Salt Lake Telegram | 1925-10-28 | Page 8 | Fighting it Out

I J Fighting It Out CHICAGO'S J bad men have been ben given three days in which to clear dear out of the Windy city ity Failure to obey the edict of the police A l n means eans that th they y will be shot for the least least I provocation In In other words the Chicago t f police department has declared war on the afe criminal element Future developments J 4 contingent upon the manner in which the gunmen accept the challenge i The spirit of the h police ponce department is commendable I but it is doubtful if this fight v alone lone will vill produce any general benefits benefits If i the gangsters determine to fight it out with p J v the police the criminal ranks may lose a few f st stalwart members On the other hand the police department may contribute to the death toll And while the battle progresses some misguided souls will vill launch a campaign of tears subjecting the police department to another another another an an- other kind of criticism In the event that the gangsters take the warning at its face value and leave Chicago the problem will be far from solved Instead it will be transferred to some other city which is no solution at all T The e more you analyze the Chicago situation the more you are bound to conclude that the police department is undertaking to perform the neglected functions functions unc- unc L o of the courts and nd prisons Some of our tL people are free frae in their condemnation of crime and nd until they are caught Then they feel sorry for them and do do o everything possible to forestall punishment It sometimes sometimes sometimes some some- times happens that those who are are first to condemn the police for crime waves and andI I criminal activities are also the first to rush to the aid of f the criminal The modern crook knows that he has better better better bet bet- ter than an even chance with the law He knows that the percentage that pays the death penalty is small and he is willing t to take the chance Th The public and th the courts are to blame for this this attitude for the simple reason that they tip over backwards in the endeavor to give ive every worthless whelp a square deal Until the courts and the public get squarely behind the of the country insisting insisting- that the full fun penalties of the law be exacted for criminal activities occasional drives by the police officials are not going to tp p d do much to reduce crime