PARKER

CHARLES C THOMAS

PUBLISHER

SPRING

RINGJ*^^ LLNOIS

PARKER
ON POLICE
"The
idea
of

publishing

addresses and in book form was articles conceived while listening to an address by him that

Parker's

wa s interleaved with a basic philosophy that was

unique in its setting and subject matter ." - From
the

Foreword

THE AUGUST VOLLMER

MEMORIAL
SHIP

SCHOLAR-

FUND

All royalties from the sale of this book (20%

proceeds) are to be paid to The Regents of the University of Calof all

ifornia,
rial

August Vollmer

Account: The Memo-

Scholarship Fund. Contributions to this fund may be mailed to

of the Uniof California, versity Berkeley, California.

The Regents

Presenting much information and many simple truths relating to administrative problems that are worth the attention of all
police executives.

the

Interesting reading for layman because it en-

to understand successful police how chief in a large American city discharges some of his responsiadministrative

ables

him

bilities.

p- lA t'
I

jv

u/)

PARKER ON POLICE

\\ II.I.IAM

II.

PaHKI.H

Parker on police
Edited by

O.

W. WILSON

Dean, School of Criminology

University of California Berkeley, California

CHARLES

THOMAS
Illinois

PUBLISHER
U.S.A.

Springfield

CHARLES C THOMAS

PUBLISHER

Bannerstone House
301-327 East Lawrence Avenue, Springfield, Illinois, U.S.A.

Published simultaneously in the British

Commonwealth
LTD., OXFORD,

of Nations

by

BLACKWELL scientific publications,

ENGLAND

Published simultaneously in Canada by

THE RYERSON

PRESS,

TORONTO

This book
of
it

is

protected by copyright.
in

No

part

may be reproduced
written

out

permission

any manner withfrom the pubhsher.

Copyright 1957, by

CHARLES C THOMAS

PUBLISHER

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 57-5608

Printed in the United States of America

THE AUGUST VOLLMER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND

All royalties

from the sale of this hook are to be paid to The Regents of the University of California, Account: The August Vollmer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Contributions to this fund may be mailed to The Regents of the University of California,
Berkeley, California.

Chables C Thomas

FOREWORD

MY
tion

ACQUAINTANCE with William H. Parker has extended over

a great

many

years and, during

World War

II,

our associa-

was a close one. Since his appointment as Chief of Police of Los Angeles, I have watched his operations and the progress of his department with an interest stimulated by the discovery that he was making the most of his rare opportunity to modernize and professionalize police service. He immediately reorganized his department to simplify and assure his control over its operations and to facihtate the attainment of police objectives. He also adopted the best of known pohce procedures and urged his exceptionally competent
staflF

to

develop

new

ones.

Such changes meet resistance in the pohce force and in the community just as does any change in nature or the body politic. What Parker was doing required more courage than is possessed by most men, but his courage is grounded on a great religious faith and he has superb inherent qualities that enable him to carry his intentions into practice. Perhaps it is his faith that has enabled him to weather the rough political seas that every police chief encounters during his career and nowhere are the seas rougher than in a large American city. Like other pioneers in the professionalization of police service, he has been confronted by endless obstacles and

many

scoflFers.

That he has successfully persisted

is

evidence of

by patience, diplomacy, courage, and great physical and sound judgment, unusual moral
great qualities of leadership implemented

emotional strength.

The

form was conceived while listening

idea of publishing Parker's addresses and articles in book to an address by him that was

interleaved with a basic philosophy that

was unique

in

its

setting

and subject matter. This book

it

is

offered in the conviction,

first,

that

presents

much

information and

many

simple truths relating to

all

administrative problems that are worth the attention of

vii

police

viii

Paeker on Police
its

executives and, second, that

subject matter

is

presented in such

a frank, straightforward, simple

way

that

it

will

prove interesting

reading to the layman and will enable him to understand

successful police chief in a large

how

a
of

American

city discharges

some

his administrative responsibilities.

The pubHcation
H. Parker.

of this

of endorsing the high ideals

book gives me the pleasant opportunity and progressive ideas of Chief William
O.

W. Wilson

Berkeley, 1957

INTRODUCTION
Chief William H. Parker

ON

August

9,

1950, William H. Parker

was appointed Chief

of Police of the City of

Los Angeles. His law enforcement

from August 8, 1927, includes service in all ranks within the Los Angeles Police Department. Today, having spent more than twenty-nine of his fifty-four years serving Los Angeles, he is recognized as one of the leading architects of that city's world-famous pohce organization. The comprehensive working knowledge of modern law enforcement acquired in a wide variety of assignments has earned him professional status as one of the
career, dating

top police administrators in the nation.

After his
first

year of service as Chief, in August, 1951, Parker

received an award from the Los Angeles

Chamber

of

Commerce

commending

the department for exceptional eflBciency under his

leadership. It has since

become

model

for police administrators

throughout the world. During the Kefauver Crime Investigation of 1952, he was personally commended, and the Senate Committee took oflBcial notice of the effectiveness of the Los Angeles
Police Department. Similar notice has been taken

by State and other Federal Crime Investigation agencies and by nationallyknown police and civilian authorities, with Los Angeles becoming

known

as the "white spot" in tlie nation's pattern of crime.

During October of 1952, Chief Parker was singled out by the government of the Republic of Korea when its Ministrs' of Home Affairs appointed him Honorary Chief of the National Police, commending him for prominence in all fields of law enforcement and for the inspiration he had offered to the democratic police of the Free World. In Febmary of 1953, he was selected as "Citizen of the Year" by the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce for outstanding service to his community. In November, 1953,
ix

Parker on Police

he was presented with the "Award of Merit for Distinguished

Citizenship" by the B'nai B'rith.

In May of 1955, Chief Parker was selected as "Salesman of the Year" by the Sales Executive Club of Los Angeles for his outstanding contribution toward the furtherance of public understanding of law enforcement. In December, 1955, he was awarded

Membership in the Mihtary Order of the Purple Heart. Born June 21, 1902, in Lead, South Dakota, he acquired his interest in police work from his grandfather, a colorful frontier law-enforcement oflBcer. He completed high school in Deadwood,
a Life
in the heart of the Black Hills. Continuing his education after

joining the Los Angeles Police Department, he received his LL.B.

degree in 1930 from the Los Angeles College of

Law and became

a member of the California State Bar. During the following years he attended a variety of specialized police training courses and received certificates in Police and TraflBc Administration from Northwestern University. He studied Overseas Administration and the Italian language at Harvard University during World

War

11.

During twenty-six months overseas with the Military Government branch of the Armed Forces, he served from Sardinia to Occupied Germany. He developed the Police and Prisons Plan for the European Invasion and created democratic poHce systems for Munich and Frankfort. He was wounded during the Normandy Invasion and was awarded the Purple Heart. For his work during the liberation of Paris, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star by the Free French Government. Italy awarded him the Star of Solidarity for his work in restoring civil government in Sardinia. He was honorably discharged an Army Captain in November, 1945. Chief Parker's service with the Los Angeles Police Department has seen him develop administrative concepts which are now established procedures in other pohce agencies. He was instrumental in the creation and development of the Internal Affairs Division, which handles complaints concerning the conduct of

members
fare,

of the department. Equally interested in oflBcer wel-

he was co-author of the Board of Rights procedure (Section 202, Los Angeles City Charter) which guarantees separation of police discipline from municipal politics.

iNinODUCTION

xi

He

served on the Executive Committee of the Fire and Pohce

Protective

League

for

many

years. After

becoming Chief, he

created the Bureau of Administration which includes the nationally-famous Intelligence and Planning

and Research divisions. Active in American Legion affairs, Chief Parker was elected Commander of Police Post 381 in 1948. Under his administration, the Post grew to 2500 members, the largest in California. For this achievement, he was appointed Membership Chairman of The American Legion in California for two successive terms. In 1949 he was appointed Chairman of the Legion Americanism Commission for California. In the 17th District, he was elected 2nd ViceCommander in 1948, 1st Vice-Commander in 1949, and District

Commander
It

in 1950.

was Chief Parker's keen understanding of the Los Angeles Police Department needs that brought about the present functional design of the new PoHce Administration Building. This represented a savings of over $5,000,000 to the city and gave to the police a more eflBcient base of operations.
Chief Parker
is

recognized today as one of the leading ex-

ponents of professionalism in police work.

An advocate of a close working relationship between the citizen and the police officer, he spends a great portion of his personal time addressing citizen and business groups. Because of Chief Parker's interest in the youth of the community he was, in January, 1956, appointed to the Executive Board of the Los Angeles Council, Boy Scouts of America. Interested in world-wide development of democratic police practices, he has co-operated extensively with the U. S. State Department, serving as host to police and governmental
delegates from almost every country outside the Iron Curtain. On May 28, 1956, Chief Parker was elected to the Board of

Governors of the Welfare Federation, Los Angeles Area. This organization administers the aflFairs of the Community Chest locally. A member of the California Bar for over 25 years, he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court on
April 9, 1956.

He was
III,

presented to the court on this occasion by

Warren Olney
States.

Assistant Attorney General of the United

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword by O. W. Wilson Introduction: William H. Parker, a Biographical
Profile
vii

ix

Chapter
I.

Parker's Radio Address Following His Appointment

As Chief of Police
11.

Parker's Philosophy

Crime and
1953

Belief,

lACP

Address, September, 1952

11

Religion and Morality, Holy

Name

Society, January,

18
Profession,
April, 1951

The

Police

Graduating

Class,

Police

Academy,

20

Police Philosophy, Legal Secretaries Association, January, 1951

III.

23

Parker to Businessmen

The Businessman and

the Police, February, 1952 ...

35

Business Principles Applied in Police Service. Pre-

pared for the Property Owners Association Radio

Broadcast, January, 1952
IV.

39

Parker on Crime
Invasion from Within, September, 1952

49

Excerpts from Exchange Club Addresses on Crime

Prevention, February 1954, February 1955 ....

66

V. Parker on Police Planning

Practical Aspects of
ber,

PoHce Planning, lACP, Septem73

xiii

1954

xiv

Parker on Police
VI.

Parker on Legal Restrictions Imposed on Police

Surveillance

by Wiretap,

California

Law

Review,
99

December, 1954

Cahan Decision Made

Life Easier for Criminals, Cali-

fornia Judiciary Subcommittee, January, 1956 ...

113

The March
VII.

of Crime, excerpts,

March, 1956

124

Parker on Public Relations

The

Police Administrator and Public Relations, Sep-

tember, 1955
Police Role in
VIII.

135
Relations,

Community

May, 1955

....

147

Parker on Traffic
Transit Inflation, Rotary Club, January, 1953

167

Freedom on the Freeways, Breakfast Club,

Motorcycle Officers Yearbook, 1952
IX.

July,

1953

175

Public Relations and the Traffic Officer, Municipal

180

Parker on Police Administration

The

Police Challenge in

Our Great

Cities

187

X. Parker to Citizens
Progress Report, January, 1953

203

Response

to Questions

Concerning Juvenile Gangs,

212

December, 1953

The

Rehabilitation Center. Excerpts from

of Crime, March, 1956

The March
218

XI. Parker to His

Force
225 233

Miscellaneous "Chief's Messages" from the 1952 Annual RepoHs and The Beat

Index

PARKER ON POLICE

Chapter

One

PARKER'S RADIO ADDRESS

FOLLOWING

HIS

APPOINTMENT AS

CHIEF OF POLICE OF LOS ANGELES;

DELIVERED OVER RADIO STATION KFI,

AUGUST

9,

1950

Parker's Radio Address Following His

Appointment
As YOUR new

as Chief of Police
I

Chief of Police,

humbly appreciate the honor

j[\_ conferred upon me and realize the people of the City of Los Angeles.

my

great responsibility to

The growth

of this city has

first

been phenomenal. The

office of

Chief of Pohce was

created in 1877, and at that time the

force consisted of six police officers. In the short span of seventy-

three years, the force has

police officers
sonnel.

grown to an authorized strength of 4493 and approximately 900 clerical and technical per-

The

police department today expends approximately twenty

its

million dollars a year in

operation. This

money

is

derived

from the pockets of the taxpayers, and they are certainly entitled to a full measure of service in return. People have organized themselves into our present society in order that each person may contribute to the welfare of the others and thus provide a full and protected life. But social contacts create friction. There are wicked men with evil hearts who sustain themselves by preying upon society. There are men who lack control over their strong passions, and thus we have vicious assaults, many times amounting to the destruction of the life of a fellow man. To control and repress these evil forces, police forces have existed, in some form or another, throughout recorded history. On the surface it would appear that complete harmony should reign between the good citizens of the community and their police. But there are frictions even in this relationship. As society increases in number, it becomes more complex and additional regulations become necessary to preserve it from disintegration. But it must be remembered that this great nation of ours was founded by men and women who fought their way
5

Parker's Radio Address

across the Atlantic to escape the harsh and oppressive restrictions under which they Hved in Europe. From these hardy pioneers we have developed a nation of people who are deeply conscious and rightfully jealous of their individual liberties and the dignity of man. The resultant conflict between increased regulation and individual liberty gives rise to a problem of serious proportions. The police, in an attempt to obey legislative mandate and enforce regulations, are often brought to grips with the individuals to whom these measures are applied. The American people possess a greater degree of sympathy for the "under-dog" than any of the other peoples on earth. Thus, when police measures are applied against an individual, we are inchned to extend sympathy to that individual and are therefore prone to overlook the deeds of the

individual that

made police action necessary. The pohce enforcement burden is therefore in two parts: they must enforce regulations on one hand and maintain public support on the other. It has been aptly stated by an eminent judge that the success of any police department rests largely upon the
confidence of the people

whom it serves.
tlie

There
force
is

is

another factor that enters into

delicate relation-

ship of the police

and the

public. It
its

is

axiomatic that a police

judged by the acts of

individual members. Sometimes

wicked men elude the detection devices of the selective processes and find their way into police service. Their evil acts, when discovered, cast disrepute upon the entire force and sometimes result in a sharp break between the community and the police. The infrequent contact between the individual citizen and the pohce is usually with only one or two members of the force. The nature of
that contact builds within the

mind
is

of the individual a concept of

is

the entire organization.

citizen praises the force

When
and

the experience

satisfactory, the

pleased with his police establishis

ment.

When

the experience

unpleasant,

all

members

are

grouped together as the object of his castigation. In an endeavor to build a superior police department in the City of Los Angeles, we have applied recruiting standards and a measure of selectivity probably more stringent than has been used in any other part of the country. For example, in a recent examination for the position of poHceman, in which over 2300 apphcants participated, only seventeen achieved a passing grade in the written test. Credits in the oral examination and the apph-

Address Following Appointment as Chief

cation of veteran credits qualified less than 150
original group.^

7
out of the

men

Subsequent thereto, many of these failed to pass our rigid medical examination and others failed to perform in accordance with our high standards during their probationary
period.

Those receiving appointments have been sent through a comprehensive training period at the police academy and, in addition to the other phases of the policeman's craft, these officers

have been inculcated with a deep appreciation of the relationship between the police and the public. It is the considered opinion of authorities in the police field that about five years of service are required before an officer, through training and experience, develops the sense of judgment that enables him to handle almost any situation with a minimum of conffict and friction.

tered the department since the cessation of hostilities in

young department. Over 3000 young men have enWorld War II. With rare exception, all are veterans of the War. It is a radical change to reheve a man from a fighting armed force, where he is imbued with a deep sense of preservation of self and destruction of the enemy, and to place him in the peacetime role of a police officer where he must refrain from the use of physical force unless it becomes absolutely necessary for the protection of
Ours
is

society.

In the administration of the affairs of your police department,

it

will

be

my
will

earnest endeavor to provide you with an honest and

efficient police force,

dedicated to the service of the community.

in a reasonable fashion, with full con-

The law

be enforced

sideration given to the individual rights of every citizen.

We

will

continue in our attempts to eradicate from the community those parasites who prey upon us and whose nefarious activities drain

huge sums

of

money from
lives

local channels of trade.

In order to achieve

be given to the
^

a full measure of consideration must and welfare of our police officers and their
this,

Prior to 1954 the veteran credit of

10% could be added to the written grade thus

qualifying the candidate to continue with the other phases of the examination. In
the 1950 examination referred
to,

only 17 candidates achieved a grade of 75%

or higher without application of the 10% veteran credit. of 2300, less than 150 candidates successfully passed
all

Out

of the entire group

phases of the examination

and became

eligible for

appointment. [Ed.]

8
families.

Parker's Radio Address

A young man entering the police service realizes he cannot expect to amass great wealth, but he and his family are enprovide him with the moderate advantages of a home and an opportunity to afford to his children a proper degree of social, recreational, and educational opportutitled to a scale of living that will

nities.

Los Angeles
today. It
is

is

the white spot of the great cities of America

advantage of the community that we keep it our police must receive adequate wage and other elements of economic security that will enable them to reto the

that way.

To do

so,

sist

the temptations that constantly face the police

officer,

that

will give the individual officer the courage to hold

community
possess-

above

self,

and that

will attract to the police service,

men

ing that high degree of both physical and moral courage, and of
health and intelligence, so necessary in the complex duties of the
tlie

proper discharge of

modern

police officer.

The pohce
occasions

officers of this city are well

cerns have been

my
it

concern and

are fully familiar

aware that their conwith the many

to represent

when
all

has been

my

good fortune

them

in matters relating to the welfare of themselves

and

their families.

May
that

assure

members

of the Los Angeles Police

Department

my

interest in their individual welfare will not diminish.

All the employees of our great department are encouraged to

continue in their efforts to increase their professional knowledge

and

to

compete with
is

their fellow officers in promotional examina-

tions, for

merit will be rewarded without regard to race, color,

or creed. It

my
I

firm intention that selections for promotional

in strict conformity

positions will be

made
shall

motional
the load a

lists.

do

all in

my power

with the order of proto accomplish those

a
little

things necessary to
little

make

the policeman's

life

brighter and

hghter.

In return,

ask only that

the people of the community

we remain steadfast in our loyalty to whom we serve, that we ever relife

member

that our oath of office binds us to a

of service to the

community.

May I assure the people of Los Angeles that we will not deviate from this solemn obligation, and that we will continue in our endeavor to bring about complete understanding between the police and the public, which can only react to our mutual benefit.

Chapter

Two

PARKER'S PHILOSOPHY
Crime and
Belief:

An

address delivered at the 59th An-

nual Conference of the International Association of

Chiefs of Pohce, Los Angeles, September, 1952.

Religion and Morality: Excerpts from a speech to Holy

Name
The

Society,

Los Angeles, January, 1953.

Police Profession:

An

address dehvered to the grad-

uating class at the Los Angeles Police Academy, April,

1951.

Police Philosophy:

An

address delivered to the Legal

California, January,

Secretaries Association, Glendale,

1951.

Crime and Belief

might have been asked twenty-five years ago to gathering on the subject of crime prevention. At I was a young poHceman and had solved that great that time problem. Terms like "as the twig is bent" and "eliminate the desire" came readily to my mind. In those days the problems of the world were etched in blacks and whites; there were fewer greys. If I had spoken to you at that time I am sure I could have oflFered immediate solutions. Today, a quarter-century later, I am not that same confident oracle. I have misplaced those ringing slogans. I have found that rules-of-thumb are usually only exercises in finger-twirling, and
I

WISH that

speak to

this

lation.

have learned that wisdom consists of more than shallow postuThe man who wants an easy formula, a common denomi-

nator, or universal solution for every problem, will not find his

answer here.

An
ceed.

inquiry into crime prevention requires, as do most discus-

sions, the

establishment of some basic point from which to pro-

Fundamental agreement is necessary to determine the scope and the limits of its practical solution. First, I believe it can be fairly stated that crime prevention is not an exact science. We have had some practical experience; we have some facts; we have made a number of lucky guesses. In the past few years a beam of light has been focused upon the subject, but it is a thin beam and so far has only been suflBcient to warn us that we face a deep and many-sided enigma. In our time we have seen crime blamed on our ancestors, friends, diet, sex, the movies, radio, television, and comic books. Later it was the vogue to lump all factors together and call it "multiple causation." Today we recognize that the roots of crime
of the problem

go deeper; that they are intertwined about the fundamental concepts that distinguish animal from man and man from his Creator.
11

12

Parker's Philosophy

Second,

we must

face the fact that the

pubhc has displayed

We have been encouraged by a few farsighted and aggressive community leaders, but on the whole we have seen little inchnation on the part of tlie public to furnish the interest, time, or funds necessary for a truly comprehensive program of prevention. Undoubtedly the cause of some of this failure can be traced to the police. The public
only mild interest in the prevention of crime. does not rest great responsibility upon those in
rest great faith.

whom

it it

does not does not

Pohce history

is

not a pretty thing;

inspire confidence. future, the past

However

bright the present and promising the

hangs as a millstone about the neck of the prowho are gathered here. Third, the prevention of crime is not one of the traditional police tasks. Law enforcement oflBcers are neither equipped nor authorized to deal with broad social problems. We do not control economic cycles; we are not equipped to deal with racial, relifessional-minded police leaders
gious, or political prejudice;

we

are not arbiters of right

and

wrong. In short, we are not healers of social ills. Our job is to apply emergency treatment to society's surface wounds; we deal with eflFects, not causes.
This is a rather melancholy examination of crime prevention. However, if we can determine our limitations, we have taken the first step toward a solution. The wise navigator is concerned first with his position. He does not select a spot where he would hke to be; instead, he pin-points his exact location and then, however far oflF course, proceeds resolutely from there. I said before that I will disappoint anyone who expects to find here an easy formula for preventing crime. As a problem in ethics (the third branch of philosophy) crime has received attention from the best minds of all the centuries. Not only has man failed to find a solution, he has been unable to agree on a common definition. To one man it is a crime to steal a penny but good business to steal a fortune. To another it is a crime to gamble at cards but recreation to gamble at horse races. And to another it is a crime
to betray a political party but idealism to betray a nation.
is

What

a crime? We do not know; we have only our personal concepts. As policemen we are guided by an artificial definition of right and wrong the law. We do not pretend that it is all-wise, all-

Crime and Belief

inclusive, or all-just.
flaws.

13
it

The student

of ethics will find in

it

many

The student
it

of theosophy will find in

principles.
is

many

deviations

from fundamental rehgious

find in

The student

of logic will

probable that no man exists who agrees with all the statutes. This creates a remarkable paradox. Law exists, not because we do agree on what is right and wrong, but because we do not agree. A universally accepted standard of ethics does not exist. To prevent anarchy, it is necescontradictions. It

many

sary to impose this artificial standard based on majority agree-

ment.

When
force,

a majority of persons do not accept these imposed con-

is changed, either by democratic process or by and new standards are adopted. The minority who do not accept them, however, are said to be the criminal element. Crime has its birth in this clash between individual and group ethics. I submit that the volume of crime is proportional to the quantity and breadth of this variance. I believe that this hypothesis is susceptible of proof. As practicing policemen we are familiar with the fact that the average criminal does not believe that he is doing wrong. As he views the situation, he is doing right. However faulty his premises, however weak his logic, however selfish his reasons, and however transitory his beliefs, he acts in accord

cepts, the

law

with his
angle,

own

concepts.
if

Therefore,

we

are to approach crime at

its

most vulnerable

we must

recognize that

man

is

a creature of belief. If anyto his history

book and fear all on this basis. In the arena of war, conflicts that have arisen from empty stomachs have been mere skirmishes compared to those holocausts incited by confused minds. Kings rule, martyrs suffer, and merchants prosper according to their own convictions. Like other men, the criminal acts in response to his own beliefs. The fact that his beliefs differ from those of the majority and that they may be completely illogical does not alter the primary fact that they are the mainspring of his hfe. Hunger, pov^erty, maladjustment, and other physical problems do not incite crime they incite beliefs that may produce crime. This subtle difference may be regarded by some as hair-splitbelief, let

one doubts the power of

rise

him turn
kill,

and watch man

and

fall,

love and

exalt

14
ting.

Parker's Philosophy

enormous importance. If criminal acts are symptoms of a conflict between individual morals and accepted morals, then the problem can only be solved by reIn reality, the distinction
is

of

solving the conflict. Either the law, our artificial standard of

must be brought into closer conformity with popular requirements. The two in conflict invariably produce crime. It is apparent that our way of life cannot survive if we so relax and broaden our laws that almost any individual's standard will conform with them. Such a course would be little more than anmorals,
altered, or the individual's standard

must be

archy. Therefore, the only alternative

ards.

is

to alter individual stand-

A question immediately arises: Can individual ethical standards be altered? The answer is unreservedly "Yes!" Men's ideas are constantly being revised. Our great rehgions are founded on this fact. Science, philosophy, and art depend upon it for their creative sustenance. Discarded ideas, like burned-out torches, litter mankind's path, and its future way is lit by those freshly kindled. Ideals, morals, ethics, or by whatever name you call man's convictionsthey are the indispensable tools of
life.

Another question:
to practical

How may

beliefs

be altered?

It is

no secret
Gre-

men

that behefs are altered

by stronger

beliefs.

cian philosophy altered the convictions of the Mediterranean;

dominated Europe and Africa; and, in turn, the minds of both were captured by a small band of Hebrews who preached the ideals of Christianity. America was conceived in the rupture of old beliefs and nurtured by new ones. Small beliefs are also changed. Bathtubs, chewing gum, chrome bumpers, and vitamin tablets all represent new convictions. Police administrators improve their departments by implanting new conpracticality
victions.

Roman

Ideas great and small are susceptible to change.

that daily uses the press, radio,

To a nation

and

television with such frightful

potency, this should

come
fit

as

no

surprise.

This

is

not a call to

men

into identical patterns.

There

is

divine dignity in individuality. If the price of eliminating crime

is is

to cast all

men from

common

mold, the price

is

too great. It

better to bolt the door in fear of the criminal than to bolt the

Crime and Belief

15
it is

mind

in fear of

an all-powerful

state.

Fortunately

unneces-

sary to suffer from either extreme. In a democratic society, ample

law to exercise creative diversities. During the 1930's the German dictatorship successfully imposed upon an entire generation of youth, and with only slightly
latitude exists within the

upon older generations, completely new concepts of moral values. More recently the Soviet Union, undoubtedly encouraged by Germany's success, has improved and expanded the program internationally. That these are false concepts, we know. But the activities of our enemy demonstrate something we once knew but have forgotten. Men want desperately for something
less success

to believe in. This desire

is

so great that they will flock to

new

concepts, even though they be evil and illogical, so long as they

are strong concepts.

America has concepts that are vital and that are compatible men and in accord with the Law of God. We have developed these concepts within a broad framework of democratic law that leaves room for the dignity which only liberty can bestow. Moreover, we constantly improve these laws, altering them when they are found to be in the least oppressive. It is the hope of our enemies that we will fail to demonwith the natural desires of
strate to ourselves the

advantages of Hfe within these concepts. to sell people on the largely mythical values of luxury commodities can also sell them on the obvious

Americans

who know how

values of majority ethical convictions.

Would the burglar be reand deterred from his crime by a thirty-second radio announcement on the advantages of virtue? We well know he would not, no matter how clever the writer and forceful tlie announcer. But neither did the citizen rush to the market to buy chlorophyl the moment the new deodorant was first advertised. It took ten years of conditioning to do the job. Americans, who a few years ago were convinced that they were the sweetest smellduced
to tears

ing persons in the world, today regard honest perspiration with deep suspicion and, as a result, consume advertised chemicals on a grand scale. Is
it

impossible that the odor of crime could be

point out, of course, that various criminal and are therefore beyond the

brought to the same public's attention?

The eager

critic will

acts are in response to natural urges

16

Parker's Philosophy

reach of gentle persuasion. Rape, theft, murder, and the hke, he

will say, result
ger, ignorance,

from inadequate housing, lack of recreation, hunbad companions, or some combination of them. He will speak of secret urges in the dark recesses of the mind. But he will not explain how most of us here, and indeed a significant portion of our countiymen, have endured one or many of
these hardships without yielding to those secret desires. It
truth, as
is

the

our critic will some day discover, that a man's convictions will carry him over adversity as surely as his faith carries him over doubt. I do not oppose social improvement. If an equitable way can be
found, give every
belly,
if

man

three bedrooms and a green lawn,

fill

his

and while away his leisure hours with entertainment but fail to find for him something to beheve in, if he and his neighbors do not share convictions within which to live, that
you
life.

physical Utopia will lack the vital necessity of ordered

Whether

or not the time, material,

and funds

for a

comprehen-

program wiU ever be available, is debatable. Surely it would be an enormous undertaking. However, there is an immediate way that can yield much in the future. Youth is the
sive crime prevention

key. Their beliefs are not yet fortified behind the concrete shell of certainty that adults call maturity.
of

Growing minds

are capable

immense
fail to

faith.

They

are eager to believe, so eager that

when

we
on

street corners

supply convictions for them, they go out and seek them and in back alleys. So great is this desire that our

juvenile oflBcers, sometimes using only a

day

in the mountains, a

few sticks of wood and a pot of glue have left indelible convictions of right and wrong on these young minds, which have fortified them for tlie remainder of their lives. Since law enforcement's pitifully few juvenile ofiBcers have done so much, is there any doubt what the great
baseball and a sandlot, or a
to excite curiosity,

resources of this nation could accomplish?

have pointed the way to a solution, it is no easy one. I wish that crime were a simple plague to be solved by isolating a troublesome microbe, but it is not. I wish it could be ehminated materialistically, by continually supplying Americans with chrome fixtures, softer beds, and shorter work hours, but I know that it cannot be thus eradicated. Certainly I do wish that tlie pohce had
If I

Crime and Belief

it

17
I

within their power to solve the problem alone, but

know

they

America is not a surface disorder a minor irritation. It is indicative of deep conflicts which enervate the vital strength of the repubhc. In a nation regulated by brute force, a crime problem is not fatal. But in a nation founded upon faith and held together solely by belief, it is a potent threat. It is the clear duty of the American police to work to prevent crime by all means at their disposal. We have accepted that obligation, and we wiU continue to perform the task to the best of our abihty. But this does not discharge our obUgation completely. It is imperative that every American recognize crime, not as a pohce problem, but as a departure from the deep convictions that bind 150 million persons into a secure, prosperous, and happy nation. The police must help them understand.
cannot.
in

Crime

Religion and Morality

Our theme
is

ington uttered on of his term as President ot seek retirement upon the conclusion
the United States:
to poHtical the dispositions and habits, which lead are indispensable supports. In prosperity, reHgion and morality tribute of patriotism, who should vain would that man claim the piUars of human happiness, these labor to subvert these great

George Washtaken from the f areweU address of when he determined to September 17, 1796,

Of

all

firmest props of the duties of

The mere Pohtiand cherish them. ought cian, equally with pious men, with private and volume could not trace aU their connection A where is the security for pubHc felicity. Let it simply be asked,

Men and

Citizens.

to respect

the sense of religious obhgation property, for reputation, for hf e, if instruments of investigation desert die oaths, which are the caution indulge the supposition Courts of Justice? And let us with without reHgion. Whatever may that morality can be maintained refined education on mmds o be conceded to the influence of both forbid us to expect peculiar structure, reason and experience exclusion of rehgious prinprevail in tiiat national mordity can virtue or moraHty is a necessary is substantially true that ciple. It The rule, indeed, extends with spring of a popular Government. of free government less force to every species

more

or

address, Washington deIn another portion of that splendid the American people. He saia, livered a prophetic admonition to enhghtened, and, at no distant period, "It wiU be worthy of a free, mankind the magnanimous and too a great Nation, to give to guided by an exalted justice novel example of a people always in the course of trntie and and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, would richly repay any temporaiy things, the fruits of such a plan steady adherence to it? Can advantages which might be lost by a permanent felicity ot Providence has not connected the
it

be that

a Nation with

its

Virtue?

The experiment,

at least,

is

recom-

Religion and Morality

19
nature. Alas!

mended by every sentiment which ennobles human

Is
it

rendered impossible by its vices?" More than 156 years have passed and the prophecy has been partially fulfilled. Yes, we have become a great nation in a ma-

But this unparalleled success in the acquisition of worldly goods has been accompanied by a materiahstic philosophy that has permeated our people and that threatens to destroy
terial sense.

every vestige of

human

liberty.

With

reckless disregard of tlie

admonition of Washington, we have attempted to disassociate Virtue from the foiTnula that will guarantee permanency as a free
people. Is
it

possible that our vices have shattered the

I

dream

of

the founding fathers?

certainly be visited
will

believe

it

may

be. If

we

continue to
to

blindly ignore the lessons of history, the sins of the father will

upon the

children,

and the generations

come

pay dearly

for our selfish stupidity.

Greece, and

Let us look at the great civiHzations of the past. Egypt, Babylon, Rome rose, then fell, as strength gave way to weakness, alertness gave way to complacency, and virtue gave way to
corruption. It
is

possible that our failure to recognize the indis-

pensability of Religion

rapidly leading us to the

tions of the past.

and Morafity to our national welfare is same fate that beset these brave civihza-

Full and abiding adherence

principles of moraUty, as laid

by responsible

citizens to accepted

down

in the scriptures,

would en-

sure our salvation. Such a return to our early strengths and virtues

would
ever,

dissipate the threat to our survival as a free people.

How-

it is

a fact that
is

we have become

a confused nation,

and the

path back

as difficult as the course ahead.

must be ehminated, and there must be a return to fundamental honesty, morality and ethics in every facet of our lives. Who will lead the way? Perhaps a clue to the answer to this question is to be found in our theme of today. If it is a valid premise that Religion and Morafity are indispensable to human welfare, it must be concluded that Religion and Morahty are indispensable to each other. Therefore, the
that has engulfed us

The confusion

leadership
virtues

we

require in this compelling return to fundamental

must

lie

among

those

understand the true relationship between

men who have been privileged God and man.

to

The
I

Police Profession
members
of the graduating class for

want

to congratulate the

proving their ability by surviving the highly selective process used

to

determine

ment.

We

are

foremost in
our ranks.

will serve in the Los Angeles Police Departproud of our department; we believe it to be the the nation; hence we are particular as to who joins

who

You must not gain the impression, however, that you have now accomphshed all that is necessary in the way of learning in order to do your job properly and well. Those of us who have had considerable experience in this field estimate that
five years
cer. If
it

requires about
ofiB-

before a recruit becomes a really competent police

to progress or

even keep abreast of developments in your chosen field, you must continue to study during perhaps most of the years ahead of you in the police service. I don't know what motive prompted you to enter the police service. I assume that you were seeking economic location and, after weighing all factors, you decided that the police department
offered

you expect

you some desirable features

in the

way

of security, so

you

chose to enter this hazardous service.

In order that you and your families may be happy in your work, you must develop a philosophy that will suit your service. You do not, I hope, come into our profession with the hope of any great
materiahstic gain, because the field does not offer that.

We

ex-

pect you to do a good job, and there must be something within

you that will cause you to strive hard to perform your work well. There is a philosophy of police service that is embodied in the
term "police." This term designates "that executive civil force of the state to which is entrusted the duty of maintaining order and of enforcing regulations for the prevention and detection of crime." In a perfect system of civil administration, the function of the police is to interfere with the liberty of the
definition of the

20

The Police Profession

individual only

21

when

it

degenerates into license, and any material

is

variation from this standard

be deprecated as being arbitrary of pohce service involves pubhc relations, so we are attempting to teach you how to develop a sense of judgment whereby you can determine immediately when the activity of an individual is inimical to the welfare of society; it is then your sworn duty to interfere with the hberty of that individualbut not before. When you have developed this sense of judgment, you will then have become a perfect police oBcer in terms of a democracy. I do not believe there has ever been a time when honest and efiBcient law enforcement has been more important from both tlie local and national standpoint. As we began to fight in the defense of our nation against an outside aggressor we began to reahze that perhaps there is more involved in our survival as a democratic nation than merely stemming the onward tide of that outside aggressor; we then began to understand that there may be some need for internal improvement in this nation if we are to survive. We have seen in recent months an uprising of pubhc indignation over the exposure of corruption of men in government in both high and low places. It is a human frailty to look to the law enforcement field when human deficiencies and errors assert themselves in other walks of life and say, "Why don't the police do something about them?" Of course, we can't control the hves of 153 milhon people in the United States, There must be a change in public thinking in that respect. The people can't expect only the police to have ethics and morality; they can't look only to us to watch the conduct of all others and keep them in line. But we are depended upon to do a great deal in that respect and, of course, the first requirement in the performance of this task is that we policemen be both moral and honest. This gets us back to philosophy again. What will your philosophy be in this service? Will you be inspired by a philosophy of service? Will you dedicate yourselves to the welfare of your country, the welfare of your state, the welfare of your city? Will you take the inner satisfaction of a job well-done as sufficient reward and, out of the very satisfaction and joy of rendering service to
to

and

tyrannical.

About 90 per cent

22

Parker's Philosophy

your fellow man, be adequately compensated if we continue to provide you with the financial means for at least a modest, dignified

way of living?

you against temptations to which you have never before been exposed. You must be men of strong moral fibre in order to resist them. If you do not resist them, not only will you be unhappy and mentally disturbed but you will also risk loss of position and possible imprisonment. It is not hard to be honest that is, it is not difficult if you want to be honest. You will be offered things apparently on a friendly basis and with no strings attached to them at least at that time. But you must look at all such offers with suspicion. I commend to you a quotation from the New Testament, "beware of him in whose hands are iniquity, his right hand is filled with gifts." Not a bad quotation to remember and carry with you every day. You are coming into a great department to join a group of fine men, who have built the department into what it is today. You walk into a "going concern," and we certainly have every right to expect that you will do nothing to bring about its deterioration, and that you will strive to add to it, to perfect it and to improve
I caution
its

reputation.

Seated behind

me on

this

platform are
as

men who

were, not too

many

years ago, in the

same position

you are today; men who

have followed the philosophies I am enunciating to you. I am certain they have had their share of joy in Hfe and are just as content as if they had achieved material wealth. If you develop this philosophy of service and of dedication to the welfare of mankind you too will be happy; you also will enjoy the camaraderie of your companions and will serve your nation at a time when it badly needs your assistance. We are a small group of men who are expected to do great things, and we are proud of this badge we wear. We are proud of our profession, and we welcome you into it and commend to you our philosophy of service rather than one of materialistic gain.

Police Philosophy
It is true, as

your master of ceremonies has told you, that be-

fore I
I

entered the service of the Los Angeles Police Department

had commenced the study of Law. At that time I was a taxicab and after entering the field of law enforcement, I continued my law studies. In 1930, I was successful in obtaining my degree in law, and what was more remarkable, I was successful in passing the State Bar examination the same year. At that time, as I seem to dimly recall, there was a depression and thus fate
driver,

decided that I should remain with the police department. Since that time I have learned considerable about tliis phase of governmental activity. It is this experience with which I intend to concern myself tonight.

As we study the pages of recorded banded together with their fellowmen

pose of promoting a better pose of mutual assistance.
unit, there

history

we

learn that

men

in a social unit for the pur-

way From

of hfe

and

for the further pur-

the

first

inception of this social

group some wicked men with evil hearts who undertook to prey upon society rather than contribute to its welfare. In consequence, it became necessary to establish a system of rules of conduct and a legal profession to aid in their administration. Some form of police was also needed to protect the good people of the society from attack by these wicked members. Since the pohce were created to serve the majority by protecting their lives, their families, their property, and their pursuits, it seems incongruous that there should be such a breach of understanding and such a wide gap between the police and the

were found

in the

public.

Some

of us in the police profession have been deeply concerned

over this breach, and

attempted to determine the historical basis for its existence. In doing so it is necessary to review the founding of this country by people who came here, primarily
23

we have

24

Parker's Philosophy

from Europe, because they were restless under the harsh and unreasonable regulations designed to control their lives. They believed their governments to be tyrannical.

sessed of a deep-rooted sense of individual hberty

grained consciousness of the dignity of

to seek

They were people posand an inman. They were prompted

some place on earth where they could give full expression to their concept of individual liberty and full recognition to the dignity of man.

We are all possessed of concepts. We acquire these ideas during

the formative years of our
those
lives.

These

beliefs are acquired

from

who

are close about us: our families; our teachers; our

lives.

churches; and the social influences that mold our

Sometimes

we

acquire false conceptions and spend

much

of our adult lives in

overcoming them. But there is one belief that we have inherited, handed down from father to son and from generation to generation, that is not false, and that is our concept of individual liberty. There is a companion concept that is somewhat peculiar to America. It is the sympathy that we have for the under-dog. We are not always conscious of it but may I give you a simple example of its expression through the medium of a sport called "professional wrestling." I

have observed persons of normal intelligence and temperamental control become thoroughly emotional when at a wrestling match where one of the contestants is put to

unfair disadvantage

and his apparently maniacal opponent appears to be about to gouge out his eyes and tear his limbs from his body. There you see an emotional expression of American sympathy for the under-dog.

When you join together the

liberty with

deeply rooted concept of individual

an abiding sympathy for the under-dog you have the between the public and the police. When it becomes necessary for a police officer, wearing the badge of authority of the state, to deprive an individual of his liberty, perhaps remove him from his home by legal process, those who witness this legal invasion of personal liberty are inchned to allow their innate sympathy to turn to resentment towards the police. If the arrested person is the head of a household upon whom others are dependent for their economic support, the situation is further aggravated. The misdeeds of the arrested person are often overlooked, as has frequently been the case, even though the most
basis for a cleavage

Police Philosophy
serious criminal acts are involved.

25
expression "sob-sisters"

The

stems from the acts of well-intentioned but uninformed persons

whose sense of sympathy causes them to accuse the police of inhumanity and to refuse to believe in the guilt of the defendant. There is another basis for this breach between the pubhc and the poHce that cannot be fully appreciated by anyone except those of us who have experienced the transition of stepping forth from an average role in society to assume the occupation of a police officer. It involves a complete change in social status. Our recruitment processes are perhaps the most exacting in the entire
police
field. The successful candidates are assigned to the police academy where they are subjected to a rigid course of training of

three months' duration. After successfully completing the training

course, the
ation.

young

recruit usually seeks

some form

of social relax-

Perhaps some old friends arrange a party in his honor. After arriving at the appointed place he is introduced as a member of the police department. Almost invariably someone in the assembled group will take him to one side and the conversation generally follows this pattern, "Yesterday I was driving west on Wilshire

Boulevard and, as I approached the intersection of Western Avenue, the signal light turned yellow. Of course, I drove through the intersection and an officer gave me a ticket. Now wasn't he wrong?" The young officer is faced with a dilemma. As he did not witness the occurrence he is in no position to judge the relative
merits of the dispute.

He

does not want to take the position of

nor does he wish to disagree with the guest. He undergoes a mental struggle. As time goes on he finds himself constantly faced with demands that he pass upon the
criticizing his fellow officer

about police activities. He soon learns that true social relaxations can be found only among his fellow officers. A great fraternity is thus built with strong camaraderie,
relative merits of criticisms

but a basis

is

also

formed

for a

breach between the police and

the public. This situation does not contribute to the welfare of

either the police or the public.

In the early legal history of California, in the case of Clue vs. the Board of Police Commissioners, the court said, "The efficiency
of any police department depends largely

upon the confidence

of

the people
It is

whom

it

serves."

a truism that a police department having the confidence of

26

Parker's Philosophy

the public will frequently receive information that will be indis-

pensable in solving
existent information

many
is

criminal cases.

The

inability to obtain
is

a serious handicap to your poHce as

evi-

dent in the recent slaying of a local attorney whose murder is apparently another chapter in the history of unsolved deaths by
violence in our community.
of this area

With proper support from the people

the course of history and ehminate

we can change

these

men

of violence from our midst. If a police service loses the

confidence of the people, upheavals will follow that are costly to

the community.

In adjusting the relationship between the police and the public

the bulk of the burden rests with the poHce. In treating this subject,

police, stated,

Commissioner Valentine, former head of the New York "The citizens will, as long as effective checks of democracy exist, pass upon whether the police meet proper standards, in terms of their understanding and value. To deny this competency to the citizen is to deny the efficacy of democratic
control of policing."
citizens possess

An
are

analysis of this statement reveals that the

an inherent right to

police service.

They

presumed

to

judgment on their be competent and the presit

in

sumption

is

conclusive rather than rebuttable.

To deprive the

citizenry of this presumption of

entirety, the theory of

competency is to refute, in its the relationship between the pohce and the
of government. It
is

pubHc under our form

therefore obvious that

re-

incongruities in this relationship

must be adjusted and the

is

sponsibility rests primarily with the police. It

therefore our

and techniques in line with public receptivity without sacrificing efficiency and without departing from the objectives and purposes of the police service. It is a
task to adjust our procedures

adjustment but the challenge cannot be ignored. As we go about the task of making this adjustment, there are several factors involved that must be appreciated by the public. There is a proneness on the part of the individual citizen to criticize the poHceman when a contact occurs. Either he was stupid because he wrote a traffic citation; or he made a poor witness on behalf of a cHent; or, he appeared incompetent in the presence of the judiciary. There is a tendency for the public to treat the pohce as a peculiar and outcast group of society. Before succumbing to
difficult

Police Philosophy
this

27

persons

tendency you should consider the origin and identity of these who wear the pohce uniform. There is a premise I would hke to make; the pohce department does not sire its own personnel. The young men and women that constitute your police force are products of the American scene. They are products of American schools, American churches, and American social influences. From these young Americans that offer themselves for the pohce
service,

we

accept only those best fitted mentally, physically,

and temperamentally.

