Property of FBI Acade I ~ . ~ORCEMENT rBl BULLETIN NOVEMBER 1981. VOLUME 50. NUMBER 11 Contents Police History 1 Preserving Police History By George F. Maher White-collar 8 Ponzi Schemes and Laundering­How Illicit Funds are L Crime Acquired and Concealed By Vincent P. Doherty and Monte E. Smith Crime Statistics 12 1980 Crime Statistics Point of View 16 The Police: From Slaying Dragons to Rescuing Cats By Edwin J. Delattre Cooperation 20 Joint FBI/NYPD Task Forces: A Study in Cooperation By Kenneth P. Walton and Patrick J_ Murphy The Legal Digest 24 The Motor Vehicle Exception to the Search Warrant Requirement (Part I) By John C_ Hall 32 Wanted By The FBI THE COVER: Federal Bureau of Investigation Published by the Office of Congressional and United States Department of Justice Public Affairs A restored 1925 Har· Roger S. Young ley DaVidson IS driv- Washington, D.C. 20535 Assistant Director en by an officer WIlliam H_ Webster, Director Editor-Thomas J. Deakin dressed In a uniform Assistant Editor-Kathryn E. Sulewski of that era. See arti- The Attorney General has determined that the publication Art Director-Kevin J. Mulholland cle on preserving the of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of the Writer/Editor-Karen McCarron history of a police public business required by law of the Department of Production Manager-Jeffrey L. Summers department begin- Justice. Use of funds for printing this periodical has been ning on p. 1. approved by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget through December 28. 1983. ISSN 0014­5688 USPS 383­310 Preserving Police History By GEORGE F. MAHER Chief of Headquarters Nassau County Po/ice Department Mineo/a, N. Y. ., When consideration is being given Traditionally, government agen• to preserve the history of an organiza• cies are in need of additional space, so tion, a situation arises that seems to be "The recollections and that areas to be set aside for safe common with all agencies-the deci• experiences of the storage or displays are at a premium. sion is made to collect and preserve all pioneering members of The area reserved for displays should .. old records and equipment after a gen• the department are a be attractive and accessible to the eral housecleaning and disposal of ir• public. replaceable items. This example of bad very important part of While these are concerns which timing usually causes a belated scram• an agency's history." need to be addressed, they should not ble to locate and retain anything that deter any organization from preserving looks old, resulting in an accumulation its history. Once the decision has been of items of questionable value. There are also the problems of made and the support of the organiza• The recollections and experiences management support of such an un• tion's top administration obtained, the of the pioneering members of the de• dertaking and the space needed for next step would be to form a volunteer partment are a very important part of storage and display. Without manage• group-a historical society-within the an agency's history. Once lost, these ment support, any attempt to preserve organization which has as its sole pur• can never be replaced. Ideally, an or• an organization's history would be in• pose the preservation of the depart• ganization should decide to preserve complete. A top-level decision is nec• ment's history. The society should be its history while there are still some essary to set aside the needed space given access to whatever records, original members available to interpret and assign the manpower to receive, photographs, weapons, equipment, or it. There is nothing more frustrating to catalog, and prepare and maintain dis• other memorabilia necessary to do the a historian than to have a photo depict• plays. job. ing an important event in the growth of the organization and have no way of identifying the person in the picture. Also, equipment is sometimes found that no one knows how or if it was used, unless an "oldtimer" is located to describe its function. Nassau County Police Department motorcycle squad with Charles A. Lmdbergh upon his return to Roosevelt Field after his Pafls flight-June 1921. {Pmt from a glass plate negative.} ., This camera, still fulty operationa!, was used to take many of the glass plate negatives in the earty days of the department. 