| Show TIlE POLICE FORCE It Is probably true that more policemen might be employed to good advantage In this city The town spreads over a good deal of territory and away from the cen tral district the houses are not contiguous A hundred more officers could bo advantageously advan-tageously posted about tho city and that number in addition to the present force might be employed to goon purpose But the proposition is out of the question Salt Lake cannot afford to employ more policemen police-men Already tho taxes are so heavy that they arc burdensome and all property owners are groaning under the bond which has been put upon them Today the current expenses of the corporation are in excess of the revenue aid within a year the incomes will have to bo increased In ordjtr to make both ends meet Interest on the growing public debt must be inet and this should be done without a resort to bcrrowing To I add to the expense under circumstances would be almost criminal Nor is li absolutely necessary that the police itirco should be increased If the present constabulary shall be intelligently j managed it can afford the protection demanded de-manded and make the city uncomfortably warm for the thugs who infest the place i One trouble has been that the police have been employed largely for show purposes Thu officers are permitted > no sort of latitude lati-tude in their actions the attempt on the part of tho authorities having been to maintain in this overgrown over-grown village so to speak thet same system which prevails in a populous city having hundreds of patrolmen Patrol nipu must be selected who can be trusted with a little discretion to be employed in vase of emergency Then again the officers must bo made to understand that they are I expected to try to enforce a respect for ttio I law It is the common talk that the police are not expected to make arrests except for petty offenses within their view without first getting instructions from headquar ters and some of the patrolmen are cred ited with saying that if they manifest II I disposition to interfere with the more serious seri-ous infractions of the law aa gambling prostitution Sunday liquorselling and soon Ion I-on they are changed to beats where they will not come in contact with those things With a good man at the head of tho police one who understands his business and is not handicapped by political pulls nnd with subordinates of intelligence who can be trusted a force of tho present number can successfully police the city providing much better protection than twice the force could Rivo demoralized as the department has been for the past year |