What is it that attracts young people to the police service? Very few people, properly suited to the job, actually want to be
policemen.
in the

The

truth of the matter

is

that those seeking a position

pohce service do so for economic reasons. After tlie close World War II, millions of young men and women were released from the armed forces and returned to civilian life. The majority of this group had no satisfactory employment awaiting their return and were forced to seek jobs. From them we recruited about 3500 young men and women; they constitute about
of hostilities in

eighty-three per cent of our present force.

it

When

it is

realized that

requires about five years of experience to develop a competent

oflBcer,

pohce
I

the problems our department has faced in recent

years during this adjustment period are self-evident.

have been somewhat impatient over many of the critical comyoung recruits. Many of these comments imply immaturity, incompetency, and juvenile status rather than adulthood. What these well-meaning but uninformed critics do not realize is that the young oflBcer they are condemning probably spent from two to five years of his life on a foreign battlefield in combat with a ruthless enemy, jeopardizing his life in order to
plaints concerning these

preserve the

life that enables the critic to condemn him. manpower from which we recruited such splendid oflBcers after the end of hostilities in World W^ar II no longer exists. The situation is in reverse as the armed forces begin

way

of

The

reservoir of

to recall reserve personnel.

been recalled
no longer demands.

to military

Over 200 of our police oflBcers have and naval duty. Economic dislocation is
fields; police salaries

causing qualified personnel to turn to other

attract the caliber of personnel our

complicated service

28

Parker's Philosophy

In order to overcome
this drive

human

inertia there

force that causes an individual to do a

must be some driving good job. In most cases

stems from an aspiration for success in a material sense.

entering a commercial, industrial, or
is

The average young person

professional field

stimulated by the possibility of ascendancy to

offer the young pohceman? modest income during the most productive years of his adult life, and any attempt to establish an improper source of income will probably result in loss of position and risk of imprisonment.

a position of affluence.

What do we
is

All that

we can

offer

him

The

success or failure of a police organization

is

spelled out

!^^

by the individual conduct of its members. Our officers serve alone or in pairs and their effectiveness depends largely upon the presence or absence of a will-to-do and a desire to observe. Many times an officer is alone and must determine his course of action in a matter of seconds. The propriety of his action may subsequently
engage the attention of a court of law for days, or even weeks. Strict and constant supervision and detailed instructions in pohce service are difficult; it is not Hke supervising a group of employees working on an assembly line in a factory. Since the will to serve is not based primarily upon the desire for material gain, our officers must be inculcated with a fundamental philosophy of the poHce function and an idealistic concept of service to the people.

^~

The

definition of police service

adopted by our department embodies a philosophy and reads as follows: "The term police designates that executive civil force of a state to which is entrusted the duty of maintaining order and of
*~7
enforcing regulations for the prevention and detection of crime.

In a perfect system of
police
is

civil

administration the function of the

to curb the hberty of the individual only

when

it

de-

generates into license, and any material variation from this standis to be deprecated as being arbitrary and tyrannical." Thus attempt to develop within an officer a sense of service to the people directed at promoting the welfare of the community, state

ard

we

and nation,
*""

as well as a sense of
it is

judgment that

will enable

him

to

determine

when

necessary to interfere with the liberty of an

individual. He must remain calm when all about him are governed by emotion rather than reason. In determining his course

Police Philosophy
of action he

29

conduct of the individual inimical to the welfare of society?" If the answer is in the negative, the liberty of the individual is not to be interfered with. It is true that every police recruit takes an oath to support the constitutions of the United States of America and of the State of Cahfornia and to enforce all of the penal laws of the state and city. From a practical viewpoint the recruit will never live long enough to read all of the laws he has sworn to enforce. Furthermore, a strict letter-of-the-law type of enforcement would be rejected by the community. It is realized that there are other bases for the misunderstanding between the police and the pubhc and the blame for some of them are on the pohce side of the ledger. As we examine the history of police systems in America, we find that pohcing was done in Colonial times by a form of local draft. When this system proved unsatisfactory, paid police forces were initiated. At that time the police were known as "leatherheads" as it was considered that no intelligent person would take the job. There are other dark pages in the history of police such as the period of prohibition, the greatest black market in the history of the world. During that time great segments of the population were pleased to have the oflBcer turn his back as they obtained the contraband, but
"Is the

must ask himself.

these same people

condemned the oflBcer for his breach of trust. redeem the police service and to establish a force that is objective, honest, and eflficient. While the purpose may be noble the necessity is a patriotic one. The American

We

are endeavoring to

people have forgotten their history and the younger generation are taught too little about it. Sometimes I am led to beheve that

we

are hving in a fool's paradise.

We

accept

tlie

highest scale of

living in the history of the world as

if it

were something that has

always existed and will continue for

early Caucasians

all

generations to follow.
its

We
The

are inclined to ignore the background of

establishment.

North America came here primarily from Europe where they were unhappy under governments they believed to be tyrannical. These hardy pioneers carved out of a wilderness the greatest nation in all of history and provided for us the highest level of economy the world has ever seen. Solomon, in all his glory, would be envious of the things we treat today as
settled

who

30

Parker's Philosophy
necessities. This nation

mere
tion

was not

built

by

a people

working

eight-hour days and forty-hour weeks.

The

greatness of our na-

was not forged by people possessed of so much leisure that the government had to plan methods for its disposition. This nation was created by a people with iron in their spines, with behef in their souls, with hope in their hearts, a group of people that moved into a wilderness and worked from sunrise to sunset to build, construct, create, and to progress. In those days if a man did not hke his neighbors he placed his few belongings into a wagon, hitched the oxen or the horses to it and moved west. Eventually, he would come to a fertile valley where a natural stream provided water; where the wild grasses of the field would feed his draft animals; where the standing timber provided material for the construction of his dweUing; and where the wild game provided meat for his table and skins for his clothing. As this type of migration continued, we dissipated and
destroyed natural resources. Finally, the last frontier reached the
Pacific

Ocean.

to estabhsh a

I gravely doubt that anyone here tonight is anxious homestead in Korea. We became a nation of great

density of population with a census count of 152,000,000 people.

We

fought World

War

II

on

credit

and

in doing so exhausted

much

of our natural resources such as the wealthy copper de-

posits of Utah.

We

created a staggering national debt that has

not yet been liquidated.

there anyone
legal term.

We

are

now
we

preparing for another world

In such a situation, is can maintain the status quo!

war without having paid for the

last one.

who

really believes

In reahty such a thing as status quo does not exist except as a

Oh,

yes,

we have

forgotten history. Soviet Russia believes that

itself

the United States contains within

struction, to wit: avarice, greed,

the seeds of

its

own

de-

and corruption. Russia believes we are rewriting the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, another nation that became great and collapsed from its
internal weaknesses.

We

could refute
I
I

all

of this as wishful thinkit is

ing on the part of the Soviets but

have learned that

not

wise to ignore the opinions of others.

remember reading

Hitler's

message to his army staff before the invasion of the Lowlands, At that time he knew more about the course America would pursue

Police Philosophy

31

He stated that the United States was not yet ready war against Germany as there were local influences preventing it. He went on to say that the United States would eventually declare war against Germany, and in that message he actually wrote the pattern whereby Germany would and did lose the
than did we.
to enter

war.

Can America
for

survive? Yes,

if

we

are patriotic

enough

to

make

the necessary sacrifices along the road of austerity that faces us

many

years to come.

What

is

patriotism? It certainly

is

not the

urge that causes you to rush out and buy every commodity that happens to be in short supply for fear that your neighbor will get to the market ahead of you. It does not consist solely of standing
at attention as

Old Glory passes by or pledging allegiance

is

to the

Flag. Patriotism

an attitude or feeling within the breast of

man

that

makes him conscious of a debt of gratitude to the nation that nurtured him and in payment of that debt he is wilhng to give his life itself if the national welfare so demands. We need that kind
of patriotism today.

There

is

another important question that

we

hesitate to ask our-

selves. Is

Godfearing nation. All over this nation today there are men and women, in churches and elsewhere, appeahng to their Creator for divine intervention, "Oh Lord, spare us this travail and let us retain the status quo." But they forget to ask themselves if we are worthy of such divine assistance. Throughout the history of our nation we have countenanced perverted activities as being an essential part of the American scene. Vice and corruption have become part of Americana and we are labeled as the most lawless nation on the face of the earth. A trite example provides a comparison. While serving in Munich, Germany, I occupied a house on the banks of the Isar River. The house adjoined a public park in which there were trees, flowers, shrubs, footpaths and bridle
America worthy of survival?
profess to be a
trails.

We

horses.

A horizontal hewn log provided a watering trough for the A spigot projected from a vertical log to provide water for
tliis

human consumption. To
the horn
it

drinking horn. Although httle

was stapled a chain and silver effort would be required to dislodge

log

would

it

last in a

bore evidence of years of use. I ask you, public park in this country?"

"How

long

32

Parker's Philosophy

an honest and eJBBcient police force in Los Angeles are in keeping with the premise that this country can no longer afford to countenance vice and corruption as typical of the American scene. There are those of us who sincerely believe that this nation must undergo a moral and spiritual rebirth if it is to survive. The apathetic manner in which we have allowed
eflForts

Our

to establish

human

parasites to fasten their tentacles into the legal channels

huge fortunes must be corrected. It is a luxury that this country can no longer afford. These parasites must be eliminated and there must be a return to fundamental honesty. There is no better place to start this crusade than in government. For the past several years the political culture in the city of Los
of trade
off

and draw

Angeles has enabled us to build a firm foundation along these lines. Our city is fortunate in having leaders in its government
possessed of ideals of service and patriotic belief in the future
of

self.

America men who hold the commonweal above service to Most everything that happens in Los Angeles is scrutinized
It is fitting, therefore, that

throughout the nation.

we

should set

the pattern for a complete return to fundamental honesty in gov-

ernment, in business, and in our daily

lives.

The

police cannot be

expected to force propriety of conduct upon every person in the

community. Codes of ethics must be developed and adhered

in every field of

to

people

We

human endeavor. Our very survival as a free may depend upon this tenet. are proud of the name of our great city, Los Angeles, the
is

City of the Angels, and your police force

the firm determination that
efforts of the

banded together

in

we

shall successfully resist the evil

handful of parasites in our midst that would substitute the holy designation of our city with another name of Spanish

derivation,

Los Diabolos, the

city of the devils.

Chapter Three

PARKER TO BUSINESSMEN
The Businessman and the Police: An address delivered to the Motor and Equipment Wholesalers Association,
Los Angeles, February, 1952.
Business Principles
for Property

AppHed
over

in Police Service:

Prepared

Owners Association
Radio

of California, Incor-

porated,

broadcast

Station

KXLA, Los

Angeles, January, 1952.

The Businessman and The

Police

NEVER meet a group of men whose business is the automobile, that I do not remember a prophetic passage from the Bible:

The

chariots shall rage in the streets,

they shall justle one against the other

in the

broad way; they

shall

seem

like

torches, they shall run like the Ughtnings.

(Nahum,
Frankly, gentlemen, as
I

ii,

4)

through our Los Angeles traffic, I wondered if the pohce should take a friendly attitude toward the group that helped bring this prediction to
threaded
pass.

my way

one unfulfilled sounds to me suspiciously like something we can do without. For that reason, I have one request to make: I have not yet had the pleasure of seeing the equipment you will display at this show; but if anyone has produced a jet-engine for Los Angeles automobiles, will he kindly leave our fair city and demonstrate it elsewhere. Seriously, it is a pleasure to welcome you here and to address you. The subject, "The Businessman and the Police," is one that I have had the pleasure of discussing personally with many of you and that is of great importance to every citizen. The businessman has an important stake in community order. Security of life and property, and the lawful regulation of conduct, are things that affect him, both personally and financially. He looks to the police to maintain these conditions, and rightfully
is

One

thing worries me. In that prophecy, there

".
. .

statement,

they shall seem hke torches,"

It

so.

There

is

an important corollary

to this fact: since the businessis

man

is

inseparably concerned with public order, he

tlie police.

inseparably

concerned with the problems of

35

The

terrible ordeals

36
that a

Parker to Businessmen

few communities have faced when poHce protection was suddenly withdrawn have demonstrated beyond all serious doubt that the police department is indispensable to the peaceful and lawful conduct of daily business. Having estabhshed two facts (that business needs community
order,

and that order

is

the product of police protection)

we

face

a delicate question, but one that must be posed and answered. Does the American businessman recognize his proprietary interest in law enforcement by devoting constructive attention to his local
police department?

By
cial

"constructive attention" I do not refer to the generous finan-

support that business has always given to child welfare, traflBc safety programs, and similar activities. However important
these things

may

be, there are broad considerations that override

them.

By

"constructive attention" I

am

referring to the support of

pohtical

and

financial policies in the municipality tliat will pro-

duce an eflFective and efficient police agency. I am referring to the moral support of a police department when it is right, despite whatever pressures that may be contrived by special interests. I am referring to cooperative support for the individual poHce officer as he goes about his tedious, difficult, and often dangerous
duties.
I

would hke

to

make

a point that
is

is

sometimes missed by
It is
It is

businessmen.

Law

enforcement

not just another business.

not a private enterprise, directed from within.

citizens.

not a separate

agency that either deserves, or does not deserve, support from Pohce work is a cooperative community endeavor, and it is part and parcel of every community. Its members are not an alien force, brought from wdthout to do a job. It is made up of citizens who carry the same strengths and weaknesses as other citizens. Law enforcement succeeds in its task only so far as community interest lets it succeed, and it fails when community neglect sows the seeds of failure. It is always a pleasure to discuss poHce problems with a group such as this because businessmen are, first and foremost, realists. Those who apply emotion to questions of fact are seldom represented at gatherings like this. They have long since fallen by the

The Businessman and the Police

wayside. For that reason,
I feel I

37

can talk objectively here today.

If a businessman accepts his full community responsibihty toward law enforcement, he must ask himself some questions, and in answering he is morally obliged to apply the same reaHstic

thinking that he uses in everyday commerce.

"Does the businessman want highly qualified, alert, and welleducated policemen on the job?" If so, will he support high standards for recruitment, plus pay and working conditions that will attract men of that cahber? "Does the businessman want policemen who are highly trained, capable of handling the myriad tasks of modem law enforcement?" If so, will he support the establishment of adequate

and continuous on-the-job training? "Does the businessman want the police ranks to be characterized by personal integrity?" If so, wiU he campaign against pohtical control of law enforcement, and will he refuse to accept or demand special favors for himself or his group? Let us suppose that the businessmen of a given community,
training facilities

acting in their capacity as

to these questions

community

leaders, take the answers

and apply them.

in

Can results be obtained? The answer can be found

Los Angeles. Most of you know

that law enforcement has taken remarkable strides in our city.

revolution in police procedures

goals have

been

set,

professional

underway here. Professional methods have been adopted, and

is

professional attitudes are at work.

The Kefauver Committee has reported Los Angeles

to

be a

"white spot" in a black national picture of corruption. The Chief of the Federal Narcotics Service has pointed to Los Angeles as

having the only "adequate" local narcotics squad in the country. Other agencies, one of them our own Los Angeles Chamber of

Commerce, has publicly acknowledged the

efforts here.
I

efficiency of police

mention these things, not to soHcit applause for the Los Angeles Police Department, but to answer the questions I have
posed.

Yes results can be obtained. The progress apparent within the Los Angeles Police Department is a source of pride in our city. It

38
is

Parker to Businessmen
the City of Los Angeles that has accomplished these results

not any individual or group of individuals. The police department has produced results only because the community has given them the tools to v^ork with. The businessmen of this city, along with
the rest of the citizens, have aheady answered the questions I asked a few moments ago. They have recognized their proprietary interests in the community police organization and have devoted constructive attention to its continued improvements. I have not attempted today to illustrate, in minute detail, the

many ways in which business and the police can work together. The men gathered here are from eleven states, representing cities with many forms of management. The police departments within those cities are of many sizes, with different forms of organization. Each has its own best way of doing the job, depending on
the topography, composition, and problems of

would be presumptuous

of

me

to illustrate

community. It the detailed working

its

procedures here in Los Angeles and then expect other police de-

partments to apply them to circumstances that

different.

may be

entirely

However, as I said initially, principles of administration, superand personnel management are not strangers to businessmen. These principles can be applied to any pohce organization. Underpaid policemen work as poorly in Utah as they do in Cahfornia. Ill-trained policemen will fail in their task in Montana as cervision,

as they will in New Mexico. Community apathy will weaken a police department in Colorado as quickly as in Oregon. Pohce organizations over the entire nation look to the businessman to supply the same realistic thinking to problems of commu-

tainly

nity law enforcement that they have applied to private enterprise.

The
I
its

industrial greatness of our country supplies full proof that

these

men can produce results. am certain that I express the

when
I

police department

feelings of both Los Angeles and wish you a pleasant and productive

meeting in our city.

Business Principles Applied in Police Service

The American public has seldom been known
causes.
to stint

when

private or governmental funds have been collected for worthwhile

But

at the

same

time,

we

retain

some Yankee

frugality.

We may be hberal to a fault in most things, but when it comes to

municipal taxes

we hke

to get a dollar's

worth for a dollar spent.

Because

it

may be

impossible to squeeze more than forty-five

cents of service from our present inflated dollar,

we

are right

when we demand
and
wisely.

that each of those pennies be spent carefully

City economy, which

course. In Los Angeles

when
it

translated into action

is

means

eflB-

ciency within the various city departments,

always a desirable

mendous

increases in

became a population and

practical necessity as tre-

explosive decentralization

of the city herald our shift from a semi-rural

economy

to a great

urban industrial area. A department of municipal government that received the full brunt of city expansion is the police department. As in no other branch of public service, the police find that each new inhabitant and every additional mile of territory creates new tasks. Of the people that migrate to a city, a percentage may be expected to have criminal tendencies. A larger nimnber will become the victims of crime. As new homes are built or as in our case, as entire new residential neighborhoods are created, some the size of small cities police units must be provided to patrol these areas, answer calls, relieve nuisances, aid the distressed, and quell disturbances. As the city grows, new residential areas require new shopping districts. Some of these retail establishments will become scenes of criminal activity. Patrol must be provided these areas; additional larceny, burglary, robbery, forgery, and shoplifting teams must be detailed to protect merchants.

39

40

Parker to Businessmen

As a

city grows, tourists throng to the area, conventions are

attracted, and all types of transient persons pass in and out of the community. These people demand and have a right to police protection. At the same time, permanent residents of the city must be protected from inconvenience occasioned by these events. More residents, visitors, homes, and shopping districts throw increased motor trafiBc upon already strained street systems. Collision, congestion, and parking problems increase the police task. As more workers are attracted to the thriving community, industry grows and industrial disputes invariably occur. The safety

of the

community requires

that the police enter these disputes as

impartial protectors of the rights of both sides.

If the city owns a harbor, increased dock and waterway patrol must be provided as the harbor expands to meet the challenge of

new

industry.

and the muon the aspects of a great city, it also takes on the problems of a great city. Economic and social frictions occur within the great anonymous masses of people. Problems of overcrowded schools, slum areas, and "skid rows" appear. The police are called upon to handle an infinite variety of tasks regulate dance halls, taverns, and public gatherings; plan and control holiday parades and festivals; issue gun licenses, press passes, and other forms of permits. In short, as we are often reminded by sociologists, when the
Finally, as the population density of the area rises

nicipality takes

stabiHzing

eflFects

of the smaller

community

are lost in the furious

and headlong rush of a great

accelerated rate.

city,

the police task increases at an

triple, or

doubling of population can easily

quadruple, the police task.

Fortunately, while our city has

grown there has been another

process at

work

that partially off-sets the seriousness of the

new

That second process has been the rapid development of professional attitudes and techniques within the Los Angeles Police Department. This professional trend has been noted and applauded by many enforcement agencies over the nation, and in many instances has been better understood and
police problems.

celebrated outside our community than within

it.

The Federal

Bureau of Investigation, the United States Bureau of Narcotics,

Business Principles Applied in Police Service

41

the late Kefauver Committee, and various state agencies, along

with many criminologists and leading police administrators, have pointed to this department as the foremost organization of its kind in the nation. More recently, individuals and civic groups
within our city have become aware of these revolutionary changes

pohce department, a fact and myself. This process of professionaHsm within the pohce ranks had its beginnings many years ago when leaders in municipal government placed rigid and rigorous standards upon the selection of pohce recruits. It should be noted that the depression of the thirties had at least one favorable effect when hundreds of alert and capable young college graduates, faced with insecurity in other fields, selected police service as a career. Other men, before and after that period, entered pohcework and gained advancedlevel education, degrees, and status as attomeys-at-law, while working on the job. While it may be interesting to study the reasons for this advance
in techniques

and

attitudes within the

that has been immensely gratifying to the oflBcers

interested in

some future time, we are interested today in the results. We are what has been done to provide more eflBcient pohce service and what is being done at present to continue improving
at

our local police organization.

Possibly the most interesting development within the police department in some years has been the organization of a planning and research division, which was put into effect last year. As a staff service of the chief's office, this group is engaged in measuring the pohce task and the effectiveness of our approach to it. Clearly, all tasks must first be planned. Planning is a prerequisite to the accomplishment of any job, however large or small. To plan, you must study what you have done in the past, and measure

your relative success or

ganizations have done.
conditions.

failure.

You must study what other

or-

You must

anticipate future changes in

One
the

of the

first

tasks of the planning

and research

division

was

the study of the distribution of crime over the city. Obviously,

more crime

in a certain district the

it.

more

officers that are

needed in that place to combat to some degree, we were not

While

this

has always been done

satisfied

with the accuracy of the

42

Parker to Businessmen
is

old methods. This problem

not a simple one. The amount of

crime varies enormously from hour to hour, day to day, and season to season. Specialized police units are needed to handle
certain types of crime, for example, forgery

and safecracking.

On

the other hand, certain criminal acts such as crimes of passion,

cannot be forecast with any accuracy, and therefore, no part of the city can be left entirely unguarded, however low its past crime rates may be.

Evidence indicates that we are succeeding in this tremendously complex task. The city is being provided with more efficient police coverage. Our crime rates have dropped below the national average, and we are experiencing a drop in most categories, as compared with local figures from last year. In connection with the task of deployment, it may be of interest to mention that police divisions are in the process of redesign. To enable us to compare population, family size, income, education, ages, and so forth, with census figures, future pohce areas
will correspond with census tracts. This will enable us to

make

basic studies comparing the incidence of crime with sociological

conditions, the results of

which should prove invaluable

in future

planning.
tion to population has

During the past year, the number of police officers in proporbeen steadily dropping. Rather than requesting more men, we felt we could gain better results from available manpower by continuing to improve our working efficiency, and by providing better working conditions with more equitable pay to our police officers. As in any branch of private industry or government, fairly compensated workers are happy workers. Fair compensation attracts more competent applicants. And, as in few other occupations, law enforcement depends more

upon

quality than quantity.

Diu-ing 1951, the pohce department operated while maintain-

ing an average of 350

this

men under

number was made

ejffort

our allotted strength. Most of up of police officers on active duty with

reserve military units.

In another

to provide greater coverage of the city,

we

began experimenting with one-man patrol cars during 1951. In the West Los Angeles division, we placed five of these one-man cars on

Business Principles Applied in Police Service

patrol

43

and studied the

it is

results carefully. Later in the year,

vv^ith

we

made

similar experiments in divisions

shghtly different crime

problems. WTiile
of police

obvious that the highly dangerous nature

work

will not allow us to

make

a complete shift to onewill

man

units,

we

are of the opinion that

ejfficient

we

creasingly

more

use of our

manpower by

be able to make inusing such one-

man patrol units in some areas.

We

had been aware

for

some time

that the task of processing

jail

100,000

common

drunks per year through our

system was us-

ing a disproportionate share of our man-hours. Both experience and study made it obvious that a large proportion of these drunks

were repeaters, sometimes ranging up

First,
jail

to forty aiTCSts

per year.

We

attacked this problem in two directions.

we have continued
in the

the operation of the present 137 acre

fifty

San Fernando Valley, which is limited to about same time we have acquired 588 acres in the Bouquet Canyon area, about forty-two miles from Los Angeles which will handle approximately 1,500 prisoners in a new rehabiliinmates. At the
tation center.

farm

Work

crews are presently fencing the area and prewill allow the

paring the
tinue

soil for

planting in 1952.

Such rehabilitation centers

its efforts

department

to con-

in rebuilding alcoholics physically, morally,

is

and
jail

mentally. Healthy outdoor farming activity

cases

available to those

who might

benefit from such activity.

The

centers can be

operated at
jail

than more formal institutional facihties, and they return a part of their cost by providing food to the entire
less cost

system. Finally, they offer a superior opportunity toward re-

building alcohohcs into useful citizens, eventually saving the cost

on repeated imprisonments.
Second, in order to eliminate the time-consuming details of
fingerprinting, photographing,

record forms

when

processing repeaters into

file.

and preparing long typewritten jail, we have inauRegular offenders are

listed in a

gurated a "drunk-repeater"

huge "wheel-dex" file by name, alias, thumb-print, photograph, and description. When such an individual is identified as a repeater, he is processed into jail by means of a simple form, saving many thousands of man-hours which were once spent collecting
arrest information already in our
files.

44

Parker to Businessmen
This
is

probably a good time to mention police paper work and As every businessman knows, however time-consuming and cumbersome the keeping of records may be, they are a prime necessity to any operation. This is even more true in law enforcement where we deal with miUions of individuals and crimes in a
records.
relatively short time.

Our

entire system of criminal justice rests

upon the existence of this information. Much of our investigation and detection of criminals is dependent upon recorded knowledge of their past habits and methods. As mentioned previously, our system of deploying personnel depends upon records of where and when crime is being committed. While the total cost of such a system may be large, it is appalling to consider the size and the
futility of the police task if

such records did not

exist.

Late in 1950 we began a systematic study of this paperwork. file, each classification, and each form is being carefully scrutinized to determine its final value. We are coldly measuring the effectiveness of each page, and comparing its value to the cost involved in accumulating and storing it. Since a full discus-

Each

sion of this intricate analysis

give only a

would require many hours, I will few examples of our progress to date. When I was appointed Chief in 1950, I found that we had a total of 757 separate forms in use on the department, all necessary to one or another aspect of the police task. They had not been idly accumulated. They existed because there were needs for them. However, by October of 1951, we had succeeded in reducing this total to about 300 forms, by combining several uses into single forms. The considerable time saved in eliminating duplication in typing and filing has been put to good use. Our crime report forms, of which thirteen varieties exist, accumulate at a rate of 60,000 reports per year. They were considered the nation's finest example of police records. However, upon a study of recent developments in government and industrial

forms,

late

1951

we felt we had

that

we

could effect several improvements.

By

designed a

new

series of

crime forms which

effected savings of

up

to thirty-five per cent in time

consumed

through dictation, typing, and filing. Certain improvements in our records system led us to the behef that many officers working indoors could be replaced by well-

Business Principles Applied in Police Service

45
of ac-

trained civilian help. This

would serve the double purpose

lov^^er

complishing those routine tasks by

year, a total of 108
in this

salary grades, plus re-

leasing additional police officers for basic police work. During the

pohce

officers

were transferred into the

field

manner. Other economies

we

are effecting are the tire

and battery

re-

building shops for our motor equipment.

We maintain and repair

our equipment. Our

our

own motor

transportation.

We now

operate the nation's larg-

est police radio system, again maintaining

advanced police training program makes full use of the police facilities at Elysian Park, which was built by police officers at no expense to the city. Juvenile welfare work is carried on by our Deputy Auxiliary Police Program, largely supported by private funds, and in our many scout troops and other youth organizations, which are totally self-supporting.
I

think

it

exemplifies the progressive spirit of our police officers

is

that nearly half of the department

training

engaged

in college level

on their own time and at their own expense. There is always a certain danger in listing the achievements of an organization, particularly a public one. If you dwell too long on past errors, you may destroy confidence in present activities. If you hst too many improvements, you may seem to cast aspersions on fine administrations that have preceded your own. At best, if you succeed in making your point, there are always
those

who

will cry "white-wash!"

We do not boast that the Los Angeles Police Department reprelaw enforcement field. Mistakes will be made, perhaps serious mistakes, but they will be made in good faith. We do not claim perfection within our ranks. We have atsents perfection in the

tempted, within the limits of our authority, to enlist the finest personnel available. However, since the City Charter limits us to selecting mortal human beings, we may continue to experience

some mortal weaknesses. At a time in which various peoples over the world
faith in their

are losing

departments of government,

we

are proud that the

current of opinion in Los Angeles runs in a reverse direction.

We

do not

feel that

we run

when we

say

we

the risk of being accused of complacency are proud of the service we are rendering the citi-

46

Parker to Buse^essmen
is

zens of our community. There

a feeling of progress and ac-

do not seek, and have no need for applause. We need only continued confidence and support from the citizens of our community. We are confident that this will be granted.
complisliment within our ranks.

We

Chapter Four

PARKER ON CRIME
Invasion from Within:
tional

An address delivered to the NaAutomatic Merchandising Association, Chicago, lUinois, September, 1952.

Crime Prevention: Excerpts from addresses before the Los Angeles Exchange Club, commemorating Crime Prevention Week, February, 1954, and February, 1955.

Invasion from Within

INmany times
as
.
. .

OUR country's 176 years

to attack.

enemies appeared we this and we have won the victory. It is a comforting thing habit of winning. It makes easy the behef that we shall always win that victory forever is a sort of that we are a chosen people
.

it has been subjected have taken no joy in warfare, but we have paid the price have fought

of existence,

We

hope it is so. I hope that we represent civihzation's pinnacle, as some people believe. I hope the hard and immutable rules which have governed other civihzations do not that even though we give way to weakness, comapply to us placency, and corruption, we are foredestined to endure to the
birthright of ours. I earnestly
. .

end.
I

say "I hope" but

cannot say "I

am

certain."

A lifelong pleas-

ure of mine has been the study of history and that pursuit is not conducive to shallow optimism. Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and

Rome rose, then fell, as strength gave way to weakness, alertness gave way to complacency, and virtue gave way to corruption. It
and perhaps productive, to recall that the high walls were never toppled by barbarians from without. But the walls crumbled into rubble and the enemy poured through when BARBARIANISM within rotted the moral
is

interesting,

of these civilizations

supporting timbers.

Today America

faces the kind of attack

which destroyed these

brave civihzations of the past.

We

face a three-pronged threat, a

simultaneous assault in three dimensions: the armed might of Soviet Russia, the Communist Fifth Column within our borders,

and organized crime. Let us gauge the strength and the security of our defense against them.

of these enemies

To speak

at length

about the dangers presented by an aggres-

sively militant Soviet

Union

is

scarcely nccessaiy today.

The

49

50

Parker on Crime

Soviets present an external danger, a danger that can be clearly

defined and squarely faced. Security from this threat demands a

protective force of soldiers
missiles

tion of

and rifles, tanks and field guns, guided and nuclear weapons, naval vessels, aircraft, and producthe vast supporting paraphemaha of modern war. We may

disagree for a time about the necessary size of armies, design of

equipment, or level of production. But, you

to

may be

certain, as in

the past, America will armor herself and raise her walls in time

meet these barbarians from without.

The second threat is posed by a communist fifth column within our borders. By force, violence, and sophistry, they hope to destroy our

government and supplant our

ideals with

an alien phi-

losophy. This threat,

insidious than invading armies, is something unique in our experience. During the last war a few sympathizers with the Fourth Reich and Imperial Japan scored some minor successes within this country. However, in all fairness to history, we cannot recall them as a major threat to our security. They furnished as much material to our screen writers as they did aid to our enemy. Compared with the disciplined agents of International Communism, they were

more

dangerous because

it is

country bumpkins cast in second-rate Gilbert and SulHvan.

The

danger created by the communist fifth column is not comic opera. It is real and it is potent. Its doctrine is cleverly fashioned. To the weak it promises strength; to the hungry it promises food; to the sick it promises medicine. It is Townsend Plan, Pyramid Club, and perverted Platonism combined with just enough intellectual halftruths to

make it palatable

to all classes.

was the underestimating of this thought a httle good-natured Fourth of July oratory at the right time would dispel the menace and bring the faithless back into the fold with tears in their eyes and the Pledge of Allegreatest error in the past
threat.

Our

We

giance on their

lips.

We were surprised when it did not work that

to find adherents to this alien philosophy

way.

We

were amazed

and in our government. were shocked into a re-discovery that Democracy requires more than garrulity; it requires a constant practice of its tenets
in our churches, our schools,

encamped

We

as a

way of life. Communism came

to these shores disguised as a vision of

hope

Invasion

from Within
credit of a

51

and pleasure. To the everlasting

age-old

few Americans, the

enemy in new disguise was recognized in time. They ripped away the sequined veils, and we saw communism for the
ancient and diseased harlot
I
it is.

do not despair or fear for an America alert to the dangers of first two threats. We have always known how to meet armed aggression and we have learned to meet ideological intrusion. As we approach the eve of a national election, whatever our political alignment, we are pleased to note that the major pohtical parties differ only on the details of meeting these threats and are in full agreement that they must be met. The third dimension of the attack on America, organized crime, comes wholly from within. So uninformed are we as to its true
these

nature that to give the elemental facts

known

to

every practicing

policeman
are

is

to

we

that to speak of
is

brand the speaker as an alarmist. So complacent it in the same breath with a fifth column

and war

to court ridicule.

And

so
it

warped

are

some
is

of our early
to incur the

virtues that to actively

combat

at every level as a right

displeasure of those

who

regard

it

and the wrath

of

those

who use it as

a livelihood.

Organized crime, unUke the other prongs of the attack on our country, has not been recognized for the potent threat it is. Like earlier civilizations, we build our walls high without attending to the moral timbers which sustain the structure. We arm against barbarians without and seek their agents within, but calmly ignore the fact that barbarianism within can accomphsh our downfall more quickly than an enemy. To understand organized crime, it is necessary to know something of the growth of crime in America. Until the early 1920's, lawlessness in America was seldom conducted as a business operation. A few criminals banded together for self protection and profit, but theirs was usually a temporary association a hit-or-miss arrangement. In those days the criminal preyed much like a wild animal, with no purpose except that of the moment and with little organization and planning. In those days, crime in the United States was not regarded as a major problem. Experts viewed it, and with some justification, as part of the social friction generated during the nation's growth.

52

Parker on Crime

that crime would diminish as America settled down and prospered. As so often happens with experts, they were wrong. They forgot to allow for the fact that the American criminal, however warped his nature, possesses the pecuhar American genius for organizing. It was probably inevitable in a country where business became huge, complex, and spectacularly successful, that illegal business would develop along the same pattern. During the twenties, crime experienced a genuine revolution. Taking a leaf from the book of honest merchandising, the criminal elements decided to organize

They reasoned

and adapt

to environment in order to profit in the expanding

They learned the value of business fronts and legitimate appearances. They learned the value of quiet suits, manicured fingernails, and soft voices. They learned the value of pubHc relations. They created a hierarchy composed of investors, boards
market.
of directors, supervisors,
invisible

and workers. And finally they created an government within a government, with its own laws, courts, and executioners. Robbery, burglary, mayhem, and murder could be conducted quietly and eflBciently as a last resort when threat and chicanery failed. It takes only a single fantastic fact to round out this picture. While paying an annual tax of billions of dollars to this invisible government and faced on every hand with indisputable proof of its reality from victims, courts, and the pohce, the American public

persistently refuses to believe in

I

its

existence.

speak of organized crime, I do not refer to the pennyante hoodlum, the half-tramp half-thief, the alley prostitute, or any of the several million cheap criminals who are a nuisance and hazard on our streets. When I speak of organized crime I speak of
a tightly-knit, discipUned, arrogant, and worldly wise group

When

who

make crime

pay, and pay well.

speak of an enterprise which has

driven an unholy wedge into our ideals, dividing personal interest and morahty into separate spheres, from which division flows a stream of gold into the coffers of the underworld. I speak of an immensely wealthy cartel which controls mayors, state legislators, judges; a cartel that, for whose control of vital voting blocks, has brought candidates for high and revered oflBces, importuning and humble to its door.

Invasion from Within

53

Let
This
is

me make

it

abundantly clear that

this is

not guess work.

not theory formulated for some dubious advantage by a Chief from a far western state; views which may, at best, Pohce reflect only provincial problems. Perhaps a few quotations will
dispel such doubts.
First,

a Democrat,

The Honorable
it

Estes Kefauver, whose in-

vestigation, although

merely scratched tlie hard \eneer of organized depravity, planted at least a seed of doubt in the minds of some thinking Americans. The Senator had this to say:

A
of

nation-wide crime syndicate does exist in the United States

America despite the protestations of a strangely assorted company of criminals, self-serving politicians, plain blind fools, and others who may be honestly misguided, that there is no such
combine.

Next, a Republican and respected ex-President of this nation,

The Honorable Herbert Hoover, had

this to say:

The greatest danger (today) is not by invasion of foreign armies. Our dangers are that we may commit suicide from within by
complaisance with
havior.
history.
I

evil or

These

evils

by public tolerance of scandalous behave defeated many nations many times in

do not believe

it is

necessary to amphfy these statements with

those of prominent

clergymen, and educators, and of respected industrialists and labor heads. Leaders from every segment of our society have voiced similar warnings.
jurists,

My

purpose here today

is

not to repeat that warning.

in

The cry
I

"wolf" has already been given. Lest that cry be ignored,

pro-

pose to identify the "wolf," chart the direction

ing,

which

it is

mov-

measure
attack.

its

distance from your door, and describe the methods

of

its

A good beginning is to measure the volume of crime in America. There are 3,500,000 known criminals residing in our midst, a group about equal in size to our entire armed forces. This group injures us at the rate of one major crime every eighteen seconds, a million and one-half major crimes annually. A murder is committed every forty-five minutes during the last twenty-four hours, thirty-seven persons died violently in this manner. It is estimated

54

Pabker on Crime

that 150,000 murderers are at large on our streets

and that an-

other 200,000 persons

now

Hving will murder 300,000 persons

before they die.

Ignoring for a
figure
juries,

moment

the suflFering represented

by these

fig-

ures, let us assess the

damages in dollars and cents. A conservative on the cost of each major crime, taking into account inproperty
loss,

arrest costs, court costs and, in event of

would be in the nature of a thousand dollars. Thus the immediate and direct cost of major crime would be between one and two bilfion dollars. The indirect cost of crime is somewhat higher. If you take a garment to the cleaner, purchase a fryer for dinner, or seek entertainment in the evening, a sizeable part of the payment goes
conviction, prison costs,
as tax to organized crime. Part of your rising insurance rates have been influenced by crime. The smallest part of this cost, and the only part which the public appears to recognize and regret, is the cost of maintaining law enforcement services. This ludi-

crous attitude

used

is similar to complaining about the cost of water keep a conflagration from destroying your home. In addition to the direct and indirect cost of major crime, our economy is affected by dollars siphoned out of creative economy and into gambling. Approximately twenty bilhon dollars change hands annually in this manner. Is this important to the business man? Are his profits influenced by the fact that a significant portion of the nation's wealth twenty billion unproductive dollars

to

circulates outside the sphere of legitimate business activity?

To

answer

this, I

want

to introduce a slogan

adopted by the business-

men

of Los Angeles: "The buck that goes to the bookie does not go to business!" The consumer dollar lost on the horses, at the crap table, into the slot machine, or in the poker parlor, does not purchase food, clothing, housing, or, to bring it close to home, the product of the automatic vending machine. Your industry's share of that unproductive twenty billion that parasitic twenty billion that lost twenty billion might well mean the difference between profit and bankruptcy in lean years ahead. These billions have not only made organized crime wealthy and powerful, but they open the way to expansion of the underworld empire through legitimate and quasi-legitimate investments. The

Invasion from Within

identity of the organizations

55
this

which make up

empire are

known.

The most ominous of all criminal cartels is a group known as the Mafia. While some may doubt that the Mafia that had its roots in Sicily is the same organization that exists in America today, no authority will question the existence of a Mafia-type or-

ganization of tremendous proportions, and the end result

is

the
of

same.
its

The Mafia is marked by an ancient code members to the followino; tenets:

Absolute obedience to the Chief.

that binds

all

(1)
(2)

Reciprocal aid in case of any need whatsoever.

(3)

An

oflFense

received by one of the

an offense
cost.
(4) (5)

to the entire organization

members must be considered and must be avenged at any

Never

resort to the state's authorities for justice.

Never reveal the names of members of the organization.

The early password of the Mafia bespeaks its character: E morte solo non returnero; E dementicato returnew, which means "only the dead do not return; he who has forgotten will return." The purpose of the password is to fully impress upon the members of the Mafia that the penalty for the failure to remain silent
is

death.
It is diflBcult to

believe the Mafia exists.

Even
and

to a

poHceman
its

who knows

its

members, traces
is

its activities,

investigates

something unreal about an ancient code of "silence or death" existing in the twentieth century. Yet it does exist, and its inner circle of members do control organized crime in America! The interests of the Mafia are varied. It is active in gambling and wire services, narcotics, counterfeiting, white slaverv, and slot-machine rackets. Its semilegitimate interests include produce distribution, the olive oil industry, the tomato paste industry,
murders, there
breweries,
distilleries,

nightclubs, hotels

and, again closer to

home, vending machine supply and service. This is only a partial list. In one city it may control laundry service, in another transportation, in another union activities, and in still another only the pohtical offices necessary to allow open xice activities. In view

56

Parker on Crime
it is

of the growing narcotic menace,

interesting to

know

that the

Mafia plays an important part in the illegal narcotic trade. In recent years organized crime, through this organization, has

moved increasingly into the field of legitimate business enterprise. The coin machine industry is one of their targets. They plan
to take over supply and service, distribution and, ultimately, manufacturing. They plan this because the coin machine industry
is

considered ideal for their needs.

They have

available intimida-

tion

and strong arm experts

so successful in persuading small

proprietors of the advantages of one machine over another. Exist-

ing punch-board, horse-race information, and bookie chains can

be counted upon to supply new customers and control old ones. You have informed me of your interest in preventing such an eventuality. On this score, let us be frank, A legitimate operator, limited to operation within the law, alone cannot compete with the criminal. If his machines are wrecked, his only recourse is civil suit or criminal complaint. Both are lengthy processes dependent upon proof, which may be an illusive thing if the city is inefficiently pohced. If employees are strong-armed, he can only hire and train new employees if he can find men willing to face injury or death for a modest salary. If his own life, or the life of his loved ones, is threatened, he can complain to the police and trust those lives to a guard who may prove incompetent. And finally, if the businessman elects to fight fire with fire and employ weapons, thugs, and intimidation, he will find himself in a strange field where he is unacquainted with the tricks of the new trade, and he himself may be the one whom the law punishes while the
criminal
is left

free to take over the business without resistance.

Professional considerations do not

aUow me

to

fist all

the Mafia

and underworld leaders. In many cases Mafia leaders and their associates assume the role of leading citizens, contributors to worthy charities, and solid men of affairs. Their real identity would come as a crude shock to many of the civic leaders of the communities in which they reside. The Mafia is nationwide in its scope, and its tentacles reach into cities and towns throughout the length and breadth of America. With the exception of the Grand Council, the Mafia is in the
nature of a loose federation.

Common

interest has long since

Invasion

from Within

57

placed a ban on gangland warfare, and the federation, based on unwritten agreements, grows stronger each year. Warfare has

been replaced with execution under the unwritten laws of this government. May I cite to you two timely instances of this cooperation which occurred on the Pacific Coast. During the investigation of two murders in the City of Los Angeles, we obtained information which had caused us to conclude that these murders were Mafia executions. We believe that the decree of death was handed down by a Mafia court that convened in the Midwest. The Mafia court is unique in that the defendant does not appear before the court and is not represented by counsel. There is no provision for bail, writs of habeas corpus, or appeal. After the court rendered its decision in this particular case, a member of the Mafia was summoned from the Pacific Coast to another Western city where he received instructions to put into effect the order of the court. His task was to arrange the details of the execution. Upon his return to our area, he consulted with the local head of the Mafia, and shortly thereafter, in a bizarre but perfectly planned and executed plot, two men met their death in expiation for the crime of having violated the code of the Mafia. As the investigation progressed, it was definitely established that the widow of one of the deceased was withholding information from the pofice and misrepresenting facts within her knowledge. When confronted with this accusation, she in effect invoked the age-old tenet of the Mafia code that its
invisible

members never seek

authorities even

or accept the aid of lawfully constituted

though they themselves

may be

the victim of a

crime.

A
dler

second case which remains unsolved involves a narcotic pedwho was arrested while transporting narcotics and who con-

sented to appear as a witness in federal court and testify against his superiors. Before the trial court could convene, this narcotic peddler was found stretched out in death in another city and the

head bore mute evidence that the code of the Mafia had once more been invoked. At this point, I would hke to pause and pay personal tribute to Mr. Virgil W. Peterson, Operating Director of the Chicago Crime
bullet hole in his

Commission. In

his recently

published book, "Barbarians in Our

58

Paeker on Crime

Midst," he gives an erudite recitation of the alliance of politics,

crime,

and vice.

commend it to you.
is

The menace
exists, as in
statistics,

of crime

found, not so

much

in the fact that

it

the fact that it daily grows in size and power. Crime although they reflect continued and alarming increases

in certain categories of major crime, do not give an accurate read-

ing for two reasons:

(1)

The movement

of organized crime into quasi-legitimate opera-

tions has created a vast twilight

zone of criminality which never

leaves an imprint
(2)

upon a

police blotter.

Crime

statistics

are based on offenses

to the poHce.

known

to the police.

This knowledge embraces those crimes which are either observed

by the police or reported

carelessness in

Many

times, through

minor cases or fear of

reprisals in

major cases,

crimes are not reported.

