An Instructive Address to the Assistant Buyers Club
By Inspector Joseph H. Itzel
December, 1944
A particularly instructive and factual address carrying many little
known facts having to do with the activities of the Baltimore Police
Department was delivered on November 30 by Inspector Joseph
H. Itzel before the Assistant Buyers Club. A digest of his remarks
is given herewith
It is a privilege and pleasure indeed to address the members and friends of the Assistant Buyers Club of Baltimore's
Retail Stores, in representing your law enforcement agency. In these critical days when the question of law enforcement on
the home front is of such major importance, may I take this opportunity to thank you and express my appreciation for the spirit
of friendship, cooperation and your interest in your Police Force. We hope you will know us better and become more intimately
acquainted with our problems and activities. While it has not been my good fortune to meet you all personally, nevertheless
I do feel intimately associated with you through my acquaintance and friendship with my good friend Mr. James P. Burnside,
your president.
The Police Force is maintained by municipal funds and under the control of the State. This system is in force
in only three of the ten largest cities in the country-Boston, St. Louis and Baltimore.
The first (non-paid) "VOLUNTEER CONSTABULARY" of Baltimore was created in
1729, the citizens having been driven to this exigency by the alarming depredations of a swelling lawless element.
The first "SALARIED WATCH AND PATROL" was created by the Maryland Legislature
in 1784.
From 1784 to 1860 the Force had been under the control of local officials. In 1860 the Legislature enacted
a law placing the department under State control.
Today, for the first time, we have a man from the ranks-Honorable Hamilton R. Atkinson, a former Police Inspector.
You must remember that police work today covers a broad field of highly specialized pursuits, and to direct as a Police Commissioner
must, he must understand them. He must have special qualifications. He must have developed a broad concept of police work,
must have administrative ability, foresight, integrity and physical vigor, professional training and show leadership over
a large group of subordinates.
The Commissioner has demonstrated successfully this responsibility. It is impossible to encompass within the
scope of this summary all of his achievements since taking over command of the Police Department fifteen months ago.
Reference, however, is made to several outstanding improvements which are characteristic of Commissioner Atkinson's
administration.
JUVENILE PROTECTIVE BUREAU
On January 17, 1944, the Commissioner established the Juvenile Protective Bureau for the purpose of attempting
to curb juvenile delinquency and to exert a measure of protective influence in preventing delinquents acquiring court records.
Through its instrumentality the juvenile case is placed in the proper channel for adjustment when necessary and both child
and parent are counseled along corrective lines to prevent repetition of the complaint.
The following is a breakdown of cases showing the activities of the Juvenile Protective Bureau from the Bureau's
inception to September 30, 1944:
Involving adults ………………….....14
White Males ..………………….. ..428
White Females…………………….80
Colored Males………………….. .301
Colored Females...........................166
Total….............................................989
Under 10 years…………………...256
10 to 15 yrs. Inclusive……………686
16 to 20 yrs. Inclusive……………..33
Adults……………………………....14
Total……………………………….989
During 1943 throughout this nation 3,785 serious crimes were committed each day-this meant that one out of
every twenty-one American homes was a victim of the crime toll. But tragic as that is, it is not our greatest tragedy. The
real tragedy in these figures is found in the rising number of youthful offenders. Arrests of boys under
seventeen years of age have increased thirty per cent since the outbreak of the war. All of our war casualties
are plainly not battle casualties.
The most positive view is, that we should quit trying to cure juvenile, delinquency by correction and begin
curing it by prevention.
Prevention means giving a juvenile wholesome things with which to occupy his or her time.
The seriousness of the problem of juvenile delinquency is more clearly seen when it is noted that compared
with arrests in 1941, the figures for 1943 throughout the United States show that arrests of girls under 21 years of age increased
130.4 per cent. Juvenile delinquents have created the greatest problem. In 1943 over two thousand persons.
under seventeen years of age were sentenced in this nation and the greatest part of these were boys. These figures indicate
that the factors contributing to delinquency are still very powerful and point to the need for each community to intensify
its efforts to stop the rising tide of delinquency and juvenile crime. All of the constructive influence which an aroused community can provide are urgently needed to combat this menace to our internal strength.
Youth today is seeking sympathetic response, recognition, security and new experiences. Any worthwhile youth
program cannot overlook the fundamental human desires, for our failure to satisfy all or any of them is a barrier to the development
of good citizens.
Young people know what they like and the great majority of them adhere to decent things. We must strengthen
the "HOME" in every way possible for the primary responsibility for the care and protection
of our boys and girls and this must rest within its four walls.
Youth is our greatest national asset. We dare not waste it. The watchword should be that of ALERTNESS
AND CONTINUOUS UNITY OF ACTION
Too many American communities and fathers and mothers are trying to blame the war for the prevailing, growing
and menacing wave of juvenile delinquency. Parents concentrate altogether too much energy and thought on making money. They
have no time for their children and little influence over them. It is adults who raise or lower moral standards-children merely
reflect the change. After the war all that can be shown for the big pay checks will be a wrecked home. Sympathetic understanding
of the problems confronting these children is necessary. This protective element is paramount in our Juvenile
Protective Bureau. Our mission will be fulfilled. No father or, mother has a right to evade their responsibilities.
