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BOSTOISI PUBLIC i tlBRARY [PUBLIC DOCUMENT - NO. 49.] 5ri)e Commontoealtf) of JWafisiacfjugetts; THIRTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Police Commissioner FOR THE CITY OF BOSTON FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1941 Printed by Order of the Police Commissioner 7^ rii *- 1 .J C , A. CONTENTS. Page Letter to Governor 7 Introductory 7 Traffic 9 Personnel 9 Defense preparations 9 Juvenile welfare . 12 The Department 15 Police force 15 Signal service 15 Employees of the Department 15 Recapitulation 15 Distribution and changes 16 Police officers injured while on duty 16 Work of the Department 16 Arrests 16 Drunkenness 17 Nativity of persons arrested 17 Uniform crime record reporting 20 Receipts 22 Expenditures 22 Personnel 22 Walter Scott Medal for Valor 23 Department Medals of Honor 23 Time lost by officers on account of injuries 24 Punishments imposed for violation of rules and regulations . 24 Organization 24 Bureau of Criminal Investigation 27 Automobile division 27 Used car dealers' licenses granted 28 Lost and stolen property division 29 Homicide Squad 29 General .31 Biological chemist 31 Bureau of Records 34 Establishment, purpose and equipment 34 Multilith 35 Output of daily manifolds, etc. 36 Circulars drafted, containing photographs and fingerprints of fugitives 36 Photographic division 36 Record files of assignments 37 Identification division 37 Main index file 37 Criminal record file .38 4 CONTENTS. Page Bureau of Records —Concluded: Cabinets of segregated photographs of criminals arrested . 38 Exhibiting photographs of criminals in main and segregated files ' 38 Members of Bureau visited scenes of homicides, burglaries, etc. 39 Ultra-violet lamp 39 Fluoroscope and White drill 39 Pantoscopic camera 40 Developing and printing room 40 Filing system of photographs and fingerprints of unidentified dead 41 Single fingerprint files 41 Fingerprint system practically eliminating Bertillon system . 41 Civilian fingerprint file 42 Displacement of Conley-Flak system of fingerpi'int classification, 42 Criminal identification 43 Miscellaneous department photography 44 Requests for information from police journals .... 44 Services of a draftsman from the personnel 44 Criminal records for the Department furnished by the Bureau, 45 Identification made through fingerprints 45 Missing persons 46 Warrant file 48 Summons file 49 TraflSc . : 51 Activities 51 Traffic conditions 55 Tagging 56 Extension of parking time 56 Safety educational automobile 58 Bureau of Operations 62 Creation 62 Duties 62 Accomplishments 62 Ballistics Unit 64 Formation and duties 64 Accomplishments 64 Plant and equipment 67 Special events 69 Miscellaneous business 77 City Prison .78 House of Detention 79 Adjustment of claims 79 Police signal box service 80 Signal boxes 80 Miscellaneous work 80 Communications system 81 Harbor service 82 Patrol service 83 Horses 83 CONTENTS. 5 Page Vehicle service 84 Cost of running automobiles 84 Combination ambulances 84 List of vehicles used by the Department 86 Hackney Carriages 87 Limitation of hackney carriage licenses 88 Abolishing special and public hackney carriage stands . 89 Establishing public taxicab stands 89 Hackney carriage licenses granted 90 ' Private hackney stands 90 Sight-seeing automobiles 90 Issuing of tags for hackney carriage violations . .91 Appeal Board 91 Supervisory force 92 Wagon Licenses 92 Listing Work in Boston 94 Listing expenses 95 Number of policemen employed in listing 95 Police work on jury lists 95 Special police 96 Musicians' Licenses 97 Itinerant 97 Collective 97 Carrying dangerous weapons . 98 Public lodging liouses 98 Miscellaneous licenses 99 Pensions and benefits 99 Financial 100 Statistical Tables 101 Personnel, salary scale and distribution of the police force, signal service and employees 102 Changes in authorized and actual strength of police department, 104 List of police officers in active service who died .... 105 List of officers retired 106 Officers promoted 107 Number of men in active service 108 Men on the police force and year born 109 Number of days' absence from duty by reason of sickness . 1 10 Complaints against officers Ill Number of arrests by police divisions 113 Arrests and offenses 114 Age and sex of persons arrested 134 Comparative statement of police criminal work .... 