For example, one of the most lucrative sources of income to the lesser minions of the underworld is the crime of blackmail. These criminals have become expert in creating an aura of fear in the minds of persons who have exhibited human frailties and who pay continuous tribute to prevent exposure. Even though the police may be aware of these situations, the victim of the crime
will rarely reveal his predicament. Also,
statistics for

comparative criminal

the nation as a whole are based on the reports con-

tributed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation

by the

local

law

enforcement agencies. Inaccuracies in such reporting destroy the statistics as is evidenced by the fact that one of the large cities in the nation does not contribute to this pool of crime data as their reports are considered inaccurate, and are not acceptable to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.^ Furthermore, the entire gamut of criminal justice afi^ords innumerable opportunities for the guilty to escape punishment, and individual criminal records reflect relatively short terms for those convicted of serious crimes. As our penitentiaries become overcrowded, there is compelling necessity for the premature release of inmates in order to accommodate the constant influx. All of this.
vahdity of these
*

Crime
1,

statistics

from

this city

were incorporated

in

Uniform Crime Reports, Vol.

23, No.

1952, and in subsequent volumes. [Ed.]

Invasion from Within

of course,
is

59

discouraging to the conscientious police officer

who

represents you in this

war against the

criminal. It

is

extremely

law enforcement, after a diligent inand prosecution, to witness the criminal either escape punishment or obtain early release because of connections. In a recent study of the trends of three selected crimes robbery, burglary, and auto theft and using the data reported to the FBI by ten of the largest cities in America, we determined that
frustrating to professional

vestigation

since 1940 these cities experienced a 20 per cent increase in these

three felony ojffenses. Today, crime

The

tide
is

This

is on the march must be stemmed if we are to survive as a probably a good point to begin a discussion is

in America.

free people.
of solutions.

In seeking answers, there

always a temptation to discuss public morality. Full and abiding adherence by responsible citizens to

accepted principles of morality, as laid dovtnn in the scriptures, would vanquish the problem overnight. Such a return to our

and virtues would be the happiest and quickest However, it is a fact that we have become a confused nation, and the path back is as difficult as the course ahead. Many confuse morahty with legality. Many have accepted double standards, adjustable to private and business life. Many view morahty as a philosophical enigma and pride themselves as being "practical" men, convinced that "good" and "gold" and "God" are spelled in the same manner. Another temptation also occurs. It is the temptation to find a scapegoat a pohtical party preferably upon which to blame the whole problem. To most of us here, this temptation is nearly overpowering. However, despite our inclinations, we must be practical and realize that solutions are not found in scapegoats. The "mess," as it has been described, is not confined to any one political philosophy, any one place, or any one level of governearly strengths
solution.

ment. It has been repeatedly stated that law enforcement is primarily a local responsibility and that, even though criminals may be organized on a nation-wide basis, the majority of their criminal
acts involve the violation of local laws. Therefore,
it is

the local

police that
tivities

must be depended upon to combat the criminal acof crime syndicates. As we accept this premise, it must be

60

Parker on Crime

concluded that between the law-abiding elements of society and the criminals that prey upon them stands a thin blue hne of defenseyour police oflBcer. It is upon this group that we must de-

pend
won,
cal,

to defeat the invasion

it is

from within.

If the battle is to

be

imperative that local pohce agencies operate on a truly

professional level.

By

the

word

professional, I

mean

honest, ethi-

competent police service, completely free of political manipulation and control. We have enjoyed the type of political culture in the City of Los Angeles for the past several years that has enabled us to act as a laboratory in testing the formula. Our officers perform their daily task without regard to classes of persons
secure in the reahzation that the only demand upon them is the proper performance of their duty. The business leaders of our community have long since reahzed that countenanced vice is

not necessarily an integral part of a large American

city.

As

remarked
Thus,

earlier,

they reahze that the buck that goes to the

bookie, or to any other criminal activity, does not go to business.

we have

their full support in the suppression of gambling,

and the other facets of organized crime. The result has been nothing less than spectacular. Today Los Angeles is referred to by authorities as the nation's "white spot"
prostitution,
in the black picture of nationally organized crime.

Let

me

cite

some statistics which may indicate what professional law enforcement can accomphsh. While the ten major cities reporting to the FBI were experiencing a twenty per cent increase in robberies, burglaries, and auto thefts since 1940, these crimes have actually decreased 2 per cent in the City of Los Angeles during that same period, and this decrease has been achieved in spite of the phenomenal growth in population with all of the social dislocations that are attendant thereto. Since 1945, a period in which the
police there consolidated professional gains, these selected crime

Los Angeles decreased thirty-seven per cent while the major cities experienced a nine per cent increase. Finally, ten taking into account increases in population, these crimes per 100,000 residents in Los Angeles have been reduced since 1945 by the astonishing total of forty-six per cent. Moreover, the twihght zone of quasi-legitimate crime is not tolerated in Los Angeles. Recently, a Pacific Coast representative
totals in

Invasion from Within

of a national vending machine
criminals

61
is

company who

here today was

contacted by Mafia representatives from the Ohio Valley. These

had organized a
to

California corporation

and established

an

office in

a city to the south of us. This Pacific Coast representa-

tive

was instructed

meet these men

at a certain time, in a certain

room, of a certain hotel. WTien he demurred on the basis he was accustomed to doing business in his office, he was told in no uncertain terms to carry out his instructions,

and that

it

was

their

intention to purchase cigarette vending machines. Shortly there-

the appointment was cancelled without explanation. \\'Tien he called these facts to my attention, I was able to give him a complete explanation as to the reason for the cancellation of the appointment. The answer lay in the operation of our Intelligence Division which is charged with the single responsibility of comafter,

batting organized crime. Jack Lait, in referring to our Intelhgence

Division in his newspaper column, stated: "I have found only one local set-up that recognizes the peril of this situation. Los Angeles has the only police agency designed to combat the Mafia and its collateral mobster combinations. It has a full-blown intelligence squad, which has concentrated on tliis field for years, and has compiled a file second only to the F.B.I." Through expert operation, members of our InteUigence Division uncovered the entire plot on the part of these hoodlums to invade the automatic vending machine industry in our area. Subsequent action on the part of our officers discouraged these predatory migrants from

pursuing their original objectives. I bring these facts to you, not to seek praise for our department, but to show that the crime picture need not be discouraging. The

gangland menace has an AchiUes Heel and every discerning businessman and policeman is aware of it. Organized crime cannot operate in the face of determined and honest local law enforcement.
If

organized crime continues to operate

in

your

city,

it

does
is

so because

someone

locally profits

from

its

existence. This

not

to indict the administration of the city or the police

It
is is

department.

if

and police administrator honest, alert, and devoted to your welfare. He cannot be blamed he is forced to operate under archaic regulations, political presa fact that the average policeman

62

Parker on Crime

sure, and public apathy. The very fact that competent and honest policemen remain on the job in the face of these obstacles is prima facie proof of their deep loyalty to you, a loyalty that could be shaped by you into a potent weapon against these enemies within. However, from a quarter-century of police service under ad-

ministrations corrupt
wise, I say to

and honest, weak and you if organized crime exists

strong, foolish
in

and

your

city,

some-

where a weakling, a fool, and a despicable traitor is betraying you as surely as if he were selling the key to our armed defenses.

The

first

step then, in the battle against organized crime,

is

the

freeing of the police from political control. Following this, the

next moves are logical and need

little

amplification to businessmen

who

deal every day with problems of administration, personnel,

planning, and other organizational fundamentals. High-standard recruiting must be adopted. Rotten wood or deadwood must be eliminated. High-quahty training must be instituted.

budgeting,

Adequate
ity of
I

salaries

must be provided

to attract

and hold the qualin the internal

men needed.
you businessmen
to take

invite

an interest

police affairs of your communities for three very

good reasons:

(1) I invite this interest because you hope to remain in business and escape control by criminal combines. Law enforcement is a "thin blue line" which stands between you and the organized forces of crime. Therefore, your interest in this bulwark cannot be an abstract interest it is an extremely practical matter affecting you and your family's personal future, and as patriots, the future

of your nation.

your interest in police affairs because organization and is "right down your alley." If you operate at a profit, you are demonstrating practical knowledge of organizational techniques. The same techniques apply to a police department. If the businessmen of a community cannot see and correct the faults in the local police structure, then no one can the cause
(2) I invite

administration

is lost.

(3)

I invite

your interest in local law enforcement because your

if it is

business will prosper

effective

and

it

will suffer if enforce-

ment remains weak. Whether you

like it or

not you have a sizeable

financial investment in the political

and

social health of

your com-

Invasion from Within

munity.
aflfairs

63

It is

nothing more than sound

fiscal

poHcy

to look to

affecting the soundness of that investment.

little

The second step in the battle against organized crime will take more doing. As you have seen, criminal syndicates operate
scale.

on a national

Local police agencies can be effective against

them, but only by the expenditure of great effort and sums of money. To protect Los Angeles from this menace, the police department has found it necessary to know^ more about mobsters in other cities of the nation than you know about your own business associates. We maintain haison with individuals and police officers in every major city in the country and thus have built up files that threaten to expand us out of our own offices. I contend this nationwide study of criminal syndicates is not justifiably a local responsibility but belongs on the federal level. I am certain the founders of our nation did not foresee a day when citizens, criminal and lawful alike, could span the continent in a few hours and travel from city to city in a few minutes. A major factor in the spread of crime is the fact that there is in existence no federal agency supplying intelligence on syndicated crime to local law enforcement agencies. Congressional crime committees, however useful they may be to Congress, do not fill the need of the local police. Needed today is a permanent agency of the federal government dedicated to the continuous study of syndicated crime in America and charged with the responsibility of supplying to local law enforcement information concerning the identity of members of criminal organizations and their methods of operation. Otherwise, local law enforcement is not equipped with the necessary information to protect your community.
This recommendation on our part is not new. A similar recommendation was made to the Kefauver Committee on November 16, 1950, when, accompanied by the head of our Intelligence Division, Captain Hamilton, I appeared before the committee in executive session. In his report to the press following this session,

"The Chief and Captain Hamilton stressed the necessity of authorizing some federal agency or ereSenator Kefauver stated:

64
ating

Parker on Crime

some federal agency for the purpose of disseminating information about organized criminals and crime to the local enforcement oBcers."
For the past two years, the American Bar Association has conducted an extensive study of syndicated crime in America through its Commission on Organized Crime. Sometime ago, this Commission requested recommendations from Mayor Bowron of Los
Angeles. In his reply,
tion that

we had

previously

Mayor Bowron reiterated the recommendamade to the Kefauver Committee.

Commission on Organized Crime is submitting a report to its national convention in San Francisco this week. In line with Mayor Bowron's recommendation, that report states as follows: "Nowhere is the need for federal action to assist local law enforcement stressed more urgently than in the field of collecting, coordinating, and disseminating informaAssociation's
tion about organized crime."

The American Bar

The
critical
inal,

third step

toward controlling syndicated crime demands a

evaluation of our system of laws.

The

voice of the crim-

the communist, and the self-appointed defender of civil

Hberties constantly cries out for

police authority.

more and more restriction upon At the present time, I am the defendant in a

civil action designed to test my legal authority to use the dictograph in obtaining evidence in criminal cases, despite the fact that there is not one shred of evidence that this authority has been abused, and despite the fact that, through the use of the dictograph, many vicious criminals have been brought to the bar of justice that otherwise would have escaped detection. It is a fact that much of the nefarious business of the underworld is transacted through the medium of the vast intra-continental system of telephonic communication. Nevertheless, the police are generally precluded from "listening in" under pain of criminal prosecution. The Magna Charta was extracted from King John on the plains of Runnymede in 1215. There were no telephones at that time, and do you believe it was the intention of the founders of liberty that in contemporary times we should provide to the

criminals

who would

destroy us a sanctuary within the present

vast communication network? I do not. Every attempt

to avail ourselves of technological

we make

advancement

in

combatting

Invasion from Within

65
readily apparent that

crime

is

challenged again and again. It

is

the freedom of action of the individual must constantly be re-

and must meticulously obey the law. But it is equally apparent that the criminal flaunts all rules of order, and the pohce organization, heavily shackled by legal restrictions, is Httle match for a well organized and extensive underworld. Since internal crime is jeopardizing American freedom, we must re-examine the balance between the criminal army and society lest a misconcepstricted in the interest of the welfare of society as a whole,

that the police

tion of individual liberty result in the destruction of all Hberty.

The

final step in the control of

its

syndicated crime

is

a full recog-

nition of
policies. I

threat

by the

parties

who

formulate the nation's

political party has fully

do not believe that either major

recognized the threat of organized crime to the vitals of American

freedom. Both parties give every evidence of an alertness to our

from the Soviet and from tlie Communist Fifth Column. have not perceived in them a clear understanding of the fact that our national life is dependent upon order and that order is dependent upon the impartial enforcement of our laws. There must be a common appreciation that our nation and its defenses rest on virtue and morahty, not in Washington alone, but in every city and hamlet across this land. It has been a pleasure as well as an honor to be in\ated here today to address you. I trust you will not view these remarks as just a tirade by a policeman against the enemies of society. We need not be philosophers or historians to mark a menace and to squarely face it. You have seen how crime can engulf a nation and destroy its freedom and how the underworld has risen and may
peril

But

rise still further in positions of political influence

over important
in fighting

ofiice

holders

who

then become mere puppets, executing the will

of their criminal overlords.

We

expend vast resources

foreign enemies. Let us not be blind to the internal dangers

which

can destroy us as quickly and as certainly. The day has come when, in the preservation of our freedom, the law abiding people
of this nation

a relentless war

and the police who serve them must upon the invasion from within.

join

hands

in

Crime Prevention
I

deem

it

a privilege to address you on this occasion of the

observance of National Crime Prevention Week. While I shall utilize my experience during almost twenty-seven years of work in law enforcement in speaking to you today, I would prefer to be
considered in the role of an American citizen
ternal trends.

who

is

vitally conin-

cerned with the welfare of his country and alarmed over the

In approaching the subject of crime in America, permit me to quote from a paper recently issued by Richard A. McGee, Director of the
.
. .

Department of Corrections of the State

its

of California:
is

The number one domestic problem

associated social

of the United States

crime and
to feed

lions of dollars spent to

and political evils. In spite of bilcombat and control it, crime continues
nation with increasing vigor.

upon the

vitals of the

We

continue to pass laws which

crime

crime

we do not enforce; we authorize prevention programs which we do not support; we spread information of a sensational nature with morbid avidity; we
up laws and
judicial systems

have

set

which are often more protec-

tive of the individual criminals than they are of society;

we

give

open countenance
our public
ojfficers;

to organized vice

we

give lip

which corrupts our police and service to moral precepts which we

do not practice; we pay two billions of dollars a year for running the machinery for the administration of criminal justice; we lose another billion dollars each year through the economic damage done by criminals. The intangible and unhappy concomitants of all this, in terms of broken Hves, personal unhappiness, and moral degradation, are beyond the possibilities of objective measurement. Crime and its evil associates constitute the real soft spot in our American social system.
. .
.

Concomitant with

this statement, in

which

concur, the testi-

mony of J. Edgar Hoover in a recent appearance before the House

Appropriations Committee revealed that a serious crime was com-

Crime Prevention

67

mitted in the United States every 14.9 seconds during 1953 for an

He estimated the annual average cost of crime for each United States family at $495, and the nation's total crime bill at twenty billion dollars a year which is ten times the total given each year to all of the churches in the United States. There are some of us who sincerely beUeve that our democracy is being destroyed by this criminal invasion from within. In order that the pohce may be properly positioned in this situation, I submit to you that crime is a product of contemporary civilization and the unprecedented increase springs primarily from two major factors. In two generations a kaleidoscopic change has swept over America as we have gone from a simple rural life to heavy concentrations of people in large cities subject to complex influences with which the human being is hardly equipped to cope. Historically, changes from rural to urban bring with them waves of crime. The other factor consists of the ever-growing emphasis upon materiality with less and less regard for moral and spiritual
all-time high.

values.
It is estimated that the ever-increasing criminal army in our midst consists of approximately six million people. This is a far greater force than have overthrown whole nations in the past. It continues to expand as crime increases at a more rapid rate than

the population. In order to have some degree of protection against

its

criminal by-products, society employs a police force

is

primary responsibility

to contain the criminal

it.

whose army away from

the society which produced

to contain the Chinese

It is

not dissimilar to the role as-

signed to the United Nations Forces in Korea whose mission was

Communist army.
all

The

police

do not create crime. Despite

of the internal

efi^orts

of the police to professionalize their service, to increase their

eflBciency,

ing the

and to adopt new and modern techniques, we are war against crime. One of the inherent diflBculties in
is

los-

the

situation

the failure of the people to properly appraise the

upon crime as an indicome to our attention and disregard tlie mass. We must become more reahstic in our appraisal of the criminal situation and squarely face up to crime in America with
crime problem.
are inclined to look

We

vidual incident that has

all

of

its

ugly proportions.

68
I

Parker on Crime

should like to select as my theme today a statement contained in an editorial on crime prevention published in a metropolitan daily of this city under yesterday's date line.
penal, parole,
".
. .

Our

public interest
."

and probation systems obviously fail to consider and public protection as paramount in far too many

cases.

9, 1953, Mr. about parole and probation sysJ. tems "There is one factor which may be the cause of the increase of crime, in my estimation. That is the abuse of parole, probation, and other forms of clemency which, to my mind, almost makes justice a mockery. I am strongly in favor of proper parole and probation and any form of clemency that tends to rehabilitate men, but I am vigorously opposed to the type of clemency which turns confirmed criminals loose upon society. I feel very strongly about that." Continuing, the FBI Chief said that 11 of the 18 FBI agents who have died in line of duty were killed by criminals who had been paroled or placed on probation or who got lenient treatment in the courts. In turning our attention to parole in Cahfomia, we must examine a report entitled "California Male Prisoners Released on Parole." The report is a study of the disposition of prisoners in state penitentiaries during the four-year period from 1946 through

In his testimony before Congress on December

Edgar Hoover had

:

this to say

1949.

During that time, 8,954

men were

paroled.

By January

1,

1953, 51.3 per cent of those released to California supervision

were

found to be in violation of parole. Of those experiencing their first parole under California supervision, 50.6 per cent were in violation of parole during the period studied, and the median time served between release on parole and suspension thereof was 6.3 months. Those prison inmates paroled more than once are known as re-parolees. Of this group, 1,013 were released from the state penitentiaries during the four-year period, and by January 1, 1953, 67.6 per cent were found to be in violation of parole. The median time served by this group between parole and suspension thereof was 4.7 months. It is not my purpose to castigate the parole system in Cahfornia

but the people of the community must understand and appreciate

the problem faced by the local police in dealing with those re-

Crime Prevention'

69

leased from our penitentiaries that revert to their former criminal habits or in

some other manner

violate their parole.

is

The em-

phasis in the field of penology today

out quarreling with this principle,

the consequence of
if

its

upon must be emphasized that misapplication will be recurring crime, and,

it

rehabihtation. With-

we

are to be fair in our evaluation of the situation, the greater

share of the responsibility must be placed upon the parole system

and not the

It is

local police.

charged with the administration of the parole system in California are competent and are conscientiously discharging their responsibilities in conformity
belief that the persons
policies. It must be assumed that a prison inon parole when the processes to which he is subreleased jected indicate that he can successfully fulfill the conditions of

my

with established

mate

is

such parole. Nevertheless, the following conclusions are inescapable:

The parole system

all

fails in

prisoners released on parole under

in

more than two-thirds

of

more than one-half of the cases of Cahfomia supervision, and all cases where the prison inmate was

paroled on two or more occasions.

Fortunately, afiBnnative steps have already been taken to at-

tempt

week a meeting was machinery of criminal justice in Los Angeles County together with the Adult Authority. At that meeting, refined processes were agreed upon that will give to the Adult Authority a more complete profile upon all perto alleviate this situation. Just this
all

called of representatives of

facets of the

sons entering the penitentiaries of this state. This will permit a

to be made of the disposition of apfrom California penitentiaries. This progressive co-operation among law enforcement agencies is both commendable and promising.

more accurate determination

plications for parole

Perhaps no branch of municipal government is more dependent upon the co-operation of the public than your Police Department. Good police work has its inception in good citizenship, with all the responsibilities that term implies. One of the most eflFective deterrants to crime is an alert public a public aware of its re-

70
sponsibilities
cers.

Parker on Crime

and eager

to co-operate with

law enforcement
all

ojffi-

This co-operation entails the prompt reporting of

crimes,

the giving of necessary information to investigators, the willingness to act as witnesses in criminal cases, and the acceptance of
jury duty.

Law

enforcement

is

so

dependent upon the co-operation of the

individual citizen that credit for police progress must go primarily

to the citizen. Acting through his elected representatives, the
citizen patterns the police organization, sets
its

standards, passes

on

its

eflPectiveness,

and pays

its

cost.

Largely by his political

ethics, the citizen

determines the ethics of the poHce.

By

his rec-

ognition of the principles of administration and management, he

working conditions which attract the quality of personnel and order in the community is a partnership of a type which can exist only in a working democracy. Public attitudes toward the police directly aflFect crime rates. Disrespect for law enforcers breeds disrespect for law. A child who is raised to laugh at "cops" is not likely to grow up with any great respect for the laws which the police enforce. Decades of misrepresentation and abuse in media of public entertainment and education have left their mark. National crime rates are rising steadily, increasing at a greater rate than the population. Society is finding that it cannot ridicule the enforcers of law on one hand and build respect for law on the other.
sets

desired. Safety

is

It

has been aptly stated that the greatest crime

the tolerance

Exchange Clubs of the United States (who are to be highly complimented on sponsoring National Crime Prevention Week) in a concerted action request the President of the United States to call a National Conference on Crime in the immediate future in order that representatives of business, industry, labor, the judiciary, the bar, and law enforcement may sit down together in an appraisal of the length and breadth and depth of the criminal scourge in America, and formulate plans to meet this threat through the use of every legal means at their disposal.
of crime. Therefore, I suggest that the

Chapter Five

PARKER ON POLICE PLANNING

Address at the Training Sessions, the 61st Annual Conference, InterPractical Aspects of Police Planning:

An

national Association of Chiefs of Police,

New

Orleans,

Louisiana, September, 1954.

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

Lecture I
Introduction

an activity tliat has occupied the mind of man since the beginning of time. We've all personally planned since we first learned to reason we've planned week-ends, our vacations, our finances, our recreation, our schoohng even our choice of mates. Our wives have planned our dinners, our livingrooms, and are right now probably planning jobs for us to do on our return home. Our children plan their allowances and even the types of breakfast food we shall buy. Our military establishment plans for peacetime training and wartime operations; our government plans for national disaster, depression, and for expanded services to the people. Planning is an all-pervasive concept, with individuals and organizations alike, and occupies a great deal of our time and energy. Police agencies are not immune from the duties and hazards of planning, but, when the word "planning" is coupled with the word "police," the resultant concept is nebulous, difficult to pin-point, and subject to a myriad of interpretations. One can attach the word "planning" to every function and activity within the police service and thus form ma-

PLANNING

is

terial for

almost interminable discussion.

is

Not only
tension, but

the subject of "planning" capable of indefinite ex-

it is

always a matter of controversy. In the police

who beheve that "police work is largely emergency in character and does not lend itself to long-term calculation and planning."^ (Even in the sphere of governmental planning, there are those, such as Friedrich A. Hayek, who believe
service, there are those
International City Managers' Association, Municipal Police Administration. Chicago, International City Managers' Association, 1950, p. 44.
'

73

74

Parker on Police Planning

that any detailed planning results in the suppression of free-

dom.)^

In spite of such criticism, the bulk of opinion concedes plan-

ning to be an essential element in police operations. All police agencies plan continuously policies, procedures, deployment,
patrol,

juvenile,

vice,

traflBc,

personnel, finances

in fact, the

whole of police administration is basically a planning activity. It is due to the fact that planning is so closely interwoven into the fabric of police services that it seems an indeterminate and
evasive process. Yet, there are certain aspects of planning that are
of vital importance to the police administrator. Rather than an

extensive survey of vague planning theory, these two sessions will

be devoted
the outset,

to the
I

more

practical facets of planning; therefore, at

suggest that

we amend

the

title

from "police plan-

ning," to "practical aspects of police planning."

Definitions of Planning

At the start of this session, I think it advisable to pinpoint this word planning. Professor John M. PfiflFner, of the School of Pubhc
Administration, University of Southern California, states that

Planning simply involves the process of securing

facts within the limits of time, distance,

all

of the

and the powers of man

and bringing these

concerned.^

facts to

bear upon the administrative problems

V. A. Leonard, of the Department of Police Science and Administration of

Washington State College,

states that

planning

is

"the working out in broad outline of the things that need to be

done and the methods for doing them in order to accomphsh the purpose set for the enterprise."* O. W. Wilson, whose text on police planning was recently pubhshed, states that planning
*

"is

the process of developing a

method

Friedrich A. Hayek:

The Road

to

Serfdom. Chicago, University of Chicago

Press, 1944, passim.

^John M.

PfiflFner:

Public Administration.

New

York,

The Ronald

Press

Com-

pany, 1946, p. 195. *V. A. Leonard: Police Organization and Management. Brooklyn, The Foundation Press, Inc., 1951, p. 164.

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

75

or procedure or an arrangement of parts intended to facilitate the

achievement of a defined objective."^ Any discussion of planning will tend to obscure and confuse basic issues due to the variety of interpretations of the term itself. To an economist, planning may refer to the choices available
in utilizing resources; to a city planner, almost

any conceivable subject could be deliberated and Harold D. Smith points out
is

that "even the city planners argue at length about 'what

ning?' "'^ to an industrial manager, planning might

plan-

mean

the de-

velopment of detailed estimates of work loads, methods of production control, or the applications of cost accounting procedures;
to a pubhc-service executive, planning

might largely consist of the preparation of performance budget and personnel audits. Many times planning is but a vague, ill-defined activity carried on by an organization, regarded as a "good thing" by the administrator, but misunderstood and improperly utilized.
In this regard, they
tell

the story of the city planner

who was
girls,

"oversold" on the effectiveness of planning.

He had

four

and

had

all

the while desired a son and heir but he gave up, and
tr)'

decided not to

further, because, as a planner,

certainty, that every fifth child

bom

into the world

he knew, with was a moron!

Planning can be misunderstood and improperly utilized! In the police service, it is axiomatic that the pohce adminis-

must plan. This function is exercised by every pofice executivewhether he be the manager of a large, or of a very small, police agency. I think that we can all agree that police planning,
trator
basically,
is

tlie

consideration of future operations (determining

ends) as related to the evaluation of current information (determin-

ing means).

Importance and Limitations of Planning

There
underlie
'

is

one basic assumption that

we must
it

state,

which

will

all

considerations of the topic;

is:

The

scientific ap-

O.

W.

Wilson: Police Planning. Springfield,

Illinois,

Charles

Thomas, Pub-

lisher,
'

1952, p. 3. Harold D. Smith:

Administration and Planning. Address before the Society

of

for the

Advancement

Management, Washington, D.C., February

17,

1944.

76

Parker on Police Planning

proach to the problems of police administration is based squarely upon planning and research. The personal judgment of competent police administrators, buttressed

by

their long experience,

can never be eliminated as a key factor in eflPective police administration, but that personal judgment must, in all cases, depend upon knowledge. Intuition, "feel," and "hunch" are not magical qualities rather, they imply the ability to assess a situation accurately and make effective decisions. The more facts at hand, the less margin for error. EflFective police planning places more
facts at the disposal of the police administrator.

There is, today, great emphasis upon improvement of municipal governmental operation and in every instance of progressive civic betterment, planning is given key emphasis. Wliat does this mean to the police executive? Simply this: Planning in governmental operations is here to stay and if the police administrator doesn't engage in planning, someone else will do it for him! And when someone else engages in police planning, ofttimes the results are unpleasant for the police administrator and for the police service.

Whether

or not there

is

too

will going on today is a question ment. Of primary import is the matter of effectiveness of current planning in police operations. There is little doubt that much police planning is ineffective

much that we

or too

pohce planning leave to others for comlittle

and

little

doubt that much of

this ineffectiveness is

due

to the

failure of police planners to appreciate the diflBculties of the prob-

lems that they set for themselves. Planning is more than visualizing a "brave new world" of Utopian police operations. While it is true that ideahsm in police administration is not to be disparaged, it is also true that planning, of itself, is incapable of reducing ideals to practice. Overconfidence in planning is a common failingand usually due to a lack of definition of goal, a misunderstanding of obstacles, misuse of methods and means, and inabihty to accurately predict the future. As one observes the tangled
traffic

congestion in the nation today, he

traffic
it

is

struck

quacy of roadways, lack of mass transportation media,

general failure of
planning.

by the inadeand the

For example,

was estimated

that the state of California

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

77

would have six million vehicles by 1970. Early this month, it was announced that the six million registration was a fact sixteen years prior to original estimate! Since 1947, one billion and twentytwo million dollars have been spent in roadway construction in California with no end in sight and traflBc congestion compounding
itself incessantly.
is

In the Los Angeles area, there

traflBc

a current attempt to solve the

problem by construction of a giant freeway system. I am I am opposed to the thinking that they are a total and final solution to the traflBc problem. I wonder if we can continue to build roadway and freeway networks as
not opposed to freewaysbut
rapidly as the

demand

for their use. If vehicle registration in-

double the existing road network by 1970 just to keep congestion on the same level as it exists today. I point that out because, from a planning
creases as expected in California,
will
to

we

need

aspect, the facihties for

mass

transit are grossly

inadequate and

underdeveloped.

Over 500,000 automobiles pass daily over the five major freeways of the City of Los Angeles and the city freeway system is but thirteen per cent completed! But what does this have to do with planning? Only this: if planning were the panacea that some would have it, we would not see these conditions. It is obvious that planning is limited due to the dynamic and expanding social and economic factors with which modern governmental agencies must deal. We've said that planning is an activity tliat pervades every part
of the structure of police administration. It
is

an activity con-

goals.

cerned with goals, and with the means necessary to achieve these Because it is concerned with goals, it can never be politically

neutral (unless the goals are pohtically neutral) and

many

facets of police planning

light.

must be

realistically

evaluated in this
is

Because

it is

concerned with means, planning

closely in-

tegrated with the normal and routine operations of the police

agency and cannot be isolated for inspection, such

with
activities of a strictly functional nature.

as

is

possible

Nonetheless, there are practical aspects of pofice planning that

are worthy of our consideration; aspects that are concrete

and

workable.

The

first

that

we

will consider

is

a planning unit.

78

Parker on Police Planning

Planning Unit
EflFective administration of

any police agency, large or

small,

involves the formulation of a program of operations, the develop-

ment

of an organization, the coordination

organization,

and control of that methods of appraisal and evaluation of accompHsh-

ments, and the preparation of plans for the future.

All police administrators are constantly called
decisions; the

upon

to

make

wisdom

of these decisions will depend, in large

measure, upon the information and advice available to them. If decisions are made without proper analysis of facts, or without
regard for standard practices developed as the result of research,
the chances are that they will be mediocre decisions and
in police administration.
it is

the accumulation of mediocre decisions that produces mediocrity

How,

then,

may

the police administrator

make

sure that his de-

be rendered upon the bases of adequate information, objective analysis, and qualified advice? The first requirement, an obvious one, is for competency of the administrator. Yet, even competent administrators are beset by great volumes of daily routine duties, to such extent that they camiot personally give
cisions will
sufficient

time to study adequately more than a small part of the

that confront them.

many problems

In a small agency, the administrator may be able to keep appraised of problems and to develop adequate solutions; in these
situations, there

may be no need

for foraializing the planning

and

research activities. However, as the agency grows in size and as

new responsibilities

becomes ever more necessary for the administrator to provide for a staff arm to analyze organizational problems, to assist in solving difficulties of management, and to make recommendations for improving methods and procedures.
are attached to
it, it

It is

important to realize that,

all

if

a planning unit
is

is

to succeed,

the assistance and help of

mandatory. If the men in the field feel that they are being ignored in the planning of agency operations, the planning program will, in all probability, find little acceptance among the working personnel; on
operational units

the other hand,

if

the experience and

know-how of the hne

officers

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

is

79

sought after and utilized, these

it

men

will not only accept the

idea of a planning and research function, but will actively sup-

port

and boast of its usefulness.

executive is to plan and research, basic data must be collected, analyzed, and interpreted. These data may come from census surveys, from uniform crime reports, from local social and economic studies, and from various standard references, such as the Municipal Year Book. The manner in which data are handled can be crude or highly technical, depending on the resources of the agency. Where one large agency will utilize an extensive business machine operation, another may find it feasible to use hand sorted cards for the manipulation of data. At any rate, most of the large business machine companies, and office supply firms, are more than willing to extend considerable assistance and advice on the installaIf a police

tion of processes for the

handHng

of basic data.

is eflPected by a somewhat complex police organization, with many bureaus, divisions, and units performing a variety of functions and activities. This has produced a necessity for effective and economic operations. In 1950, the Planning and Research Division was formed, its

In the City of Los Angeles, police service

energies devoted to the analysis of departmental problems, with

the goal of determining the most efficient methods of providing

pohce

services.

In a recent issue of Colliers, Albert Deutsch has written an

article entitled "Is

Your Police Force Obsolete?" and

in this article

he

states:

The

quality of the Los Angeles setup

is

reflected in

its

highly

professionalized police organization, undoubtedly the most scientifically

operated large-city force in the nation.

The department's Planning and Research

fully analyzes current trends in crime, locally

Division

care-

and

nationally,

and

uses spot

maps showing where various criminal

lines.

activites are con-

centrating, as a basis for drafting police strategy

on short-term

and long-term

tiveness of police

The division also evaluates the present effecwork with a view toward constant improvement.

In monetary terms alone, Chief William H, Parker observes, the

savings are tremendous. Recently a single year's study conducted

80

Parker on Police Planning

by the division returned the years ahead J

entire cost of

its

operation for

many

The objectives of this unit are as foUov^s: 1. To assist the chief and his managerial
itiating,
2.

staflF

in planning, in-

and disseminating department

staff services for

policies

and procedures.

To provide

the chief in the realm of long-

range planning and in problems of organization, budgeting, and

administrative reporting.
3.

To provide
w^ill

statistical, legal,

and other pertinent informa-

tion that

aid the decisions of

management and

assist

opera-

tions in the field.

4.

To provide

staflF

services to bureau

by

reviev^^ing the tools

and division commanders and systems used, or needed, to carry out

of four sections,

departmental functions.

The
lows:
1.

unit

is

composed

which function

as fol-

legal section surveys the departmental orders and prachght of actual or proposed changes in state or local law; it answers questions on legal points, and maintains files of legal opinions. What has it done? Item: Rendered a legal report, sustained by subsequent review by city attorneys, invalidating a claim of $40,000 for maintenance of city prisoners committed to county jail. Item: Prepared a legal report in reference to the impounding of vehicles on private property. Item: Prepared legal bulletins for departmental dissemination on problems of ex-convict registration and dangerous or deadly
tices in

The

weapons

in California.

Item: Researched and answered some 1,100 legal questions

posed by department members in 1953. 2. The second section, manuals and orders, investigates the need for orders; researches and plans the most effective system of procedures; and codifies orders into the manual. Item: Supervised and assisted in preparation of the Accident Investigation, Juvenile, and Jail Division manuals.
'Albert Deutsch:
1954, p. 32.
Is

Your Police Force Obsolete?, CoUier's, 134:7, October

1,

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

81

Item: Continual research and writing on departmental manual. Item: Published 111 orders and
3.

memoranda

in 1953.

The

third section, analysis, assists in the preparation of the

budget and annual report; designs and prepares graphic presentations; analyzes modus operandi and crime patterns and disseminates information; and accumulates, records, and processes
statistical data.

Item: Preparation of the performance budget. Item: Preparation of the departmental capital improvement pro-

grama 190 page document.

Item: Preparation of the departmental budget guide.
Item: Preparation of monthly personnel utilization reports and
quarterly

work program.
personnel deployment report.

Item-: Preparation of the civilian

Item: Preparation of a work measurement study of allocation,

assignment, and deployment of field units.

Item:
Item.:

special study of the use of the felony warrant hst.

Item: Survey of the Property section.

1953 Annual Report.

Item: 1953 Statistical Digest. Item: Survey of Field

Time and Activity.

Item: Renumbering Reporting Districts. Item: Preparation of periodic crime reports. Item: Preparation of special M.O. bulletins.

Item: Special survey of Juvenile TraflBc Unit. Item: Preparation of some seventeen periodic reports by statistical unit.

Item: 605 M.O. requests processed and delivered.

4. Finally,

the forms section examines forms and procedures to

determine
eliminated.

how
It

they

designs

may be improved, combined, simplified, or new forms or revises existing forms to im-

plement new or existing procedures. Item: Revision of the Pohce Permit Renewal application. Item: Completed 282 forms investigations which resulted in 60 new forms, 113 revisions, and 109 cancellations.

The addition
in times of

of a planning and research unit to a police agency, hmited funds and manpower, might be considered

82
ill-advised.

Parker on Police Planning

Because the expense is overhead, the unit must be more effective toward accomplishing the objectives of the agency than a proportionate expenditure in direct field service. The general efficiency of the agency, especially on a long-range basis, should increase as a result of the activities of such a planning unit and this would form the criteria for justification of the
unit's existence.
I

do not intend to discourse on the accompHshments and merits

of the Planning and Research Division of the Los Angeles Pohce

Department the copies of the 1953 Annual Report of the Planning and Research Division will provide a basis for your judgment.

However, I do intend to review a few areas of poHce planning which may point up problems. The first is the area of organizational planning.

Organizational Planning
of the primary responsibilities of practical pohce planning the study of the effectiveness of the basic plan of organization of the agency, and the development of means to accomphsh the

One

is

objectives for

which the agency is responsible.

is

This phase of organizational planning

division of

concerned with the

work and

its

distribution within the organization; the

establishment of a workable structure of authority and control; the provision for necessary staff services; the elimination of conflicts,

and the coordination

is

of program.

If the police force is

decentralized to any degree and what

large police agency

not? there are problems of geographical distribution of services. The availability of police services in an area is recognized by most civic-minded groups as an important municipal function to the general welfare of the community. Although most citizens seldom call upon the pohce agency for assistance, the public
is

extremely impatient

when

police services are

needed. In addition,

many

residents

gratifying sense of security from those activities

and businessmen receive a which indicate

an omnipresence of the police. Despite the fact that the technical need for police effort in a community may be relatively low, the residents of such community may expect as much or more from

Practical Aspects of Police Plaxxing

83

the resources of the police agency as another section of the city which contains a high crime-frequency area. The resident in a suburban, or peripheral area, is not concerned with deployment
or workload statistics as a determinent in the allocation of police

manpower. For this reason, the pohce executive with limited resources must frequently reconcile the exigencies of a poHce problem in one area against the public pressure for a commensurate degree of pohce coverage in another. It might not be out of place to note that in the City of Los Angeles patrol and reporting districts were recently re-designed
has allowed the department to

governmental census tracts. This change make crime studies in specific areas which could be correlated with the census material relative to population, social, and economic factors, and which could be
to follow boundaries of

subjected to more precise statistical study.

Also of interest to you might be the workload study of the mii-

formed patrol

officer which was undertaken by our Planning and Research Division. This survey attempted to measure field activities for the purpose of more effective deployment. It concerned

itself

graphic patrol divisions,

with the allocation of personnel among the various geotlie assignment of personnel to watches, and the deplo)Tnent of field units according to areas of need. Another problem is the relation of staff services in decentrahz-

ing operations; anotlier, the reorganization of services.

No

police

agency remains static and no police agency can be established or reorganized in final form. There must be provision for constant readjustment to meet changes in technological methods and social conditions. When this appraisal and planning is ignored, the police agency wiU tend to become inflexible and unable to progress.

As an example of appraisal and planned reorganization, we've

recently decentralized our traffic operations to a certain extent so
that line control of the accident investigation, traffic enforcement,

and pedestrian and

intersectional control officers

was given

to

certain of our outlying geographical divisions, the traffic bureau

retaining staff responsibility.

Changes in program must be adjusted; all too often, a needed change is deferred indefinitely, with the result that new func-

84

Parker on Police Planning

tions are inadequately

handled and old activities continued long after their utihty is at an end. Organizational planning assumes a continual audit of agency program and operations, and an appraisal of the effectiveness or need for curtailment of every facet of operation. The final topic that I would like to touch on today is that of
planning.

manpower

Manpower Planning
At the 1953 lACP Conference in
pointed out in his address that
Detroit, Mr. A. F. Brandstatter

The unpleasant dilemma of every police chief will continue to be one of providing more and better police service with little, if any, increase in personnel, while at the same time eliminating the causes of damaging criticism of pohce service suffered in the
past.*

Manpower planning concerned with

lection,

effective recruitment, se-

training,

rating,

morale, retirement is
police executive.

deployment, discipline, a matter of grave importance to today's

promotion,

O.

W.

Wilson, in assessing progress in pohce administration,

stated that "the increased cost of pohce

manpower has

stimulated

made possible by its wise direction."^ Wliether the pohce agency operates its own personnel unit independently, or whether it operates as an adjunct of a central personnel system the planning of personnel operations is always
attention to economies

a personal concern of the chief.

For example, the Los Angeles Police Department is currently 223 under autliorized strength. Yet, even so, the department has consistently raised entrance qualifications and maintained rigid selection processes, a seemingly foolish procedure in times of

manpower

shortages.

To

offset this, the

department, in co-operaits

tion with the city Civil Service, determined to increase

re-

* A. F. Brandstatter: Improving Our Standards. Address delivered at 60th Annual lACP Conference, Detroit, Michigan, September 15, 1953, The Police

Chief, 21:34, January, 1954.

*

O,

W.

Wilson: Progress in Police Administration. Journal of Criminal Law,

Criminology, and Police Science, 42:153, July- August, 1951.

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

cruiting
eflForts.

85
pool, en-

To

tap the entire nation's

manpower

trance examinations were conducted in every city in the nation

which could muster suflBcient candidates; posters and pamphlets were distributed at the Separation Centers of the Armed Forces; placement directors at 180 colleges and universities were provided with information regarding the job, and recruiting films starring Jack Webb were prepared for television and motion picture theaters. The full eflFect of this expanded program was not
reahzed in 1953; however, a steady increase in job appHcations has resulted. Almost every police agency is faced with problems
in the recruitment

and
is

selection of candidates for the service;

planning to

fiU

gaps

a problem

which faces

all

of us.

How

to adequately train

new

recruits; refresh the

of older oflBcers; equip our supervisors with education

vision, control,

knowledge on super-

and human

relations;

and how

to develop the ex-

ecutive talent of our administrators requires extensive planning

and research. Personnel planning cannot be overlooked problem of the police executive.

as a

major

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

Lecture II
Introduction

In the

last session,

we began

a treatment of the practical as-

pects of police planning. I pointed out

of planning

some

of the

problem areas

whether or not a planning unit was necessary; some

and touched on a few

of the facets of organizational planning;

of the questions of

manpower planning.

Today,

wish to treat topics, which, in

my

opinion, form the

are:

heart of the police planning operation.

They

Operational

Planning, Fiscal Planning, and Physical Planning.

Operational Planning
Operational planning
ning.
is

a concept into which

we will arbitrarily
tactical plan-

lump program planning, procedural planning, and

When we speak we form a concept

program planning in the operational area, work programs in relation to available manpower, funds, and equipment. Whether or not to engage in a juvenile recreational program is a problem of operational program planning. Whether or not to inaugurate processes for the rehabiliof of

tation of the chronic alcoholic is another.

For instance, in Los Angeles, the taxpayer foots an annual biU of over two million dollars to handle the repeated arrest and custody of the habitual drunk and the pohce department each year is charged with the custody of some 65,000 prisoners sentenced for being drunk. In order to attempt the solution of this problem, a Rehabilitation Center has been estabHshed in Bouquet Canyon. This center cares for some 500 prisoners in its 588 acres, and will have a capacity for 1500 if expanded. This radical departure from traditional jail confinement offers
86

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

87

therapy in the outdoor

tion

activities, balanced diet, planned educaand recreation, and medico-psychiatric treatment and should save money. It is a minimum-security institution which meant low construction costs; fewer oflBcers are needed for its operation; and it will ultimately provide fresh and caimed food for all the jail

kitchens.

Operational planning in the procedural area can provide for

the eflPective utihzation of a planning unit for
it

entails the re-

view of pohcy and operating procedures, the preparation of manuals and orders, and the elimination of dupHcation and confusion
in routine activities.

Our

unit

made

a study of

jail

procedures, and by reducing the

Jail,

time of processing prisoners into the City

Division.

saved the city an annual amount equal to the cost of the Planning and Research

developed a completely new system of police manuals bringing to each officer the latest technical information necessary to the efficient performance of his duties. However, the key operational planning concept is in the area of tactical planning the preparation for specific situations such as traffic matters, crowd control at major events, labor disturbances, and the like. Almost every poHce agency must engage in this type of operational planning which may range from the maintenance of order at a small picket hne to the massive planning problems of the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena. The planning unit may be used in tactical planning our unit instituted improved methods of crime analysis which give field officers speedy and exact knowledge of criminal personalities, meth-

The

unit, too,

ods,

and conditions
:

in their assigned districts.

The

statistical unit

engages in M.O. Operations a typical case exempHfies the possibilities

Valley detectives had a group of suspects in custody

that

who

stated

they had committed hundreds of thefts and burglaries throughout Los Angeles and other cities as far south as San Diego. The crimes were committed in all divisions of the city, the time
varying greatly, with three separate M.O.'s used:
1.

