in police system,
96
Judicial functions of German
police, 29-32
Jurists as police commissioners,
151
Kassa, state police system, 81
Kiel, state police force, 68, 71
Koettig, Dr. Paul, police presi¬
dent, Dresden, 153
Kolozsvâr, state police system,
81
Kônigsberg, appointment of
Commissioner, 152
state police force, 68
Krakau, state police system, 79
Kriminal-Abteilung, the, of
Germany, 21, 114
Kriminalkommissar, of Berlin
detective force, 283
Laboratories, criminal, 364-368
Latin vs. Anglo-Saxon tempera¬
ment, 8
Law, respect for, English vs.
German, 8, 9
Legislative powers of German
police, 25-29
Leipzig, police budget, 400
police department branches, 117
expenditure, 73
municipal police control, 68
Lemberg, state police system, 79
Lépine, Louis, prefect of Paris,
171
definition of police, 4
Lichtenberg, police system, no
Liège, police organization, 67
Lincolnshire police force, 61
Lisbon, Commandante of Po¬
lice, qualification and
appointment, 404
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
number of, 401
Liverpool, annual equipment
cost, 239
detectives, selection of, 298
Head Constable, qualification
and appointment, 404
hours of service, 256
patrolmen, assigned to Dock
and Harbor Board,
245
promotion system, 248
salaries of, 238
selection of, 204
police, budget, 400
court cases, 35
force, 109
in 1834, 48
service, requirements for,
210
Police-Aided Clothing Asso¬
ciation, 227
recruiting system, 204
reward list, 382
salary police commissioner,
178
special police instructions, 227
training school, 222
Watch Committee, 52
European Police Systems
Lodging and rents, 240-242
Lombardy, homicide in, 13
London, annual equipment cost,
239
area of police jurisdiction,
399
bookmakers and police, 374
Chief Constables, appointment
of, 105
districts and duties, 105
City of, Commissioner, quali¬
fication and appoint¬
ment, 100, 404
police force and commis¬
sioner, 100
city police force, 40
Civil Service examination, 247
Commissioner's secretarial
staff, 102
constable, beat of, 269
vs. Berlin Schutzmann, 230
constables, 199, 200-203
official pocket book, 268
promotion system, 246-249
recruiting, 200-204
salaries of, 238
detective bureau, 276
detective organization, 275
detectives, promotion of, 299
early police systems, 41
efficiency of police organiza¬
tion, 146
examination for promotion to
detective, 299
executive department of Scot¬
land Yard, 103
Home Secretary's manage¬
ment of police, 43-46
hours of service, 255
" Lost and Found " bureau,
348
Metropolitan district, area,
population and admin¬
istrative districts, 101
London, Commissioner, qualifica¬
tion and appointment,
404
Metropolitan police force, 40,
100
expenditures, 389-392
functions of, 42
organization of, 100-107
nationalities of, 6
New Scotland Yard, 102
" Peel House," 220
pension system, 252
police, administration districts,
100
annual expenditures, 398
attitude towards the public,
233-236
barracks, 240
budget, 45
commissionership, 164, 171
control, 269
cost per capita of popula¬
tion, 398
court assignments, 271
courtesy, 234-236
discipline, 261
integrity of, 373, 374
lodging allowance, 241
number of, 401
rate, method of collection,
45
regulations concerning class
distinction, 233
report system, 272
rewards, 383
superintendents, recruiting,
. 195
training school, 218-221
weapons, 234
ratio of police to population,
130
recruiting system, 200-204
requirements for police appli¬
cants, 210
Index
London, salary, police commis¬
sioner, 178
of superintendent, 195
Sunday Observance Bill, 176
superintendents of police, du¬
ties, 104
training detectives, 298
vs. Vienna training system,
194, 195
Lost and Found bureaus, 348
Lyons, police budget, 88
police system of, 87, 88
salary of commissioner, 179
Luxemburg, suicides in, 12
Magdeburg, state police force, 68
Madrid, Inspector of Police,
qualification and ap¬
pointment, 404
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