135 Licenses of all classes issued 136 Dog licenses 138 Wagon licenses 138 Financial statement 139 Payments on account of signal service 141 Accidents 142 Male and female residents listed 144 W^^t Contmontuealtf) of idasgacfiusettsi. REPORT. Headquarters of the Police Department, Office of the Police Commissioner, 154 Berkeley Street, Boston, December 15, 1941. To His Excellency Leverett Saltonstall, Governor. Your Excellency,— As Police Commissioner for the City of Boston, I have the honor to present, in comphance with provisions of Chapter 291, Acts of 1906, as amended, my sixth Annual Report of work of the Police Department. Introductory. It is reassuring to note that Boston has continued to main- tain its enviable position among the larger cities of the v nation in supervision and decrease of major crimes. In great measure this is due to respect for authority manifested by citizens of Boston, intelligent guidance and efficient supervision of the Police Department by its superior officers, and vigilance of members of the force. The Department has and will continue to co-operate with all law enforcement agencies in every way possible. On passage of the Selective Training Service Act of 1940, this Department was requested by the Office of the United States Attorney to assist in investigation of prisoners who failed to have in their possession a registration card. A great number of such cases were reported to the Office of the United States Attorney. The local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation requested co-operation of this Department in investigation of aliens and other individuals suspected of subversive activities A large number of such investigations were made by this Department, many of which entailed submission of reports in great detail. Work performed by the Department for the Office of the United States Attorney, as well as the local office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been highly commended by officials of these offices. 8 POLICE COMMISSIONER. [Jan. In spite of the shortage of officers, the emergency battaUon of the Department was reorganized and increased in personnel to the number of 500. This increase was made necessary to cope with any exigency that might arise as result of present war conditions, as well as hurricanes, floods or other catas- trophes that might occur. The Department has been operating during the past year with a complement of 1,982 patrolmen, or 167 less than the maximum strength of February, 1930. During the past ten years police work has greatly increased through many extra demands made upon the Department. In these unusual times the police force is called on to perform many additional duties, not ordinarily required. It is obvious that these additional demands make it necessary for members of the force to perform many extra hours of duty without extra compensation or time off. It is to the credit of the Department that its members have cheerfully and unselfishly performed these duties with no thought of reward. The nature of police work itself requires physical fitness of the highest order, as well as being mentally alert, and continuation of extra hours of duty could only lead in the end to impairment of the physical and mental efficiency that should at all times be present in an alert police force. For this reason, I have strongly urged upon His Honor the Mayor that the number of patrolmen be restored to the maxi- mum quota of 2,149. A sustained campaign to suppress distribution and sale of indecent magazines and literature that tended to corrupt the morals of youth was successfully prosecuted this year. A board consisting of officials of the Department was formed to revise the Rules and Regulations of the Police Department. The last revision occurred in 1927. Since that time many of the rules and regulations were rendered obsolete by changes made necessary in recent years. The Rules and Regulations, completely revised and brought to date by this board, were adopted on April 29, 1941. During the annual police listing of all residents twenty years of age and over, performed by members of this De- partment, calendars were presented at each household and building, indicating the manner of contacting the police in an emergency. The reverse side of the calendar contained pro- cedure to be followed in event of an air raid. 1942.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 49. 9 Traffic. Regulation of traffic conditions in Boston, especially in its downtown area, requires special assignment of 292 officers. In spite of several investigations by committees of traffic experts and various remedies tried at different times to alleviate the congestion and facilitate movement of traffic through the city streets, no permanent satisfactory solution has been reached as yet. It still continues to challenge the engineering skill of those interested in the free flow of vehicular traffic. One of the contributing factors of traffic congestion is the problem of parking. Prior to May 26, 1941, one-hour parking had been in effect in the downtown area. As a result of in- numerable complaints from merchants and citizens against the one-hour parking limit, I recommended to the Traffic Com- mission that the time limit be extended to two hours. There were two trial periods given to the extension of time and it was finally adopted, August 25, 1941, as a permanent policy. The fact that this plan has been most satisfactory to both merchants and citizens is indicated by the greatly decreased number of complaints received. A proposal to demolish the Atlantic avenue elevated struc- ture is a very progressive one. If this structure were de- molished it would tend to greatly relieve traffic congestion now existing due to the very great number of trucks, automo- biles and freight cars using Atlantic avenue at the present time.