Safe jobs service stations carried safes away.

Burglaries

2.

service stationsmoney and accessories.

88
3.

Paeker on Police Planning

Thefts service stationsmoney from vending machines. analysis, 200 cases were selected all but two of the cases selected were cleared! The Planning and Research Division also instituted a continuous study of the distribution of crime over the city's area, which enables supervisors to assign field oflBcers in the proper area at the proper time to secure maximum results against specific

By machine

crimes.

One
the
trators.

of the largest

traflBc field,

and

The
the

liaison

problem areas of operational planning is in problem is faced by all police adminisbetween the police and the other city dethis
trafiic

partments which handle

times,
traflBc

matters

is

often spotty;

many

engineering department will install signals,

design roadways, or place markers without prior consultation

with pohce

traflBc sections.

The
traflBc

resulting situation can

be

dis-

astrous. If the traflBc analysis of a police

agency

the

result of a

24-hour observation by the

section is ignored,

much

valu-

able information goes wasted.

The

police are in the uncomfortable position of being not only

directly responsible for the enforcement of traflBc laws, but also

for gathering data
eflForts

are

upon which all educational and engineering based and yet, engineering, particularly in the design
first

phase, has exhibited stubborn reluctance to accept either data or

experience from the police agency. For example, the

pleted limited-access roadway in the

com-

West was the Arroyo Seco

result of

Freeway connecting Pasadena and Los Angeles. As the

accident investigation analysis, a
list

of recommendations sug-

gested physical barriers between opposing lanes, suflBcient to

eliminate "head on" accidents; elimination of abrupt changes in

roadway width; adequate provision for disabled and detained vehicles; longer acceleration and deceleration lanes; and larger signs, directional and informative. Certain changes were made on this Freeway to correspond witli these recommendations, but when newer facilities were planned the recommendations were largely ignored. Such a situation would seem to indicate a lack of advance coordinated planning on the administrative level. The problem of congestion in traflBc is constantly worsening.

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

89

In California,
registrations

it is

estimated that by 1970 there will be nine-and-

a-quarter-million vehicles registered.

The

increases in automobile

have not been accompanied by a proportionate increase in available roadway. TraflBc planning has offered certain compensating devices: more stringent parking regulations, oflF-set lanes at peak hours, synchronization of signals, manual intersection control, and the freeway programs have produced some alleviation of congestion. Yet, even such a device as the freeway has not produced remedies commensurate with its cost; the land used is land taken from the tax roll; the center strip does not contain space for future expansion of rapid transportation means; and the cost of a mile of freeway is so staggering that it is impossible to visualize
its

increased use proportionate to the increase

entails a great deal of the

in vehicle registration.

Planning for

traffic

problems

pohce

administrator's time; the three E's that

you are

all

famihar with

require planning for education the preparation of programs for

school and civic groups, coordination with local safety councils,

the printing of hand-out material, the use of radio, TV, and film media; planning for enforcement the analysis of traffic accident investigations as a basis for selective enforcement; and planning for engineering the coordination of police traffic research with
city. As we have indineed of attention in most juriscated, dictions. The problems of education and enforcement are receiving varying degrees of attention by eveiy agency but how many agencies are engaging in adequate engineering planning? In many areas, the city traffic engineering department is completely isolated from the police organization, and conducts its

the

traffic

engineering departments of the

this last area that is in

it is

operations independently, often ignoring the practical experience

the pohce have recorded.

Enough

of traffic for the

moment;

would

like to take

you now

to the "never-never" land of finance

"never-never" land because the pohce executive "never-never"

considers his budget adequate!

Fiscal Planning

Since

was appointed Chief

of Police in 1950,

it

has been

my

pleasure to attend quite a few meetings, conferences, and con-

90

Parker on Police Planning

ventions wherein I have been able to converse with

my colleagues

about
tions.

common

problems.

One

of the areas of almost universal

is

confusion, doubt,

and misunderstanding
planning
is

that of fiscal opera-

Specifically, fiscal

concerned mainly with matters

of the budget. Primary factors are the determination of the vol-

ume

being performed, whether it can be measured, whether better methods can be devised, how many people are necessary, how much and what kind of equipment is necessary, and how much money will be required to operate the agency. I have heard police executives say, "I don't want to have anything to do with the budgetwhatever the taxpayers or council want to give me, it's up to them I'll do the best with whatever I get." Or others who state, "I always ask for twice what I expect to get, and after the council prunes the request, it's just about
of work,
it is

how

right,"

managers say, "I never ask my police chief to prepare his budgethe wouldn't know how, and he shouldn't anyhow I'm supposed to administer tlie city."
I

have heard

city

It's

my

opinion that police administrators hurt themselves by

that

shying away from budgetary matters and hurt the police service.

They end up with equipment

may be adequate

for the

parks department, but grossly inadequate for police operations;

they end up with emergency problems that continue indefinitely;

and they

lose the control necessary for the eflFective discharge of

their office.

Program budgeting or, as it is sometimes called, performance budgetingis now a potent force in municipal fiscal operations. The old "line-item" budget is rapidly being replaced in many jurisdictions with the performance budget. As you know, the simple distinction between the two is that the performance budget requires justification in terms of program or performance,
correlated against the request.

Forecasting the exigencies of future police operations in terms

of personnel
task,

but

it is

and equipment required to do the job is not an easy necessary. The budget system must be designed to

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

initiate,

91

review, and formulate unit estimates into the general

fiscal plan. It is axiomatic that a plan of operation is unsound if it cannot be logistically supported. The problems of police management would be simple, indeed, if the physical resources at our command were unhmited. However, realism dictates that the operations of a police agency must be within the financial capacity of the government, despite increases in workload and other things which would logically justify additional expenditures. The program budget usually is designed to estimate the work to be accomplished for the coming fiscal year in terms of work units and gross manhours; but to apply this method to the police service assumes the development of a highly-refined system of work units and work measurement. Now, the projected work program in private industry and manufacturing is amendable to this method of analysis; also, city departments deafing in tangible items or services which are countable and consistent can be forecast accurately. But in poHce service, much of the work perfoiTned is unmeasurable. Fundamentally,

the police task consists in providing a level of protective services

which are calculated

to

meet the exigencies

traflBc

that

may

arise.

Generally speaking, crime,

accidents,

and other things

which necessitate police action are merely the results of a social hazard which has overcome the deterrent efforts of the pohce. For this reason, the repressive aspects of the police function are not adaptable to any precise method of quantitative measurement.

The budget,

actually,

is

a plan for future action,

and

it is

not

practicable to isolate the budget from the planning process.

into estimates of financial requirements

The

future needs of the police agency are translated, by the budget,

and the

justification of

these requirements are often strong statements of the agency's

long-term program.

The budget

affords the police administrator

an excellent oppor-

tunity to evaluate the eflBciency

and accomplishments of each unit. With a profit and loss statement from the various divisions or sub-units, the managerial staff is better equipped to evaluate

92

Pabker on Police Planning

progress in the entire organization and to eliminate or modify

those activities which have fallen short of defined objectives or

have outhved their usefulness management action regarding these activities can be reflected in fiscal plans for future operations.
I would like, now, to turn to the areas of long-term planning and capital-improvement programming. They are usually aspects

of physical planning.

Physical Planning

Every poHce organization is responsive to technological advancements and to changes reflected in changing social and economic environments. New territorial divisions must be planned to care for increased population growth and movement; old divisions must be revamped to meet declining populations. As pohce activities become more specialized or decentralized, building and equipment needs require greater planning thought. In past years, many public improvements were deferred for various reasons. During World War II, the shortage of labor and materials was a major factor; since the war, limited finances and inflated costs have prevented many essential projects. Capital-improvement budgeting and long-term planning consist of evaluating current deficiencies in facilities and services and in forecasting future needs based on trends in population, industrial expansion, and other such factors. The program usually is developed for a six-year period and revised annually, with all items justified and given a relative priority. Projects included in such programs are usually those with
a
fife

of not less than ten years. of such

The heart
required for

program

is

in timing it ascertaining time

site or right of

way

acquisition; time required for

preparation of final plans; and probable time of awarding construction contracts. This allows

money

to

area, sites acquired prior to congestion

be spread over a larger and inflation of values,

and more detailed

of patterns,
residents

research.

Studies of population growth will disclose patterns, or absences

who

and consideration can be given to the number of will be helped by a particular project, and to the

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

93

number who will be harmed or inconvenienced if the project is deferred. The population density per acre becomes an important
factor, so

much

so that priority

is

given to projects aflFecting high

not an independent

density areas.

In most jurisdictions, the poHce service

is

and

isolated governmental unit; usually

it is

thoroughly enmeshed

with most other governmental operations. This condition results in pohce physical planning being shared with other units of the city Board of Public Works, Art Department, the Department of
Building and Safety, and others.
If the police executive neglects this tion, all too often will

important planning funcat the

mercy of those who do not understand the complexities of police operations. This may result in a pohce agency with a jail that is almost inoperable, a sub-division station that is grossly inadequate, or emergency
he find himself
police housing that continues indefinitely.

you that the Central Division was condemned in 1913? And that we are still occupying the structure? But, on the other side of the picture, I can inform you that witliin a few more
believe
if I

Would you

me

told

police station in the City of Los Angeles

months,

this division, as well as

many

of our scattered

downtown

units, will

move

into a structure

which

will represent the finest

police administration facility in the country.

This eight-story building will enclose almost 400,000 square

feet of floor space;
it represents thousands of hours of careful planning and coordination with other city departments.

by the

may be affected any one; this infers close coordination of the planning activity. For instance, freeway construction may alter existing street patterns, and if not considered, may result
In long-term planning, several departments
location or plans of
in inaccessible sites, or inconvenient locations requiring total or

abandonment at a later date. The planning of capital improvements is one project of our Planning and Research Division. The written program consists
partial

and maps. growth of metropolitan Los Angeles has been unrestricted by insurmountable natural barriers, and each influx of new residents has touched off a new subof 190 pages of narrative, statistical tables,

Unlike

many urban

centers, the

94
division flurry.
ties

Parker on Police Planning

The

city has
its

some

forty-five separate municipali-

periphery this due to desire for local autonomy and civic recognition w^hich is reflected throughout tlie County. To take care of 453 square miles and 2,000,000 inhabitants, the city has decentralized much of its operations. At the present time the city maintains five administrative centers Van Nuys, Hollywood, West Los Angeles, Venice, San Pedro; in addition two more are incomplete Watts and North Hollywood; and five others have been requested Canoga Park, Sunland-Tujunga, Jefferson, Eagle-Rock, and Westchester. The availabihty of police services is recognized as an important
function to the general welfare of a

within and about

communityphysical

plan-

ning through the capital-improvement budget will serve to maintain police services in keeping with the general expansion of the

community. I might add that capital-improvement budgeting not only concerns itself with future plans for new police facilities, but wdth the maintenance and improvement of existing faciHties, with the mechanization of procedures (such as machine records, or oneman patrol operations), with new technological devices (such as radar speed meters, or helicopters, or closed-line television circuits), and with general deficiencies in police facilities.

Summary and Conclusions

Police planning
fact that all
is a nebulous concept, to be sure, but it is a pohce agencies must plan continuously. Because so closely interwoven into the fabric of pohce serv-

planning

is

ice, it is difficult to isolate sectors for

study; nonetheless, there are

some very
I

practical

problem

areas.

pointed out, as a basic assumption, that the scientific approach to police administration is based squarely on planning

and research, and that

temper
I

this scientific

approach places more

in-

formation at the disposal of the pohce executive with which to

his decisions.

defined pohce planning as the consideration of future opera-

tions (the determination of ends) as related to the evaluation of

current information (determining of means), and called attention

to the fact that planning, although important, has definite limita-

Practical Aspects of Police Planning

tions, ofiFers

95

no panacea

for all evils affecting the police service,

and, in some cases, has failed to produce notably in the realm of

traJBBc.

stressed the fact that planning

is

here to stay and that

else will;

if

the

police executive can't or won't plan

someone
is

and that

when

police planning

is

done by non-police the

tlie service.

results

can be un-

pleasant and harmful to

Further,
I

pointed out that planning

applicable to every

police agency, large or small, but that the question of installing

a planning unit will depend on the size, character, and special

problems of the agency. I pointed out that the planning of organization was important to effecti\'e poHce operations but that no police agency could be
established or reorganized in final
flexibility

form and

that organizational

was necessary

in police operations.

On

the subject of

manpower

planning, this area

fill

is

always of
is

importance to the police executive; planning to

tual problem.
I

gaps

mu-

pointed out that operational planning was utihzed by police administrators when they evaluated work programs, when they

reviewed policy and procedures, and when they developed tactics for meeting special problems. Fiscal planning is often confused, misunderstood, and its value

doubted by police executives, and yet it is vital to the executive if he is to retain control of his agency. I pointed out the difficulties of applying the performance budget to the pohce service, and finally discussed the capital-improvement budget and its facets in relation to long-term programming. If there is one conclusion that we might all agree upon, it is this: police service does not stand still; it either improves or deteriorates; if it is to improve, there must be careful planning.
Finally, I suggest that planning
is

not a process limited to top

police executives, but

in the organization
field.

it is

the responsibilit)' of
to the

every policeman

from the upper-brass

aloofness
of

patrolman
will

in the

Any

"ivory-tower"

planners

result

in

the frustration of their efforts in other words, full co-operation

of
all

personnel

is

mandatory

if

effective planning

is

to

become

reality.

96

Parker on Police Planning

Recommendations
In respect to police planning,
1.

recommend

the following:

A central clearinghouse for research findings and for dissemi-

nation of newly developed techniques.

2.

project

aimed

at standardizing pohce-planning activities

and research methodology.

3. Closer integration of pohce planning with that undertaken by other departments of government. 4. Subsidizing advanced research in the development of workmeasurement units applicable to the pohce service. 5. That retention of police-budget preparation be held by pohce administrators and not relinquished to non-police officials.

Chapter Six

PARKER ON LEGAL RESTRICTIONS

IMPOSED
Surveillance
tection?:

ON

POLICE
Law
Re-

by Wiretap or Dictograph, Threat or Proarticle

An

published in the California

view, December, 1954.

The Cahan Decision Made

Life Easier for the Criminal:

statement

filed

with the California Judiciary Subcom-

mittee on Illegal Searches, Seizures, and the

Arrest, at hearing in

Laws

of

Los Angeles, January, 1956.

The March

of Crime: Excerpts from an address dehvered at the Assembly Dinner of the Ebell Club, Los Angeles, March, 1956.

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph:

Threat or Protection?
underworld activities is the police most potent weapon against organized crime. Any combination of patrol and investigation alone will not serve as the shockingly low to suppress clever criminal operations arrest and conviction rate of known syndicate members vividly attests. Traditional poHce techniques are not the answer to this problem organized crime can be reduced and stamped out by the police only when knowledge of its methods, personalities and
intelligence of

ADEQUATE

/A

administrator's

plans produces conviction hazards so great that operation be-

comes unprofitable.

Whether we

like it or not,

we must

face

up

to the distasteful
its

conclusion that today's police service

greater success than
rate as our statistical
it

fulfills

task wdth

no

did a quarter or half-century ago. Inaccuis, it

knowledge

leaves

little

doubt that the

crime rate has been on the increase for the past several decades. It is estimated that there are six million persons in this country who exist primarily by criminal means and this figure does not
include the casual criminal or occasional ofiFender.
J.

Edgar

Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has testified that the annual cost of crime to our nation is greater than twenty billion dollars.^ Crime pays and pays well! This is obviously not a game in which the police play "cops and robbers" for the amusement of society. This is a case of a
lawless criminal

army warring against society itself, and the police comprise that part of society which has been given the task of being the first hue, and sometimes the only line, of defense. It is often a dirty business a very dirty business because of
*

In

testimony before

Appropriations

Committee, House of Representatives,

February, 1954.

99

100

Parker on Legal Restrictions

whom the pohce must shown and is continuing to show that it is a necessary business, and that the responsibility must be placed on someone. The men of the poHce service are aware of
the warped nature of the criminals with
often deal. But history has
this responsibihty,

and

in choosing theii* profession voluntarily

assume
its

it.

They can discharge

itself so

that responsibility only to the ex-

tent that society supports them. If society chooses, for reasons of

own, to handicap

severely that

it

cannot or will not

doubtful that free

deal effectively with the criminal army,

society as

it is

we now

enjoy
is

it

will continue; for either crime will in-

crease until there

no internal security worthy of the name, or

whether we
is

the police force will be so expanded that the crushing financial

and moral burden

it

of a police state will be here

like

or not.
I

do not propose that the answer to

this

dilemma

to give the

police a free hand.

No

responsible police

oflBcial

such a stand. However, until society finds a of controlling criminals than by the use of a police force, society should control police activity by holding the police strictly accountable for the proper exercise of their power, but should not
tie their

know takes more effective way

that I

hands

to the extent that their effectiveness

is

critically

impaired.

There are people who, well knowing that the modern criminal modem technical advancement, would nevertheless restrict the pohce to the methods available at the time of the lantern and the 'Tiue and cry." These people are obviously ignorant of the first rule of warfare, which is "Know Your Enemy," applying as well to domestic as to foreign enemies. The threat that there will develop in our society an all-powerful police of potentially greater danger than the criminal army is, in my opinion, so remote as to be negligible. The poHce have no sources of revenue of their own; they must justify their existence and their operations each year to representatives of the people
has availed himself of every

who
eral,

provide the funds for police operations,

fix

the

number

of

employees

who can be

hired, designate their salaries, and, in gen-

prescribe the conditions of their employment. As long as the

poHce must come before the people and the people's representatives, and justffy their past activities as a basis for asking financial

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

101

support for their next year's operations,

foresee no danger that

pohce
press

activity will
it;

be an instrument of tyranny. The people would

not stand for

would not stand for it; the would not stand for it; and the police themselves, since they are citizens first and policemen second, would not stand for it.
the city government
It is

my

opinion that

if

crime continues to increase for the next

has grown in the past decade, the in-

fifteen years at the rate

it

ternal security of this country will

be gravely threatened.
its

The

solutions for these problems are not the responsibility of

the police alone. Criminal activity often has

or in society's failure, in the

origin in unfor-

tunate social conditions, in subnormal mental or physical health,

home, the school, the church and

other agencies, to inculcate in child and adult alike a proper respect for the law and the necessary self-discipUne and other desirable traits of a well-adjusted

and mature

personality. Again,
re-

society as a whole, through

its

governmental agencies, has

sponsibilities not primarily assigned to the police: the administra-

tion of criminal law,

tation of criminals.

and the conviction, treatment and

rehabili-

The fact remains that society must deal not only with crimes which are being committed today but with those which are planned and proposed for tomorrow. It has assigned the police a grossly unbalanced share of the task of prevention plus the whole task of detection, apprehension, and the securing and preparing
of evidence for presentation to the courts.

The task of the pohce does not cover the entire field of crime prevention because the police are not assigned the tasks of guardianship, child rearing, education, refigious instruction, correction of mental or physical illness

and social maladjustments, or otherwise deafing with the root causes of crime. The fundamental
not crime prevention per se. Rather, policemen consider themselves as a "containing element" a thin
role of tlie police service
is

line of blue

society

which stands between the law-abiding members of and the criminals who prey upon them. The function of the police insofar as prevention is concerned hes in two general fields: (1) the prevention of criminal acts by actual or potential physical intervention, and (2) performance so effective that the fear of apprehension, conviction and punishment tends to pre-

102

Parker on Legal Restrictions

vent criminal actions; in other words, crime repression.

The
hicle,

first

of these

is

accompHshed through such pohce proce-

dures as uniformed and plainclothes patrol on foot and by ve-

and by the maintenance of such organization and communications as to place men at a scene of planned disorder or other crime within the shortest possible time. Crime repression is ac-

complished tlirough educating criminals to fear, not only the policeman in plain view or on patrol in the area, but also the policeman who may be keeping them under surveillance without their knowledge. This involves, not only observation by the police themselves, but observation by responsible citizens and informants. An important part of such crime repression can be accomplished through intelligent sui"veillance by means of two techniques: one, the use of electronic amplifying devices commonly
called "dictographs,"

and the other by "wire-taps."^

I feel it

Before proceeding further in this exposition,

that I declare myself

on the matter of

civil rights. I

mandatory beheve that

do not be-

we cannot

pass lightly over those inahenable rights of individuals

free people. I

which are the greatest possessions of a

lieve that the police service

trample upon these priceless possessions, and

can afford either to ignore or to I beheve that his-

tory will indicate that every police organization

which has

as-

sumed
suffer

a tyrannical attitude has been

doomed

to obhvion.

We still
us

today from the abuse of power by

tliose

who preceded

in the police profession. I

beheve that

to avoid these fatal errors

we must know and

be
liberty.

recognize the legal rights of individuals and

fully cognizant of

when

the law permits us to invade personal

The American people

are noted for their sense of fair play. In

various types of contests, rules are carefully laid out in advance

and adherence required by impartial officials. In contradistinction to this noble characteristic of the American people, the police are expected to enter a contest against criminal elements in which
the use of which (sometimes open microphone in a room in an inconspicuous place, thus enabling the listener to hear and record all sounds which
*

Dictograph:

An

electronic

listening

device,

called "bugging") consists of placing an

take place in that room. Wiretapping:

to detect

The use

of devices enabling the operator

wires.

and record messages transmitted over telephone or telegraph

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

the rules governing the actions of the pohce are indistinct,
defined,

103
ill-

vague and uncertain, and

in v^'hich their adversaries rec-

ognize no rules w^hatsoever.

is a decision handed dov^m on February 8, by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of 1954, Irvine v. California.^ As a lawyer, I am fully cognizant of the obedient recognition that must be given to tlie decision of our courts. As a police oflBcer, I am aw^are of the absolute necessity for the recognition of the civil rights of individuals. But many of us in the law^ enforcement field are disturbed and confused by the decision in the Irvine case, and this confusion results more from what the court failed to state than its specific pronounce-

Illustrative of this

ment. This
I

is

touch upon

not intended to be a criticism of the Supreme Court, and this subject only to illustrate the phght of the police.

Since the advent of appropriate electronic devices, the police of

this state

have utilized such devices to gather information and evidence concerning criminal activities. In 1941, the Legislature
of the State of Cahfornia recognized this practice

by adopting

Section 653(h) of the Penal Code^ which in substance prohibits

any person other than the police from instalHng dictographs on

premises without consent of the owner, lessee or occupant. It further provides that such installations are permissible when expressly authorized

by the head

of the peace officer agency or

by

is not to be confused with wiretapping, 640 of the Penal Code^ of the State of California prohibits wiretapping without exception.

a district attorney. This

as Section

*
*

347 U.S. 128(1954). Cal. Pen. Code 653(h): Dictographs. Any person who, without consent of

the owner, lessee, or occupant, installs or attempts to install or use a dictograph in any house, apartment, tenement, oflBce, shop, railroad car, vehicle, mine, or any underground portion thereof, is guilty of a misdemeanor; provided, that nothing

herein shall prevent the use and installation of dictographs by a regularly salaried peace officer expressly authorized thereto by the head of his office or department
or

by

a district attorney,
their

when such
in

use and installation are necessary in the

performance of
criminals.

duties

detecting

crime

and

in

the

apprehension of

640. Tapping Phone or Telegraph Wires Reading Messages. Every person who, by means of any machine, instrument, or contrivance, or in any other manner, willfully and fraudulently, or clandestinely taps, or makes any unauthorized

104

Parker on Legal Restrictions

Officers'

Three years ago the District Attorneys' and Peace

Associations of Cahfornia sponsored a
to permit
bill in

the State Legislature

law enforcement agencies to intercept telegraphic and telephonic communications when authorized to do so by court order based upon an affidavit setting forth probable cause. ^ The proposed legislation was similar to a law now in eflFect in the State of New York/ (Police officials in the City of New York who have the responsibility for the investigation of organized crime attribute to this statute the solving of every major racket and violence case in that state within the past decade. As examples, the Erickson and Harry Gross bookmaking scandal, the "basketball fix" and several extortion cases first came to hght through
wiretappings.)

Our purpose in asking for such legislation was not stimulated by idle curiosity or inquisitiveness. It was merely an attempt to restore some semblance of balance between individual freedoms
lieve

was never intended by our founding fathers that the criminal cartels of our nation should be given a privileged sanctuary within the vast telegraphic and telephonic communications network of the United States within which to plan and transit

and the welfare now, that

of society as a whole. I believed then,

and

be-

Even though the police from intercepting telephonic conversations that might lead to the knowledge of the whereabouts of a kidnapped child and his subsequent rescue, our petition fell upon
act their illegal activities with impunity.
of this state are precluded

deaf

ears.

connection with any telegraph or telephone wires, line, cable, or instrument under the control of any telegraph or telephone company; or who willfully and fraudulently, or clandestinely, or in any imauthorized manner, reads, or attempts to read, or to learn the contents or meaning of any message, report, or communication while the same is in transit or passing over any telegraph or telephone wire, line, or cable, or is being sent from, or received at any place within the State; or who uses, or attempts to use, in any manner, or for any purpose, or to communicate in any way, any information so obtained; or who aids, agrees with, employs, or conspires with any person or persons to unlawfully do, or permit, or cause to be done any of the acts or things hereinabove mentioned, is punishable
as provided in section 639.
*

Report of

Law and

Legislation Committee, California Peace Officers'

Association, 31st Annual Convention, September 6-8 (1951). ' N.Y. Const. Art. I, 12.

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

105

In the Irvine case, the court specifically found that wiretapping

was not involved, and limited

of a dictograph in the

its

deHberations to the installation

home

of Irvine without his

knowledge or

consent for the purpose of obtaining evidence concerning alleged

bookmaking activities.* As a result of the evidence obtained, was prosecuted and convicted in the California courts and sentenced to eighteen months in prison. The United States Supreme Court sustained the conviction in a five to four decision and in connection therewith, the majority opinion of the Court
Irvine

reads in part as follows:^

burden of administering criminal justice rests upon To impose upon them the hazard of federal reversal for noncompliance with standards as to which this Court and its members have been so inconstant and inconsistent would not be
chief
state courts.
justified.
.
. .

The

It is certainly true that

the chief burden of administering crim-

inal justice rests

upon

state courts. If

we

project this principle

upon

law enforcement agencies we find, with but rare exception, that the state's machinery of criminal justice is an inert and hfeless thing until put into motion by the police.
local

Collateral to the disposition of the appeal in Irvine, the clerk

of the court

was instructed to refer the matter to tlie Attorney General of the United States for investigation to determine
involved were in violation of the makes it a crime for any person any law or custom to deprive any inhabitant of any
officers

whether or not the police

under color of state of any rights,

Civil Rights Act." This section

privileges, or immunities secured or protected

by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The Court pointed out that in 1949, for the first time, it ruled that the basic search and seizure prohibitions of the Fourth Amendment were applicable to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment, and thus suggested that a violation of the Civil
Rights Act

made
'

involved in the Irvine case. Since the Court no reference to Section 653(h) of the Penal Code of the
347 U.S. 128, 129 (1954).

may be

Irvine v. California,

/(/.at 131.

" 18 U.S.C.

242

(1952).

106

Parker on Legal Restrictions

State of California/^ the broad language contained in the majority

opinion and the dissenting opinions

is

is

such

tliat

no

clear

course of procedure

spelled out for the local police to follow in

It is

searching for and seizing evidence.

taining a search warrant

not even clear that obopinion as far as

would

alter the Court's

the activities of the pohce oflBcers were concerned.

equipment has solved countless and led to the apprehension of many dangerous criminals who would otherwise have gone unpunished. A reputed overlord of crime in the Los Angeles area is now serving a term in a federal prison as a result of a prosecution in which information obtained through the use of dictographic equipment conutilization of dictographic

The

serious crimes

Two reputed members of the JMafia, who escaped federal prosecution for narcotic violations when a key witness against them was found murdered, were convicted of crimes in the courts of this state based upon evidence obtained through a dictograph installation. One such installation alone aided the Los Angeles Pohce Department in solving forty-three
tributed materially.
serious felonies.
It

cannot justly be said

tliat

the pohce are lazy because they

be found another occupation where men labor more unstintingly far beyond the hours of normal duty with no hope of additional financial reward. The bravery of the pohce cannot be questioned as they
avail themselves of scientific devices. Rarely will

daily risk their fives in the apprehension of vicious criminals. Certainly, society

tion

cannot expect the pofice to risk criminal prosecuis the valid enforcement of the law as they have been led to understand the law. The rules must be more

when

their only sin

clearly defined

if

the police are not to be driven into inaction for

fear of unanticipated consequences.

The real danger to society is in organized activity by groups, mobs and gangs of professional criminals. EflFective police action supported by appropriate statutes and wise functioning of the
courts

and penal
is

authorities can largely curtail the profits of

tlie activities

crime, thus materially reducing

criminal. It
tive action

of

tlie

professional
effec-

my

considered opinion
to protect
its

tliat

society

must take

if it is

very existence. In so doing, society

" See note 4 supra.

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

107

must

realistically

recognize certain facts concerning professional

are extensively organized

criminals.

These

men

in various fields are controlled

by a

relatively

and their activities few who do not,

to

themselves, often appear on the scene.

The

professional criminal

is

clever

and resourceful, quick

take advantage of every invention or technique that can be adapted to criminal purposes; he knows the law, and he knows the ways in which it can be distorted to provide loopholes for his escape from detection and conviction. Some are highly skillful in disguising their operations as legitimate business enterprises; they are extremely resourceful in concealing their operations from ordinary observation by law-abiding citizens and neighborhood

patrolmen.
I

wish again to emphasize that the most dangerous criminals

are professionals people

legitimately, people
as "suckers"

who

refuse to

who

sneer at

work productively or those who do and refer to them

and "chumps." These people are most often organized

according to their particular rackets or types of activity. Thieves

and burglars are organized with one another and with "fences" people who make a business of buying and selling stolen property. Robbers, safecrackers and other strong-arm men are organized
with each other, and, in turn, often with fences. People who are in one or another of the vice rackets prostitution, gambhng, narcotics
it is

and the like are organized among themselves, and thus with almost every type of crime against person or property. Above the "little men" in each of these rackets are the "big men," who often do not physically participate, but who control the activities of

the

men below
is

them, arrange for their bail and for their

representation in court, and

of the proceeds

who

see to

it

that a substantial part

dehvered

to them.

very nature is largely a thing which is carried on behind closed doors or out of sight of hearing. Society has detennined, for example, that it will not tolerate prostitution, not only for its deleterious efiFect on the morals of the community and its threat to the public health through the spread of venereal disease, but also because experience has shown that prostitution engenders pandering, procuring, thefts, strong-arm robberies, assaults and many other such crimes. Consequently, the
its

Crime by

in the dark,

108

Parker on Legal Restrictions

laws of the state and the ordinances of the city are directed toward the suppression not only of organized, but of occasional
prostitution.
It is impossible,

however, to detect prostitution and to obtain

evidence which will support prosecutions and convictions by ordinaiy patrol work. The crime goes on behind locked doors.

Watches are

kept.

Only patrons are admitted. Sometimes even

they are required to have introductions or be identified.

tute does not solicit uniformed

A prostito her

pohcemen nor admit them

chamber. Patrons do not complain, nor are they willing to testify. The prostitute is an outlaw; arrests or pohce records mean nothing to her as such. She will not testify against her confederates nor against her employers. She is part of one branch of organized professional criminality. There are other types equally as organized, equally as insidious, equally as secretive.

Wlien these organized mobs are operating with their accustomed secrecy, there is no technique known to police science by which their criminal activities can with certainty be detected and the criminals brought to account. One of the most efiFective techniques ever devised for such work wire tapping is barred under federal and state law. When wire tapping cannot be carried on, the most efiFective method of suppressing crime and ferreting out criminal activities is to keep the men known to be engaged in these activities under constant and close surveillance. This is not only more costly than any police department can aflFord, but in the vast majority of cases it is impossible. The most efiFective substitutes for constant and close surveillance are to have an undercover agent inside the organization, which is extremely difficult to achieve and very hazardous, or to have some means of overhearing what is said, whether by listening at the transoms, outside windows, down a ventilator shaft or by dictograph. It is my opinion that if the police were deprived of the power to use dictographs, or if the police were restricted in the use of dictographs to such an extent that the element of secrecy would be destroyed, the ability of the police to detect crimes of the sort referred to as "organized crime" would be greatly hampered, and the power of the police to cope with many of the crimes which

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

are committed only in secret

109

would be substantially eliminated. equipment should not in any way be The use of dictographic interpreted as a laborsaving device to free policemen from more arduous tasks. The monitoring of an installation requires endless hours of the most tedious concentration and confining toil, sometimes under conditions of great discomfort. But experience has shown that it is work that must be done if crime is to be controlled. There is no available substitute for it. EHmination of the use of dictographs would doubtless be a welcome respite to the men who are assigned to that kind of work; but any elimination would provide organized crime a sanctuary in the very midst of society which the forces of law and order could not penetrate. Wittingly or unwittingly, those who would deprive society of this means of containing the criminal element are, in effect, giving aid and comfort to their enemy. The question has been raised: is the
installation of a dictograph
It

an

illegal act?

would seem that common sense, reasoned thought and impartial evaluation yields but one answer to the question. The common good and public interest posits the subordination of the individual to the community. Thus, rights to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness are not absolute rights; if they were so construed, the electric chair, the state prison, and the Office of Price Administration would be of necessity precluded as instruments of
government. So, too, wdth the guaranties offered under the Fourth Amendment, guaranties against unwarranted searches and seizures. Wise men, indeed, placed the word "unreasonable" in that provision.^^ Those who would deprive law enforcement of its vitality seem to regard the guaranties of the Fourth Amendment as absolute guaranties against any and all searches and seizures. How
could the police service operate under that construction of the

law? Could police enter on private property without first obtaining the consent of owners? Could prowler complaints be investigated? Complaints about strange activity? Complaints that a

house is suspiciously quiet? Reports that someone has not been seen for a suspicious length of time? Reports concerning neg" U.S. Const. Amend. IV: The right of the people
houses, papers, and
eflFects,

to

be secure

in their persons,
. . .

against unreasonable searches and seizures.

110
lected children
tive
is

Parker on Legal Restrictions

who have been

be
is

left

alone? Searches, where a fugi-

known

to

in the area? Searches,

a reportedly stolen car

ing buildings?

where a car resembhng seen from the street? Rescue from burnbedrooms? Major disturbances on
operations of the police serv-

From

gas-filled

private property? Obviously,

many

ice require reasonable searches or seizures

which otherwise would

be trespasses.
Objection
is

made

that the above cited cases are all discrimi-

nate, but that dictographic techniques eavesdrop

as well as the suspect,
eral

on the innocent and that such techniques smack of the genwanant and cannot be selective in nature. Also, it is con-

tended that the use of the dictograph implies unbridled arbitrary discretion on the part of pohce officers, their use of expedient principles to justify their actions

and

their indiscriminate application

of law. Yet, the one

who makes

that objection sees no unreason-

is a passenger in a vehicle and the driver of stopped by a traflBc oflBcer. His liberty is curtailed; he is surely discommoded and yet he is an innocent party who does not question the action. Does not the analogy hold? Can we ask our traflBc oflBcers to overlook all vehicles which carry passen-

able action

when he
is

that vehicle

gers lest

some passenger's

constitutional guarantees be violated?

traffic oflBcers

Obviously, in the general interest, the actions of the

are
Is

deemed

reasonable, in respect to both driver

traflBc

modem

and passenger. enforcement deemed a police state method?

Does the passenger regard police traflBc activity as an insidious kind of intrusion upon his personal liberty? Do we brand that
traflBc oflBcer

with the stigma of unbridled arbitrary discretion?

With use
law?

of expedient principles? Indiscriminate application of

We
ment

might find objectors who

say,

"But

this ignores the sanctity

of the home." I believe, as do

my

colleagues in the law enforce-

profession, that the privacy

and the

sanctity of the

home

ought to be constitutionally protected; that the protection of individual rights is paramount to governmental expediency; and that secret search by way of general warrants is an unjustifiable
infringement upon the rights of a free people. American citizens may have their privacy violated by impatient, overzealous and opportunistic oflBcials just as millions of people

Surveillance by Wiretap or Dictograph

111

are faced with arguments of "state necessity" in other parts of the

fire

world which have a totahtarian regime. We do not argue a "fight with fire" philosophy because such a premise could reduce the Bill of Rights to a heap of ashes! History shows that bad pohce methods breed disrespect for law, shake the confidence of law-abiding citizens in the administration of justice and weaken tlie national morale. Pofice tyranny is no substitute for poHce protectionnor is an exaggerated conception of individual rights!
In a consideration of the morality of wiretap and dictograph,

we may

Effect."^^

apply the principle of ethics entitled "The Law of Double This law posits that when an action produces two effects, one good, and one bad, as long as the good eflFect is intended, and as long as tlie means are either morally good or morally neutral, the act

may be

morally

justified.

Thus,

when

this

na-

tion

was bomb, it was obviously morally

ciple.

faced with the ethics of warfare in the use of the

justified

atom

according to this printhe driver: the good ef-

So, too,
fect only

when
is

the

traffic officer arrests

intended; the bad effect (deprivation of the personal

is not intended. Hence, this activity is In the case of the wiretap or dictograph the

hberty of the passengers)

morally
justffiable.

identical rationale

may be

applicable.
if

We would
the end

not attempt to justify a wiretap or dictograph

the

ends sought were extortion, blackmail, or like evil. If these techniques are used they must, of necessity, be rigidly controlled. But
if
is

the protection of the commonweal, then the evil

effect (eavesdropping

upon the conversations

of the innocent)

is

not intended, and the action

It is

may be morally justified.

up

to the legislatures

to spell out the authority

and judiciary of this nation carefully and powers and procedures to be fol-

lowed by the investigatory agencies in their enforcement of the laws of this land, if there is doubt as to the constitutionahty or
morality of a particular process or technique. Until this
is

done,

it

would seem that the

test of reasonableness

would be adequate

as

a criterion to guide the law enforcement administrator.

We

are

not arguing that the end

justifies

the means; on the contrary,

we

" Fagothey Right and Reason 85

(1953).

112

Parker on Legal Restrictions

argue that the means are neutral as

is any mechanical technique, and that the use of these means is justified by moral as well as by statute law. Behind all statute law stands moral law. If an action is

morally defensible, then, too,

it is

legally defensible. It

is

my

opinion that the use of the wiretap and dictograph do not violate
a moral precept, and that, therefore, the statute law should echo
this viewpoint.

Far from being a threat to our freedoms, the use of modern by the pohce service may well be its most powerful weapon in combatting our internal enemies, and a vital necessity in the protection of our nation's security, harmony and
technological devices
internal well-being.

The Cahan Decision Made

for the Criminal
The Supreme Court
on April
cision
is

Lije Easier

of California, in a four to three decision

27, 1955, in the case of

People

v.

Cahan,^ imposed the

exclusionary evidence rule

as follows

upon the

courts of this state.

The

de-

contained on page seventeen of the opinion and reads

Despite the persuasive force of the foregoing arguments, we have concluded, as Justice Carter and Justice Schauer have consistently
maintained, that evidence obtained in violation of the constitutional guarantees is inadmissible. People v. LeDoux,^ 155 Cal. 535, People v. Mayen,^ 188 Cal. 237, and the cases based thereon
are therefore overruled.
*

Cahan and

fifteen other persons

were charged with conspiring

to

engage

in

horse-race bookmaking and related oflFenses in violation of section 337a of the

Penal Code. Six of the defendants pleaded guilty. After a trial without a jury, at which evidence obtained through the secret installation of a microphone was introduced, the court found one defendant not guilty and each of the other defendants guilty as charged. Charles H. Cahan, one of the defendants found guilty, appealed the case to the California State Supreme Court and obtained a
reversal of the guilty finding, the Court holding that evidence obtained in violation

of the constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches

and seizures

is

in-

admissable. This decision had the effect of overruhng Peo. v. Le Doux 155 Cal. 535; Peo. v. Mayen, 188 Cal. 237, and cases based tliereon, which had governed for 59 years, and thus made California one of the minority states to come under the

"Exclusionary Evidence Rule." ^This case, decided in 1909, held that the search and seizure was absolutely unwarranted in law and constituted a clear violation of the constitutional guaranty, state

and

federal, of the right of the people to

houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches

be secure in their persons, and seizures. The court

then apphed the rule, "Whatever wrong

for that

may be

perpetrated by the invasion of

one's constitutional rights against unreasonable search

and

seizure,

the redress

wrong

is

not in the exclusion of pertinent evidence which

in

may be

obtained

by
'

the seizure."

This case, decided

1922, also involved an illegal search and seizure and

the court cited and followed the rule of the

LeDoux

case, then

made

the follow-

113

114

Parker on Legal Restrictions

cient

effect of this decision has been catastrophic as far as effilaw enforcement is concerned. Subsequent events have more than justified the warning sounded by Justice Spence in his dissent when he said:

The

The experience
elsewhere.

of the federal courts in attempting to apply

the exclusionary rule does not appear to

commend

its

adoption

The

spectacle of an obviously guilty defendant obtain-

upon a motion to suppress evidence or upon an objection to evidence, and thereby, in effect, obtaining immunity from any successful prosecution of the charge against him, is a picture which has been too often seen in the federal practice. In speaking of an obviously guilty defendant, I refer by way of example to one from whose home has been taken
large quantities of contraband, consisting of narcotics or other

ing a favorable ruHng by a court

commodities, the very possession of which constitutes a serious

violation of the law.

The above-mentioned
it

result,

however,

is

the

inevitable consequence of the application of the federal exclusion-

ary rule in those cases in which

that a search or seizure has been

may be ultimately determined made illegally, either because

technical

of the absence of a search warrant or because of

defect in the affidavit

some upon which the warrant was based.

officer, it is

Both

as a

lav^er and a peace

my

solemn duty to

observe and respect constitutional guarantees and I will never be consciously guilty of advocating the flaunting of constitutional
is my contention, however, that many searches and branded as "unreasonable" by the courts are in fact reasonable under attendant circumstances and do not violate the purpose and intent of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. It is further urged that the true unreasonableness

safeguards. It
seizures

of the situation hes in the insurmountable handicaps placed

upon

the pohce.

In People

v.

Cohan the

court

made no attempt

to define the

ing statement: "There might be some reason, on grounds of public policy, for the state to refuse the use of evidence thus wrongfully seized, on tlie ground
that
its

admission encourages and in a sense condones the lawless acts of over-

zealous officers of the law in their methods of obtaining evidence in criminal

cases,

after the htigation of the question in

jurisdiction, dating

but in the absence of any legislative or judicial declaration to that eflFect nmnerous cases in nearly every existing state

legislative action to

back over a hundred years, the courts change the rule."

may

properly wait on

Cahan Decision Aided the Criminal

areas in

115

which a poHce

officer

might properly search for and seize

evidence. In fact the confusion created

ther magnified
ity opinion:

by the decision was

fur-

by the following language appearing

in the major-

We
The

are not unmindful of the contention that the federal exits

clusionary rule has been arbitrary in

validity of this contention

apphcation and has

in-

troduced needless confusion into the law of criminal procedure.

need not be considered now. Even

it

if it is

assumed

tliat it is

meritorious,

does not follow that

not

tlie

exclusionary rule should be rejected. In developing

a rule of evi-

dence applicable in the

state courts, this court

is

bound by
appears

the decisions that have applied the federal rule, and

tinctions, this court

if it

that those decisions have developed needless refinements

and

dis-

need not follow them. Similarly, if the federal cases indicate needless limitations on the right to conduct reasonable searches and seizures or to secure warrants, this court is free
to reject them.

In the vast majority of cases the machinery of law enforcement

is

activated

by the

affirmative exercise of the

powers and duties

is

of a police officer. Yet the lowly police officer

told, in effect,

that his actions will be justified or

fashion as the facts of

condemned in a piecemeal each particular case come before a high

court of this state. It

is

my

contention that this

sole objective
is

is

an unfair bur-

den

to place

upon those whose

the protection of

the people against the vast predatory criminal army that exists

might be well to remember any tortious act he may commit in the performance of his duties while the courts and prosecutors have been granted immunity by judicial decree. Since the Cahan case we have watched with interest the decisions of our State Supreme Court dealing with the exclusionary rule. It now appears that the Court will approve the introduction of evidence seized without a warrant only when the officer had probable cause to effect an arrest and that whether the search is conducted before or after the arrest is immaterial. The question of what constitutes probable cause is a question of fact to be determined in retrospect and does not necessarily depend upon the state of mind of the officer at the time of the search and/or
in this

country today. At
is

this point

it

that the police officer

civilly liable for

116
arrest.

Parker on Legal Restrictions

Authority to search the person
is

apparently hmited to the

individual for

whom

there

is

probable cause justifying his arrest

that

and does not include companions

may be with him.