number of, 401
salary of commissioner, 179
Maire, head of French com¬
munes, 84
police powers of, 85
Malstatt-Burbach, state police
system, 71
Manchestér, Chief Constable,
qualification and ap¬
pointment, 404
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
court cases, 35
number of, 401
organization, 109
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 178
selection of patrolmen, 205
Watch Committee, 52
investigation, 56
Marachausses, the, of Holland,
73
Marseilles, police, budget, 88
system of, 88
salary of commissioner, 179
Massard, M., on lack of coher¬
ency in Paris police
system, 143
Mayne, Sir Richard, police com¬
missioner of London,
164, 176
Medical service, 242
Meldwesen, Germany, 350-355
Mercier's classification of crimes,
_ 345, 346
Metropolitan Police Force of
London, 40
expenditures, 389-392
management of, 45-48
organization of, 100-107
regulations concerning class
distinction, 233
Military discipline of Continen¬
tal police, 228
Modus Operandi system of class¬
ification, 344
Mona Lisa theft, the, 325
Monaco, suicides in, 11
Monro, James, police commis¬
sioner of London, 165,
167,174
Moscow, police, budget, 400
number of, 401
Prefect of Police, qualifica¬
tion and appointment,
404
Munich, finger-print records,
330
photograph classification, 339
Police Commissioner Van der
Heydt, 152
police department branches, 117
police director, qualification
and appointment, 404
European Police Systems
Munich police system, 68
Municipal control of police in
Europe, 38, 39
Corporations Act of England,
48
police control in Germany, 68-
73
police of Italy, 97
Murder commissions of Berlin,
282
Nagyvârad, state police system,
81
National traits and characteris--
tics, 10
Nationalities of European cities,
6, 7
Netherlands, suicides in, 11
Neukôlln, police system, 110
New Scotland Yard, 102
Newspaper clippings, classifica¬
tion of, 341
Niceforo, Dr. Alfredo, 362
Nickname and alias register, 340
Norway, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
Nott-Bower, Sir William, Com¬
missioner of London
police, 162
Nuremberg, municipal police sys¬
tem, 69
Oberwachtmeister of Berlin, ap¬
pointment, training,
salary, 184
Oporto, commandante of Po¬
lice, qualification and
appointment, 405
police, budget, 400
number of, 401
Orderliness, comparison of Con¬
tinental cities, 8, 9
Ottolenghi, Dr., président Rome
Scientific Police
School, 192
Paris, annual equipment cost, 239
area of police jurisdiction, 399
arrondissements of, 131
Brigade mobile, 288
bureau of control, 266
commissaires de police, 132-
134
detective organization, 286
■detectives, training for, 304
Garde Républicaine, 129
gardiens de la paix, 199
H'ennion, M. C., prefect, 152
Hennion's plan of police or¬
ganization, 144
identification bureau, 288
nationalities of, 7
patrolmen, promotion of, 245
salaries of, 238
pension system, 253
personnel of police force, 130
police, administration, 131
annual expenditures, 398
budget, 45, 90, 393
bureaus and functions, 128
corruption, 375
cost per capita of popula¬
tion, 398
department, divisions of, 23
functions, 22
lack of coherency, 143
municipale, 129
number of, 401
organization, 126
organization unwieldy, 142
prefects, list of, 173
system of, 88
Prefect of police, 89
qualification and appoint¬
ment, 405
Index
Paris, Prefects of, 173
ratio of police to population,
130
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 179
selection of detectives, 297
Secrétariat général127
Service de l'identité judiciaire,
332
Services extérieurs, functions
of, 128
training detectives, 303
Patrolmen, Amsterdam, military
training, 207
English, advertising for re¬
cruits, 202
system of promotion, 246
French, recruiting, 208
German, recruited from army,
205
of London, 200-204
salaries of, 238
varying European titles, 199
Peacock, Robert, Chief Consta¬
ble of Manchester, 171
Pecs, state police system, 81
" Peel House," London, 220
Penal procedure, German vs.
