OCR Text |
Show H Cruelty to Prisoners m The Horald-Ropublican seems to bo greatly m perturbed becauso tho police officers of Salt Lake m City havo been laying firm hands on criminals M t when engaged in placing them under arrest. H Recently, in tho early hours of morning, an B alarm was sent in to police headquarters which m convoyed tho information to the police that a bur- m glar had been seen to enter tho basement of a B , Without hesitation, true to his duty to protect B lifo'and property, an ofllcor jumped from the pa- m trol wagon and entered tho basement. Immediate- M ly ho camo faco to faco with tho outlaw who, as !was subsequently shown, attempted to kill tho officer. In ordor to protect himsolf and capture tho follow who wua engaged in a mission of steal- m ing, tho ofllcor was compelled to knock the fellow M down with his rovolver. M As soon ns possiblo, tho Herald-Republican . camo out with a most vicious attack on tho police l department for the cruel methods used in making r " "" ahmtsnntTTiirthobovercaso aa an oxample, .and m quoting tho atatomont of the burglar that ho had B been cruelly beaten. 1 Of courao, thero was nothing in tho claiirs of tho paper, but to oblige it, tho polico department H hold an investigation, and tho ovidenco submitted H provod conclusively that tho officer would havo B boon justified in using much harsher means than B ho did employ in making the arrest. JH All of which shows tho inconsistency of somo H nowspapors as woll as porsons. Speaking frankly, B wo doubt if there is ono instanco in fivo thousand H arrests whoro an ofllcer usos moro forco than is B necessary. Iq attempting to make an arrest B whoro tho ofTonso is a felony, an ofllcor takes his H'v lifo in his hands. Ordinary citizens becomo H frightened out of thoir wits if a hold-up and a B burglar or an all-round bad man breaks looso in H ' their vicinity, and frantically call for an ofllcor to Bt come to thoir relief. Bi Howover, onco tho ofllcer has tho oftondor B" safoly under lock and koy, somo ono almost invar- B iably is ready to charge tho officer with being B cruel towards the prisoner. H Wo can fancy an ofllcor, searching for a hold- H up, an assassin, a thiof, or a murderer, approach- H; ing snch an ono with polite carriage and pleasant H, smilo. Wo can imagine how effective would bo K ouch words as, "won't you please come with mo? B You aro violating tho law and you ought to come H - with mo and be locked up." H Such gontlo methods, or anything approach- H - ing sympathy toward a man who is knowingly H breaking tho law would bo destructive of law and H order. Thoro may bo instances whoro prisoners H have boon more roughly handled than was neces- B sary, but where ono prisoner is handled too so- U vorely. a thousand aro handled moro gently than m thoir crimes and cruel dispositions would morit. |