In a recent local case, an officer observed a speeding motorist. Upon being overtaken, the motorist stopped his vehicle at the

observed two male passengers and a typewriter He inquired as to the ownership of the typewriter and ownership was claimed by one of the passengers. This person was subjected to search and a quantity of
curb.
officer

The

in the rear seat of the vehicle.

heroin was taken from his person.

the typewriter
of an
all

It

was

later

determined that

had been

stolen in Bakersfield

and was the subject

points bulletin. At the preliminary hearing the evidence

was excluded and the charges dismissed. The court concluded that, while the officer was justified in arresting the motorist for speeding, he had no probable cause to believe the passengers had committed a criminal oflFense and therefore the search of the defendant was unreasonable. This premise seems to have been sustained by our Supreme Court in its decision in the case of People v. Charles A. Simon handed down November 29, 1955. In this case a San Diego police officer observed two young men enter and leave a warehouse district about 10:40 P.M. The defendant's companion, a minor, was found to be in possession of alcoholic liquor, and the officer then proceeded to search the defendant and took from his person a marijuana cigarette. The court held this search to be unreasonable on the basis that the officer did not have probable cause for arrest at the time the search was conducted. In the opinion in
this case the court

made

the following observation

Even if it was conceded that in some circumstances an officer making such an inquiry might be justified in running his hands
over a person's clothing to protect himself from an attack with a hidden weapon, certainly a search so intensive as that made here

could not be

justified.

This statement leads

me

to inquire as to the proper course of

action for the officer to pursue in the event a concealed firearm

were found on the person searched and for which he had no permit to lawfully carry the weapon. No successful prosecution

Cahan Decision Aided the Criminal

would
lie if

117
arrest at

the oflBcer lacked probable cause to

make an

the time the search

weapon

if it

Sometimes
field that

was conducted. Could the officer seize the was the personal property of the person searched? wonder if we are not launching into a sea of hypo-

thetical abstracts. It appears to

law enforcement our ability to prevent the commission of crimes has been greatly diminished. The actual commission of a serious criminal offense will not justify affirmative police action until
of us in the

many

such time as the police have armed tliemselves with sufficient

formation to constitute "probable cause" for an actual arrest.
In contradistinction to the San Diego case,
arrest of the suspects shortly after
I invite

in-

your atten-

tion to a recent local incident wherein an alert officer effected the

an armed robbery had been committed. On Monday, December 5, 1955, while on routine patrol, an officer of this department observed two men in an automobile being operated on Wilshire Boulevard. The general appearance of the men and the car, and a slight bend in the license plate aroused the officer's curiosity. After causing the car to be halted he searched the vehicle and recovered two toy guns and the loot of an $18,000 robbery that had occurred about four minutes before.

were roundly applauded by a would this case stand the test of "probable cause?" The officer was unaware of the robbery until after the apprehension of the suspects. True the hcense plate was bent but does probable cause depend upon the degree of the bend? A similar situation is found in the recent decision handed down by our State Supreme Court in the case of People v. Beverly Michael. The officers contended that they were voluntarily admitted to the premises and the evidence was voluntarily handed to them. The defense contended that the presence of four officers constituted such a show of force that the admission to the premises and the surrender of the evidence was involuntary. In its opinion the dilemma of the police is highlighted when the court said "the cases that have determined this question under varyofficer's

The

actions in this case

grateful public. In retrospect

ing factual circumstances are difficult

cile". Also in
its

if

not impossible to recon-

opinion the court stated:

118

Parker on Legal Restrictions

are not unmindful of the fact that the appearance of four

We

oflScers at the

door

request to enter

may be a disturbing experience, and that a made to a distraught or timid woman might

under certain circumstances carry with it an implied assertion of authority that the occupant should not be expected to resist.

From

this

statement

it

might appear that the number of

oJBficers

seeking voluntary admittance to premises in criminal investigations should

be gauged by the timidity of the occupant

if

such

could be determined in advance.

Tremendous strides have been made from within the field of law enforcement to upgrade the poHce service. One of the greatest hurdles
is

the tendency of

many

courts to separate the gov-

ernment, the people, and the police into three separate alien

camps. Lincoln referred to a government "of the people, for the

people, and

by the people." The

police are the servants of the

people and

it is

contrary to public welfare to so

hamper the

police

in the conscientious

performance of their duties, through the

is paramount Quoting from page

gratuitous imposition of the exclusionary rule, that the question

of the conduct of the officer in obtaining evidence
to the question of the guilt of the defendant.

nine of the

Cahan
not a

decision:
rule," in the

"The federal exclusionary

Black,
"is

words of Mr. Justice

command

of the Fourth

Amendment but

is

judicially created rule of evidence

which Congress might negate."

It is conceivable tliat the imposition of the exclusionary rule has rendered the people powerless to adequately protect them-

selves against the criminal army.

According to the

statistics re-

leased
in the

by the Federal Bureau

of Investigation, crime increased

United States during the period 1950-1954 at four times Even the proponents of the rule will not deny that its application will result in the freeing of some criminals that would otherwise be punished. In this connection, I believe the time has come to take a hard look at the results of the Cahan decision upon the crime picture in this city. During the first quarter of 1955, selected major felony offenses (those offenses that constitute the most accurate crime barometer) decreased fifteen per cent over the same period in 1954. With the
the rate of the population increase.

Cahan Decision Aided the Criminal

119

advent of the imposition of the exclusionary rule on April 27, 1955, there was a progressive diminishment in the crime decrease

was

with the result that at the end of the year the decrease over 1954 less than four per cent. This situation cannot be blamed upon

CHART A

5200

/V- Sll> >

4S00

"t;tlljftrj

11iJlii \13

/
1
i

4400

'\

\y ^\
\

4000
3000
a 300

J
,^^
'

\ ^

V V
/\
-A
10S4

^/^~"

A ^^
~~v
j

/
1
1

\ ^.y /"
'

/
f

2S00

\/

2400
loss
5

TU. AT -

2000
JAM PBB
WUlB.

for the total ar-

APR MAT JUX JUL AUG SUP OCT NOT DKC

any lack of diligence upon the part of the police

rests

during 1955 increased more than twelve per cent over 1954.
will note in

"Crime Trends" that the Los Angeles crime experience during the first four months of 1955 precisely followed the five-year-average and was appreciably
Chart
entitled

You

120

Parker on Legal Restrictions

below the 1954 experience/ Following the Cohan decision, there was a departure from the trend of an accelerating nature with
such a skyrocketing
eflFect

that

December 1955

reflected the worst

crime experience in the history of Los Angeles. In attempting to determine cause, it must be concluded that the greatest single
factor representing a change in the current situation

position of the exclusionary rule at the close of April 1955.

was the imAs the

criminal

army became

familiar with the

new

safeguards provided
result.

to them, the acceleration in crime

was an inevitable

Cahan decompared with the actual experience during the period from May 1, 1955, to the end of the year, reveals the following number of crimes in Part I Property Offenses committed that would not have been committed if the trend had remained conprojection of the trend existing at the time of the
cision,

stant:

% of Increase
Offense

Number
481
1,403

Above Trend
31.7
13.9 11.5

Robbery
Burglary

Larceny Auto Theft

Total
It is

2,580
1,250

30.9

5,714

15.0

entirely probable that these 5,714 crimes

if

would not have

occurred
ary rule.

the underworld had not been aided by the exclusion-

The trends in the prison population of this state bear further evidence of a changing condition that can be attributed to the
handicaps placed upon law enforcement by the imposition of the exclusionary rule. Since 1944 the California prison population
has steadily increased with the exception of one or two months
ten to 200.
conflict. The monthly increase has ranged from The population of the state prison system reached an all time high in March 1955 with a count of 15,668. It was estimated by prison officials that the count at the end of 1955 would

during the Korean

The crime

theft,

trends shown in Chart A are based on robbery, burglary, auto and burglary of and theft from auto.

Cahan Decision Aided the Criminal

total

121

about 16,020. The trend reversed itself, and at the close of 1955 the population count was about 15,230. Thus, there are more than 790 fewer persons in our state prisons today than were anticipated by the prison authorities. Who can refute the fact that the change in the rules of evidence in criminal cases in California may have resulted in more than 790 criminals at large to prey

upon the people

of this state that

would otherwise be serving

sentences in a state prison.

A further evidence of the severe blow dealt to efficient law enforcement under the exclusionary rule is contained in Table I.
TABLE
I

Average Monthly Arrests for Specified Charges

1955
Average Average

195k

Charge

Month
JanuaryApril

Month

% Increase
Decrease

Average

Average

Month
JanuaryApril

Month

% Increase
Decrease

MayDec.

MayDec.

Bookmaking Gambling
Prostitution

70

55

528
295
64

443
291 60

Weapons
Narcotics

403

385
293 483

Robbery
Burglary
Felonies

368
541

2388

2193

-21.4 -16.1 -1.4 -6.3 -4.5 -20.4 -10.7 -8.2

48 458
233
74

58 470 282
69

325
421

376 312
483

549

2358

2177

+20.8 +2.6 +21.0 -6.8 +15.7 -25.9 -12.0 -7.7

before and after the

The average monthly arrests for certain Cahan decision, are

oflFenses

during 1955,

set forth in the table.

In order to refute the spurious claim that these are seasonal changes, the identical comparisons for the year 1954 are enumerated.

The most

significant figure in this table

is

in the field of

narcotic arrests. During 1954 the comparative periods reflected

a 15.7 per cent increase in such arrests, while a 4.5 per cent decrease followed the

Cahan

decision.

When

it is

considered that

many

authorities in the field of

narcotics play a part in fifty

law enforcement estimate that percent of all major criminal ojffenses

is,

the significance of this decrease in narcotic arrests

in itself,

an indictment of the exclusionary

rule.

122

Parker on Legal Restrictions

state of this country, as a result of

Another great

an unhappy

experience with the exclusionary rule, took aflBrmative action to

modify

manner that might well be emulated by the Legislature of California. By popular vote, first in 1935, and again in 1952, the people of the State of Michigan amended Section 10
it

in a

of their constitution to prohibit the barring of evidence in criminal proceedings

when

the evidence consists of dangerous weap-

ons or narcotics seized by a peace officer outside the curtilage of

any dwelling house

present form
is

in the state.

The

text of this section in its

as follows

SEARCHES AND SEIZURE;

evidence. SEC. 10.

drugs, weapons, admissibility in

The

person, houses, papers and possessions of

every person shall be secure from unreasonable searches and

seizures.

No

warrant to search any place or to seize any person

or things shall issue without describing them, nor without prob-

able cause, supported by oath or affirmation: Provided, however,

be construed to bar from evidence in any court of criminal jurisdiction, or in any criminal proceeding held before any magistrate or justice of the peace, (any narcotic drug or drugs), any firearm, rifle, pistol, revolver, automatic pistol, machine gun, bomb, bomb shell, explothat the provisions of this section shall not
sive,

blackjack, slungshot, billy, metallic knuckles, gas-ejecting

device, or any other dangerous

weapon

or thing, seized

by any
this

peace
state.

oflBcer outside the curtilage of

any dwelling house in

If

the exclusionary rule

"is

not a

command

of the Fourth

is a judicially created rule of evidence which Congress might negate" as stated by Mr. Justice Black, then does it not necessarily follow that the Supreme Court of California

Amendment but

created a judicial rule of evidence in the

the California

Cahan decision which Legislature might negate? The creation of rules of

is the historic responsibility of the legislative branch of government and some believe that the usurpation of this power by the courts is an intrusion upon the legislative function. There appears in Vol. 45, No. 6 March-April 1955 edition of The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, published for Northwestem University School of Law, an article by John L. Flynn, Editor, entitled "The State Exclusionary Rule As a De-

evidence

Cahan Decision Aided the Criminal

terrent Against Unreasonable Search

123
this article

and Seizure." In

the following statement appears

Justification for the rule demands a choice between individual and public security. Some diflRculty in law enforcement is the price which must admittedly be paid for tlie right of privacy. To justify its continuance and extension, therefore, the rule must be shown to be more beneficial to the individual than it is harmful to society.

The

statistical history of

crime in Los Angeles since the imposiit is

tion of the exclusionary rule clearly demonstrates that

more

harmful to society than

legislative

it is

beneficial to the individual. Thereis

fore, the continuation of the rule

unjustified

and immediate

remedy

is

in order.

While the complete abolition of

is

the rule through legislative action

justified

it is

my

considered

opinion that the least the Legislature of the State of California

should do

is

to enact the rule of

law contained

in Section

10 of

the Constitution of the State of Michigan.

The March
Supreme Court
of California,

of Crime
d.

In a four to three decision in the case of People

Cahan

the

on April

27, 1955, for the first time

in Cahfornia's history, invoked the exclusionary rule

upon the

courts of this state. This case involved the

same Charles Cahan

who has since been convicted of assault, bookmaking, and robbery and who was the recipient of six bullets in a barroom brawl on
March
It is

10, 1956.

always

difiicult to discuss a

complicated legal subject in

terms that can be easily understood.

constitutional guarantees

The

rule purports to protect

in

by rendering evidence inadmissible

any criminal proceedings in this state which, in the opinion of the court, has been seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The purpose of the Court's action is to discourage certain police conduct by turning the criminal free if the evidence necessary to convict has been obtained by the police in a search deemed by the court to be unreasonable. When this decision was handed down I beheved it my responinform the people of this city that a substantial increase crime would be the inevitable result. Almost immediately my position was misunderstood and misinterpreted. My statements
sibility to

in

were erroneously
persons

classified as political in connotation. The very proclaimed support of the rule on the basis of constitutional guarantees were the first to deny freedom of speech to the police. All I was trying to say was that the rule is extremely harmful to the law-abiding segment of society; that the only one

who

who

really benefits

is

the criminal; that, as a lawyer,

I reafize

the

decisions of the

Supreme Court must be respected and obeyed,

been a
so.

but that

I
all

disagreed with their definition of unreasonable search.

of these years that California has
state,

During

our

legislature has

been

in a position to invoke the rule

if it

deemed

conditions required

its

adoption, but
124

it

has not done

The March of Crime

125

The Los Angeles Police obey the law as they understand the law to be. I have never permitted wiretapping because it is forbidden by state law. Although there is a state law that purports to permit the installation of dictographic equipment by the police, this practice was stopped when the United States Supreme Court indicated that such action might be a violation of the Federal Civil Rights Act. We will meticulously abide by the California Supreme Court's decision in the Cahan case and subsequent cases
dealing with the exclusionary rule.
benefit

The

criminal will continue to

and the law-abiding public

will continue to

pay the

bill.

To
to

those

remind them that the exclusionary rule could leave as it entered, by a four to three decision. Unfortunately, my prophecy of crime increase has come true. While major crime in Los Angeles decreased fifteen per cent durbe
articulate,
I

who may be may

critical of

me

for daring, as a police officer,

ing that portion of 1955 prior to the

five

Cahan

decision,

it

increased

and one-half per cent during the remainder of 1955. December of that year was next to the worst crime month in the history of Los Angeles exceeded only by January, 1956. During the period from January first through ^larch 4, 1956, major felony crime in Los Angeles increased 36.6 per cent over the same period last
year.
at these statistics.

The exponents of the exclusionary rule refuse to even look They seem to have adopted the philosophy
they close
tlieir

that

if

eyes crime will go away.

Many men

of distinction in the juridical field share

my opinion
is

in this matter.

One

of the outspoken critics of the rule

John

Barker Waite, University of Michigan Law Professor Emeritus and former editor of The Michigan Law Review. Writing in the
January, 1956, American Mercury, in an article entitled

"Why

Do Our

Courts Protect Criminals," he closes with the following

comment:

How are we to halt this travesty on justice, make the guilty pay for their crimes, and bolster the pubHc safety? One way would be for the informed and incensed public, through letters and telegrams, through the pulpit and the press, through pubhc forums, radio, and television, to cry out against each and every miscarriage of justice and against e\ er\' criminal turned loose on a mere
flyspeck of teclinicality.

An

outpouring of indignation sooner or

126
later

Parker on Legal Restrictions

of precedent,

would be heard by the courts, despite their paper buttresses and they would cease to encourage criminals and

criminality at the expense of the public safety, public decency

and public good.

In an address delivered in San Francisco on March
Assistant Attorney General Clarence A. Linn
1,

1956,

was

critical of

the

exclusionary rule. In

commenting on the

plight of the prosecutor

he had

this to say:

There is a school of thought that regards a criminal proceeding something akin to a game of golf in which the defendant is to be given a generous handicap, allowed to lift the ball out of traps, permitted to scream at his opponent when he is about to sink a putt, occasionally interfere with his opponent's ball, and last but not least, is to be furnished with a pencil with a large eraser when he adds up the score in his closing argument. This same school of thought would require the prosecution to be penalized at least once on every hole, maintain a discreet silence when he catches his opponent cheating, and finally buy everyone a drink
as at the 19th hole.

At one point

in his address Mr.

Linn suggests, "that

in our

present controversy

we

have forgotten our history."

He

follows

with the statement that:

These
British

statesmen and the Founding Fathers had no

quarrel with the local law enforcement agencies. Their verbal

denouncements were directed to the Special Messengers of the King. They had no argument with the local constabulary. Murder, arson, rape, gambling and narcotics were no concern of theirs. Political oppression by the crown was the motivating force behind the movement which pressed for the adoption of the Fourth Amendment. The ordinary law enforcement agencies of the colonies were not involved in the controversy.
.
. .

In dealing with the adverse

eflFect

of the exclusionary rule

on

law enforcement, Mr. Linn has

this to say:

We
done

cannot conclude a discussion of the Cahan case without a

reference to the

and some other cases have which are devoted to law enforcement. In Cahan, the court said: "Today, one of the foremost public

damage

this case

to those organizations

The March of Crime

concerns
all
is

127

the police state, and recent history has demonstrated

how short the step is from lawless although eflBcient enforcement of the law to the stamping out of human rights." Contemporary history does not support the implication contained in the quoted sentence from the Cahan case. The activities of the local law enforcement oflBcers have never been a factor in setting up a police state. Political upheavals have resulted in dictators who have in turn set up their political police who, when they do
too clearly

not entirely supplant the local police, work separate and apart from them. Little wonder then that adolescents will attack the
police

when they attempt

to enforce the law.

Perhaps they think

they are resisting the

eflForts

of the "police state" to enslave them.

The almost
case
is

positive implication to

be drawn from the Cahan

that the activities of the police are a greater social

activities of the criminal. This,

menace

than are the

is

even

as a suggestion,

terrifying.

Has our democracy

failed?

Have

the executive and

legislative

stitutional duties that the judiciary

branches of the government so far neglected their conmust enact a new rule of evithat the police are lawless persons

dence for the purpose of indirectly punishing law enforcement

officers?

The suggestion

who

continually engage in activities so likely to endanger the hberties

of a free people that the courts cannot wait for the processes of
is unfair to a large body of men and women. These public servants walk the streets of our cities in the daytime and in the nighttime. They do not knock on your door at midnight and carry you from the bosom of your family, throw you into a jail and finally lead you out to be executed at the whim of a dictator. They are not the agents of a police state. They make mistakes but they are not alone in that. When we consider the number of policemen, sheriffs, constables and their deputies and the number of arrests made, we find a percentage of error so low that other go\ernmental agencies might well envy them. The British Commonwealth and approximately twentynine States of the Union still follow the old rule and are without the protection provided by Cahan. We submit that none of these jurisdictions exhibit any of the symptoms of the police state

legislation to correct the evil

or totalitarianism.

There is another aspect of the exclusionary rule which the proponents thereof choose to publicly ignore. It is touched upon by Clarence Linn when he says:

128
Illinois

Parker on Legal Restrictions

has for some years operated under the exclusionary During this period the crime capital of the country has moved from New York, and its environ, where the non-exclusionary rule prevails in the New York and New Jersey jurisdictions, to
rule.

Chicago.

Edward
fornia

L. Barrett,

Jr.,

Professor of

Law, University

of Cali-

fornia, Berkeley, writing in the October, 1955, issue of the Cali-

Law Review

treats this aspect of the exclusionary rule as

follows:

In the first place it should be emphasized that excluding evidence and freeing criminals does not punish "evil" policemen. The exclusionary rule cannot be expected to improve a police force which is generally corrupt, inefiicient, and lawless. It is not a magic wand which will solve the complex problems which constitute the "police problem" in so many of our communities. The police problem is far broader than the question of illegal searches and seizures; problems of police lawlessness are inextricably bound up with the more general problems of police organization, governmental corruption, and modern crime. The fundamental problem, of course, is the general public morality of the com-

munity in which the police

serve. If the public tolerates a graftif

ridden political administration,

the public really does not

want

adequate law enforcement but prefers to keep the Hd off (or even tilted) for gambling, prostitution, liquor violations, and the like, then the police department will reflect this attitude. Characteristically the corrupt police department is the lawless police department.

which results from the acceptance and the preferment of officers who "play the game" results in police brutality, petty graft and blackmail, and intolerance of citizens' rights generally. Such police abuses which are unrelated to conscientious efforts to curb crime cannot be controlled by judicial decision. The threat of excluding evidence illegally obtained has no impact upon the officer who is planning blackmail rather than prosecution, nor upon the police adminisdeterioration of morality

The

of pay-offs

trator

who

is

In

fact,

there

is

seeking to "regulate" vice rather than suppress it. some evidence that the rule assists a corrupt police
false public impression of its attempts to

department in making a
enforce the law.
inals
is

One way

to extend protection to favored crim-

to

make

periodic raids and arrests, knowing that the prose-

The March of Crime

129

cution will be quashed after a successful motion to exclude the

evidence thus obtained.

The

failure of the exclusionary rule as a

the lawless activities

onstrated

of the corrupt police department

means of coping with is best dem-

by the

situation in IHinois. Despite the fact that the

exclusionary rule has long been enforced in a most rigorous fashion

in that state, a journalistic surveyor of the police

recently that he

problem reported was "prepared to accept the widely held opinion that the Chicago police force is by far the most demoraUzed, graft-ridden, and inefficient among our larger cities."
In this connection
it is

interesting to note, in

tlie

April, 1945,

issue of the Atlantic Monthly, an article entitled "Case Dis-

missed" denouncing the exclusionary rule which was written by Virgil W. Peterson, member of the IHinois Bar, for twelve years
a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and, since April, 1942, the Operating Director of the Chicago Crime Commission.

Another interesting aspect of the eflFect of the exclusionary rule is treated in an editorial appearing in the February 25, 1956, edition of the Hollywood Citizen News. The editorial reads in part
as follows

The Cahan decision deters unlawful enforcement of the law, however, by making it clear to officers that they will not be allowed
to profit

by their own violations of the Constitutional provisions, but must obey the law like everybody else. In the use of the exwill not be allowed to profit" the Court has pression "officers
. . .

raised the question in the public

mind

as to

who

profits

when

criminal

apprehended. Heretofore the public has believed that it profited with the apprehension of criminals. It never considered that officers profited any more than any individual citizen profited. Possibly what the Court meant was that the public could not be permitted to profit from the illegal acts of its servants who are trying to prevent crime. Only the criminal should profit, the
is

opinion imphes,
just as

if

the officers

made

a mistake.

The

criminal

is

much
if

of a criminal whether the evidence against

him
is

is

obtained in one
profit

the

way or another, but the law officers make a mistake. Some of

split, five to

says that he

to

the Court's recent

is

decisions

were

two, but majority rules. There

in their opinions. It
is

penalty

when

judges

make mistakes

to

no be

130

Parker on Legal Restrictions

that the oflBcers will continue to catch the criminals

hoped

and

leave to the courts the responsibility of turning them loose.

It is

estimated by experienced

ofiBcers that

about

fifty

per cent

of major crime involves the use of narcotics.

The average narcotic user cannot legitimately support the habit and must resort to thefts and other illegal acts to obtain sufiicient money to buy
the drug.

One

of our chief complaints

is

that the exclusionary rule

ilhcit

has seriously hampered our efforts in the suppression of the

narcotic trade.
traffic

When

the true proportions of the illegal narcotic

be shocked. committee of Cabinet officers appointed by President Eisenhower to study the narcotic problem recommended among other things:
are exposed, the people of this
it is

community

v^ill

In this connection

interesting to note tliat the special

Action by Congress and State Legislature to remove obstacles

imposed by court decision on enforcement officers in obtaining and presenting evidence in narcotic cases, to provide "the optimum" in law enforcement.
In this same area the Subcommittee on Improvement in

The

Federal Criminal Code of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, in its Preliminary Findings and Recommendations
reports as follows
Judicial interpretations of constitutional search

and

seizure safetrial.

guards have resulted in major narcotic traffickers escaping

If

the exclusionary rule

is

"is

not a

command

of the Fourth

Amendment but

a judicially created rule of evidence which

Congress might negate" as stated by Mr. Justice Black, then does it not necessarily follow that the Supreme Court of California
created a judicial rule of evidence in the
the California Legislature might negate?

Cahan decision which The creation of rules of

evidence

is

the historic responsibility of the legislative branch of

government and some believe that the usurpation of this power by the courts is an intrusion upon the legislative function. There
appears in the March-April 1955 issue of The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science, published for Northwestern University School of Law, an article by John L. Flynn, Editor, entitled "The State Exclusionary Rule as a Deterrent Against

The March of Crime

Unreasonable Search and Seizure." In statement appears
Justification for the rule

131

this article the

following

demands a choice between individual and public security. Some diflBculty in law enforcement is the price which must admittedly be paid for the right of privacy. To justify its continuance and extension, therefore, the rule must be shown to be more beneficial to the individual than it is harmful
to society.

The

statistical history of

crime in Los Angeles since the imposiit is

tion of the exclusionary rule clearly demonstrates that

more

harmful

to society

than beneficial to the individual. Therefore, the

is

continuation of the rule

unjustified

and immediate

legislative

remedy is
As long
in the

in order.

as the Exclusionary
it

Rule

is

the law of Cahfomia, your

police will respect

and operate

to the best of their ability with-

framework

of Hmitations

imposed by that

rule.

We

feel

obligated to present the case against this rule of evidence, to

gather and print the

statistics of its cost in

pubhc

security, to

speak of

how

it

affects

our ability to protect you against the

would do the same and you would expect the same if, instead of police officers, we were medical doctors, attorneys, or engineers discussing a law that affected efficient performance in any of those fields. You have trained us, encouraged us to build an honorable profession, paid a considerable cost to bring some abihty and proficiency to law enforcement. And so we believe we have a solemn duty to respond by being articulate in matters affecting your return on your investment in professional pohce work. We hope the people will listen and respond to the honest assessment of the social dangers created by the rule. We hope the State Legislature will hear the voice of the people and enact remedies. We hope the cost in life and suffering and property imposed upon the citizenry by the rule, will soon be eliminated. Whether or not this is done, your Los Angeles Pohce Department will continue the finest and most effective pohce service that is within our power to provide.
criminal army.

We

Chapter Seren

PARKER ON PUBLIC RELATIONS

The
Police Administrator and Public Relations:

An
San

address delivered at the annual meeting of the Pohce

Chiefs Section of the League of California Francisco, September, 1955.

Cities,

The

Police Role in

Community

Relations:

An

address

dehvered at the National Conference of Christians and

Jews, Institute on PoHce-Communitv- Relations, Michi2;an State

Universitv,

Mav, 1955.

The

Police Administrator and Public Relations

it is

a pleasure THE TIME has come when years ago the public Not many
relations.

to talk

about police

subject

was a

deli-

cate

one opinions were sharply and widely

divided. In those

days

many

excellent police administrators held that public rela-

tions activity

was highly impractical almost

a criminal waste of

government funds. They took the attitude that they were paid to be policemen, not salesmen, and that the public was going to get old-fashioned police work pure and simple no frills, no information, no explanation. I do not long for those "good old days." It is true that they were simple times the lines were clearly drawn. The police considered themselves and the public to be separate entities. It was a case of the pohce versus the public the police department decided what was good for the community and delivered just that and nothing else. They were simple times, but they were also ugly times. With a few exceptions, I do not remember them with any great pride for the American police service. Today, the role of the police in a democracy is more universally
understood.

We

accept the principle that the police derive their

powers from the public and must be held continually responsible to the public for the use or misuse of those powers. Any other arrangement, any other philosophy, cannot be tolerated under our
political system.

Our dependence upon the public

is

so complete that

it

seems
it.

inconceivable that past administrators could have overlooked

We

depend upon the public

for the

first

cry of warning, for the

complaint, for the identification of the culprit, for the security of

evidence, and for the witnesses necessary for prosecution.

We de-

pend upon them for necessary equipment.

135

We depend upon them

136
for the

Parker on Public Relations

adequate

salaries, benefits,

and pensions without which

which, inciden-

we cannot attract quahfied personnel personnel tally, we also depend upon the public to furnish.
police departments

This leads us to a puzzling aspect of the problem.

We
for

find

which have accepted the necessity

it

good

public relations; they have created public relations units, they

talk
it

in

stajff

conferences, and teach

all

in their training classes.

And yet, having observed

selves

the prescribed rituals, they find themin familiar positions, lines

and the

citizenry

encamped

drawn up
criticism.

for the old battle of criticism, resentment,

and more
do

All too often then,

we

hear

tlie

familiar cry "public relations

not pay," and the old whine that "pofice work inevitably incurs
resentment."

The

police administrator, disappointed

and

disillu-

an underprivileged, persecuted, and peculiarly distinct class of endeavor to which the basic rules of organization, management, and social-psychology do not apply. In his disappointment, he becomes, as Shakespeare put it, "A wretched soul, bruised with adversity." Public relations, the great panacea the one-shot cure-all has failed to produce results. Perhaps we have been guilty of too much glib talk about public relations with too little real understanding of what it implies. Certainly, no other term I know of has been so misinterpreted and abused. Public relations is not an organizational position, or a subdivision, or something you consciously do. It is a state of affairs. It is the relationship between the public and some identifiable group. As such, it is not something you can either accept or resioned, rationalizes that police
is

work

ject. It is in

continual existence.

The only choice an

to

administrator has

is

whether

this state of

affairs, this relationship, is to

be good or bad.
is

The

things

we do

improve that

state of affairs

public relations activity. Let us

analyze that term.

the confusion and
attach
itself to

What

does

it

really

mean?

would

like to sug-

gest an alternate term which, I believe, will eliminate

dispel

some

of
to

some

of the mystery

which seems
is

the subject. Public relations activity

nothing

more than communication between a group and the public. The problem which faces us today is not whether we believe in public

relations we have no choice but to believe in

it.

It exists.

Police Administrator and Public Relations

137

Our problem way channels

is

of information.
for
it

inter-communication dependable and clear twoThe methods of securing it may vary

never changes.
public relations activity
is

the necessity

If a definition of

simple, the execu-

tion of it the securing of those channels of information is not.

This tremendously complex question of group relationships and

intra-group frictions
is

public relation oBcers, detailing

to local

not a thing to be solved solely by creating men to disseminate information

news

outlets, or creating colorful

pamphlets and annual

loosely refer to as

reports. Tliese small tasks are

total effort necessary to

an insignificant fraction of the

maintain what

we

good

pubhc
thing

relations.

referring to

With this in mind, perhaps it is time we stopped pubhc relations or public relations activity as someEvery
look, every

we

assign to a personality, or unit, or even to the adminis-

trator himself.

every

man

word, very motion made by in the organization, every moment of the day, comis

municates impressions to the pubhc and as such

tions activity,

pubhc

rela-

good or bad. The other things we do, the pamphlets, the radio appearances, and so on, are supplementary activity. They have some effect, but it is totally outweighed by the
effect of the

complete organization.
of the field officer provides citizens with firsthand

The conduct
amount

impressions, direct

and

lasting.

When

he does a sloppy

job,

no

of secondary public relations activity can hide the fact.

Abiding pubhc cooperation is earned the hard way mile-by-mile of alert patrol, hour-by-hour of tedious investigation, both backed

up by

a sincere devotion to our profession of public service.

But even this verges on an over-simplification of the problem. EflBcient and courteous police work can go not only unappreciated but, in some instances, unwanted. To ignore this possibility is to be guilty of perpetuating the glib talk which adds confusion to our subject. Unfortunately the impression has been created that public relations is a relatively simple thing. Leading textbooks on administration dispose of it in a single chapter. Our professional magazines are filled with articles which purport to solve this enigma through simple organizational diagrams. Even some leading exponents treat it as something one should do occasionally, suggesting clever publicity stunts and advertising gags. This

138

Parker on Public Relations

surface treatment creates the disillusionment felt

tors

when they

execute the

by administrarecommended motions and then seek

in vain for results.

Perhaps the first step in formulating realistic communications between the police and the public is to take a critical look at the problem. I believe such an analysis will destroy forever any illusions that good public relations can be created with small expenditures of effort.

would be difficult to devise a combination more conducive to inter- and intra-group friction than that found in the typical American city. Rarely does history record so many people of varied beliefs and modes of conduct grouped together in so competitive and complex a social structure. The confusing variety of religious and political creeds, national origins and diverse cultures is matched only by the extremes of ideals, emotions, and conduct found in the individuals which make up that social structure. Although proud of their independence, these people live so interdependently that food, shelter, and even their very movement on the streets require delicately balanced cooperation. Although
It

sharing a tradition of individual liberty, their activities are regu-

by the greatest and most complicated concentration of laws be found anywhere. Charged with maintaining this precarious order by enforcing this confusion of laws, is the law enforcement agency. Although this would prove a difficult task under ideal conditions, it is aggravated by unusual factors. The poHce function is rarely considered by the public to be a vital element of their Hfe together. Further, the police past is often one of alternating inefficiency, corruption, and brutality. As a result, the individual police officer operates with a remarkable lack of public support, cooperation, and trust. Although this past is a legacy from corrupt political machines erected and supported by the people themselves, the policeman has become a public symbol upon which the wrath for such conditions is vented.
lated
to

This

is

our so-called public relations problem.

it

If there is a

panin

acea, a one-shot cure-all,

has never been revealed to

I

me

either lecture, textbook, or experience.

wary

of the so-called public relations expert

have become extremely whose stock in trade

Police Administrator and Public Relations

consists solely of

139

press

recommendations concerning contacts with the sound movies, and three color pamphlets. Far better that the administrator have a finn grasp and insight into the roots of the problem and the factors which create it. Given this, a capable administrator can be trusted to apply the mechanics of solution. If a specific police department's dilemma stems from the fact

and

television,

that

it is

poorly administered, unprofessional, or corrupt,

its

prob-

lem cannot be solved by public relations activity. The cause is much deeper. If such a department has a public relations program, it usually consists of a stream of propaganda and special privilege to dominant community groups. It is not that type of problem which concerns us today, but rather that of the well-managed, somewhat ideahstic, hard-working police agency which would like to do an even better job but needs an improved pohce public relationship if it is to do that job. Let us assume for a moment that the police service oflFered to a specific community is of good quality: If police public relations are bad in that communitv, it follows that the administrator is faced with a marketing problem. There must be created a desire and a demand on the part of the community for the quality of police service that is oflFered. In this respect, law enforcement does not diflFer greatly from private industry. The one factor which predetemiines the success of any business is the market.
Unless the ultimate recipient of a product or service is convinced that he needs it, the most skillful organization and techniques
are wasted.

A
try

is

second lesson the pohce administrator can draw from industhat markets are created they seldom spring full-blown

from the unshaped desires of the people. The vital elements of civilized life, including our most sacred institutions, at one time or another have been laboriously sold to the people. In this respect, it is heartening that unreceptiveness is not one of the faults of Americans. They respond quickly to new ideas and paradoxically often relish being proved wrong. Despite opinion to the contrary, they respond to large ideas as well as to the small and trivial. This is of tremendous importance to the police administrator, because the ideas and ideals he must communicate are not trivial ones.

140

Parker on Public Relations

police administrator's
first

The

step toward building a foundato introduce to

is

tion for a

good police public relationship must be

is is

the public a fact which

elemental to every society. This fact

the police function

man

government by character and pemianence of which has determined the

a basic

component

of man's

first sought collective conduct possible in human affairs, we manage to exist only because we establish and enforce certain limitations. These rules or laws are promulgated, not because men agree on what is right or wrong, but because

every social structure since

human

beings

security. In the face of the extremes of

they do not agree. Thus law, an

artificial

standard,
society
is

is

necessary to

mark the
served.

limits of activity
is

beyond which

injured.

Law,
ob-

standing alone,

a fiction. It achieves reality only

fies in its

when

it is

The
it.

character of every society

method
its

of estab-

lishing observance,

and

its

permanence hes

in

success in se-

curing

There may be an element of the community to which it will have to be said in a simpler manner: "We can't get along without the police and the better the police do their job, the better off the community is going to be." But regardless of which way it is said, regardless of whether the listener is a man who can understand the philosophical connotations or a man who measures community welfare solely by personal profit, the message can be sold. Most citizens today are well aware of the exorbitant cost of ineffectual law enforcement. They are not entirely unfamiliar with the experience of other communities. The creation of the market

need not be
tangibles

so

the calhng to

much the sale of a startling new concept as it is memory of some well-known facts. Immediate
will

which

be recognized are more

trafiBc

effective security

of goods, a higher rate of recovery of stolen property, lower in-

surance premiums, and better

It

conditions.

must be emphasized

that

we

are

now

talking about comlevel.

munications performed at the administrator's

important. Included
enterprise with
is

His relationis

ship with the business and professional groups of the city

most

the press, since

it is

primarily a business

a stake in

community

weffare.

newsgatherers.

noted that the administrator's concern here is He is not seeking good publicity. He

should be not solely wdth

It
is

not a press

Police Administrator and Public Relations

agent.

141

community leader seeking the solution to one of the community's most pressing problems. His business is with
is

He

publishers, editors, stockholders, directors.

tisers

He

will talk to adver-

and radio-station owners and to members of the chamber of commerce and of transit, banking, insurance, veterans, and other associations. Similar powerful influences on community thinking are school, religious, and inter-racial groups.

By
is,

strict definition, this is

not yet public relations activity. It

in essence,

find a
less

an attempt to negotiate a contract an attempt to market for the brand of service offered. I suggest that unthis solid and sustaining market is created, unless that brand
is

of service offered

desired, a foundation for further public rela-

tions activity does not exist.

program requires a considerable amount of courage in the police administrator. He must have fiiTn convictions and the courage to be true to them. Although willing to accept criticism for his own and his organization's errors, he must have courage to point out mistakes by others. For over a century the American police have been the subject of castigation. We have no complaints on this score it is part of the painful process of growtli and improvement. But there is a danger in this history of abuse. A point is sometimes reached where all other groups seem to become wise and faultless and self reproach becomes the total answer. Establishing a base for good public relations is not accomplished by pleasing vocal groups, but rather by being right, staying right, and having faith in the people that they will support

The

initial

right.
I

am reminded

of a general order

which
is

signed shortly after

instructed officers

becoming Chief of Police in Los Angeles.

that while cooperation with the press
responsibility
is

It

important, our primary

the investigation of crimes and the apprehension

of offenders. Assistance to the Fourth Estate

must be kept

in bal-

ance with basic police

times there
is

tasks. It must be recognized that many between the immediate objectives of the police and of the press at crime scenes. Priority must be given to the discovery and preservation of evidence. The new order necessitated some changes in newsgathering procedures and could have resulted in a serious difference of opinion between the two agen-

a conflict

142
cies.

Parker on Public Relations

But because a market for professional law enforcement had been created, because communication had been established with the administrative level of the press, the situation was brought into balance with each side respecting the importance of the
other.

police administrator are

Let us face the unescapable fact that the requirements for a much more severe than those we impose on our raw recruits. If he is a tender soul, if he is easily frightened, if his sense of values places security ahead of ethics, then he has no right to be at the helm. And if such a man is at the helm, the strongest public relations activity can only put off the inevitable day when his many compromises, the confusion of sails he has set, will sweep him from his course and spell ruin for himself and his department. The disorders inherent in our highly urbanized society create many frustrating problems for which there are no easy solutions. Typical of these are freeway congestion, trash littering sidewalks and streets, shifts in ideas of moral responsibility resulting in weakened family discipline, and in some communities, an atmospheric pollution known as "smog." Some of these problems are mere nuisances; others present a grave danger to social and physical health. In both cases, there appears to be a growing tendency to attempt to legislate the problem out of existence. Too often, such legislation is passed during a wave of heated indignation with but little sober consideration to the problem of enforcing
the

new law.
solution to these urban problems does not always
lie

The
in the

with-

power
the

of the police.

The public tends toward an exaggerwork

actually available

ated opinion of our authority, of the efficacy of citation and arrest, of

number

of man-hours of police

and

of

how much can be

accomplished during those man-hours.

grave public relations dilemma is created in these instances because the police administrator is likely to be condemned if he fails to order zealous enforcement of the new statute and is certain to be condemned when enforcement fails to solve the unsolvable. And, of course, his officers will be loudly condemned by the
citizens

who become

the target of the

is

new wave

of enforcement.

Typical of this situation

the "litter-law," a statute becoming

Police Administrator and Public Relations

increasingly

143

common. Each

day, millions of pounds of

wood pulp
vari-

are transformed into Kleenex, advertising handbills,

and the

ous other throw-away paper products. This

is

all
is

a part of our

way-of-life our enonnous paper consumption

rooted deep in

like it or not, our highly competitive social structure. a certain amount of this litter is going to miss the trash-can and be deposited on the street. A few days ago I saw a child of about five years in the rear seat of a car,

Whether we

mother's Kleenex box in hand,

gravely throwing these paper-handkerchiefs out of the window,

one at a time. It was probably worth nineteen cents to the mother to keep the child occupied during the drive. But there is a statute which prescribes a "litter-bug" citation for this offense. We write almost one million traflBc citations a year in Los Anwith some eflFect on the traffic problem. Perhaps a million geles "litter-bug" citations would have some effect on the city's wastepaper problem also. If you will consider the difficulty encountered in selHng the necessity of strict traffic law enforcement, you can guess at the disastrous result of strict "litter-bug" law enforcement. Turning from the public relations to the economic aspects of the problem, I question the cost of detailing highly trained and moderately well-paid traffic and crime specialists to the task of keeping the streets clean even assuming that police activity could, in this one instance, change human nature. When presented with a dilemma of this type, the only approach the police administrator can adopt is that of facing the issue squarely, even at the cost of offending those who are promoting the legislation. A good public relations program is not a matter of pleasing everybody all the time. At times, despite our warnings, we will be given the task of enforcing this type of fringe legislation. While we must accept responsibility when it is placed upon

us by constituted authority, public that enforcement

is

we must

also

make

it

clear to the

not necessarily the solution.

The
plish.

not have the

be offered new tasks which they do power, the training, or the authority to accomAnother excellent example is the freeway problem. There
police will continually

man

is a considerable public outcry today against the use of those express-highways by heavy trucking. Although the trucking industry is one of the integral supports of our economy, no one seems to

144

Parker on Public Relations

cargo-carriers in front of

want these
statute has

him on the freeway.

A new

been enacted which Hmits these vehicles to the extreme right lane if they gross over a certain tonnage. No one appears to have given much thought to the problem of enforcement. How is tonnage determined? By estimate? At one of the weighing pay-stations which may be miles from the location of the oflFense? What of the increased freeway congestion and traffic hazard created when one of these giants must be stopped for investigation or citation? And what of the unbroken stream of trucking, traveling radiator to rear-gate in the extreme right lane of traffichow then does the passenger vehicle get in the right lane to exit from the freeway or does he have to travel it to its terminus? More than one person has actually suggested that the police should so rigidly enforce the traffic statutes against trucking that it would scarcely pay these operators to use express-highways in other words, a regime of organized persecution against one segment of industry. And this suggestion has been made in all seriousness. The public relation danger of applying police measures against nonpolice problems, or even of remaining silent and hoping the

wave

of indignation will subside,

is

that the administrator will

find the police suddenly saddled with responsibility for the exist-

ence of the condition. I was startled the other day to hear a citizen berating the police for not eliminating "smog." I was not even aware that the atmospheric pollution problem represented
a proper police activity.

The

mon
thus,
is

Line of reasoning in

citizen was following an all-too-comwhich the police represent authority and

when authority not a new thought.

traffic

fails,

the police are therefore responsible. It

We have heard the police blamed for crime,

row
conditions, criminal recidiills.

delinquency,
the best

deaths, skid

vism, and any

number

of other social

would suggest that

way to add to this list is to take on new tasks involving problems which cannot be solved by police activity. The poHce administrator who has not developed direct and clear channels of communication to responsible segments of the
community
to all
will find his public relations

program shattered by
all

impossible demands.

The

police department cannot be

things

men. Your marketing contract must include some limitation

Police Administrator and Public Relations

145
is

on how much and what type of service your organization

capable of providing.

Once communication has estabhshed a marketing contract, then the more common forms of pubhc relations activity can be used
with

have disparaged the use of a public relations officer medium of communication between the police and the public. But it should not be assumed that there is no place for such a unit in the organizational structure. As a staff activity, as a guide to the administrator and his chief deputies, as an instrument of selective communication with the city's many groups, it is an important phase of the public relations program.
effect. I

or unit as the sole

The department's public

should be a

relations

officer

or unit

commander

member

of the administrator's advisory

staff.

He must

be given considerable freedom to criticize, to innovate, to act on the spur of necessity. He must have the full confidence of the top man. He works in the difficult field of human relations where to be fifty-one percent right is close to genius. The relationship must be one of close mutual respect. If, on occasion, the pubfic relations advisor cannot tell the administrator that he is wTong, one of the two men is superfluous. If a department creates a public relations position, let it be a virile, active, creative position. I have purposely avoided discussing the mechanics of communicating with the public because it is my behef that it composes the smallest part of the public relations task. Comprehensible news-releases, readable annual reports, intelligent radio and television interviews, interesting lectures to service clubs these are relatively easy things to provide. The securing of efficient and courteous performance in the field should present no problem to the capable administrator. The real problem is not that of doing a good job; it is not even that of telling the pubhc that it is being done. The most important and most difficult task is the securing of a market for professional pohce work a public that will demand it, pay the cost of it, and stand behind it. The market theory is not an untried one. During the past five years it has been the core of the pubhc relations program of the Los Angeles Pohce Department. The history of that department's rising international prominence in law enforcement, its unprec-

146

Parker on Public Relations

edented public cooperation and approval, is too well known for its mention here to be construed as praise-seeking. Rather, it is evidence that a sound pubHc relations policy is not an administrative appenditure, but rather, a broad foundation necessary to efiBcient and effective law enforcement. As long as democracy exists in our country, the police will be shaped and controlled by the public. To deny the wisdom of this arrangement is to deny our very birthright. Public relations activity is merely recognizing and complying with that state of affairs. It is not a synthetic procedure, adopted as a means of
relieving external pressures. It
is

a full realization of the true

is

place of law enforcement in the scheme of things it

of the philosophy of democracy.

a full grasp

The

Police Role in Comfnunity Relations

Within a few hundred miles of this point, a group of scientists are devising what they call "an improved nuclear device." We do not know its range of total destruction or its date of completion. But this much we do know its power is such that its designers live in dread and apprehension of the forces they have created.

