"Stupid as a Policeman"

The National Crime Commission, to which national figures volunteer their energy, intelligence and time--Frank Orren Lowden as chairman of a subcommittee on pardons, penal laws and institutional correction; Newton Diehl Baker as chairman of a committee on rehabilitating criminals and acting chairman of the whole; Franklin Delano Roosevelt as chairman of a committee on legal education; F. Trubee Davison as executive committeeman --last week published a report by Mr. Lowden's committee. Written by Commissioner Louis Newton Robinson, experienced professor of economics and criminology, this report set forth, as prime cause of crime's prevalence in the U. S., "the lack of average intelligence in the police force, particularly in the supervisory branches."

The unfortunate police force of Cleveland, Ohio, was singled out as a prime example. An Army Intelligence test given in Cleveland had revealed:

3% of the patrolmen possessed Class A mentality (as against 9% of the privates in the U. S. Army).

Not a single detective possessed Class A mentality.

4% of the detectives were Class B.

25% of the detectives were Class C.

25% of the detectives were of "markedly inferior mentality."

33% of the patrolmen had "average intelligence."

25% of the patrolmen were morons.*

Cleveland came off better in a table of percentages of arrests made in murder and manslaughter cases:

Cleveland . . . . . . . . . . . 83%

England . . . . . . . . . . . . 82%

Baltimore . . . . . . . . . . . 68%

Kansas City . . . . . . . . . 36%

St. Louis . . . . . . . . . . . . 16%

The report said: "The percentages . . . are so low that one no longer wonders why so many individuals turn to crime. It would appear to be about the safest business in which one could engage.

"Robbery in Buffalo, for example, must be a particularly lucrative calling. As arrests are made in only 3% of the cases, the number who are finally convicted is necessarily so small that the luckless individual who is occasionally caught and convicted must attribute his misfortune to an act of God, as he would in case of disastrous storm, shipwreck or earthquake."

Police Chief Gerk of Baltimore protested that such figures "mean nothing." He said: "A couple of weeks ago we arrested a man who admitted committing 100 burglaries. His pal admitted 50. Two warrants were issued against each. Therefore, on the record, it would appear that 98 burglaries were unsolved in the case of the first man and 48 in the case of the second."

From police stupidity, the report proceeded to flay lax prosecutors, loose bail systems, unreliable juries. It recommended, as a model for other cities, Detroit's Consolidated Criminal Court.

* Safety Director Edwin D. Barry of Cleveland protested that these figures were seven years old; that Cleveland's police are now intelligent.