Protected Crime | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 5, 1902

Protected Crime.

A prominent San Francisco daily declares in bold type: “It may seem a startling statement to make in cold print, but it is nevertheless true, that any policeman who did his duty in San Francisco would be removed from the force inside of a week. The duty of a police officer is plain. It is incumbent upon him to arrest all violators of the law whose crimes are committed within his personal knowledge. But no policeman in San Francisco dare enforce any law until he has received instructions from his superior officer to do so.” With reference to disorderly houses it says: “It is an indisputable fact that all the most notorious places of this character are under the direct protection of the Police Department.” This is also said to be true of gambling resorts. If men of influence or those having a political pull are likely to be affected, the criminal is not punished. This daily does not condemn the policemen, but the policy which is pursued by those in authority. It demands that all laws shall be enforced against all the offenders all the time. But the things condemned are typical of to-day. We are nearing the end. Reform is superficial and transient. Relapses leave the patient worse than before.