English, 17
Pensions, 252-254
Peterborough police force, 61
Photographs, classification meth¬
ods, 337-339
Pickpockets, classification of, 338
Plauen, municipal police system,
69
Polezeirat, or district comman¬
der, Vienna, 121
Police administration, promotion
system, 154
barracks of London, 240
Vienna, 241
Blackstone's definition, 3
Police budgets in European
cities, 45
•commissioners, army officers
as, 150
European methods of ap¬
pointment, 38, 39
jurists preferred, 151
of Berlin, 171
of London, 165, 171, 174
salaries, 177-179
tenure of office, 169
Continental vs. English con¬
ception of, 18
definition of, 3-4
organization, English vs. Con¬
tinental, 140
papers of Germany, 356
penalties in Stuttgart, 35
powers, England, 309
German, 308, 310, 311
of private citizens, 15
presidents, Austrian, appointed
by Emperor, 79
trials, 264
Population, ratio to police, 130,
138
Portsmouth, early police force of,
48
Posen, state police force, 68
Potsdam, state police force, 68
Pozsony, state police system, 81
Prague, state police system, 79
Prefect, French, appointment of,
83
police powers of, 85
Prefects, Italian, appointment
and powers, 91
of Paris, 1870-1913, 173
Press Law, Austrian, 83
Germany, 76
Hungarian, 83
Private citizen, police powers
of, 15
Private patrols, 244
European Police Systems
Procurators, Fiscal, in Scotland,
54
Promotion system, Continental,
183
in Great Britain, 160, 182
Promotion systems, 150-180,
181-197
Promotions, 245-251
Prostitution, and blackmail, 375
German police supervision,
282
Provincial police of England, 48
Prussia, constitutional police
laws, 70
finger-print records, 330
franchise classifications, 75
legislative and judicial powers
of police, 29-32
police, commissioners, appoint¬
ment of, 152
control system, 68
divisions of, 20
ordinances, 25, 26
pensions, 254
relations of central to munic¬
ipal governments, 71
royal control of police, 39
Stein's Municipal Ordinance
of 1808, 69
Public assembly laws of Aus¬
tria, 83
Germany, 76
health laws, development of,
19
prosecutors in Germany, 54
prosecutors in Great Britain,
54
Questore di Roma, the, 152
the, of Italian police, 96
Rafter, C. H., Chief Constable of
Birmingham, 163, 171
Recruiting from country dis¬
tricts, 204
from the army, 205-208
methods, 193-197
system in Liverpool, 204
London, 200-204
Royal Irish Constabulary,
161
systems, 199-216
Recruits, maximum age, 209
physical requirements, 210
Registration system of Ger¬
many, 350-355 #
Religion and criminal inclina¬
tion, 14
Rent allowance, 241
Reports, methods and detail, 272
of German police departments,
77
Revier, Bezirk and Wache, or
German precincts, 118
Rewards, 382
Rhine, Province of, municipal
laws, 69
Ripley, W. Z., and racial crimi¬
nality, 14
Rome, carabinieri, 134
Chief of Police, qualification
and appointment, 405
commissioner of police, 152
finger-print bureau, 329
municipal police, 135
salaries of, 238
police, number of, 401
organization, 134
salary of commissioner, 179
Scientific Police School, 192,
193
Scuola di Polizia Scientiûca,
329
Roscher, Dr. Gustav, finger-print
system, 322
police president, Hamburg,
153
Index
Rotterdam burgomaster, police
powers of, 260
Chief Commissioner of, 65
qualification and appoint¬
ment, 405
patrolmen, military training
for, 207
promotion of, 245
promotion system, 252
salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
discipline, 260
integrity of, 371
medical attendance, 242
number of, 401
promotion system, 252
ratio of police to population,
138
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 179
selecting and training inspec¬
teurs, 188
training school, 221
Roumania, illegitimate births in,
13
suicides in, 11
Rowan, Sir Charles, police com¬
missioner of London,
. 165
Royal Irish Constabulary, 4, 65
recruiting system, 161
Rural Police Act of 1856 in
England, 49
in Scotland, 49
Russia, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 12
Saarbrucken, state police force,
68, 71
St. Johann, state police system,
7i
St. Petersburg, police budget, 400
police, number of, 401
Prefect of Police, qualification
and appointment, 405
St. Petersburg's chief of police,
151
Salaries, 237-244
of police commissioners, 177-
l79
Sardinia, homicide in, 13
Saxony, police control, 68
police officials appointed by
King, 69
Schleswig-Holstein, Province of,
municipal laws, 69
Schneickert's handwriting classi¬
fication, 341
Schôneberg, police system, no
Schools, police training, 211-230
Schutzmannschaft, the, of Ber¬
lin, 21, 114
Scientific Police School of
Rome, 193
Scotland, homicides in, 11
illegitimate births in, 13
lieutenants of police, 108
Procurators, Fiscal in, 54
public prosecutors, 54
Rural Police Acts, 49
suicides in, 11
Scotland Yard, daily reporting
system of, 272
detective bureau, 277
efficiency of organization, 145
executive department, 103