This department is keenly aware of the great responsibility which, by law, rests upon it to protect from harm
the lives, liberty and property, day and night, of more than one million persons in their homes and their livelihood. We are
severely taxed with many burdens, and one of the principal problems is crime. In the face of a considerable influx of people
and an acute housing shortage, it would seem to be especially gratifying, and indeed, incredible that decrease of 8.09%
(796 cases) serious crimes were reported in 1943
as compared with 1942. Arrests in 1943 show a percentage of 50.8%.
I respectfully submit statistics of serious offenses reported in 1943 as compared with the number in 1942.
Offense
1942 1943
Aggravated assault…… 165
179
Manslaughter………… ... 8 6
Murder………………… 108 96
Rape…………………… 79
95
Carnal knowledge……...13
14
Larceny……………...6,505
5,314
False pretense……..... 339
325
Embezzlement…………72 46
Robbery………………588 682
Burglary……………..1,898 2,225
Forgery………………....62 59
RADIO CARS IN 1943
The radio cars (patrol service) covered 2,479,106 miles during the year and responded to 112,558 calls, as
compared with 118,454 in 1942. Members of this division made 10,356 arrests for various offenses including 19 murder; 1,308
for common assault; 153 for assault and cutting; 84 for assault and shooting; 18 for assaulting officers in the performance
of duty; 155 burglars; 5,468 cases involving breach of peace; 130 for carrying deadly weapons; 440 for larceny; 106 drunken
drivers and 25 for purse snatching.
The cars responded to 4,415 accident calls, 3,230 alarms of fire, recovered 386 stolen automobiles and 62
bicycles; removed 454 persons to hospitals and rendered first aid to 25 victims of gas and other poisons.
BOY’S CLUBS
On June 22d, 1944, one of the achievements of our Police Commissioner Hamilton R. Atkinson, as the dedication
of the first Police Boys' Club at the Southwestern Police Station. Some 425 youngsters ranging from 8 to 18 years of age had
signed up for
membership when the new clubrooms were opened by the Police Commissioner, State and City officials. The club
is open five days a week from 4 to 9 p.m. The membership is divided into groups competing against one
another in athletic contests. They have a program of self-government and select their own representatives to enforce the club
rules. There is a library, a completely equipped machine shop for woodwork with metal work equipment to follow.
Another club is now being established in the Eastern Police Station.
AUXILIARY POLICE
In December 1941, our Police Commissioner organized an "Auxiliary Police Force," a unit of Civilian Defense Organization, which now has a membership of approximately two .thousand
white and colored persons, whose services are on a strictly voluntary basis without remuneration of any character. These men
are selected from owners of big business and executives-men in all walks of life including laborers. They provide at their
own expense, uniforms and patrol box keys, and the department furnishes badges, whistles and night sticks.
They receive ten hours training in first-aid, two hours instructions in handling of bombs, and at least six hours instruction
in police work, during which period they are assigned to work with the regular uniformed patrolmen. They
are required to report to various districts and to perform two hours actual police duty assigned them by our District Captains.
The purpose which the Auxiliary Police is serving and the manner in which its members have discharged its
duties are worthy of the highest commendation, for it has been a most effective instrument in aiding in the preservation of
law and order. Cooperation between this organization and the regular uniform force are. Basis for the progress made in combating
crime.
CONCLUSION
The Police Department is the symbol of civil protection .. People instinctively look to the police whenever
danger threatens. Modern warfare puts the civilian population in the front line of battle. We know that for our soldiers to
win the war on the battle front we must win it on the home front with your police force. The citizens of Baltimore regard
the Police Department as their first and most important line of defense against all forms of criminal aggression. Today, crime
solution is a science and covers a broad field of highly specialized pursuits; we assume these exacting duties with unfailing
tact, keen acumen and comprehensive ability. More and more, our profession is becoming the survival of the fittest in which
the man who was farsighted yesterday and who remains farsighted today, who is keen of intelligence, who is proud of his job,
proud of his honesty, proud of the integrity of his fellow-workers, proud of his standing as a man of
substance in his community, has succeeded to the satisfaction of all. But the person who hangs on to his job merely because
it is a job, either is fading out of the picture or is doomed to do so. There is no place in law enforcement
for this kind.
We are proud to be members of your law enforcement agency, your Police Force. When people are guilty of offenses
against society, we prove them guilty, if we can. But for everyone proven guilty, we prove many more innocent. We can be proud
to live in a city where this is the chief aim of the law. Certainly, a sense of security and comfort must accompany this program.
We ask your full and cordial support-We enjoy public confidence.