And

across the seas, other scientists, using other languages, race

to surpass our weapons.

The power of total destruction may lie within our immediate future. Each second which passes brings man nearer the moment of awesome and irrevocable decision.
supreme crisis draws near, we have gathered to discuss community affairs. And I think it is only right to ask whether our subject is rendered meaningless by the uncertain future; whether our preoccupation with simple day-to-day matters,
As
this

moment

of

is

really very important.

In answering this question,

port of this Institute.
issues

believe

we approach

the true im-

The

small problems, the seemingly petty

we
is

discuss today, are in reahty neither small nor petty.

Our
The

subject

not overshadowed by the great international disputes

is

and

their deadly consequences. Rather, the reverse

true.

great crisis which compels our attention

was

bom in the inequities,

the blind passions, and the senseless conflicts which furnish our
subject. Conflicts begin not between nations or blocs of nations, but between men. If there is an absolute and enduring solution
to conflict,

be found at levels where ministers of state propound compromises. It will be found at the everyday level of social intercourse in our homes, or on our streets, and in our
it

will not

individual consciences.

My
vital

initial

premise, then,

is

that

community

are not an unrealistic

and

relatively

relations problems unimportant concern, but a

society's failure to

issue a question of

human weakness and

147

control that weakness.

148

Parker on Public Relations

will note
I

You
repeat.

did not say "correct"

relations
is

human

weakness. Let

me

Community

a question of

human weakness
species,

and and

society's failure to control that weakness. If social equity

tranquility

were dependent upon perfection of the

this conference. If

then despair might well keynote

sions are to

our discus-

produce results, there is one fact which must dominate all our thinking we have not solved the human equation. Lacking a solution to human imperfection, we must learn to live with it. The only way I know of safely living with it is to control
it.

When

one

man

assaults another or

one group violently flaunts

is
it.

the rights of another group, the immediate and pressing issue the conflict, not the beliefs which incited

We

have not yet

men beheve, but we can control what men do. I do not deny for a moment that the final solution is the perfection of human conscience. But in the interim, and it may be a long interim, we must have order.
learned to control what

My

second premise, then,

is

that social order

is

the

first

conpro-

cern of those interested in improved community relations.

vides, not a perfectly equitable pattern of
ful arena in
life,

It

but at least a peace-

which those inequities can ultimately be solved. Community order works another advantage which, to my mind, has never been properly assessed. Man is a creature of habit, not of hate. Order, even though it is enforced order nonviolent conduct, despite intolerant and discriminatory beliefs creates among the peoples of the community habitual patterns of conduct. I suspect that this habit of order, like any other habit, can be so ingrained

human mind that it will displace baser instincts. Let me make it abundantly clear at this point, I do not recommend and will never support a police state. My interest is not in more regulation or tighter restrictions on human liberty. I have no interest in broadening police powers. I am concerned that
into the

existing police responsibilities, those vital to a peaceful productive society,

be professionally and effectively discharged.

are far from perfect, but even so they are sufficient for

Our laws

the maintenance of

human

intercourse without violent conflict.

That these laws have not prevented violence is not the fault of the laws but of the manner in which they are construed and enforced.

Police Role in
I

Community Relations

149

intend to outline here, a realistic and immediately practical profor securing

gram

and maintaining

social order within the limits

of existing legislation.

Some

will question the

confinement of the discussion to the

bare limits of legal propriety.

questions now.
of eflFective
in schools?

I would like to dispose of those freedom of economic opportunity? What de-segregation in business and professions, as well as

What

of

What

of the multitude of "gentlemen's agreements,"

which relegate Are these not also important questions, some of them as damaging and painful as actual physical violence? The answer must be in the aflBrmative. But these evils will never be eliminated, so long as conflict keeps
the haniiful, though not actually illegal actions,
to second-class citizenship?

some groups

alive the beliefs that created them. In the ruins of

mob

action, in

the pain of physical assault, and in the renewed and intensified

hates and fears which follow violence there are no solutions.

But where people can walk together and five together and do business together without violence, an afiirmative step has been taken. Under our system of government, any discussion of enforced order is necessarily a discussion of local police agencies. We have no national police; legislative and judicial branches of government are prohibited from usurping police powers; our armed forces can be used civilly only under the gravest and most extraordinary emergencies. Our rich and complex economic system, our political freedom, the very conduct of our way of life, is made possible because of the security provided by local police agencies. Indeed,
Conflict does not beget peace.

the entire social structure

is

balanced upon patterns of order creit is

ated by community law enforcement.

This
is

quite a balancing act. Historically,

a rare concept;

few nations have rested so much on so slender a foundation. Recognizing this, it would appear that excellence of the poHce would be a principal and constant concern of community leaders. Their selection, their training, their morale would seem to be of critical importance. Understanding all this, certainly our leaders should have provided the police with the finest young men, the most capable leaders, the wisest counsel. That we have not done these things is as obvious as it is regrettable. The disorder and violence

150

Parker on Public Relations

which troubles us as we meet here today, is part of the price we pay for our neglect. There is in existence today a community which has decided that
the price
is

too high. It

is

a case study in the successful application

problem of community relations. I have had the good fortune of taking an active part in the experiment. I have watched it mature during twenty-eight years of service as a
of enforced order to the

professional police officer.

I refer

your attention to Los Angeles. That city

is,

today, char-

acterized
it

by a quality

of inter-group cooperation

which renders
city. It

almost unique

among our
it

great

cities. It is

not a model

has intolerant citizens;

tors

has incidents of

conflict.

have not been permitted to accumulate into Los Angeles has not experienced an instance of organized groupviolence in the past twelve years.
If

But those facmass disorder.

organized violence occurred anywhere,

in

it

should,

by

all

socio-

economic standards, have been

Los Angeles. In the

it

last

decade,

the city has nearly doubled in size;

tion of adjustment to an industrial
is

suffered the intense dislocait

economy;

has been and

still

the focus of one of the greatest migrations in this nation's his-

tory. Its

two

million,

two hundred thousand people, the hub of a

is

five-million person metropolitan area,

colors, creeds,

a melting pot of races,

and ideas. Let me cite some examples. Los Angeles is the home of nearly one-quarter million Negroes, an increase of 168% since World War II. It has the largest Mexican-descent population outside of Mexico City. It has the largest Japanese group in the nation; the third
largest Chinese group.
at least equals the

The number

of persons of the Jewish faith

races, colors,

urban average. The city is a cross section of the and creeds which make up our nation. And, for

reasons no one has ever explained to

my satisfaction, we are

some-

how

Mecca
is

for not only strange rehgious cults, but also for every

brand of
This

and fanatic that our society breeds. Los Angeles not the city colorfully depicted on travel posters but the one which interests us here today. It has, like
zealot, bigot,

other great metropolitan centers, nearly every element which creates

community

tensions.

But

its

peoples of different background

are learning to live together.

Police Role in

Community Relations
strife is largely

151

The
I

story of that city's

freedom from
its

the story

of the professionalization of

police department. In this respect,

do not discount the efforts of other agencies, particularly those working for community and group betterment. Their progress in the fields of human understanding, education, and welfare, has been remarkable. It holds great promise for the future. But they made one additional contribution. They recognized that there was one thing which would make social tranquility immediately possible. They gave dynamic and unflagging support to pohce improvement. I want to approach the subject of police improvement in a bluntly realistic manner. There has been a great deal of discussion about it at this Institute, and I am anxious that one serious error be avoided. As I left Los Angeles yesterday, I was introduced to a feature writer from another city's metropolitan newspaper. He is a capable man. His task was to analyze the Los Angeles Pohce Department, study its techniques and procedures, and take the story back home. This is good journalism the type which justifies our faith in the Fourth Estate. I hope he won't make the error I'm concerned about. If he doesn't, it will be a rare instance. Since Los Angeles has achieved its eminence in law enforcement, dozens of citizen groups, city officials, and journalists have studied our methods. The usual result is a storm of bitter criticism of their department, and a demand that their police adopt Los Angeles' professionalism.

How
selves.

simple

tliat

sounds.

And how dangerous

it

is

to

asume
effi-

that a city's so-called police problem stems from the police them-

These people who demand that

their police

be more

cient,

more honest, more impartial I

invite

them

to join

me

in

an

exercise in realism.

Who

actually runs a police department?

mayor, the police commission, the chief? The people do! its policies, estabfish its standards, furnish its man-power, and supply its budget. The police department is not a private endeavor; it has no funds of its own. It is not a legal entitv; it has no rights, no vested interests. It is merely a group of citizens employed to exercise certain functions. It is created hv the public, shaped by the public, and operated by the public. And if it oper-

The They set

152

Parker on Public Relations

be disowned by the public. have often heard the complaint that the police organization is all right, but the officers just are not producing. And if an employee isn't producing whose fault is it? The public selected
ates badly, the responsibility cannot
I

man? The public furnished bad training or did they neglect to provide funds for training of any sort? What about the supervisors and commanders? Were they selected by competitive examination on a merit basis or were they promoted on a political basis? If so, whose politics? If there is a machine in town a few police votes
that

man did

they select the wrong

it

the training was

don't keep

it

running. But the public vote does!

tells

A
ern

recent

news report

of

widespread police graft

in a south-

city. Officers are

"squeezing" merchandise from businessmen,

parking fees from

ti-uckers, gratuities

good

citizens there, horrified at

from other citizens. The the expose, might do well to

accept some personal responsibihty. The basic salary of their

pohce officer is $220.00 per month. On the six-day week, tliat runs about a dollar per hour. Carpenter's helpers in the same town earn nearly double that scale. What kind of poHcemen do they expect to get for a dollar an hour? Their police department costs less
than a million dollars per year. Of course, the crime
year.
bill,

the dis-

order, the under-the-table pay-offs run fifteen million dollars per

A shrewd bargain these good citizens have driven. Of course,

they are going to solve their problem. They're replacing the chief, the seventh in six years.

group from that city calls upon Los Angeles for assistance, what should we tell them? They'll want to study our organization, inspect our Planning and Research and Intelligence Divisions, our strong disciplinary program, observe our cadet school, our continuous in-service training. There are no
If a journalist or a citizens'

secrets about these things.

administrative technique.

They are merely adaptions of sound They are available and understandable

But they cannot be put into effect until competent personnel are attracted by decent job benefits, until an adequate operating budget is furnished; until public cooperation replaces disinterest, shallow-interest, and special-into qualified police officials everywhere.
terest. Professional police

work

will

come

into being only

when

the public takes a long hard look at their police, and instead of

Police Role in

Community Relations
full

153
respon-

disowning what they themselves have created, accept

sibihty for the errors of generations.

Returning, then, to the Los Angeles expeiiment the thing

which made poHce progress and

social order there a reality

a public acceptance of these very basic facts.

At

first,

it

was was

understood by only a small group community leaders such as

those represented at this conference.

cept was a difficult one. Not that cept

it

The job of selling this conwas a particularly new conan ugly one. Los Angeles this Institute were key

but at some community

is

levels

it is

members

of the groups represented at

factors in that sales job.

ready to support the professionalism of its police agency, there are certain techniques which the Los Angeles experiment has proved necessary. The first step is the attraction of proper recruits. Los Angeles policemen draw $440.00 monthly at the end of three years' service. This is probably a

Assuming a community

minimum

figure.

ciently educated

Below that, the possibility of attracting suffiand capable persons is almost nil. I am of the

opinion that the base salary for an experienced line oflBcer should

be in the neighborhood of $600.00 monthly, at present living costs. The first city to adopt such a scale will attract high quality personnel who now select other professions. At the present time, I am trying to convince Los Angeles that we would sa\'e money by paying more. Our attrition rate among the most qualified officers is too high. I had the pleasure of meeting our former staff researcher here today a former Los Angeles policeman, now Professor Albert Germann of Michigan State University. There must be minimum recruiting standards and these minimums must be held even though the department operates below strength. Far better to have to increase unit output than to corrupt your police future with substandard men. In Los Angeles, less than 4 per cent of all applicants meet our rigid police standards. We have been considerablv under authorized strencrth for five years, at one time ten per cent under an allowed figure which was itself nearly forty percent under the recommended population, square mile ratio. We have managed to do the job only because personnel qualitv allowed us to steadily improve efficiency. We were told by administrative experts we might improve 2

154

Parker on Public Relations

percent per year with

much
last

planning and labor.

We upped work
basis, prefer-

output fifteen percent

1955.

year and

we

are going to do better in

Recruit selection must be

made

solely

on a merit

ably by an independent

civil service

department.

If a

ward

boss,

an alderman, or a councilman can influence selection in any manner, tear up your plans and start over. As a matter of fact, if he can interfere in any way other than through oflBcial channels, the police improvement plan is doomed. Categorically, profesand there are no sional police work and politics do not mix

shades of gray to that philosophy.

A psychiatric test must be included in the recruit selection program. This bears directly on the problem of community relations. The finest training, direction, and disciphne cannot correct
or control serious emotional defects.

Our Cadet Training School runs

Again, this should be considered a
I

thirteen

weeks

at present.

minimum and

then only

if

the recruit has an educational equivalent of two college years.

am

personally in favor of a six-month training period, plus a

field

six-month additional
schools, specialist

probation under

strict

supervision.
officers'

This should be followed up with in-service and advanced

and command schools such

is,

as are

provided in

Los Angeles. This

in

of course, only a sketch of recruiting

and

training considerations.

With

it

in

mind,

some of the training directly on the community relations. subject of Once the police cadet has received basic technical information,
detail

more

would which bears

I

like to consider

the direction of training pivots to the consideration of

relations.

human

The cadet must be taught

to translate his technical back-

ground
people.

into solutions of field situations problems

which involve

In these courses, sociology

is

stressed

Applied
ogy.

human

relations

is

stressed
is

more than ethnology. more than theoretical psycholto provide, immediately, use-

The

pui-pose of the training

able knowledge. Training schedules do not allow time for building

the broad base of theoretical knowledge necessary in university

training.

The

police administrators should not attempt that im-

possible task under present training time

minimums. The advan-

Police Role in

Community Relations

155
is

tages of a college education requirement for police applicants

readily apparent here. Lacking this, colleges do provide upperlevel courses,

and

officers

should be encouraged to take advantage

of these facihties. In a recent survey,

of our officers

we found

that forty percent

were engaged

in such training.

The cadet
economic
all

learns that people differ by race, religion, politics,

to

status, occupation,

learns they

have a right

and in a thousand other ways. He be different. He learns that we are

of us belongs to

minority group

members that each

many

groups, any one of which can be and often has been discriminated
against.

In other classes, statistical diagrams of the composition of the

city are studied.

The

various peoples are discussed, the

move-

movements

ments of groups are traced, the tensions resulting from these are pin-pointed and analyzed in detail. The racial composition of police districts are an important lesson here because it must be made clear that there are no "Jim Crow" areas, no "Ghettos." Every police division has everything found in all other divisions, differing only in proportion. The aim here is to
correct stereotyped impressions that the city
is

divided into clearly

defined groups and areas, and that law enforcement differs accordingly.
ship,

The police department's policy of one class of citizenone standard of police technique, then becomes readily unclass

derstandable.

Another
differ.

expands

this policy.

The

officer

now

understands

the composition of the community, he has learned

how

people

He

is

now

taught that these variations cannot influence him

in the discharge of his duties.

His department handles the people

involved in incidents only according to the degree of their in-

volvement. There

no other measurement. Existing laws are enforced and nothing else. We do not enforce beliefs or prejudicesincluding the officer's. During his hours of duty, he is a composite of the entire community.
is

Typical course

titles

are Police Sociological Problems,

Human

Relations, Ethics, Professionalism, Civil Disturbances,

and Public

Relations. Course titles do not reveal the full scope of the 520hour program. For example, although the Human Relations class lasts two hours, that subject is a principal concern in courses such

156

Pabker on Public Relations

and Investigation. The firearms' more time to "when not to shoot" than it does to "how to shoot." The entire training staflF is constantly alert in the classroom, on the exercise field, and in the locker room, to discover signs of disabling prejudice which might make the cadet a poor
as Interrogation, Patrol Tactics,
class gives
risk.

Conditions of tension are

artificially

created so that the man's

reaction can be studied and he

tion

may

never

know

that the situa-

was contrived to test him. At this point, let us consider the subject of racial and religious prejudice. The cadets, of course, reflect a broad cross section of society and bring to us the intolerant attitudes to which they have previously been exposed. The question what to do about these
beliefs?

Recently, a chief of poHce from a mid-western city

inspection tour of our department.
in the

made an

He was

particularly interested

extremely low percentage of citizen complaints received alleging prejudicial treatment of minority group members. He was

also interested in case studies

where

so-called minority group or-

ganizations defended the police department against accusations

of such misconduct.

One

of these instances involved a metropoli-

tan Los Angeles daily newspaper which began a series of articles with the caption: "Cops Lay Heavy Hands on Minorities." You have all seen such articles and, in many cases, they represent good journalism accurate coverage. In this instance, the facts were
patently incorrect.
interest groups.

The

writer, a

new

resident,

was securing

in-

formation from old newspaper clippings and from certain special-

committing the cardinal reportorial sin The article shook police morale and pubhc confidence. Assuming the facts had been tme, it offered no solutions other than a vague recommendation that the police ought to do something about this mess! Fortunately, certain community organizations recognized where the "mess" really was. A coordinating group representing sixty social service agencies contacted the publisher of that paper. He was told, and in no uncerof not checking current facts.
tain terms, that the story

He was

was untrue, that

it

was

inciting lunatic

fringe-elements into disorderly conduct, and was playing directly

into the
series

hands of subversive groups. The result that particular was discontinued and, to the credit of that publisher, a new

Police Role in
series of articles

Community Relations

157
in-

underscoring police-public cooperation was

stituted in

its

place.

was understandably impressed. In He assumed that such overwhelming public support meant we had somehow erased prejudicial and intolerant beliefs held by pohce officers. He was wrong. Those of you who work in the field of education recognize we do not and can not accomplish this miracle. Of course, we will not accept an applicant whose intolerance is so high it is a

The

visiting chief of police

most

jurisdictions the police fight lonely battles.

disabhng
it,

factor.

Where
it.

it

is

not too deep-seated,

or at least diminish

In the majority of cases,

it.

we can we must

erase
learn

to operate equitably despite

results of these behefs.
eral,

We

do that by controlling the

our immediate concern

does.

With policemen, as with society in genis not in what the man thinks but
class

what he

Los Angeles pohce policy recognizes only one

of citizenship first class citizenship.

Any

incident of police action

swift

which deviates from

disciphne.

this

pohcy

is

met with

and certain

A police department's community relations program begins with

a training, a finn human relations policy, and strong disciplinary machinery to enforce it. It is a departmental application of my second premise that the immediate issue is conduct and the immediate solution is enforced order. For those who question whether that degree of discipline is possible, I have an example. I am thinking of a certain Los Angeles police officer who walks a foot beat in the old section of the

city. ally;

The
he
is

street

is

a racial melting pot.

know

the officer person-

one of the "old school," recruited long before psychiatric examinations were instituted. If there is a maximum number of racial and religious prejudices that one mind can hold, I am certain he represents it. This officer has been exposed to the complete range of police human relations training. He has memorized every maxim, every scientific fact, every theory relating to human equality. He knows all the accepted answers. Of course, he doesn't believe a

word

of

it.

This

may

surprise

you the

officer's

eight-hour duty tour

is

characterized by tolerance, applied

treatment of

all

persons. Both his division

human relations, and equitable commander and myself

158

Parker on Public Relations

have watched his work closely, a little wary that his deep-seated convictions might win out over discipline in moments of stress. This has not happened during the five years he has patrolled this highly critical district. We are very near an opinion that his intolerance has become a victim of enforced order habit has

won out over belief.

Discipline, enforced compliance with police policy, is a key which is available to every police administrator. If it works in Los Angeles, it will work elsewhere. The entire community relations program is at stake on every oflBcer in the field. It is here that the police department proves itself, or is found wanting. The second-line community relations effort is handled by specialized police units. One of the most successful of these is our Community Relations Detail working out of the Public Information office. Its mission is to establish and maintain communication between pohce and the so-called minority segments of the community press serving them, and key individuals in the human relations field. These officers are members of sixty organizations

representing a cross section of specialized

community

interests.

Few

police details pierce so deeply into the stratifications of our

in-

complex society or maintain so many privileged sources of

formation.

was at the community press level. Certain of these newspapers were parlaying instances of law enforcement against minority group members into sensational accounts of pohce prejudice and brutality. Many of these articles were written solely from the unsubstantiated account given by the arrestee. The accumulated result was the fomenting of an hysterical "cophating" attitude which rendered suspect every police action inTheir
first

task

volving non-Caucasian persons.

Relations officers went to these publishers and on the table. Sensationalism was selling newspapers, but it was hurting the community. They pointed out that sensationaUsm was actually manufacturing new incidents feeding upon itself. They offered, with the full backing of the office of the chief, to provide the publisher with exact and complete facts on every inquiry, whether the police action was right or wrong; whether the facts helped us or hurt us.
laid their cards

The Community

Police Role in

Community Relations

159

The confidence
newspapers was
interest.

have

in the

men who

publish the nation's

justified.

Community

interest

won

out over self

The Community
activity,

Relations Detail

is, first,

a public information

acquainting community groups with police policies, pro-

cedures, and tactics.

actions, explaining

Where

necessary,

it

interprets specific police

why

they were necessary and

how

they were

taken. Secondly, the detail transmits information in the other direction,

keeping the police

stafi^

inter-group problems and activities.

a threat to order

informed about minority and We have found the police are

efforts,

sometimes overly suspicious of a group's militant

it

seeing in

which does not actually exist. The two-way communication furnished by the detail brings the facts to both sides. Thirdly, the detail reports any police activities which are discriminator)^ or may appear to the community to be discriminatory. The pohce staff does not operate under the assumption that it is infallible. Critical comment from this specialized unit often prevents more dangerous and expensive criticism from the public at large. Lastly, the detail operates as an advance listening post, alert for rumors which might prelude violent conflict. In a recent instance, these oflBcers were informed that racial violence was brewing at a school. A quick investigation indicated the situation was critical. The detail flashed the word to citizen groups organized to combat just such emergencies. Affected police field units were placed on a stand-by basis. The result this detail,
working with citizen groups, contained the
It is profitable to

situation.

assign to these speciaHzed units officers be-

longing to minority groups.

They

are often

more

sensitive to the

problem, have previously established contacts in those communities, and encounter fewer barriers. However, it must be emphasized that the officer's competency,

and not

his ancestry,

is

the

overriding consideration in making the assignment.

relations details are not

Community

"window-dressing" they are not publicity gags designed to display non-Caucasians in key positions. A similar detail works out of the Juvenile Division. In this case, the principal concern is with actual offenders. One of this unit's primary values is its detailed knowledge of gang members, leaders, and methods. They know their homes, their meeting places, their

160
tenitories.

Parker on Public Relations

They deal with what the law recognizes as children, but do not be mistaken this is intelligence activity of the highest
order.

The disheartening message

is

of our crime statistics

is all

too

clear today's delinquent

often a dangerous criminal an im-

order. He is sometimes the innocent he can also be a moving force behind community violence. We are sympathetic with the ideals of juvenile correction of rehabihtation over punishment. Here, as with other community problems, we invite welfare agencies to work to eliminate causes. Meanwhile, we ask them to remember that the police is not a social agency. We are bound to read the message in police records and employ protective tactics accordingly. In Los Angeles, as in other cities, we have a juvenile problem. We do not have a problem in mass juvenile disorder, because we face facts, and on the basis of these facts, employ units

mediate threat

to

community

tool of intolerant adults, but

have described. Three factors compose the Los Angeles Police Department's community relations program: Training of oflBcers including training through discipline, public information activity, and efficient line pohce work. Unless they are all in existence and interworking, a community relations program does not exist. Training provides a base, but public information and line officers must forward to training that information which keys it to current needs. Public information is a useless activity unless it is backed
such as the ones
I

up with competent
tably.
little

line officers

who

are enforcing the laws equi-

And

the most dedicated line

commanders can accomplish

unless training provides well-schooled personnel and public

information creates a co-operative public.

would rather have brought to this Institute a simple and revolutionary device some easy way to an effective program. I know of no such device. I can promise that, to a mutually cooperating pubhc and pohce department, no problem in community order is beyond solution. The methods are known, they are proving themselves in the Los Angeles experiment all that is needed is dedicated citizens who will put them into effect. To this point, this has been a progress report. The Los Angeles
I

experiment seems to justify the philosophy of enforced order as the first step toward improved community relations. Progress of this

Police Role ix

Community Relations

161

type can be reported objectively, without seeming to seek praise because law enforcement is absolutely dependent upon the public for any successes it may have. The credit for Los Angeles progress

must go primarily to Los Angeles citizens, I would not want to close, however, leaving the impression
that the experiment
is

concluded.

It

does not represent the

ulti-

mate in community equity and tranquility. Certain factors now at work could bring all the progress crashing down into rubble and violence. I have pledged forthrightness and honesty in this report, and it requires some critical comments, perhaps touching upon activities and attitudes or organizations represented here. The first comment concerns minority discrimination against the public as a whole. Reaction to poUce deployment furnishes a good example of this danger. Every department worth its salt
deploys
is

field forces

on the basis of crime experience. Deplo)TTient

often heaviest in so-called minority sections of the city.

The

reason

is statistical it is a fact that certain racial groups, at the present time, commit a disproportionate share of the total crime.

one point clear in that regard a competent police administrator is fully aware of the multiple conditions which create this problem. There is no inherent physical or mental weakness in any racial stock which tends it toward crime. But and pohce this is a "but" which must be borne constantly in mind field deployment is not social agency activity. In deploying to suppress crime, we are not interested in why a certain group
Let

me make

tends toward crime,

fact that the

we

are interested in maintaining order.

The

group would not be a crime problem under socio-economic conditions and might not be a crime problem tomorrow, does not alter today's tactical necessities. Police deploy-

different

ment

is

concerned with
I

effect,

not cause.

When
And
tion
I

am

told that intense

its

pohce

activity in a given area

I

is

psychologically disturbing to

residents,

am

forced to agree.

agree that
those

it

can add weight

it,

to discriminatory beliefs

held

by some who witness

and

that
it.

it

can create a sense of persecuthe police administrator, then,

among

who

receive

Is

to discard crime occurrence statistics

basis of social inoffensiveness? This

and deploy his men on the would be discrimination in-

deedl

162

Parker on Public Relations

citizen has the right to

Every
need.
of

poHce protection on the

basis of

The poHce have the duty of providing that protection, and employing whatever legal devices are necessary to accomplish it. At the present time, race, color, and creed are useful statistical and tactical devices. So are age groupings, sex, and employment. If persons of one occupation, for some reason commit more theft than average, then increased pohce attention is given to persons
of that occupation. Discrimination
is

not a factor there.

If per-

sons of Mexican, Negro, or Anglo-Saxon ancestry, for

some

rea-

son, contribute heavily to other forms of crime, police deploy-

ment must take

that into account.

From an

ethnological point-

of-view, Negro, Mexican,

and Anglo-Saxon

are unscientific break-

downs; they are a fiction. From a police point-of-view, they are a useful fiction and should be used as long as they remain useful. The demand that the pohce cease to consider race, color, and creed is an unrealistic demand. Identification is a police tool, not a police attitude. If traflBc violations run heavily in favor of lavender colored automobiles, you may be certain, whatever the
sociological reasons for that condition,

automobiles more than average attention.

we would And if

give lavender

those vehicles

were predominantly found in one area of the city, we would give that area more than average attention. You may be certain that any pressure brought to bear by the lavender manufacturer's association would not alter our professional stand it would only react to their disadvantage by making the police job more difficult. Such demands are a form of discrimination against the
public as a whole.

For a moment,
identification. It
is

let

us consider this entire problem of group

to employ it for statistiand descriptive purposes; it is quite another if it is employed to set a group apart from the rest of society. The question must be brought out into the open and discussed because it represents

one thing for the police

cal

a conflict of opinion within the physically-identifiable minority

Some of these citizens object strenuously to being identiwith their background. Others publicly announce it by joining organizations bearing that stamp of identity. Either attitude can
groups.
fied

be supported by argument. But I humbly submit that the man, or the group which changes identification at different times and

Police Role in

Community Relations

163

under different conditions, confuses and impedes the social assimilation process. There is no place for dual status in our society, and it is incongruous that the groups with the keenest interest in ehminating dual status should create conditions which perpetuate it. Organizations which publicly identify themselves with a certain racial group are keeping alive the phantasy that the group is different. By setting it apart from the whole, they help keep it apart. We need such organizations; they fill a vital role in our changing system; I heartily endorse their good works. I suggest that if a single class of citizenship is the key to social assimilation, then practices and titles which contradict it, must be examined and resolved. Another problem which plagues the poHce administrator is organized group pressure to promote officers and make command assignments on the basis of race, color, or creed. Before a recent Los Angeles election, I encountered tremendous pressure to replace an Anglo-Saxon commander of a detective division with another commander belonging to a certain minority group. I refused to engage in racial discrimination against the AngloSaxon commander. He was the most qualified man for the job and, as such, he retained the job. Neither do I consider ancestry a factor in making promotional appointments. The Los Angeles policy is to take the top man from the list. Racial background should not hinder advancement; neither should it help it. Shortly before I left Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of pinning a Lieutenant's badge on a young officer bom in Mexico. He got that badge because he was the top man, not because accidents of conquest created a national border between our places of birth. No one is more critical of the American police service than myself. For twenty-eight years I have outspokenly expressed that criticism and have sat in meetings and applauded others who have criticized constructively. Certainlv, few other organizations in history have been so unanimously castigated. I have no complaints to make it is part of the painful process of growth and improvement. There is one danger inherent in this process a point of group-masochism is reached where all other groups become wise and faultless and self-reproach becomes the total answer. I caution
the police against this danger.

164
I

Paeker on Public Relations

have made the point that discrimination is a two-way street. Those who are most active in combating it are sometimes guilty of advocating that the pohce practice it. There is nothing shocking in this critical observation no group is characterized by omniscience. The fact that minorities have received intolerant and discriminatory treatment does not automatically lend justice to
of their
all

demands. They are as prone to error as majority groups, and the wiser and calmer citizens within those groups recognize this fact. Thoughtful citizens expect the police to stand their ground when they believe they are right. They expect the pohce to criticize as well as be criticized. I have tried to steer a course between these extremes tonight. I have assessed the situation as forthrightly as I know how. There is always a temptation when speaking on a subject so emotionladen as
truth. In
this, to skirt issues, to

woo

friends, rather than court

my

experience with the National Conference of Chris-

and Jews, I have never felt it necessary to compromise my honest convictions, and I did not intend to dishonor this Institute
tians

by doing so tonight. I would like to close by expressing my philosophy of citizenship, a philosophy which I humbly believe embodies the convictions of all persons and groups represented at this gathering.

Good
for
it.

citizenship

is

expressed in

many

ways.

It consists

not

only of bearing arms for one's country, but also of bearing tnath
It consists

not only of facing physical enemies, but also of

facing spiritual enemies: Intolerance, Bigotry, and Hate. It con-

not only of holding high the regimental banners, but also of holding high the banners of Duty, Faith, and Love. Although not
sists
all citizens

can prove themselves on a

battlefield, all

can do

it

by the quiet and devoted living of the spirit is sometimes more difficult to live ideals than
them.

of our country. It
to

shed blood for

Chapter Eight

PARKER ON TRAFFIC
Transit Inflation:

An

address delivered to the Los An-

geles Rotary Club, January, 1953.

Freedom on the Freeways: An address

Los Angeles Breakfast Club,

delivered at the

July, 1953.

Public Relations and the Traffic Officer:

lished
in

An

article

pub-

the Municipal Motorcycle 0Bcers of Cali-

fornia Year Book, 1952.

Transit Injlation

ITTraffic

to appear here today to speak to you about the Problem, a subject which is of vital concern to all of us. In my remarks I do not intend to be critical of any group or any industry, but I am compelled to bring to your attention cerIS

AN HONOR

tain observations

because

it is

my

serious behef that the future

welfare of our

community

is

involved.
is

The

twenty-fifth floor of our City Hall

designed as an ob-

servation tower. It

is a large open quadrangle which commands an impressive view of our city. On these clear January days you can see from there a tremendous sweep of land stretching from the sea to the mountains the vast coastal plain which is Los Angeles. You can feel the electric tension of hfe, of the production and transportation which is transforming our community into a giant among cities. Standing there you can feel the kind of pride the ancients must have had for their Alexandria, Rome, and

Athens.

were possible for us to meet there at the end of the day. You would be privileged to view a scene unparalleled in all the world. You would see one-half million automobiles, a stream of steel and rubber massed on the roadways as far as your eyes can travel. Over most of the scene you would see them packed one against the other so closely that movement can hardly be discerned. You would see great six-lane freeways like swollen rivers, as sluggish as the smaller streams. And if it appeared to you that Los Angeles lay inundated by some catastrophic flood, you would be near the truth. This scene is representative of what has been termed the Traffic Problem. I wish to objectively discuss that problem here today. I speak not as a partisan for any control plan, but as a policeman
I

wish

it

servant of the public,

who

service has stood in the intersection, in the

during a quarter of a century of traffic analvtical room,

167

168

Pabker on Traffic
at the trajBBc
staflF

and
into

table.

The

traffic

problem can be divided

two areas of

conflict: 1. Collision. 2.

Congestion.

Automobile-collision death, injury, and property

sents a $300,000,000 loss to

damage

repre-

Los Angeles in the last ten years. We have been alert to this problem since 1940, when the police department reorganized its traffic division to utilize scientific methods of accident prevention. I can say quite truthfully that from that day to this, your pohce department has intensively applied
all

of the best

known techniques

in the field of traffic control.

The program

resulted in a decrease in fatal accidents

which

brought Los Angeles national awards as the safest major city were 33.4 street traffic deaths for 100,000 inhabitants. By 1952 that ratio had decreased to 13.5. However, it is likely that the use of fatahty statistics alone has developed a false sense of traffic safety accomplishment. It has long been my belief that the traffic picture is not nearly so bright as a lowered traffic fatality rate might seem to indicate. I have
in the nation. In 1940 there

consistently maintained that the rate of personal-injury accidents

is

superior to the fatality rate as a true index of

traffic safety. I

contend that any review which arbitrarily requires that an individual be dead before the city's safety rating is affected, statistically and logically evades the issue. Injury, although not as appealing to sentiment as death, often causes the greater eco-

nomic

loss.

Viewed

objectively, all injury accidents are potential

fatal accidents.

And

the fact that a combination of circumstances

either spared the driver or killed him, should not influence the
city's traffic safety rating.

Although

fatal accidents

have decreased over the past ten years,

the rate of injury accidents has steadily increased. In 1942, Los

Angeles recorded 543 traffic accidents for each 100,000 inhabitants. By 1950 that number had increased to 803. In 1952, the year we have just closed, the rate climbed to 841 personal-injury street traffic accidents for each 100,000 inhabitants, an increase of fiftyfive

per cent over 1942.

We
is

are forced to conclude that the indi-

more likely to become involved in a personal-injury accident than was the case ten years ago. And we
vidual in this city today

have reason
Angeles but

to suspect that this situation

exists

is

not peculiar to Los

throughout the United States because

we

are

Transit Inflation
told that the insurance

169

companies

in the

United States

lost

one

hundred milhon dollars in traffic-accident insurance last year. The pohce have performed their task in traffic well. However,
merely substantiates the fact that the solution does not lie entirely in measures available to the police. In 1952 your police department issued citations or made arrests in 386,471 cases involving moving- traffic violations. If this negative discipline imposed upon the motorist has resulted in material improvement, it
this
is

not obvious in injury-accident

statistics.

another very serious consideration in connection with this set of figures. We know that the United States is experiment-

There

is

ing in a form of free government. This experiment has not yet

been concluded all the

results are not yet in. Students of govern-

ment have attempted

citizens voluntarily

to impress

upon

us,

with

little avail,

that a
its

nation can retain self-government only so long as the bulk of

and

willingly

comply with the regulations

promulgated

to

guide their behavior.

When

the majority of

tlie

citizens of a nation fail or refuse to

comply with established standdiscipline,

ards of behavior,
self-goveiTiment

is

when they fail to invoke self doomed to failure. Histor)^

collapses,
it is

then

teaches us that

when self-government

followed by some foiTn of

totalitarian control. If the application of negative discipline to

almost 400,000 of the people

in this city
is

who

are operating motor vehicles

not sufficient to bring about safe and lawful opera-

tion of
this

motor vehicles, then it is my contention that to go beyond level of enforcement merely sparks the trend toward the
traffic

dissolution of our freedoms.

In line with the other enlightened approaches to the

problem, and you are all familiar with the three E's enforcement, education and engineering let us dwell for a moment on the

educational phase.
efforts

The educators are to be commended for the they have made to bring safety education and driver train-

ing into the schools. Although this program has not been exto the proportions which it should assume, some of it have had an eflFect upon the students. But has this been the case? Let us look at the group that has recently graduated from our high schools to become young adults of our society and see the effect of traffic safety education. The answer lies in one

panded
sliould

170

Parker on Traffic
fact.
If

simple

you

ha\'e in \our familv aiivone

under the age

of twenty-fi^'e years

who

operates )'Our automobile, you pay an

additional

premium for your insurance. Let us now view the second area of trafiBc conflict congestion. The economic loss due to trafiBc congestion is greater than the
cost of trafiBc accidents

and probably represents a greater menace

to our pattern of existence.

discussion of congestion requires

of the city of
It is actually

attention to
It is

some unique features

only in a political sense.

Los Angeles:

cit)'

of forty-five separate jurisdictions over

little

an accumulation which people travel with

attention to artificial boundaries.

a decentralized

It

community, lightlv populated according to big-cit)' standards and attracting new residents at a fantastic rate. The total population in Los Angeles has increased fift)'-nine per
is

cent since 1930. Experts expect the

million mark, to increase to three

cits',

presentlv at die t%vo

and one third million bv 1970

only 17 years away.

on an automobile economy. Its communities are linked by roadways rather than by mass transit and its citizens tra%el almost exclusively by private vehicle at the rate of approximately one and one half persons per automobile.
It exists

Registered vehicles per mile of city street have increased sixty per cent in the last nine years. The future will bring increases in
vehicle registration which will threaten and ma\- destroy
of the pri\'ate automobile as a
tlie \^alue

mode

of

commuter

transportation.

The

5,400,000 passenger vehicles registered in California last

year was twelve per cent greater than pre\ious estimates for
that year.

And

the experts

now

tell

us that

by 1970 there

will

be

registered in this state, 9,250,000 vehicles. We may expect a thirty per cent increase in the next seven years, and an eighty per cent

increase in the next seventeen years. Statistics indicate

tliat five

United States in 1953. 1954 will see the highest rate of production in tlie history of the industry, topping the peak year of 1950.

and one-half million passenger vehicles

will

be

built in the

two and one-half persons wiU, by 1970, increase to one car for every two inliabitants. Furthermore, we can expect not only more cars, but greater use
for every

The vehicular registration rate tion. The present rate of one car

will increase faster tlian popula-

Transit Inflation
of them. Vehicle
registration.

171
faster than

wheel miles driven are increasing

In Los Angeles during the past ten years, miles

driven have increased se\'enty-nine per cent as against a sixty-two

per cent increase for the number of vehicles and a thirty-two per
cent increase for population. Although these figures are given to

show

the paralyzing congestion the future

may

bring,

it is

also

interesting to speculate

on what

effect the increase will

have on

our rising injur\'-accident rate.

The impact of past increases in registration and wheel miles on the geometrically-rigid street networks of our business centers has resulted in congestion. We have not been able to mabecause these centers are constructed as permanent installations; they can accommodate onlv a given number of vehicles. On the other hand, they are the heart of the city and require a free flow of
terially increase business-district street capacity

people and goods. Further congestion will result in astronomical

propertv and business losses as owners, workers, and buyers seek

markets elsewhere.
In the past, poUce and
partially
traflBc

engineers have been able to

compensate

for vehicular increases

through

(1)

stringent

parking regulations,
(4)

(2) off-set lanes, (3)

synchronization of signals,

manual

intersection control. In the last case, this

means placing
Today,

as

many

as four police officers at a single intersection.

we
of

are approaching the limit of stop-gap devices.

police efficiency can put
for

No amount

two vehicles
tr\-

into the space required

to

one although

dri\ers sometimes

do

it.

Traffic conges-

tions involves the four

fundamentals of
If the

traffic flow.

They

are time

and distance, space and volume.

a certain distance
If
is

time required to traverse

unreasonably great, the system is inefficient. be moved cannot be readily absorbed into the available space, the system is inefficient. As I read about the various measures that are being proposed to alleviate this
the volume of
traffic to

puzzled as to the effect that these measures will ha\e upon our economy. I admit very frankly that I cannot
situation, I
totally

am

qualify as an expert in the field of economics, but

am concerned

about

it

and

it

frightens me.
to as

WTien an individual, in order place of employment must travel

move from his home to his many as fifty miles a day in

172

Parker on Traffic

perhaps three dollars for transportation alone, and then finds himself faced with the problem of paying for the storage of that vehicle while he is at
a privately
at a cost of
I wonder if that is the kind of economy under which we can survive. The time element alone involves frightening losses of wealth. The San Fernando Valley is an excellent example because, unfortunately, it has only one real through highway east and west, which is Ventura Boulevard. When congestion occurs on the approaches to the Cahuenga freeway, or on the freeway itself, traffic backs up nine miles. It will continue to do so until something is done to alleviate it. Have you considered the cost of the time wasted on that one street alone? A rough approximation indicates several millions of hours lost annually along that freeway

owned automobile

work,

approach. Multiply this by the many similar instances in the city and you will have some approximation of the impact of congestion on our economy. In recent years, Los Angeles has often boasted the highest cost-of-living index in the United States. Wliy? It certainly is not because we are faced with the weather problems of the East where huge sums must be expended for heating and light. The answer, in my humble and inexpert opinion, is transportation. Everything we wear and everything we buy contains within the purchase price a large portion for moving that commodity from the manufacturer to the retailer. A very good example of that was brought to my attention at this table when I spoke to the Western Growers Association. Their president, Mr. Park, told me that he ships leafy produce from his ranch at Buellton, which is just north of Santa Barbara, to New York City by truck. He stated, "Believe it or not, it costs just as much to move that produce from the truck terminals in New York City to the retailer as it costs to move it from my ranch in Buellton to New York City." This is just another example of the costs of
congestion.

We
I

are presently attempting to solve our traffic problem

by

constructing a giant freeway system in Los Angeles and vicinity.

am not opposed to freeways. promotion of them as a total and final solution to the trafiic problem. I should like to point out a few facts about them, not to discredit the excellent planning and
should
like to
I

make

it

clear that I
to the

However,

am opposed

Transit Inflation

173

design which has gone into them, but to seek to learn by errors

we may have made. I will not give figures to show the cost of may well be that several million dollars per mile is not an exhorbitant cost when measured against their effective
construction. It

However, they do involve a secondary cost not popularly Every foot of land that is taken for a freeway goes off the tax roll. The giant intersection where our present system comes together near Sunset and Figueroa, occupies eighty acres of land which formerly produced taxes for the support of governlife.

realized.

ment. In other words, as land

tion costs,

is

taken, in addition to the acquisi-

no longer does

it

help support government but becomes

an expense to government. This expense includes maintenance of the roadways as well as the beautification of the borders.

An

equally serious error has been the failure to include, along

realize that

the center strip of constructed freeways, suflBcient space for the

eventual construction of rapid transportation.

it

was

an apparently insolvable situation, but

it

was a

serious error for

which we shall pay dearly for many years to come. I would someday like to see our outstanding economists become interested in this problem. I would like to know, as you would like to know, whether or not it wiU be economically possible to build freeways and the adjacent roadway networks, as rapidly
as to

we

are increasing the

demand

for their use. It appears certain

me

that

if

we have
it

congestion in this state today with 5,400,000

vehicles, then

will

become

infinitely

worse

as

we

nearly double

that

number

of vehicles in the next seventeen years. If

we

are to

keep congestion just at the level which exists today, we are going to have to almost double the complete road network of the state of California by 1970. And I ask you, can we afford it? I cannot answer that question. I hope some economist will. Even if it is possible for freeways to keep pace with automobile

by the quantities which are funneled there. It is well and good to get onto a freeway, and I enjoy moving rapidly from one part of the city to the other as much as you do, but we must reahze that vehicles have to lea\e the freeway at some point. The argument that freeways are interconnecting and will by-pass central traffic districts is not vahd in Los Angeles. Peak-hour traffic is commuter
use, they will paralyze central business districts

of vehicles

174
traflBc,

Parker on Traffic

with the business district as its terminal. Neither is the argument that freeways work in New York City and similar areas valid here. New York is a city on iron rails, not rubber tires. The
by-pass
trafiBc

theory works there due to sufficient rapid mass

commuters. Freeways must be balanced with mass transit facilities. It is folly to perpetuate and encourage the extension of automobile transportation if its ultimate inadequacy will result in economic
transit facilities for
ruin.