'r, 2 / FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin The Nassau County, N.Y., Police clippings, etc., were made available to Department was established in . April the historical society. However, the ac• 1925, with the appointment of 55 mem• cumulation of these items created a bers. When the department's historical serious inventory problem. To resolve society was formed more than 50 this problem, the department's data years later, in June 1979, a few of the processing unit established a computer original 55 officers were available for program to aid in the indexing and to consultation. One of the first steps tak• establish the identity of each item, its en by the society was to contact these purpose and date, and where it is filed and other retired members, soliciting or displayed. Without an effective in• photos, insignia, equipment, and other dexing system, the research necessary memorabilia. As word spread among for a pictorial account of the depart• the active and retired members of the ment's history, planned for future publi• intention to set up a police museum, cation, would be almost impossible. many items of historical and intrinsic A monthly column outlining the value surfaced. A few "false starts" to events in the department's history and establish a police museum had been describing the displays and needs of made in previous years, but no pro• the museum was prepared, which re• gram had been adopted. As a result, sulted in an increased interest by both some "museum conscious" members active and retired members. The de• of the department stashed many irre• partment's historical society joined oth• placeable records and pieces of equip• er county and private historical ment in their own closets, basements, societies for the exchange of informa• and attics. When the commissioner of tion and items of mutual interest. Con• police approved the formation of the tact with the curators of other historical society and allotted the museums helped to advance our capa• space needed for a museum, these bility to produce effective, accurate, stored items were donated to the soci• and attractive displays. Of extreme im• ety to be incorporated into the present portance was the ordinance passed by display. the county board of supervisors to al• Thousands of photographic nega• low the police ~istorical society to ac• tives, many of them glass plates dating cept donations of memorabilia valued back to the early 1920's, were inspect• up to $1,000 without soliciting board ed for historical interest and value. approval each time an item was of• These, together with obsolete equip• fered. ment, uniforms, general orders, blot• ters, annual reports, newspaper Interior views of the Nassau County Police Department Museum. November 1981 / 3 A restored 1941 Plymouth highway patrol radio car with an operator in a 1941 uniform. An example of public and depart• early 1920's, are presently on display Department. Citizens with memorabilia ment support of the establishment of a with accompanying photographs of the from a relative's early days in the New police museum was the donation and original equipment. York City Police Department were re• restoration of an inoperative, some• The department's line organiza• ferred to that department's museum. what dilapidated, 1925 Harley David• tions, the Superior Officer's Associ• Numerous offers of extensive shoulder son. An enthusiastic group of ation, the Detective's Association, and patch and shield collections, foreign . volunteers also located a 1925 sidecar the Patrolmen's Benevolent Associ• uniforms, and insignia also had to be and labored over the motorcycle until it ation, each donated a stained glass refused to purify the collection, avoid-' was fully operational. When work of window in the museum. These win• ing the danger of accumulating many f this restoration spread, another group dows, depicting the logo of the organi• nonrelated items in limited space. of volunteers obtained and restored a zation, not only enhance the museum The museum was officially dedi• replica of one of the department's display but also bring together the en• cated on May 15, 1980. Attending the 1941 Plymouth patrol cars. These two tire force membership behind the mu• ceremony were the last three surviving~ units generate considerable public in• seum effort. members of the original 55 members terest when used in the many parades The establishment of a police mu• who were sworn in as police officers and public ceremonies in which the seum , especially when it receives me• on April 16, 1925. Since the dedication, department participates. dia coverage, can result in an thousands of people have visited the Members of the historical society overabundance of items donated by an museum. It is a highlight of the tours of also approached a local model club to interested public. Some of the prob• police headquarters conducted daily by. manufacture scale models of both an• lems that arose were caused by our the public information officer. Most im• tique and modern police vehicles, close proximity to New York City. Many portantly, however, the Nassau County boats, and aircraft for museum display. of the items offered, although of his• Police Museum serves as the reposi• The results of their efforts, some de• torical value, did not represent the his• tory for the department's 55-year histo-'r picting equipment dating back to the tory of the Nassau County Police ry and as a tribute to its dedicated men and women.