THE POLICE OF ST. PAUL: 1896

There are three watches in each twenty-four hours. The day patrol comprising one-third of the force, goes on duty at 7 o'clock a.m., remaining until 6 p.m. During the noon hour the patrolmen of this watch alternate with each other in going to dinner, those remaining on duty extending their beats so as to cover those of the absentees adjoining their own. The night patrol is divided into two watches, requiring two-thirds of the force, or all except the day patrol. The first extends from 6 o'clock p.m. until 4 a.m., and the second from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. There is thus not a moment in the twenty-four hours when a competent force is not on active duty. The reason for the numerical excess in favor of the night watch in the division of the force will be readily understood. The dark hours are the hours of depredation and crime. When the night falls, the thieves, burglars and "holdup" men creep out of the obscurity in which they have hidden while the sun shone and the city was awake and on its guard. They will prowl about the darker streets and alleys, slink along under the shadow of dead walls and hidden recesses, emerge now and then in the hope of a clear field, and slink back again as their quick glance catches the glitter of the patrolman's star and their apprehensive ears feel the sound of his measured tread. It is much that these habitués of the shrouded hours be caught in the attempt to commit crime, or detected and arrested, having committed it; but it is more that they be prevented from essaying it at all. The police records will show the first, but the last has o record. How many contemplated attacks on belated citizens, and burglarious entries of their homes are stricken into inaction by the presence of the vigilant night police, none can know or comprehend. Some guess may be made at it from the fact that the value of property stolen annually in St. Paul does not reach $15,000, and of that taken, two-thirds is subsequently recovered by the detective police.

That the members of a department bearing such a charge as falls to the lot of the police force of a large city should not be carelessly chosen or hastily appointed is very evident, and the general excellence of the St. Paul police indicates that such mistakes are not frequently made here, and when made, speedily corrected. In the first place certain prerequisites to appointment are laid down in the municipal code. Applicants are required to be citizens of the United States, residents of St. Paul for at least two years preceding appointment, under the age of thirty-five years, of sound health and physique (the [standard] of admission into the United States army as, as established by examination, governing in this particular), and able to read and write the English language. The regulations of the department amplify these requirements by adding that applicants must never have been convicted of crime and suggestion is also made in the same connection, that selections will be made with a view to fitness for the position and usefulness to the service; that no one can expect to attain or hold such position unless his conduct be such as to secure the good will of the respectable portion of the community, and so command respect from the unfortunate and vicious; unquestionable energy and courage, temperate and industrious habits, peaceable and courteous manners, decorum and cleanliness of person and dress, respect for superiors, promptness, decision and zeal for the service are also added. These are not only the requirements but the characteristics of the present members of the St. Paul police force. Appointments and promotions are made by the mayor by and with the advice and consent of the city council, and removals for cause in the like manner.

One of the most important branches of the service is the police patrol telegraph, in charge of Supt. Macauley. There are about ninety miles of wire in the system, with eighty-four boxes, fifty-one with telephones, distributed throughout the city. Every man on beat is required to report from these boxes each hour, night and day. Over these wires are also sent calls for the patrol wagon, for extra help, reports of fires, etc. During the past year there were received at the several stations through the police telephone 284,630 messages, and through the city telephone 30,000.

Another most important branch of the police service is the detection of fires and the sounding of the alarm. It in no wise detracts from the efficiency of our fire department to say that it is chiefly due to the promptness with which the alarm is sent in, and this is done almost entirely by the police. A slight relaxation of watchfulness or want of promptness on the part of the patrolman would be the occasion of frequent and disastrous conflagrations. How few fires there are of not in St. Paul in the course of the year has been the subject of much favorable comment, not only on the part of citizens, but of outside insurance companies and others interested. In view of what has been just said to whom the chief credit for this immunity is to be ascribed.

As the night patrolman walks his beat he tries the store doors in his passage to see if they are locked, and in the course of a year an aggregate of over 2,000 open doors will be reported. Those that are found unlocked are secured by the patrolman, and the sleeping proprietor finds out next morning why it is his wares are still intact and unstolen. This important and responsible work, which in other cities is done by special detail, is one of the manifest duties of the St. Paul patrolman. It would require more space than may be accorded to this article to give even an outline of the multifarious obligations which the police officer assumes when he dons his uniform and puts on his star. The prevention and detection of crime and the apprehension of the criminal are but part of what he has to do. He is the street directory to strangers seeking their unknown destinations; the rescuer of strayed children and the reporter and helper in cases of accident; he is to note and report where contagious disease has fastened itself, and is thus the conserver of the public health; he marks the advent of death in his precinct and where it is sudden and suspicious is awake to detect possible criminality; his eyes are on the pickpocket in the crowd and follow the movements of suspected criminals; obstructions in streets and on sidewalks, defective portions of highways, dangerous buildings, the existence of nuisances, the street lighting service and fifty other things are his simultaneous concern. And when it is recalled that all this is done by him and done well, it prompts confused wonder at his comprehensive capacity for observation and execution.

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