The

private automobile
is

is

a mechanically inefficient

mode

of transportation. It
tion.

a physically dangerous

mode

of transporta-

Automobiles require up to three hundred square feet for parking. Seven hundred acres, more than one square mile, are required to park every 100,000 vehicles. This in areas where land often sells by the foot. Further, each car requires nearly 1,000 feet of space for free movement. Compare this with the few square feet required by the individual commuting on rapid transit, and the complete lack of parking space requirements. During the past week two experienced civic leaders have directed public attention to the inherent limitations of the freeway system. First, Mr. Harry Morrison, General Manager of the

Downtown

Businessmen's Association, called for more freeways,

plus adequate mass transit. Colonel William

M. Spencer, Chair-

man

of the Chicago Planning Commission, after an inspection of

our freeways stated, "Freeways are not the ultimate answer to

the traffic problem.

The ultimate answer

is

in

mass transportation."
point of diminish-

Again

ask the question, have

we reached the

ing returns in our current transportation system? Yes, we must have freeways, but they must be regarded as a part of the plan rather than as a panacea in themselves. Los Angeles must have the courage, the vision, and the faith in its future, to meet the traffic problem before the city motors itself beyond the point of no return.

Freedom on

the Freeways

Contrary to the experience and practice of the other large metropolitan centers of the world, the inhabitants of tlie Los Angeles metropolitan area have elected, by choice or necessity, to utilize the privately-owned passenger automobile as a basic means of transportation. Many years ago it became obvious to
the most casual observer that the roadway network of this area

could not continue to accommodate the ever-increasing number of automobiles. Volume began to exceed space, and the inter-

minable delavs due

point that

to

cross

current friction at intersections

It

created a disproportion between time and distance.

was

at this

should have planned and constructed an adequate network of mass-transportation facilities regardless of the immediate cost and the amount of subsidv involved. Due to technical difficulties this did not appear feasible to

we

many, and we

turned to roadways that would permit uninterrupted travel over substantial distances through congested areas. Thus the freeway

was adapted

to use in

metropolitan areas.
of a system
in a

The perpetuation viduals move about

rate of one

whereby the majority

of indi-

densely populated metropolis at the

and one-half persons per automobile challenges the laws of economics. The Los Angeles County Chamber of Commerce recently published an attractive brochure beamed at the visitor, the homeseeker, and the investor. In the section devoted to the cost of hving in this area, it states in part, "Most families find expenses for heating and clothing less, but these savings are often oflFset by higher outlays for transportation or other items resulting from changes in the pattern of living." Freeways are expensive to build. The estimated total cost of the Hollywood Freeway is $52,000,000 or almost $7,000,000 per mile. Since 1947 a total of $180,000,000 has been spent on Los Angeles Metropolitan area freeways, and another $600,000,000 is needed to com175

176
plete the system.

Parker on Traffic

Freeways produce no revenue. On the contrary, acquued for freeway construction is eliminated from the tax rolls. There are continuing costs for roadway maintenance and border beautification.
the land

In the beginning, freeway travel proved a delight to the

hibited motorist.

in-

Crowded

rural

highways on weekends proved

vexing and frustrating to the motorist

of thrill through motion.

But here

who desired the experience was a new opportunity. While

employment the commuter
Here was an opportunity
horsepower built into freedom was short-hved.

traveling to

and from

his place of

could interpret the true significance of a speedometer that was

built to register

up

to 120 miles per hour.

to give full display to the vastly increased

the engine of his car. This

new

birth of

Congestion began to appear. Volume counts indicate 120,000 automotive units traversing the Cahuenga and the Hollywood freeways during a twenty-four hour period. A passenger train has but one engineer who is highly trained,

he thoroughly understands and that are rigidly enforced. The conveyance he operates is restricted to steel rails from which he cannot depart. In freeway traflBc, each automobile driver is his own engineer. He may set his speed to suit his own fancy. He may roam from lane to lane as he attempts to compensate for the varied speeds adopted by his fellow engineers on the freeway. All too frequently he will come into contact with the self-appointed enforcer who has decided his rate of speed is adequate for all, and his presence in the lane
deftly skilled,
to regulations that

and subject

of his choosing will require

all

of those to his rear to conform.

Our freeway engineer

is

limited in his area of

movement

to the

side walls of the freeway

which prove an insurmountable barrier

when

stagnation occurs ahead.

He

is

also subject to the barrier of

is

physical laws which he does not generally understand, and he

amazed when he becomes involved

ahead does not give him time
his vehicle to a safe halt.

in a multiple-car coUision of

accordion proportions because a sudden cessation of

to react

movement

and machanically bring

commuters and not

As the bulk of freeway users are

cross-country travelers,
it

in reality

is

necessary they enter and leave the

freeways at points of congestion. While entering the freeway from

Freedom on the Freeways

177

an access road many of our commuting engineers fail to realize that they must enter a traflBc lane already occupied by a steady stream of fast-moving traffic, and that two bodies cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The modern Casey Jones is also puzzled at the inevitable congestion ahead of him on the outlet he must use to leave the freeway. He is simply back into the world of frictional cross currents, and, while he has previously been afforded uninterrupted use of the roadway, this privilege
has been reduced to half-of-the-time use of the intersection ahead. As the tempo of freeway movement increases, the more conservative soul finds himself compelled to adopt the pace

and thus

undergoes a terrifying and nerve-wracking experience on each occasion. A sound technician currently employed in Hollywood recently told me that he is selling his home in the Valley because he can no longer suffer the nervous tension resulting from driving
the

Cahuenga Freeway.
is

There

one other barrier

is

the freeways, and that

complete freedom of action on the pohce officer. Voluntary comphance

to

with motor vehicle regulations would make his work easier and all of our lives more pleasant. This lack of voluntary compliance is evidenced by the fact that the Los Angeles Police Department has issued 262,651 traffic citations for moving violations during the
period from January 1 to July 20, 1953. The freeways present difficult problems to the enforcement officer. The speed and

volume of the

traffic

present an unusual hazard to the

officer,

and

many
traffic

times

it is

impossible to separate the violator from the other

with safety until he has actually left the freeway. To attempt to shepherd the slow driver in the wrong lane to a place of safety without causing a collision with the parallel traffic, presents complications. Perhaps the greatest hurdle to adequate en-

forcement of speed regulations is the proper determination of what is an unlawful speed. We continue to be governed by archaic regulations known as the prima facie speed law. It is the sense of this law tliat speeds in excess of the posted speed limit are not necessarily unlawful unless it is established that the speed endangers the safety of
persons or property. While
a traffic citation to
it is

lawful for a police officer to issue

at a

anyone who drives

speed greater than the

178

Parker on Traffic

prima facie speed limit, in theory the defendant may estabhsh by competent evidence that the alleged excessive speed was not in fact a violation of the basic speed law. In reality, it is incumbent

upon the

citing oflBcer to establish the unsafe character of the

speed as well as the excess over and above the prima facie speed limit. The situation is well exemplified on those streets where the posted signs indicate a speed limit of twenty-five miles per hour and additional signs state "signals set for thirty-two miles per hour." Many times it becomes a conflict of judgment between the driver and the police oflBcer. On one hand, the alleged violator can conscientiously believe that his speed, although in excess of the prima facie limit, was not actually a violation of the basic speed law.

On

the other hand,

it is

the considered judgment of

the police oflBcer that the rate of speed was unsafe for the conditions prevailing at the time. In the light of this type of complicated
statute,
it

may be

alleged in good faith that speeds in excess of

fifty-five

miles per hour under certain conditions

in violation of the basic

upon our

free-

ways are not

It is
traflBc

speed law, and therefore

are not illegal speeds.

my

serious contention that the time has

come when the

a repeal of the
fixed

pattern in the State of California

demands

prima facie speed law and the

limits.

institution of

maximum

speed

In regard to the current enforcement operation on the freeways,

and responsible authorities in the pohce department have concluded that any speed greater than fifty-five miles per hour on the freeways are in fact excessive and are a violation of the basic speed law. At a time when there were fewer automobiles traversing the roadways of California, one could more readily understand a basis for flexibility in the application of speed limits to defined areas; but today our highways and roadways reflect a picture of almost constant congestion.
a judge of the traflBc court

Recently, Dr.

Amos

E. Neyhart, Administrative Director of the

Institute of Public Safety at Pennsylvania State College, called

attention to the fact that there are 53,300,000 vehicles registered

in the

United States and attempting to operate on a network of

roads adequate for only 30,000,000 vehicles. As of June 1, 1953, there were about five and one-half million vehicles registered
in the State of California alone.

Freedom on the Freeways

In

179

my humble
that

opinion,

imperative

we have reached the point where it is maximum fixed speed hmits be estabhshed

throughout the State of California and that no deviation be permitted therefrom. A friend of mine has stated to me that he considers the privilege of operating a motor vehicle one of his greatest privileges as an

American. Emphasis here is upon the word "privilege." Our courts have long since estabhshed that the operation of a motor vehicle is a privilege and not a matter of right. Freedom to move in traflBc is relative and not absolute. We must temper our conduct in order

whole may be protected. Much of the trouble we have experienced on our freeways is due to an exaggerated sense of freedom on the part of the users thereof. We must be restricted individually in order that there may be freedom for all. If the latitude of the prima facie speed law is eliminated, and our drivers learn to respect, in the absolute, maximum fixed speed laws and conform to that pattern of behavior, some of the problems in traffic that beset us today will be eliminated.
that society as a

Public Relations and the Traffic Officer

"The greatest stumbling block
to

number
traflBc
is

of leaders in the police field

good public have placed

relationsl"
this label

A
on

enforcement. They have said that the task of

traffic oflBcer

inalterably negative in nature.

is

They have

said that the "speed

cop" fear complex

ist.

inalterably ingrained in the

tlie

American motormotorist violates

And

they have concluded that, so long as

traflBc

laws and the pohce enforce them,

fittle

can be done about

in-

the problem.

Without any doubt, these are compelling views. American

the
traflBc citation

dividualism promotes strong feelings about personal liberty, and

runs counter to most of those feelings.

The

basis; therefore

average driver believes that the traflBc statutes have no moral he does nothing really "wrong" if he occasionally
violates them. If
tion, that

apprehended he feels, and with some justificahe has been singled out and that there are probably drivers more careless and dangerous who should occupy the oflBcer*s attention. The motorist's attitude is one of an honest citizen discovered in a minor error of judgment. He concludes, and again with some justification, "no one can drive without occasionally
breaking a
traflBc

law."

Faced with this problem, many police departments have seen only one answer hold traflBc law enforcement to a bare minimum and counter its eflFects with an aggressive public relations program. In other words, they have accepted the view that traflBc law enforcement and public relations represent the opposite extremes
of getting along with the pubhc.
Is this necessarily true?

Must the

traflBc oflBcer's

duties invari-

ably result in poor public relations? During the past few years, a

number
belief.

of police departments have challenged the traditional These new voices have maintained that it is possible to do a good job of traflBc law enforcement anc? make the public like it.

180

Public Relations and the Traffic Officer

181

The new
forties.

school of thought began to gather strength in the early

Alert pohce administrators noticed that certain traffic

officers

achieved consistent success in avoiding the antagonism

which plagued other officers. In many cases, these officers averaged written commendations against complaints on a ratio as high as twenty to one and at the same time issued more citations
than the norm for the squad. Close examination revealed these successful officers to be consciously or subconsciously using accepted techniques of "salesmanship," Their methods were similar to those practiced in private industry. In other words, they were adapting principles of human relations to their police task. Further scrutiny revealed these
successful
ti'affic

officers to

have high "boiling points." Their anger

their

could not be easilv provoked. Most of them rated high on emotional maturity tests.

They approached

work

in a philosophi-

cal manner. Regardless of the violation or the personahty of the

motorist, they avoided personal issues.

Strano-elv enousih those officers with hisfh or

even

strict ethical

standards 20t along better with drivers than those officers whose
attitudes fluctuated. In general, they "called

them as they saw them" regardless of pohtical, social, or other considerations. Their success was not based upon hand-shaking, a soft attitude, or failure to do the job. It became apparent that the traffic officers with good pubhc relations techniques had many things in common. In other words, they could be recognized as a "tj'pe." Noting tliis, a few administrators began to beheve that most of tlie irritation and antagonism traditionally associated with the traffic citation might be avoided. It was possible that the problem could be attributed as much to clumsy police methods as to the system itself. If some officers could cite violators and maintain an atmosphere of mutual respect, why couldn't other officers be selected or trained to accomplish as

much?
good question. But it could not be answered on a theoretical level. No one could deny that traffic enforcement was hard work, physically and emotionally. It was possible that the desired type of officer was extremely rare, and sufficient numbers could not be recruited from otlier pohce tasks. It was possible tliat
It

was

182

Parker on Traffic

the successful officers were "born diplomats," and that those necessary qualities could not be taught
ties

and learned.

Yet, the potentiali-

made

it

worth a

fair trial. If the traffic officer

could be

made

a potent public relations tool, public interest in police problems

would quicken and more rapid professional progress would be

possible.

Los Angeles became the test center for this new school of thought. It was not because that city had any monopoly on creative pohce thinking. Rather, it was because the Los Angeles traffic problem was seriously taxing the eflForts of the police and the patience of the public. Congestion, delay, and danger in traffic were rubbing driver-nerves raw. The added friction of old-fashioned enforcement was threatening the delicate balance of public support upon which all police work depends. Something had to be done. Reduced traffic enforcement was unthinkable. Death and injury rates were the highest of any comparable city. At the same time, the police department would face an alarmingly hostile public if every citation continued to

During the early

forties,

build

up the level of public resentment. The Los Angeles program was based upon
it

military, govern-

was a process of selection, training, and control. The first task was to determine the intelligence level, emotional make-up, physical and other requirements most ideal for the traffic officer. Police records were studied and minimum qualifications were drawn up. Although it was recognized that available human-measurement tests were
subject to

ment, and industrial experience. Basically,

much

error, at least a starting point

could be established.

Next, a well-rounded training program was devised. It was not

motorcycle riding school. Although safe-riding techniques remained a paramount concern, equal attention was devoted to the psychology of the driver, the theory and aims of scientific control, "salesmanship," and elements of traffic law. The course was designed to be physically and mentally difficult. As high as thirty per cent of the class were expected to "flunk out," a screening which supplemented the selective aspects of the written
just a

examinations.
Finally, to guarantee continuing proper attitudes
after graduation,

and methods

an in-service training program was adopted.

Public Relations and the Traffic Officer

Supervisors were selected as carefully as the
officers. EflForts

183

were

to keep squad esprit de corps high. would be pleasant to report that conditions changed immediatelythat accidents dropped sharply and the motorcycle squad became the most popular group of young men in the city. Of course, things did not happen quite that way. Mistakes in selection and training were made, some of them serious. Ingrained attitudes were slow to change. Some old-timers regarded the changes with suspicion. Oddly enough, some motorists seemed to
It

made

resent the

new police

attitude.

One

driver complained he expected

was neglecting his duty. One newspaper editorialized that if the pohce became "popular," it was strong evidence that a poor job was being done. Opponents of the plan criticized the time and money "lost" in selection and training. It is to the credit of police leaders in Los Angeles and other test cities that a lack of immediate and overwhelming success did not discourage them. As quickly as errors in selection were discovered, they were corrected. Examinations and testing devices were improved. Weaknesses in the training program were remedied as they became evident. All of the returns are not yet in. Further improvements will be made by a new generation of administrators. If pohce progress
failed to give
it

a "bawling out" and the policeman

who

continues, an increasingly higher standard of recruit will be attracted to this

Improved testing devices will be found. Traffic statutes, long in need of careful revision, may be corrected to ease the job of the traffic officer. Driver training and public education may create an improved public attitude, taking some of the burden oflF the enforcement officer. However, the test period is over. The role of the traffic officer as a positive public-relations factor is no longer an experiment it has become policy. Although results from individual officers still vary considerably, the net result has been drastic changes in both public and police attitudes. Late years have seen mass reaction to
service.
traffic

pubhc

control swing from smarting resentment to an appreciation

necessity.
it

of

its

Not only has

this

simphfied the task of

traffic

control, but
tasks.

has markedly eased the performance of other police

The

police

and the public, once separated by a sea of hos-

184
tility,

Parker on Traffic

have seen the waters slowly recede

until they stand

on

nearly the same ground. While complete credit for this welcome

change can be granted to no single group, the traffic officer has overcome tremendous obstacles to lead the way. If this advance is continued, and if his associates in other divisions of law enforcement will follow, the professional goals of the American police
service will

come within reach during our

generation.

Chapter Nine

PARKER ON POLICE ADMINISTRATION

The
Police Challenge in

Our Great

Cities:

An

article

published in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Philadelphia, January, 1954

The

Police Challenge in
difficult to

Our Great

Cities

IT conducive

WOULD be

devise a combination of factors more to crime and disorder than is found in the typical

great city of the United States. Rarely does history record so many people of varied beliefs and modes of conduct grouped together

and complex a social structure. The confusing variety of religious and pohtical creeds, national origins, and diverse cultures is matched only by the extremes of ideals, emotions, and conduct found in the individual. Although proud of their independence, these people hve so interdependently that food, shelter, and even their very movement on the streets require delicately balanced co-operation. Although sharing a tradition of individual liberty, their activities are regulated by the greatest and most complicated concentration of laws to be found anyin so competitive

where.

Charged with maintaining

this

this precarious

order by enforcing

confusion of laws

is

the city police department. Although this

would prove a difficult task under ideal conditions, it is aggravated by unusual factors. The police function is rarely considered by the members of the electorate to be a vital element of their life
together. Further,
its

past operation

is

one of alternating

ineffi-

ciency, corruption, and brutality. As a result, the individual police

officer operates

with a remarkable lack of public support, cois a legacy from corrupt political machines erected and supported by the people themselves, the pohceman has become a pubhc symbol upon which
operation, or trust. Although this past

the wrath for such conditions

It

is

vented.

be conceded that the police themselves have failed. Instead of analyzing the causes for lack of support and working toward their eventual removal, police have all too often witlidrawn into a shell of "minorityism." There has been a near-fatal inability to recognize police dependence on pubUc opinion, and

must

also

187

188

Parker on Police Administration

the result has been great tugging at bootstraps without appreciable elevation.

Increased Interest Manifest

This is the "police problem" that has characterized every major American city in the past and comphcates the administration of most pohce departments today. Yet there are indications that at least some factors are changing. The last few years have seen a great upsurge of attention to this aspect of government and, even more heartening, a growing appreciation of the vital part it plays in the affairs of men. If this rising tide of interest can be sustained,
tlie

professional police services our country so critically needs

their foundations laid.

may, within our hfetime, be planned and

It is

inevitable that the police of our great cities will be thrust

into leadership in this refoiTnation.

The reason

is

not that size

sys-

alone attracts superior personnel or confers any monopoly on

creative thinking. Rather,
it is

because the weaknesses of our

tem are more apparent there. Urban hfe concentrates and multiplies law enforcement problems. Police ineflBciencies which may
go nearly unnoticed in the relatively stable pattern of rural life are cast into prominence and grave import by the fast-paced social and economic turmoil of the larger cities. Million-dollar budgets,
strangling trafiBc congestion,

and lucrative markets for organized crime make for spectacular police failures. It is here that the public outcry is heard first and loudest, and it is here tliat sheer necessity puts law enforcement to its crucial test.
Basis for

The

Improvement

Despite the most aggressive and enlightened leadership, law enforcement cannot rise above the level set by the electorate. A condition precedent to the establishment of efficient, professional law enforcement in a community is a desire and a demand on the
part of the residents for that type of service. In this respect, law enforcement does not differ greatly from

The one factor which predetermines the success any business is the market. Unless the ultimate recipient of a product or service is convinced that he requires it, the most skillful organization and techniques are wasted.
private industry.
of

PoucE Challenge

in

Our Great

Cities

189

dustry

second lesson the police administrator can draw from inis that markets are created. They seldom spring full-blown

from the unshaped desires of the people. The vital elements of civihzed life, including our most sacred institutions, at one time or another have been laboriously sold to the people. In this respect, it is heartening that unreceptiveness is not one of the faults of Americans. They respond quickly to new ideas, and pecuharly relish being proved wrong. Despite opinion to the contrary, they respond to large ideas as well as to the small and trivial. They buy comic books, but they also make best sellers of works on art, philosophy, and religion. This is of tremendous importance to the police administrator, because the ideas and ideals he must sell
are not trivial ones.

The
be

police administrator's

first

step toward professionalism

must

to introduce to the public a fact

is,

which
is

is

elemental to every

society. This fact

the police function

man's government by man and permanence of every social structure since human beings first sought collective security. In the face of the extremes of conduct possible in human aflFairs, we manage to exist only because we set up and enforce certain limits of conduct. These rules or laws are promulgated, not because men agree on attitudes or conduct, but because they do not agree. Thus law, an artificial standard, is
necessary to
injured.

a basic component of which has determined the character

mark the Law, standing

is

limits of activity

beyond which
It

society

is

alone,

is

a fiction.

achieves reality only

its

when
its

it

observed.

The character
it.

of every society lies in

method

of establishing observance,

and

its

permanence

lies

in

success in securing

Creating
This
is

Demand

for Professional

Law

Enforcement

not a call for the police administrator to garb himself

is not unlikely that if he did, he would same end. This concept, although it has a philosophical basis, is an immensely practical matter, and it can be sold to practical community leaders. Most of them are well aware of the exorbitant cost of ineffectual law enforcement. They are not en-

in the robes of Socrates. It

suffer the

tirely

unfamiliar with the experience of other communities or of

other nations.

The

creation of a market for professional law en-

190

Parker on Police Administration

forcement is not so much the sale of a startUng new concept as it is the calhng to memory of some well-known facts. Immediate tangibles which will be recognized are more eflFective security of goods, a higher rate of recovery of stolen property, lower insurance premiums, and improved traffic conditions. A few leaders will see the broader implications of the idea, and through them the elemental thinking will be transplanted into other minds.
It

should be emphasized and re-emphasized that the adminisis

The raw facts and figures are availwhich they should be presented and the relative speed with which they will be accepted depends upon his ability and the pohtical chmate of the community. Some of the methods which have been used are narrative type annual reports, radio and television forums, pamphlets, motion picture and television films, well-trained pohce speakers, and written contributions to local magazines, industrial house organs, and other
trator
able.

not selling "theory."

in

The manner

publications.

Of even more importance

ministrator with the business

is

the relationship of the chief adof the city.

and professional groups

it is

Included

is

the press, since

primarily a business enterprise

with a stake in community welfare. It should be noted that the administrator's concern is not with the news-gathering level of the press. He is not seeking "good pubficity." He is not a press agent. He is a community leader seeking the solution to one of the community's most pressing problems. His business is not with reporters, but with publishers, stockholders, and directors. As he meets with other business groups he will talk with advertisers, radio and television station owners, motion picture producers, and members of chambers of commerce and of transit, banking,
insurance, veterans,
fluences of

and other associations. Similar powerful incommunity thinking are school, religious, and inter-

racial groups.

This effort should not be confused with "pubfic relations." At

this point the administrator is

not concerned with shaping the

meet public demands. Cries for "efficiency," "honesty," and "reduction of crime" cannot be answered effectively until he creates a climate that will support the internal changes
police organization to
essential to those goals.

Police Challenge in

Our Great

Cities

191

Unwarranted Community Services

Although the principles and practices of sound organization found in many texts would seem to fit police departments large and small, their application becomes progressively more difficult with size. As the growing complexity of the great cities creates more and more varied problems, the police organization tends to subdivide and take on new tasks in an eflPort to cope with them. Almost invariably, the lines of demarcation between primary, support, service, and nonpolice elements of the organization become narrower and less distinguishable. Surgery is needed. At this point the wisdom of first laying a foundation of public support becomes apparent to the administrator. Every police activity, however ineffectual and costly, has public supporters who, because of selfishness or misunderstanding, will oppose its reduction or elimination. Unless the administrator has enlisted broad support, his attempts to reform the police structure will be defeated by small but vocal pressure groups. Over the years the large city departments have gathered along their flanks a peculiar assortment of public services. Although

many
to

of these are not properly police responsibilities, they tend

assume greater bulk and they drain increasing money, manpower, and energies from the basic task.
operation
greatest offender in
as

Jail

The

some

cities is jail operation.

This task

cent of the personnel strength.

20 per cent of the police budget and 7 per It takes the time and energies of officers selected, trained, and paid to accomphsh vastly more complex tasks. It encumbers police training with studies of institutional problems not remotely connected with law enforcement. It necessitates assignments in conflict with aptitudes, which often give the jail a "Siberia" connotation by which general morale is lowered and other police tasks suffer. It adds a completely unnecessary and unjustifiable element to the chief administrator's nearly impossible span of attention. Worse, the detention of sentenced prisoners by the police is a dangerous violation of the democratic theory of law enforcement. The identification of police

consumes

much

as

192

Parker on Police Administration

with the processes of punishment works to destroy the ideal of a

nonjudging, nonpenahzing poHce.

The answer
facilities

to the jail
exist.

problem

is

not impossibly
a change of

difficult.

already

In

many

cities

The management
and

requires only administrative action. Jail personnel with suitable

aptitudes should be recruited, given specialized training,

compensated

at a level in

keeping with the

task.

Juvenile welfare

Another public service attached to most large police departments is some form of juvenile welfare activity. Not to be confused with the investigation of juvenile delinquency,
it is

actually

an attempt to treat the multiple causes of adolescent maladjustment. It takes many forms, ranging from a boys' club to compUcated advisory, treatment, and referral centers for potential or actual delinquents. Often included are summer camps, gymnasiums, and clubhouses. In some instances the total cost is financed from police budgets, and in others the activity merely utilizes tlie services of on-duty officers. While no experienced police officer would dispute the great need for such a community program, some doubt as to its being a proper police function is justified. Many of the criticisms directed at pohce operation of the city jail are valid here. As long
as the police are experiencing difficulty in accomplishing their pri-

mary

tasks, the

siphoning of men, money, and energy into social

services not properly chargeable to

rationalize. Ultimately the police

law enforcement is difficult to must recognize that they are neither authorized nor equipped to deal with economic and
social

problems inherent in the prevention of crime.

field,

If

they conwill

tinue invading this most difficult

they will ultimately saddle

themselves with burdens so great that a single step forward be impossible.

Various activities

Other efiForts which are draining police vitality are probation and parole activities, assignments of investigators to other city departments, and traffic engineering. The administrator will also find officers who have been selected and trained to enforce the

Police Challenge

Our Great

Cities

193
t)'pists,

laws of the community performing routine duties as clerks,

librarians, laborator)^' technicians, fingerprint classifiers,

and others

positions which could be

efficiency

filled at less

expense and with greater

of the average

by

qualified civilians.

It is safe to

say that the

is

manpower problem

large department

an organizational problem, created over the years by the police tliemselves. Although many
to a great extent

of these extraneous activities are tlie result of

services,

commendable

efforts

from an organizational to provide needed community standpoint they must be classified as deadwood. The plea that they supply good pubfic relations is rebuttable. Failure to meet successfully the harsh requirements of fundamental pofice tasks
cannot so easily be disguised.

Maintenance of Control
Another problem to be met by administrators of large poHce
organizations
is tliat of maintaining full control, while at the same time reducing the span of executive attention to a workable mini-

mum.

Theoretically,

it is

sufficient to divide into a total of five to

seven primary support and line units, headed by deputies serving also as a general staff or council. However, this plan often results
in the

formation of practically independent organizations which

block the vertical flow of communication so vital to control. Consequently, instead of aggressively leading, the chief administrator
finds himself cast in
affairs.

The answer

to this

an increasingly impotent role in department problem is not the abandoning of the

principles of organization, but rather the retention of control of

key

activities.

relations, vice control,

These are internal disciphne, inteUigence, public and planning.

The most

efficient

method

of handling these control functions

appears to consist in giving to the field forces the line responsibihty to accomplish the tasks, checking and balancing their efforts

through administrative divisions with both staff authority and line responsibihty. Thus, for example, vice control is directly accom-

phshed by patrol and detective

forces,

with an administrative vice

division co-ordinating their efforts, spot checking their effective-

ness and integrity, and reporting to the chief the volume

and

di-

rection of vice activities throughout the city. These staff services

194

Parker on Police Administration

unit,

can be combined into a primary departmental by an administrative deputy.

commanded

Large

Cities

Produce Special Administrative Situations

little

doubt that the well-estabhshed principles of administration should guide the chief of police in all but the most unusual cases. Yet certain problems peculiar to large city poHce organizations do not respond readily to broad generalizations. The first of these that the department head is likely to meet is the question of an assistant chief. This position is usually created in the hope of reducing the administrative work burden. It is reasoned that an assistant chief can handle routine matters, act as a "buffer," and digest and condense information directed up-

There can be

wards.

There

is

no greater

fallacy in police administration.

The

true

assistants of the chief are his council of deputies. If these commanders are not functioning, little is gained by creating an intermediate position which obscures this fact. At best, an assistant chief accomplishes tasks that are properly the duties of an executive oflBcer or adjutant; at worst, he isolates the chief from the department, takes over policy decisions without which the department head cannot be chief-in-fact, and becomes a sort of "grand vizier" to which all ranks must bow in order to have their

requests granted.

The

chief cannot share his ultimate responsibilities. If his

work

burden exceeds human limits, the answer will be found own organizational and administrative failures.
Specialization

in his

As a police organization grows,

it is

inevitable that the ques-

be raised. At first glance it will appear that the question has been answered by the experts who caution against "overspecialization." However, closer scrutiny will reveal no sure definition of that term. Theoretically, the size of a department should have little eflFect on the broad competencies of the individual police officer. He should be able to perform eflFectively every task he may reasonably be expected to encounter, whether he patrols the entire area of
tion of specialization versus generahzation will

Police Challenge in
Prairie Junction or a similar area

Our Great

Cities

195

and population in Chicago. This by the growth of cities, but by the expanding pohce technology, which has increased at such a phenomenal rate that the ideal of complete competency has become
ideal has been reversed, not

a myth.

No

single officer can eflFectively

perform in the diverse

and highly technical fields which police science has created. A parallel can be found in the profession of medicine. The growth
of medical science not of cities created
its specialists.

The

fact

that Prairie Junction will not support a group of medical specialists does not make this situation an ideal to be followed in Chicago. Carrying the parallel further, the medical profession has found
that the public
is

best served by creating a balance of field forces

(general practitioners)

and

speciaHsts. This
is

the police administrator's problem. His

specialization,

is also the answer to not a task of limiting

but of balancing generalists and speciafists so that crime and disorder will receive treatment best fitted to reduce it. This is not an organizational problem whereby ratios are abstracted
it is a question of adminissoundest control and worktration devoting attention to the

and

rigidly followed. Rather,

measurement devices
Transfers

available.

The
into

diverse organization of the large department also creates

rotation problems.

How
Is

often should personnel be transferred

new

assignments?

the pubfic interest best served by long-

term familiarity with one task or district, or by a work perspective born of varied pohce experience? The problem is best solved by avoiding extremes either way. An excellent key is frequent transfers of young officers, letting them perceive the breadth and
intricacies of

law enforcement. As they move about and

is

test their

abihties against various assignments, there

for

a natural tendency

them to fit into place. A word of caution transfers easily become a crutch which supports and disguises poor leadership. The fact that individuals vegetate and fail to produce after long assignment to one job is
not a sign of the efficacy of frequent transfers. Rather,
it

should

be a sign of command and supervisory failures which should be corrected. Although some assignments will always be favored, a

196

Parker on Police Administration

police department should have no "corner pockets" or "Siberias."

If

they

exist,

cursing the nature of

It logically

own failures by mankind and using the "shake-up" as a cure. follows that transfers should never be used as a disthe administrator cannot excuse his
is

ciplinary tool. There

no place

in the police organization for a

penal colony.

There are a few exceptions to the rule that transfers should not be an arbitrarily regular procedure. Certain police tasks are highly exhausting, conducive to the production of moral callousness, or
are purely educational in nature. Vice control assignments are

one example. No officer should be exposed too long to this emotionally and morally fatiguing task. Another example the rotation of first-level supervisors through the planning division and the internal discipline division is an excellent training device calling
:

for frequent short-term assignments.

Selection of supervisors

The

intricate nature of the big city police

department also

creates problems in the selection of supervisors.

Of the many

sys-

tems which have been tried, strict and impartial promotion by civil service methods seems to work best. Although its inequities are obvious, they are not so conducive to corruption and destruction of morale as the practice of letting the chief administrator make his own selections. The advantages of having a leader pick supervisors with "loyal" or "compatible" attitudes may be of some importance in a political organization, but are totally out of place
in professional endeavor.
is

The only

loyalty professional
is

men owe

to the ideals of their service; loyalty to a person

warranted

only in so far as that person reflects those ideals.

few administrators have great

abilities
is

faith in their ability to choose

subordinate leaders. In some cases that faith

may be

warranted.

But such rare personal

selectees

that the tenure of the chief

historically short.

must be balanced against the fact When he goes, his

and

all possibility

of long-term progress go with him.

Few
pre-

organizations can afford the frequent and conflicting changes in

policy inherent in this system. At worst, the

raw material

sented to the chief administrator by

less

seldom be capable than the selections which personal error and prejucivil service will

dice will produce.

Police Challenge in

Our Great

Cities

197

Aids to Successful Police Administration

discussion of police techniques peculiar to the larger cities

should be prefaced with a word of caution: there are few greater pitfalls in police work today than the practice of adopting tech-

nique for

its

own

sake.

Due

to lack of accurate in
its

work-measurement

devices, such as

commerce has

profit system, administrators

and other officers often go through the motions of new procedures and scientific techniques with little attention to whether or not results are forthcoming. The poHce administrator's attention must be keyed to results, and a great part of his energy must necessarily be devoted to the creation of improved methods of measuring them.

Planning

The planning

activity, intelligently executed, serves as a source

of the vital administrative controls. It should

both of improved techniques and of work measurement. It is one be entrusted to a staff unit under the supervision of the chief. In this unit can be included related activities which are scattered and ineffectual in many departments. These include statistical studies, crime analysis,

writing of manuals and orders, forms control, and procedure

division should be

surveys.

The
tudes.

manned with experienced

officers

and

supervisors carefully selected with attention to necessary apti-

These men should be given considerable freedom to inand recommend procedures. In this manner the organization is guaranteed a source of creative thinking without which any enterprise will stagnate. The division should be constantly aware, however, that, like all other activities, the life of the division will be determined by results produced. Moderately frequent transfers will serv e to diminish "ivory tower"
spect, criticize, improvise,

connotations, revitalize field thinking, and keep attention di-

rected at current line problems.

typical activity of this division

at large

is

the planning of

traffic

and

crowd control
they

pubhc

gatherings. Although the majority

life

of such events have

little

place in the crowded

of great cities,

occurrences. Thev disrupt traffic, draw a significant amount of police strength from necessary duties, and inconvenience tens of thousands of citizens. Through studies
are, unfortunately,

common

198

Parker on Police Administration

it is

of the planning division,

possible for the chief to present the

true cost of these spectacles to the city administration

and obtain

regulation of the most commercial

and

selfish of these events.

The

size of the event

must be

closely approximated, the flow

capacity of surrounding streets measured, and the points of

traflBc conflict established. Street and private parking facilities must be approximated and controls set up accordingly. Bypass trafiic arteries must be established and protected, and transit

companies alerted in time

gested area,

to

plan use of these paths. In the con-

first-aid routes
all

and

stations

volume

of crowds at

points

must be planned. The must be balanced with patrol

is

forces adequate for control. If the assembly

of such a nature

that disorder

may be

expected, reserve forces must be placed at

key points, communications planned, and field booking, photography, and temporary detention facilities arranged. Occasional events will require field kitchens and rest facilities for officers, and a completely equipped command post. The final task of the planning unit is to inspect the event, measuring the accuracy of the estimates and the effectiveness of techniques used. These studies should form the basis for standby plans which can be put into effect to control the various types of emergencies that can occur in the city.
Intelligence

Like planning, an intelhgence division

sary in great
cities.

is

a police activity neces-

Organized crime and subversive activity are controllable only if the department head has constant and current information of the activities of such groups. In gaining this information and maintaining necessary surveillance, the "arms length" technique will ultimately prove more effective than the establishment of "personal" relations between oflBcers and suspects. The latter arrangement will invariably fester into a spot of corruption or prove a source of embarrassment even when capably and honestly conducted. Adequate intelhgence of underworld activities is the administrator's most potent weapon against organized crime. These criminal operations are too cleverly

conducted

to

respond to suppres-

sion

by any unplanned combination

of patrol

and

investigation.

Police Challenge in

Our Great

Cities

199

Law

enforcement's shockingly low arrest and conviction rate of

syndicate

known

members bears the

best evidence that traditional

pohce techniques are not the answer to this problem. Organized crime can be reduced and stamped out by the police only when knowledge of its methods, personalities, and plans produces conviction hazards so great that operation becomes unprofitable.
Appraisal of Results
It is inevitable

that in a paper directed

others, "shop talk"

will

by one police officer to concerning the technology of law enforcement

consume a major share of the space. For that reason it is necessary to assess the results of hard-won improvements before

closing.

For a half-century pohce administrators in the United States have responded to the cry for better law enforcement by working to improve police techniques. In the past the telephone, the automobile, and the radio have been successively looked to as the answer to the problem of crime and disorder. During the years immediately past, sound principles of organization, supervision, selection, and training have been sought and adopted. Today's police administrators, even more advanced, are resolutely shouldering the enormous task of measuring the eflFect of social and economic factors on police problems. They are adapting advanced concepts of systems and procedures to law enforcement. Even the most critical observers agree that remarkable technical progress
is

apparent in
is

this search for the still elusive

answer.

The

police service has benefited greatly from this

improved

probable that today, without these advances, the expanding police departments of our larger cities, faced with
technology. It
increasing

work loads and lengthening

lines of

supply and com-

munication, would be completely ineffective. Every step has been

difficulty.

accomphshed painfully and laboriously, and in the face of great But the answer has not yet been found. Despite the technology that has been acquired through no small effort and expense, the police service today fulfills its task with no greater success than it did a quarter- or half-century ago. This is a damaging accusation, but it is susceptible of proof. As
inaccurate as our statistics are, they leave
little

doubt that the

200

Parker on Police Administration

crime rate has been on the increase for the past several decades

the

identical years in

which the American police have shown

is

their greatest technical progress. It

highly doubtful that our

any lower than that which accompanied the brawling, lusty period of the nation's formation years in which
present crime rate
is

organized police protection scarcely existed.

It is true that the criminal

today often wears a

silk glove,

but

hand beneath that sleek fabric exacts no less a toll than when it was exposed and easily recognized. Our years of greatest progress, instead of limiting the volume and scope of crime, have
the

seen

from a predominantly individual enterprise against huge and powerful cartels that control not only cities, but entire states of this Union. Indeed, our most accurate crime statistics indicate that crime rates rise and fall on the tides of economic, social, and political cycles with embarrassingly little attention to the most determined efforts of our
it

shift

society to a system of

police.

Where
zation

the Answer Lies

of this exposition
is

The purpose

not to

condemn

the systemati-

whether the answer lies in that direction. It is not suggested that continuous effort toward refinement of techniques should cease, but it is suggested that since methodology has not yet produced significant results, the problem may have its deepest roots in causes other than police performance. Those causes have been suggested here. To blame police failures on the police themselves is to confuse cause with effect. Law enforcement is totally dependent upon the public for its life, its strength, and its effectiveness. It can no more divorce itself from the electorate and seek growth alone than a plant can divorce itself from the soil that bears and feeds it. However critical the need may be for professional law enforcement, it will not come
of procedures, but to question
into being until the public itself recognizes that need. If this belief

and perfection

be

true,

it

holds an answer to the police problem.

Chapter Ten

PARKER TO THE CITIZENS

Progress Report: August 9, 1950 to January 1, 1953, submitted to the Board of Police Commissioners, Los Angeles, January, 1953.

Juvenile Crime and the Police: Response to questions

Los Angeles City Council concerning a juvenile gang attack on a citizen in downtown Los Angeles which resulted in his death. December, 1953.
of the

The

Rehabilitation Center: Excerpts from an address

at the Ebell

entitled

"The March of Crime" delivered Club Assembly Dinner, March, 1956.

Progress Report

August
1,

9,

1950 to

January

1953
and
responsibilities

ON

August

9,

1950, I assumed the duties

Pohce of our city. In addition to swearing a promised the citizens of Los Angeles that would strive to build and maintain the most efficient poHce dewe partment in the city's history. Today, twenty-nine months later, I should like to give an accounting of the stewardship of that trust and to speak of things which lie ahead. By way of preface, it should surprise no one that pohce work at all levels is difficult work. Unhke private industry, the police do not work with tangible products which can be cleverly fashioned and neatly boxed. They toil in the field of human behavior, a cosmic riddle which mortal man has never solved. Neither the poHce nor any other human agency can completely understand or fully control the processes by which honest men become thieves, by which intelligent men turn to prejudice and hate, or by which crime periodically sweeps over eveiy community like an evil tide. Neither the pohce nor any other human agency can fully understand or prevent the petty failures which turn wet with blood our traffic ways as normally prudent citizens plunge their automobiles into headlong defiance of the laws of physics and of man. The pohce not only deal with the riddle of human behavior; they are themselves sometimes victims of it. If, by virtue of their uniform, the police were always just, forever incorruptible, and completely efficient, then this report would be a simple one. Unfortunately, they are merely human beings in uniform, as prone to fallibility as tlie citizenry from which they were carefully selected by Civil Service. I have conceived it my task to organize, train, and supervise your police department to constrain tliat human fallibility so that it would have a minimum efi^ect upon
of Chief of

solemn oath of

oflBce, I

our assigned tasks.

203

204

Parker to the Citizens

this, changes have been necessary in police organization, pohce techniques, and in the underlying philosophy which directs police endeavor. Twenty-nine montlis is a short time when measured against the eighty-three years' existence of your poHce department. All that some day may be done could not be accompHshed in that brief period. However, there are many changes to report. I am confident they will indicate that the promise has been kept and that Los Angeles has passed over the threshold of a brave experiment in professional law enforcement.

To do

in

National Attention
Police progress here has not occurred without considerable attention.

The Los Angeles Chamber

9,

of

Commerce

publicly com-

mended

the department for "exceptional eflBciency" in a citation

1951.

presented August

The Honorable Estes Kefauver, during

crime and corruption, noted that
this

his national investigation of

menace did not extend

Angeles. O.

across the boundaries of the City of Los

field of

W.

Wilson, an outstanding authority in the

police administration

who

has actually visited here to study the

it

department, has consistently proclaimed

"the best large depart-

ment

in the country."

The Federal Government has repeatedly

used Los Angeles as a training ground in democratic poHce procedures for law enforcement officers from occupied Germany and
Japan.
Political Control

most important factor in pohce progress is the fact that the department has remained consistently free from partisan political control. The City Administration has been alert to the terrible danger a captive police department would represent to the people of our city. Almost alone among the great cities of this nation, the Los Angeles pohce officer has been free to do his job with full impartiality, owing responsibihty only to the people, the courts, and duly constituted police authority. There are no "hidden bosses," there is no "privileged class," there are no "fixes." From the lowly traffic citation to the felony indictment, each citizen must face enforcement of the law of our land on an equal
far the
basis.

By

Progress Report

205

Manpower Police manpower

of this report. In

has been an acute problem during the period August of 1950, this office had 4,427 officers available to deploy over the city. As of this date, the number has dropped to 4,152. This loss of 275 policemen has taken place during a period in which the city has increased by approximately

128,000 residents.

By area, Los Angeles police strength presently measures nine pohcemen per square mile as compared with fifty-one for New
York, thirty-four for Chicago, thirty-two for Philadelphia and
thirty for Detroit.

The causes

of decreasing

three-fourths of your

manpower are well known. Nearly pohcemen are veterans of mihtary service,

most of them eligible for reserve duty. As a result, a total of 221 officers have been called to active service in Korea. In addition, a combination of draft call and higher salaries available in private industry has greatly reduced the number of potential condidates. Finally, harsh working conditions, physical danger, and the tendency of some to group all policemen into a single category and condemn them all for the errors of a few, greatly reduce the attractiveness of the job to young men.
Office
StaflF

Replacement

Despite fewer policemen, Los Angeles today receives better pohce protection than at any other time in its history. One way of accomplishing this was the replacement of officers employed in clerical tasks with civilian employees. During 1951 and 1952 approximately 109 officers in this manner were released to field
duty.

One-Man

Patrol Cars

In 1951, experiments indicated one-man patrol cars could sup-

two-man units in certain areas of the city. This system greatly extends available manpower. Careful retraining of officers has minimized risks involved and allowed us to put these
plant traditional
units

on the

street in several police divisions.

is

One-man

patrol
it

experience over the past year

presently being evaluated, and

appears likely that

in

can be expanded with still greater savings manpower and consequent improved patrol coverage.
it

206

Parker to the Citizens

Visual Patrol

comparison of the eflBciency of marked and unmarked patrol was conducted during the period of this report. The results indicated that clearly marked black and white pohce vehicles give the public greater opportunity to make use of law enforcement services and have a marked repressive eflFect on trafvehicles
fic

violators

and petty

criminals.

your police department has adopted the policy that uniformed oflBcers will patrol in black and white automobiles. Nonuniform officers will continue to use unmarked vehicles necessary to investigation and surveillance. To minimize repainting costs, change-over is being conducted on a normal vehicle-replacement
result,

As a

basis.