finger-print system of, 326,
328
management of, 59
organization of, 102, 107
" Weekly List of Habitual
Criminals," 343
Scuola di Polizia Scientiûca,
Rome, 329
Secrétariat général, Paris, 127
European Police Systems
Services extérieurs, Paris, func¬
tions of, 128
Servia, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 12
" Shoo-fly " squads, 266
Sicherheitspolizeithe, of Ger¬
many, 23
Sicily, homicides in, 13
Spain, dishonesty of police, 243
gendarmerie corps, 73
Guardia Civil of, 73
homicides in, 10
suicides in, 12
Special detective squads in Ber¬
lin, 280
in Vienna, 285
" Standing Joint Committees "
of English counties,
62, 63
State police control in Austria,
79
in Germany, 68-75
in Hungary, 81
system of France, 86
Statthalters, Austrian, 79
Steckbrief system (the) of Ger¬
many, 356-358
Stephen, Sir James, on police
powers, 15
Stettin, state police force, 68
Stevenson, J. V., Chief Consta¬
ble of Glasgow, 163,
171
Stockholm, Chief of Police,
qualification and ap¬
pointment, 405
patrolmen, salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
number of, 402
salary of commissioner, 179
" Stool pigeons," Berlin police
spys, 296
Stuttgart, finger-print records,
330
Stuttgart, municipal police sys¬
tem, 68
patrolmen, promotion of, 245,
252
salaries of, 238
police, budget, 400
department branches, 117
directors, 152, 405
discipline, 260
judicial powers, 29
number of, 402
penalties in, 35
regulations in, 27
promotion system, 252
requirements for police serv¬
ice, 210
salary of commissioner, 178
Suicides, comparative statistics,
11, 12
Sunday Observance Bill, Lon¬
don, 176
Sûreté générale bureau of French
Minister of the In¬
terior, 87
Sweden, illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
Switzerland, gambling regula¬
tion, 381
illegitimate births in, 13
suicides in, 11
Tattoo and deformity registers,
340
Telegraph and mail system, Ber¬
lin, 270
Temesvar, state police system, 81
Temptations of police, 369-371
Tenure of office of commission-
sioners, 169, 170, 172
of London police commis¬
sioners, 173-175
The Hague, Chief Commissioner
of, 65
Index
" Third-degree," prohibited in
Germany, 309
Thompson, Basil H., of Scot¬
land Yard, 313
Tipping, 243, 378
Town Councils, police func¬
tions of, 52
Traffic regulation in Berlin, 231
Training schools, 211-230
of Europe, objections, 225
Training system, Amsterdam, 221
Berlin, 216
Dresden, 221
Glasgow, 222
Hamburg, 221
Italy, 157, I9L 213
Liverpool, 222
London, 218-221
Paris, 217
Rotterdam, 221
Vienna, 213-216
Training systems for assistant
commissioners, 182-197
Trials, 264
Trieste, state police system, 79
Uniforms, 239
Utrecht, Chief Commissioner, 65
Van der Heydt, Police Commis¬
sioner of Munich, 152
Vienna, area of police jurisdic¬
tion, 399
bureau of organization and
control, 267
burgomaster, method of elec¬
tion, 82
city government, 82
criminal record files, 318
detective squads, 285
detective system, 284
Vienna, detectives, training and
promotion, 303
discipline system, 263
hours of service, 257
" Lost and Found " bureau,
348
nationalities of, 7
patrolmen, promotion system,
. 245, 251
salaries of, 238
pension system, 254
personnel of police depart¬
ment, 120
photograph classification, 339
police, administration, 123
annual expenditures, 398
barracks, 241
budget, 45, 396
control, 267
cost per capita of popula¬
tion, 398
districts, 120
exchequer, 81
number of, 402
organization, 119, 145
president, 151, 405
service requirements for,
210
Polizeirat, or district comman¬
ders, 121
ratio of police to population,
130
salary of commissioner, 179
district commander, 194
saloon closing hours, 381
school for recruits, 213-216
selection of detectives, 297
Sicherheitswachmanner, 199
state police system, 79
training of detectives, 302
detective system, 190
vs. London training system,
194, 195
Zentralinspektor, 122
European Police Systems
Von Jagow, police president
Berlin, 153, 171
Vucetich system of finger-print
classification, 322
Wache, Bezirk and Revier, or
German precincts, 118
Warren, Gen. Charles, police
commissioner of Lon¬
don, 165, 174
Watch Committees, authority of,
262
in England, 49, 58
official negligence of, 56
Weapons of German police, 231
London police, 234
Weekly List of Habitual Crim¬
inals, the, 343
Weidlich, Dr. Karl, on German
penal procedure, 17
on police functions, 29
Westphalia, Province of, munic¬
ipal laws, 69
Wiesbaden, state police force, 68
Wohlfahrtspolizei, the, of Dres¬
den, 22
Wright, Carrol D., crime and
economic conditions,
14
Wiirttemburg, police locally con¬
trolled, 68
police procedure, 32
Zabrze, state police force, 68
Zentralinspektor, head of Vienna
police, 122
Zurich, patrolmen, salaries of,
238
police, budget, 400
director, qualification and
appointment, 405
number of, 402
442
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