Paperwork
It is obvious that every hour spent by the officer at the report desk is an hour lost to field police work. Further, every error caused by poorly designed and inefficient report forms multipHes

this loss of

man-hours. Your police department must not be sub-

merged

in the

mass of paperwork, nearly one million reports

annually, necessary to law enforcement here. In September, 1950,

the department was burdened with over 700 report forms,

many of

them cumbersome and inefficient. Since that time, sixty-three outdated forms have been cancelled and 155 old forms have been completely redesigned to reduce reporting, typing, and filing time by approximately thirty-five per cent. In addition, portable voice writers have been introduced at
report desks. This transcribing device allows officers to quickly

record several reports on one disc and return to field duty. These
recordings are later transmitted to paper by civihan typists.
Police Planning

In 1951 there was established a Planning and Research Division with the primary task of evaluating successes and failures in all
aspects of police work. After analysis, this division

recommends

improved methods. By means of this complished the following: 1. Reduced entry processing time

self-criticism,

we have

ac-

of prisoners into the City

Progress Report
Jail,

207

resulting in annual savings equal to the entire cost of the

Planning and Research Division.

Redesigned police patrol districts to follow boundaries of government census tracts. This change will allow us to make future studies of crime conditions in specific communities with exact knowledge of population, economic, and social conditions. A long-range effort, this project will provide us with greatly needed facts to guide our juvenile delinquency and other crime preven2.

tion programs.

improved methods of crime analysis which give field ofiBcers speedy and exact knowledge of criminal personalities, methods, and conditions in their assigned districts. 4. Developed a completely new system of pohce manuals, bring3.

Instituted radically

ing to each officer the latest technical information necessary to the

efficient
5.

performance of his duties.

Instituted continuous study of the distribution of crime over

the city's area, a program which enables supervisors to assign

field officers in the

proper area at the proper time to secure maxi-

mum results against specific crimes.

Recruitment and Training

High standards
training has

of recruitment

tained despite the pressure induced by

been maintained

at

and training have been mainmanpower shortages. Cadet thirteen-week level as compared a
1950.

with a six-week course

common before

Psychological testing of officers has been an important phase of

the training program. During the period of this report,
officers
all

new

have received emotional maturity

tests prior to

academy

graduation. Because such tests do not represent an exact science,

we have been engaged since 1950 in a program of evaluating their accuracy in predicting future behavior. Recently, the professional
services of a psychiatrist

which

will

have been made available to us, a factor improve the accuracy of these examinations.

Integrity
Little

known

is

the fact that an entire administrative division

its

of the police department devotes

time exclusively to investigat-

ing complaints against poficemen. During the 29 months in ques-

208
tion,

Parker to the Citizens

they have averaged 905 investigations per year, 28 per cent which were sustained and resulted in disciphnary action. The citizen evaluating these figures must recognize that the life of the policeman is severely regulated compared to that of the
of

private citizen.

The bulk

of these penalties represent breaches of

department regulations rather than actual violations of law. Total offenses involving dishonesty, abuse of civil rights, or excessive force, averaged only .004 per cent of department strength during 1951 and 1952. It should be borne in mind that the amount of publicity springing from police error is no sure indication of its prevelancy. Cases of individual culpabihty have been found during the months in question as indeed will always be the case in any group of over four thousand humans. However, it is a fact that not even the severest critics of your pohce department have found any evidence of organized dishonesty or tolerated abuse of regulatory powers. An overwhelming majority of Los Angeles policemen are deeply devoted to the high ethical and moral principles upon which rest our concepts of democratic police service. With the cooperation of an informed citizenry, we will keep those majority convictions as near unanimity as is possible in a human agency.

Crime
Organized crime
finds
it

increasingly difiicult to operate here.

prostitute,

The syndicate member, whether

bookmaker, or pro-

Average Rate'^ Fiscal Years 1950-51

Average Rate
Preceding Five Years

and 1951-52

% Change

Robbery
Burglary

101.9

184.2

510.9

619.6
387.1
5.4

Auto Theft Murder Rape:

Statutory

249.8
3.9

-44.7 -17.5 -35.5 -27.8

-21.1

12.0 14.0

15.2
15.2

Forcible

7.9

Aggravated Assault 149.0 Sex Crimes Against Children 46.9

124.1

+ 20.1

51.9
1,402.8

9.6

AVERAGE
* Per 100,000 inhabitants.

1,088.4

-22.4

Progress Report
fessional murderer, cannot purchase

209
in

immunity

Los Angeles.

The

criminal operating here does so at immediate and constant

peril to his freedom.

Crime rates here, although fluctuating in response to social and economic factors over which the police have relatively httle control, have remained consistently below the national averages for cities of comparable size.
Traffic

increase

The twenty-nine months in question have seen Los Angeles by 128,000 population and 60,000 registered vehicles

without proportionate increase in streets and mass transit. Spiraling congestion and traffic death rates have been prevented only by

extreme

police popularity, these measures have purchased time in

Although not conducive to which the city's critical transportation problem may be solved. Further, despite the severity of the problem, traffic death here has been kept at less than one-half of the rate prevaihng ten years ago.
traffic-control

measures.

Narcotics

The growing

narcotic

menace was attacked

in

the use of specially trained Juvenile Narcotics Officers

May, 1951, by whose work

supplements that of the twenty-nine man Narcotic Division, rated by the Commissioner of the United States Bureau of Narcotics as the nation's finest. In January, 1952, a comprehensive study of the menace was prepared in booklet fomi and widely distributed to the adult segment of our community. This study was later adopted

by the Board

of Education as a basis for an accelerated

program of

preventive education.
Rehabilitation and Corrections

During 1952, your department conducted studies of city jail efficiency which enabled it to increase housing and feeding potential there by twenty-five per cent. At the same time, police manpower required at the city jail was reduced twenty-two
per cent. This resulted in seventy
officers

being transferred to

field

duty at an annual saving of approximately $325,000. Construction of a 588-acre Rehabilitation Center designed for

210

Parker to the Citizens

the physical and mental treatment of alcohohcs was begun in 1952. Necessitated by a near doubling of average daily jail population during the past five years, this progressive move will reduce

per capita confinement costs and provide a solution to the city's growing alcohohc problem (six out of every ten misdemeanor arrests). In addition, work therapy in the nature of farming acwith tivities will provide a substantial portion of all city jail diets
resultant savings of tax dollars.

Community

Aflfairs

In the past twenty-nine months

volving crime or
trafiBc

many community problems

in-

have become matters of pubhc debate. In our democracy, such debate is the raw material wherefrom opinion the duty of is molded and our laws conceived. I have beheved it of the poUce dethe Chief of Police to draw upon the experience
partment in order to speak out openly where questions of order and public safety were concerned. During the period of this report, I have spoken out against legaHzed gambling in its many fraudulent guises. I have opposed measures which might promote the infiltration of organized crime

community. Although I have acted decisively against breaches of pohce discipHne, I have as quickly spoken out against measures which would make the pohceman a "whipping boy" for the ills of society. I have outhned the dangers of traffic paralysis represented by our controlled automobile economy, and have obinto our
jectively pointed out the Hmitations of our

aheady outmoded

freeway system.
1953 City Election

The pubhc

result of these aggressive stands

on questions

affecting

safety is a belief in some quarters that I aspire to elective servoffice this spring. It is not possible to give twenty-six years of such ice to a community without feeling genuinely honored by

mention.

At the same time, it is distressing to note that words and actions given unselfishly and without partisan design should be construed by some to be tools of political ambition. It is my behef that in matters affecting his profession, a man is duty bound to enter the

Progress Report

211

arena of democratic debate.

cannot believe that cynicism has so

permeated our thinking that the open discussion of pubHc questions must be left to those who seek personal or partisan advantage.
I

am

not a candidate for elective oflBce in 1953.

it is

If I

have ambi-

tion to contribute further service to our city,

best oflFered in

the field to which

have devoted the major portion of my life. It is the duty of the police to protect the hves and property of the citizens of Los Angeles. I cannot conceive of honest men either
I

directing or influencing the directing of this task for selfish purpose. This courageous

and worthwhile experiment

in professional

law enforcement
vantage.
It is

is

too precious to be destroyed for transient ad-

my

earnest hope that this coming election will be

this diflBcult

conducted on a plane suflBciently high to allow immensely rewarding progress to continue.

but

Juvenile Crime and the Police

You have asked me
factorily

number

of questions. I

hope

can

satis-

answer them.
question you asked concerns the depletion of the

The

first

police force. Numerically speaking, there are fewer policemen in

the City of Los Angeles today than there were when I was appointed Chief of Police in August, 1950. This has occurred despite the fact that civil service examinations have been given repeatedly
to

and we have exliausted every resulting eligible list. In an attempt remedy this situation, we have estabhshed extensive recruiting programs. We have prepared brochures which are handed out at the Separation Centers of the Armed Forces. We have directed information at the students in our colleges. We have prepared recruiting films. In the last instance, we have even used Jack Webb as the comentator, hoping to give some glamour to the poHce

service.

We have also made changes in certain job requirements. For exwe no longer require a high school diploma if the applicant can pass an educational background test. The Civil Service Department conducts police examinations in any part of the United
ample,
States

where there are

suflBcient applicants.

We

are

now

allowing

nineteen year old boys to take the examination, securing their

interest while they are
field.
still

searching for a place in the economic

if

At the age of twenty-one,

they are

still

able to

requirements,

we

will accept

them
this

for police service.

meet our Of course,

we

will not

be able to obtain

manpower

for a couple of years.

On

the medical side,

we

are accepting applicants with corrective

physical defects.

question has been asked about I.Q. requirements.

The

I.Q.

level of the Police

about 110, roughly the college entrance average. A policeman's job has become so complex that if we ever drop below that level we will be in serious trouble.
is

Department

212

Juvenile Crime and the Police

213

who do not possess that degree of intelligence cannot cope with the complex tasks which are thrust upon policemen
Persons
today.

The

decline of police
I

man power

is

not solely a Los Angeles

problem.

was

in

New York

City recently, talking with the

oflBcers.

missioner of Police and his chief

identical problem.

ComThey have an almost

in
its

New

York City has a thousand vacancies

police department.

There are many factors involved in this country-wide problem of insuflBcient pohce man power. As far as the question of pay is involved, there is httle doubt that the more money you oflFer people the better your chances of obtaining their services. But in my responsibility as General Manager of the police department I have taken the position that the matter of salaries rests with the City Council and the Mayor. During my twenty-seven years service I have come to the firm belief that the treatment which has been afi^orded the pohce in America is at least partially responsible for the current problem. This conviction is shared by growing numbers of police administrators. Too often it is the vogue to attack the police upon the slightest provocation, blaming them for the ills of society. The result has been to make the police servdce so unpopular that, in many cases, the person who is intelligent enough to be a police
oflBcer
is

too intelligent to take the job. Society, for

its

own

preserdiflFer-

vation,
ently.

is

going to have to begin treating

its

police quite

read on the front page of a newspaper yesterday a very emotional editorial, asking us to prevent crime by using "clubs and
I

mailed

fists." I

couldn't help but

remember the

thirty-two

men

disciplined just

two years ago

for

an incident kno\\Ti as "Bloody

thought perhaps the author of that editorial should go up to the penitentiary and talk to those policemen that are in there now because they became emotional and did the things that
Christmas."
I

If that writer will look at the facts he department is not today an emotional will discover that the police organization. We are a group that is hmited by the very laws that

this editorial

urged be done.

we
in

enforce. It is a strange commentary that during the same week which we are celebrating the Bill of Rights, some people are

214

Parker to the Citizens

advocating lawlessness on the part of the police in disregard of

constitutional rights.

Now

let

us discuss the case which precipitated this inquiry.

We

have identified the several young men who were involved. Frankly, it seems to me amazing that we were so quickly able to determine who they were, and yet no one seems to have given any thought to that! According to the press reports, hundreds of people were at the scene at the time, but where are the witnesses? Of the good citizens who are lamenting the fact that the police didn't happen to be there at the time, none came forward and offered to assist us by identifying the participants. And yet, without any cooperation from the citizens present, we have the suspects in custody. It is also worth mentioning that our nine-man Juvenile Gang Squad has not once failed to identify participants
in these serious crime incidents.

interrogated

you to know that this Juvenile Gang Squad some of those same suspects on the previous Saturday night. At that time they had not committed any unlawful act and there was no justification for their arrest. And if you think that police can arrest without justification, I suggest that you ask the City Attorney about the eagerness with which some people sue the police. The present total of law suits against the Chief of Police and his officers is close to fifteen million dollars! Another question that has been raised is why we have only nine men on our Juvenile Gang Squad. I thought that was a large
It

might

interest

squad! Please understand

Division!

we

are not talking about the Juvenile

officers. The Juvenile The Gang Squad merely supplements their work. Men on the Juvenile Gang Squad are assigned primarily to the problems involving people of Latin origin. Nearly every officer on the Squad is of

Juvenile Division has 186 other

Latin origin himself.

There have been some questions about curbing juvenile deit be clear that we are talking about a problem that is not too far removed from adult delinquency. I do not choose to regard the juvenile problem as totally independent of the whole crime problem. Juvenile delinquency is part and parcel of the present course of American behavior. Everyone seems to be wondering why the police let incidents
linquency. Let

Juvenile Crime and the Police

215
It

occur such as happened at Seventh and Broadway.

who is blamed But let's Only two or three months ago the demand was upon us to place more and more policemen on the freeways. Well, they can't be on the freeways and at Seventh and Broadway at the same time. Let's talk about the parade situation in Los Angeles. From a police deployment and manpower perspective, it is a disturbing subject. In a recent parade in the San Fernando Valley, we were asked to deploy some 135 oflBcers. That is 135 police man-days that were taken away from the fundamental job of protecting this city. That is 135 days where places like Seventh and Broadway will not be patrolled because someone had a parade. We have a small department here in Los Angeles. It can only accomphsh so many tasks! I invite you to visit our stations and watch our men work forty and fifty hours on cases without sleep; wdthout any pay for overtime; and with little chance of ever getting the time back. Then show me any other line of endeavor where that is done! I hope the day never comes but I'm not sure it won't when a policeman pursuing a criminal hears the whistle blow, stops his car, picks up his lunch bucket, and goes home. Perhaps the source of our police manpower problem lies in the fact that you expect more of a policeman than you do of anybody else! Perhaps the answer to the problem Hes in giving some attenalways the poor policeman
1

seems it is talk about

facts.

tion to the police ofiBcer's problems. Society has established three

standards of behavior. First the police they are expected to ad-

here to a standard higher than that of any other person! Next is the public ofiBcial when he does things which are done without

any particular concern by the general population, he

is

excoriated.

Then

thirdly, there
this latter is

is

the behavior standard of the general public.

an interesting subject the mores of contempois increasing at a more rapid rate than the population! This is a frightening thing! The Census Bureau tells us that from 1940 to 1960 we will experience an increase of forty million people in the United States. And if crime continues to increase more rapidly than the population, what is the end? Even today your state prison authorities say there is no more
rary society.

Now

Crime today

room

in the penitentiary.

And

I'm not so sure that they don't have

216
to

Parker to the Citizens

open the back door and let men out prematurely in order to make room for men coming in the front door! You can blame the situation on your police if you wish. You can lay it in their laps, if you want to. Blame them even for social problems over which they have little control. (And, incidentally, this is a reason why people who want to be popular don't become policemen). But let's be practical and realistic. The police do not create crime problems! But they are expending more effort toward their solution than any other single group! Have you given any thought to the fact that the Los Angeles Police Department sponsors twenty-three Boy Scout troops, the largest number of Scout units sponsored by any pohce department in the United States? Do you know that a great deal of this work is done by pohce officers on their off-duty time, without

"What

compensation? This is just one instance that answers the question are we doing?" It appears we are doing more than our

regularly assigned duties.

We

are also operating an official

it

Deputy Auxiliary

Police or-

ganization. Including salaries,

costs the taxpayers

a year. This youth organization has around five

bers. Just last

about $268,000 thousand mem-

week

it

was

my

pleasure to present to one of these

Deputy Auxiliary

Police a savings

the Chief of Police of San Francisco.

man
after

to

whom

this

bond of $500 sent down by The young Auxiliary Policebond was presented was a fine Negro boy who

assisted our officers in the apprehension of a

man who

fled here

he shot and killed an inspector of the San Francisco Pohce Department. And, I will gamble, there was no such furor raised over this police officer's death as there has been over the incident we are talking about today. We are not even certain this local death is a homicide. We may end up with nothing more than a
battery.

Certainly, I lament the present affair, and my sympathies are with the deceased's family. But let's talk about facts. We are con-

fronted by a crime problem that

ciety.

is

inherent in contemporary sois

Hysteria won't solve

all

it.

Nothing

solved by hysteria!

Yet police work

too often bears the brunt of one type of

hysteria or another. Speeches won't solve

without facts won't solve

it!

Emotional comments You can get a new Police Chief every

it!

Juvenile Crime and the Police

217

day and that won't solve it! Some day the American people will have to wake up to the facts. They had better realize that the criminal army they have in their midst numbers some six milHon people a number which is far greater than social elements which have overthrown established governments before! The underground criminal element here is growing every day and growing out of proportion to the population. Unless you get in back of your pohce and give them support and add some dignity and social status to the job, then with this crime wave will go your

democracy!

The
Under our form
tionship

Rehabilitation Center
of government,
it is

imperative that there be

a close, sympathetic, harmonious and cooperative working rela-

between the people of a community and their police if the police task is to be properly performed; the efficiency of any police service depends largely upon the confidence of the people

whom

it

serves. It

is

as tragic as

it is

true that public confidence

been frequently lacking in communities throughout America and police efficiency has been a topic of conversation rather than a reality. Many factors have contributed to this untenable situation such as: poor working conditions and inadein the police has

quate salaries resulting in inept police personnel; manipulation of the pohce as a tool of patronage by venal political office holders;
the distinctly American custom of making the police service the major issue in local elections; a tendency on the part of some of the courts to place the people and the pohce in two alien camps; and, a remarkable inarticulacy on the part of the pohce. When under attack the police have generally remained silent due to bewilderment or vulnerability. Thus, an essential ingredient of mutual understanding has been lacking, i.e., unobstructed channels of communication between the police and the public. The City of Los Angeles is unique in many respects. No political

machine has long controlled

its

destinies for the city

grew

too fast to permit entrenchment.

service in this city.
It is

It has been many years since any special privilege group has been able to influence the police

my

geles desire

premise that the majority of the residents of Los Anand demand an efficient, honest, effective, impartial,
service; a premise that I predict will

and professional police

be

sorely tested in the not too distant future.

Imbued with

this philos-

ophy, and conscious of the freedom of the local police service from the wrong type of political control, I assumed the position of
218

The Rehabilitation Center

Chief of Police more than
to
five

219

and one half years ago. This report you tonight might well be termed a "white paper" on the local

police situation.

Although bonds had been voted by the people in 1947 to provide for a pohce administration building and a rehabilitation center for alcoholics, nothing had been accomplished on the rehabilitation center. The police building site had been acquired and plans completed, but the design was for a monumental type building, the cost of which far exceeded the funds available. Although the plans cost about $480,000 to prepare, it was finally determined that it would be better to set them aside and start all over. We turned to a completely functional design and, on August 1, 1955, we began occupancy of the completed building which is a model of efiiciency and one that cost approximately five million dollars less than the estimated cost of the original design. This
police building has ninety percent usable floor space as compared with fifty-seven per cent in the City Hall. The structure with its 400,000 square feet of floor space will do the job required of it
in the foreseeable future.

To go

into all of the important details

is

would consume the remainder

of

of the evening. It

the opinion
for the

many

that the police building has

become

model

entire country.

The Rehabilitation Center is located north of the town of Saugus and was dedicated on March 25, 1954. It consists of 588 acres of land on three distinct levels of elevation. At present almost 600 alcoholics who have become police problems are serving sentences at the Center and learning to readjust their lives. In
reality, the rehabilitation of
ity,

alcohohcs

is

not a police responsibil-

but the failure of others to assume the task has resulted in the police undertaking the job. Experts have praised the operation as the most progressive in the country. Some of the highlights of its operation will be of interest.

Upon
is

arrival at the Center,

and

after the initial processing,

the inmate

afforded a private consultation with a police officer

skilled in practical psychology. An effort is made to determine the underlying causes of his abnormal behavior in order that correc-

tive

measures
is

may be

therapy

applied.

The food served

apphed. Aptitudes are explored and work at the Center is prepared

220

Parker to the Citizens

under the direction of a professional chef and is based on the recommendations of a dietician. The inmate may eat all of the food he wishes as long as nothing is left on the tray. Each inmate is required to bathe and shave daily and is issued a complete set of
clean clothing each day.
ious trades. Alcoholics

He

is

privileged to attend classes in vara

Anonymous conducts two meetings

is

week

and
are

religious services are also held at the Center.

shown and a

library

available.

Motion pictures Much of the work at the

center consists of farming and the various crops reduce food costs

ready for release he visits the he is supplied with free clothing from a stockpile of used garments donated primarily by pohce oflBcers. While post release observation has not been engaged in, we believe that progress is being made. Among the large number of Christmas cards received by the Center StaflF were many from former inmates who stated they were still "on
to the taxpayer.

When
if

the inmate

is

barber shop and,

his clothes are inadequate,

the

wagon" although more than

a year

had passed

since their re-

lease.

In addition to the completion of these two big projects, the capital-improvement requirements of the police department for the next ten years have been established. The site has been acquired
police stations

and building plans are being prepared for one of the four new needed in the San Fernando Valley. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we are policing the Valley, with an area of 212 square miles and more than 600,000 inhabitants, from one

police station.

The

resultant ineflBciencies are revealed in a recent

forces in that area

study which discloses that eighty per cent of the time of the field is consumed in answering calls, leaving only
total time for all other activities.
all

twenty per cent of the

Time

will not

permit a detailed discussion of

to

of the things
in this city.

that have

been done

improve the police service

has been accomplished through reorganization and the improvement of procedures. We have studied and adopted modern
business techniques where such measures would apply.
force. Additional training

Much

The

utili-

zation of one-man cars has increased the effectiveness of the

factors in bringing about increased eflBciency.

field

and experience have been important

The

substitution

of clerical or technical personnel for police oflBcers on non-field

The Rehabilitation Center

221

assignments wherever feasible has increased the level of service. As of June 3, 1953, approval by a competent psychiatrist is a condition precedent to

employment

as a police officer.

Disciphne has

high level and unethical conduct has been swiftly dealt with. Many authorities in the field of law enforcement have praised the Los Angeles Police Department as the best in the nation. As it is human nature to take accomplishment for

been maintained

at a

granted,

believe

it is

time to review some of the problems of the

present and immediate past.

Since August
1,

1950, the population of Los Angeles City has

increased by more than one quarter of a million persons and this figure may be even greater when the current census is complete.

quarter of a million additional automobiles have been registo the ten

tered in this citv since that date. Eighteen and a half miles of free-

way have been added

and one-half

in existence at that

time. In interpreting these data in terms of

must be remembered that the remainder of growing at an even more rapid rate and that many of the inhabitants around us move in, out of, and through the city proper. In the face of this growth in the problem, it is imperative that you realize that there are twenty fewer policemen in Los Angeles than there were on June 15, 1950. While it is true that 313 clerical and technical personnel have been added since that time to replace police officers on inside duty and to somewhat compensate for the increased work load, other factors have occurred that more than oflFset this gain in manpower. When the Rehabilitation Center was opened in March, 1954, it was necessary to transfer sixty-two police officers from field operations to the Center. Efi^ective July 10, 1955, pohce officers were given parity with other city employees in the matter of days oflF and vacations. While this action was most appropriate it will require 326 additional police officers to make up for the loss in the size of the eflFective force on duty; this will result in an annual deficit of 57,664 man-days of service so far as the present police complement is concerned. Another important factor is reflected in a report compiled by Griffenhagen and Associates entitled "A Method of Determining Annual Adjustments in Fire and Police Salaries" dated February

pohce problems, it the area has been

222

Parker to the Citizens

15, 1956. The report contains the results of a survey recommended by the Mayor and ordered by the City Council. After taking into consideration all of the perquisites including time off and pensions, the report concludes that Los Angeles policemen have been underpaid since 1946. Meanwhile, America has been losing the war against crime. According to FBI statistics, during the period from 1950 through 1954, crime increased at four times the rate

of the population increase.

In spite of
tion increased

all

of these adverse conditions, the record of your

is

Los Angeles Police

by 15 per cent during 1954 over

one of accomplishment. Individual produc1953, even though

authorities in the field of business administration stated a

two

per cent increase was the limit to be expected. An increase was also experienced during 1955 reflecting the highest individual ac-

complishment in the department's histoiy. The local crime rate began to descend when a trend was established about May of 1953. As this trend continued into 1955, a fifteen per cent decrease in major felony offenses was experienced during the first quarter of that year compared with the same period of 1954. Crime was going down, arrests were up, and the criminal aniiy was gradually being contained. Then somebody changed the rules! The State Supreme Court, on April 27, 1955, for the first time in Cahfornia's history, invoked the exclusionary rule upon the courts of this state. Crime then started an upward climb.

Chapter Eleven

PARKER TO HIS FORCE

Miscellaneous Chiefs Messages from the 1952 Annual Report and The Beat

Chiefs Messages
Annual Report 1952

WHEN
when
is

a city department has

difficult to

made

excellent progress

it is

sometimes

report objectively without appear-

ing to seek laudation. Fortunately, this does not necessarily apply

a report concerns a pohce department. Law enforcement dependent upon the cooperation of the individual citizen, that credit for pohce progress must go primarily to the citizen. Acting through his elected representatives, the citizen patterns the organization, sets its standards, passes on its eflFectiveness,
so

and pays

its cost.

Largely by his political ethics, the citizen de-

termines the ethics of the police.

ciples of administration

By

his recognition of the prinsets

tions

working condiand which can exist order in the community is a partnership of a type only in a working democracy. Our city is no exception to this rule. Los Angeles has, and will

and management, he

which

attract the quality of personnel desired. Safety

always have, the quahty of police service

It

it

collectively desires.

can be no worse. poHce progress here is the fact that the department has remained consistently free from partisan political control. The City Administration has been alert to the terrible danger a "captive" police department would represent to the people of our city. The Los Angeles police officer has been can be no better than
that,

and

it

The

greatest single factor in

free to

do

his job

with

full impartiality,

owing

responsibility only

to the people, the courts,

and duly constituted police authority. make it obvious that most Los Angeles citizens have accepted their responsibilities toward law enforcement. Conditions favorable to police progress have been created, and the result is depicted on the following pages. It would be difficult to read this account without the thought

The

facts in this report will

225

226

Parker to His Force

occurring that a
process of birth.
or matures to
fill

new and honorable

Whether
it

profession

may be

in the

emerges

still-born, dies in infancy,

a vital social need, will depend upon the environ-

ment

it

continues to find.

The Beat, February, 1952

I

am
I

not

bound

to win,

bound
have.

to succeed,

but

but I am bound to be true. I am not am bound to live up to what light I

him while he
goes wrong.

must stand with anybody who stands right; stand with stands right, and part company with him when he

Abraham Lincoln
As we celebrate Lincoln's birthday on February but be impressed by the speeches and writings
12,

we

cannot

of the Great

Emancipator. Though written many years ago, they are as modern as tomorrow, and could well be heeded today.

members of our profession is the quoThe philosophy expressed herein, honored by its strict observance, carried Lincoln through trials which few men in history have been called upon to face. Lincoln's words expressed a true concept of loyalty. They do
Particularly pertinent to
tation above.

not imply a blind, unreasoning devotion to an individual; rather

a rational adherence to basic ideological principles.

On

occasion, each officer meets situations

which rapidly de-

velop into challenging tests of character and moral sense.

consolation

Some

gained through the realization that others have met the same test successfully through strict adherence to Lincoln's policy, as expressed in these forceful words.

may be

The

Beat, July-August, 1952

It is a fact that, of the modest satisfactions derived from pohce work, comradeship ranks near the top. Every pohceman has felt

the strength of the invisible ties of fraternahsm which have their

inception in

common

trust.

Practiced within the bounds of honor

and duty,

it is

a respected attribute.
is

Unfortunately, fraternahsm

not regarded as a two-way ob-

Chief's Messages
ligation

227

by

all

persons. There have always been policemen

who

are ready

to risk the security of their fellows for their

first

own

selfish

to demand loyalty in others, they fail to thought or deed. They do not understand that this virtue imposes obligations upon themselves as well as upon others. Instead, they look upon it as a cloak to be held by brother

ends. Always the

exercise
it

in either

oflBcers so as to

hide their

own
all

selfish acts.

They seek constantly

it

to exaggerate the

meaning

of fraternalism until

becomes an

all-

powerful force, overriding

duty.

considerations of truth, honor, and

desire to "belong" blinds

There are

also oflBcers

whose

them

to the motives of those

who
to

use, rather than practice,

fratemahsm.

They allow themselves

tect one.

be swept into a distorted sense of loyalty

until they find themselves being disloyal to all in order to pro-

There are

fine oflBcers

bearing exemplary records as poHcemen,

the fallacy of exaggerated fraternalism.
It

on the Los Angeles Police Department, who do not recognize

is

tragic, indeed,

when

they

mistaken sense of loyalty to a few individuals blind them to the greater loyalty they owe to themselves, to the police department, and to society.
let a

In the final analysis, there

is

no loyalty

to individuals; there

can only be loyalty to the principles that individuals represent.

The Beat,

April, 1953
is

major problem of the Chief of a large pohce department

the impossibility of frequent personal contacts with

all oflBcers. It

becomes particularly
consistently

distressing when he knows that they are performing highly satisfactory poHce work. Like every other police oflBcer, a Chief is subject to the human limitations of time, mental fatigue, and physical endurance. The multitude of managerial tasks just does not allow an individual hands-

clasp

and spoken commendation

to

hundreds of

oflBcers

every

month.

Your splendid eflForts during the first quarter of 1953 should be recognized not only by this oflBce but by the public. Although national crime rates are steadily rising, we have fore-

228
stalled

Parker to His Force

comparable increases here. Those categories which react sound law enforcement are being forced downward. Arrests and convictions are up. We are winning the fight against the narcotic menace. Integrity and devotion to duty have reached a level which, I am certain, has never been approached by another
to

large department.

This monthly column

is

only a poor substitute for the personal

I

message I would prefer to give. Therefore, it an individual "well-done."

ask you to read into

The Beat, May, 1953

Valor
is

not restricted to field campaigns and

fleet battle lines.

The

giving of decorations for bravery has never been the exclu-

sive prerogative of the military services.

granted for service

nation.

Awards have long been against enemies both within and without a

an individual acts in defense of a small unit of from the honor that courage earns. It sometimes requires more fortitude to engage the enemy on a dark and lonely city street than when spurred by the mass courage of the battlefield. An award representing the gratitude of one city is as significant of honor and valor as weightier decorations from the governments of whole nations. These are some of the principles prompting the reissuance of the Los Angeles Police Department Medal of Valor. Its integrity and true worth will be protected. The recommendation of two departmental boards, the endorsement of the Chief of Police, and the approval of the Board of Police Commissioners are refact that

The

society does not detract

quired for

its

award.

Since the inception of the

Medal

of Valor in October, 1951,

have won the right to wear this symbol on their uniform. It is my earnest wish that they will exercise that privilege. Too often we believe the severe requirements of police duty are not recognized by others. However, the presentation of the awards during our Annual Police Show evoked a spontaneous display of gratitude by citizens present. The display of this award will continue to serve as a reminder to them and an inspiration
twenty
officers

to all of us.

CfflEp's

Messages

229

The Beat, June, 1953

on January 9 of this year, a report of Police Department progress was sent to the Police Commission, and
recall that

You may

subsequently widely distributed to community leaders.

tained an earnest hope that the election,

It

concon-

now past, would be

ducted on a high plane and that our experiment in professional law enforcement would not be destroyed for transient political advantage. In other words, we hoped no candidate would sabotage the community's first line of defense merely for the sake of a few
emotionally directed votes.
It was a plea that often has been made here as in other cities, but seldom heeded. However, as the campaign progressed, it became apparent that the integrity of the city's poHce officers

would be respected and

that politics

their reputation protected.

Although the
result,

candidates differed in political beUefs, they shared the opinion

and law enforcement should not mix. As a

will

the campaign stands as a unique experience in our city's pohtical

history.

Every home

be

safer,

every citizen more secure, and

city's police

every child better protected this year, because the

were saved the humiliating and degrading experience of service as the pohtical "whipping boy." These facts bode well for our professional future. It is axiomatic that to render maximum service to the community there must exist a culture which will permit the police to operate aside and apart from the political arena. The events of the past few weeks indicate that such a culture does exist and it is incumbent upon
all

of us to preserve

it.

The Beat, December, 1953

There are two ways to look at a painting. One is to stand off and see the canvas as a whole, grasping the over-all meaning of the work. The other way is to move in and inspect the detail, admiring the careful brush work which spells hours of painstaking labor. Police work can also be viewed from these two perspectives. Too often we look at our job only from the long perspective, forgetting that it is the result of countless small missions which have been quietly and ably performed. In this last Beat message

230

Parker to His Force

of the year let us look at the "brush

work" which has created a

highly satisfactory pohce picture in 1953.

A few weeks ago an unfortunate and unhappy man prepared to throw himself from the roof of a downtown office building. A PIC
officer

summoned by
life.

citizens took quick stock of the situation

and, at no small risk to himself, took the action necessary to the

saving of a

During the same month two officers in Hollywood courageously risked their reputations by refusing to gun-fight armed felons in a crowded building. By allowing themselves to be forced outside at gun-point, the capture was made by an alert detective team. Only a short time before this, a skilfully coordinated search of the metropolitan area resulted in the capture of an armed gunman who had murdered a San Francisco poHce
officer.

Again, in this instance, the capture was

made

in

such a

way
zine

as to avoid injury to innocent persons.

These are only three examples. The entire space of this magawould be necessary to sketch every case of skilled, courageous, and devoted police service. This close look at our job is necessary now and then to remind us of a fact: a man can be proud to wear the uniform of a Los Angeles pohce officer. Pride which has been earned is a healthy
thing.

We

will continue to deserve

it

in 1954.

The Beat, February, 1954

Should pohcemen have "social status"? Just
to

how

important

is it

that they be respected, perhaps occasionally honored, as vital

community peace and

I

security?
its

suspect that a change in society's attitude toward

solve

police

would
ment.

many

current problems. For example, take recruitof acceptable

We

are having a difficult time enlisting quahfied candidates

into our ranks.

Thousands

young men with no better

prospects in sight, steadfastly refuse to consider a career of pohce

work. They are not afraid of hard discipline; they are not physical cowards; they would like an opportunity to serve society. What's the problem? Simply that they consider a police oath would automatically deprive

them

of the respect

and

status they

want

in

life.

Public attitudes toward the police

may

also play a part in the

frightening rise in crime rates. Disrespect for law enforcers breeds

Chief's Messages

231
is

disrespect for law.

child

who

is

raised to laugh at "cops"

not

likely to grow up with any great respect for the laws which the police enforce. Decades of misrepresentation and abuse in media

of public entertainment

and education have

left their

mark. Crime

rates are rising steadily, increasing at a greater rate than the population. Society is finding that it cannot ridicule the enforcers

of law on one hand and build respect for law on the other. You cannot separate the two any more than you can separate educa-

tion

from teachers,
very possible

justice

from judges, and religion from the

ministry.

soon observe a very definite switch in the public attitude toward the pohce. In Los Angeles a new awareness of the elemental importance of law enforcement can aheady be felt. Whether this change of attitude matures into
It is

we

will

genuine dignity and prestige for our profession will depend largely upon whether we continue to deserve public respect.

The Beat, March, 1954

In past months the Los Angeles Police Department has been the subject of considerable pubhc interest. The local press has
carried

an unusual amount of commendatory news. Various aspects of our job have been featured in national magazines. Motion pictures and television studios, attracted by the popularity of authentic police portrayals, are adopting a documentary approach
to police stories.

This has gone beyond the point of mere publicity. It reflects a genuine change in pubhc attitude. Los Angeles is being looked to as the focal point of a new approach to law enforcement an ap-

proach emphasizing

and service. Who is responsible for this change, and who must be charged with maintaining the ground won? The answer is obvious the
ethics, science,

field police ofiicer.

His conduct provides citizens with firsthand imlasting. If

pressions, direct

and

he does a sloppy

job,

of secondary public relations activity can hide the fact. If a

no amount he does

good

job,

and the

basis of present favorable

news

is

the fact that

he has done a good job, then public cooperation follows. Prompt, efficient, and courteous police work in the field is the secret of any success we have had. Abiding public cooperation is

232

Parker to His Force

earned the hard

waymile by

of tedious investigation; both

mile of alert patrol, hour by hour backed up by a sincere devotion to

our profession of public service.

The Beat, August-September, 1954

We

have

just

passed the

fifth

anniversary of an institution

within this department which has become, in that short period, a

foundation stone to effective police service in

To be

effective, a

confidence, and to
a potent force.
justifiable

this community. law enforcement agency must achieve pubHc this end, the Internal Affairs Division has been

The

citizens of this

community know

that their

complaints against the police department will receive

are aware that police officers of this jurisdiction do and cannot, act vidth indifference to lawful process. They know that their department claims no immunity particularly when it is brought to their attention that the department has the integrity to obtain its own complaints against errant members. Also, to be effective, a law enforcement agency must preserve internal morale against the malicious attacks of a small segment
action.

They

not,

of the public.

To

this end, the Internal Affairs Division

has earned

the gratitude of

many

officers

whose names and reputations have

been the subject of unwarranted villification. The movement toward professionahzation of law enforcement is bringing pressures in the areas of standards and ethics; the Internal Affairs Division of this department is contributing much toward this progress and deserves the support and respect of citizen and officer alike it either deteriorates or improves itseff.

An

effective Internal Affairs Division

is

a step forward in the

direction of improvement.

INDEX
Crime, birth
of,

13

Adult Authority, 69 American Bar Association, 64

cost of, 54, 66,

distribution,

99 41-42

American Legion,

xi

Analysis section, 81, 88

prevention, 11-12, 16, 66, 101 rates, 42, 53-54, 58-60, 67, 119-121,
125, 208
repression, 102

Appraisal of results, 199

Attitudes,

70

Audit, 84

Criminal

justice,

58

B
Barrett,

D
128
Decentralization, 83

Edward

L.,

Beliefs influence crime, 13-15, 17,

24

Deputy Auxiliary

Police, 45,

216

Black, Justice, 122, 130

Deutsch, Albert, 79
Dictograph, 99 California penal code provisions, 103n
Definition,

Blackmail, 58
B'nai B'rith, x

Board of Rights, x Bowron, Mayor, 64

102n
files,

Discrimination, 161-164

Boy Scouts

of America, xi

Drunk-repeater

43

Brandstatter, A. F., 84

Drunks, 43, 86, 220

xi
of,

Budget planning, 89-92 Bureau of Administration,

Businessmen, responsibility

62

and

police,

190

Education, police, 41, 155 Enforcement burden, 6

Ethics, 13-15, 19, 21,

32 Exchange Clubs of America, 70

Exclusionary Rule, 113n, 114, 116, 118,
122,
128,

Cahan

case, 113-115, 118, 120-122, 124,

126-130 Capital-improvement planning, 92, 94 Census tracts, 83 Civilian employees, 45, 193 Civil liability of police, 115
Civil rights, 102,

130-131, 222

Faith, 17

Federal Bureau of Investigation, 40, 58,

105

118
Federal

Communism, 49-50, 65 Community relations, 147

details,

government

and

organized

crime, 63-64
Fiscal planning, 89-92

158-159
services,

Community

unwarranted, 191 Confidence, public in police, 25-26 Control by administrator, 193 Coordination in planning, 78, 93, 95 Corruption, 21-22

Flynn, John L., 122, 130 Forecasting Needs, 90

Forms

section, 81 Fratcrnalism in police service, 25, 226

Freeways, 77

233

234

Parker on Police

Man
Griifenhagen and Associates, 221

power, planning, 84
section,

problem, 193, 213, 215

H
Hamilton, Captain, 63

Manuals and orders Market theory,

in

80-87

in public relations, 139-145

Harvard University, x Hoover, Herbert, 53

Hoover,
J.

Edgar, 66, 68, 99

Integrity, police, 37,

207
xi,

Intelligence Division,

61, 198

law enforcement, 188-189 case, 113 of Valor, 228 Michael case, 117 Minority-group, pressures, 163 discrimination, 161-162 Modus operandi, 87

Mayer Medal

Intelligence requirements,

Internal Affairs Division,

Irvine case, 103, 105

212 232

Morality, 18-19, 21-22, 32, 59, 67, 128

of wiretapping. 111

Morrison, Harry, 174

J
Jail,

N
Narcotics,

191

209

Juvenile, division, 159-214

Neyhart, Dr.

Amos

E.,

178

gang squad, 214

narcotics officers,

Non-police tasks, 192

209

Northwestern University, x

welfare, 45, 192

O K
Olney, Warren
ix,

III, xi

Kefauver Crime Investigation, 41, 63-64

Kefauver, Estes, 53, 204 Korea, Republic of, ix

37,

One-man

patrol cars, 42-43,

220

Operational planning, 86-87

Organizational planning, 82

Organizational problem, 193

Organized crime, 51-60, 108 in legitimate enterprise, 56

Law,

criminal, 12-13, 189

of double effect. 111

of God, 15

Parades deplete manpower, 215

Parole system, 68-69
Patriotism, 31
Patrol,

on litter, 142-143 prima facie speed, 178 Le Doux case, 113 Legal section, 80 Leisure, 30 Leonard, V. A., 74
Liberty of individual, 20-21, 24, 29 Lincoln, Abraham, 118, 226
Linn, Clarence A., 126

conspicuous, 206
districts,

83
cars, 42-43, 205,

one-man

220

prostitution control by, 108

Penal system, 68-69

Long-term plarming, Loyalty, 8, 227

92,

94

M
McGee, Richard
Mafia, 55-57
A.,

58 Performance budgeting, 90-91 Personnel, police, 37-38 strength, 84

Penitentiaries,

transfers of,

195

66

Peterson, Virgil W., 57, 129

Pfiffner,

John M., 74

Index
Philosophy of service, 20-22
Physical planning, 92, 94

235
6, 27,

Recruitment,
41,

84-85, 153-154, 207

intelligence standards in, 212-213

xi,

Planning and Research Division,

73,

Rehabihtation Center, 43, 86-87, 209,

93
88
in,

218
Religion, 18-19, 32, 59, 67
78, 93,

analysis section, 81,

coordination

95

Reporting

districts,

83

forms section, 81
legal section, 80 manuals and orders
section,

80-87

Salaries, police,

221

objectives of, 80-81

Sales Executive Club, x

Planning, 197, 266

basic data for, 79
line
officers

Searches, 109, 114, 116

Selection of traffic officers, 182

participation in, 78

Simon

case,

116

Planning unit (see Planning and Research Division)

Police,

Smith, Harold D., 75

Social improvement, 16

academy, 7, 20, 154 building, xi, 219 danger of all-powerful, 100

definition, 20-21, 28,

Soviet Union, 15, 30, 49-50, 65

Specialization, 194

Spencer, Colonel William M., 174

StaflF,

36

193

basic function, 189

Strengtli, police,

42

planning {see Planning)

professionalization,
state,
xi,

Supervision of police, 28, 38

40-41,

189

Supervisors, selection of, 196

Surveillance, 99, 102

148
7-8
6, 21,

vi'elfare,

Police

and public,

25-26, 29, 45,

Tactical Planning, 87
Traffic, accidents,

69, 70, 135

communications between, 138, 145 Political control, 62, 204 Political support, 36 Population density, 40, 67, 92-94 Prejudice, 156-161 Press, 156, 213, 231 Probation system, 68
Professionalization of police service,
xi,

168

congestion, 170

education, 169
engineering, 171

planning, 88-89

problem, 168
Training, police, 7, 37-38, 41, 154, 207
traffic officers,

182

40-41, 189

Transfers of personnel, 195

Program budgeting, 90-91

Prohibitory liquor laws, 29

U
8,

Promotions, selection
Prostitution,

for,

196

United States Bureau of Narcotics, 40

108

Psychiatric tests for policemen, 154

W
Waite, John Barker, 125 Washington, George, 18

Public Information Office, 158 Public Relations, 135, 200

market theory, 139, 145 and traffic officer, 180

R
Reasonableness, test
of,

111

Record forms, 43-44

Welfare of society, 21, 23 Wilson, O. W., 74, 84, 204 Wiretapping, 64, 99, 102, 108 California penal code provisions, 103n Work loads, 75 measurement of, 96

This Book

PARKER ON POLICE
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PARKER ON POLICE
FRANK STRAIGHTFORWARD SIMPLE PRESENTATION
Showing the great qualities of Chief Parker's leadership implemented by patience diplomacy sound judgnaent. unusual moral courage and great physical and emotional
, , ,

strength

Following a brief biographical profile of William H. Parker, Chief of Police, Los Angeles, California, Chapter I is Parker's Radio Address Following His Appointment as Chief of Police. Then:

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PHILOSOPHY TO BUSINESSMEN

ON CRIME ON POLICE PLANNING ON LEGAL RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON

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