of commercialized prostitution is in the prevention of delinquency, especially the prevention of delinquency in young people. We have come to realize that the only official agency with which we can successfully carry that on is the woman's police. We have found that the police organizations throughout the country have been such that it has been necessary perhaps, in the vernacular, to sell the idea of women's police to each changing administration, because the directors of the police departments are usually civilians-commissioners of police who are not appointed from the ranks, who are not familiar with the importance of the prevention of delinquency until after they have been with the department for some time, and therefore it is our feeling that a principle such as the establishment of policewomen's bureaus should be written into the law. That has already been done in the places Mrs. Van Winkle has mentioned; and I might also add to that that Cleveland about two years ago provided for the establishment of a policewomen's bureau by law in very much the same way in which it is intended to be provided for by this bill. Mr. REID. May I interrupt you there? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes. Mr. REID. What do you mean by "law" in Cleveland, now? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Which would be comparable to the action that Congress has to take with reference to this bill, inasmuch as there is no city council in Washington. Detroit was provided for by a special referendum. Mr. REID. Would that not be comparable to the District Commissioners doing it by regulation? Mr. WORTHINGTON. No; it would not. Mr. REID. It would not? Mr. WORTHINGTON. The Detroit department was established by a referendum in a special election, provided for by act of the legislature, in which the legislature provided that the people of Detroit should vote on whether or not the city charter should be amended to establish permanently a women's bureau, and that amendment to the charter was passed by this local referendum. Mr. REID. Giving the city council authority to establish the department? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes. However, it is a little bit broader than that. It provides that there shall be established in the police department a woman's bureau under an assistant superintendent of police. Mr. REID. Is there any city where the State laws provide that there must be a department like this? Mr. WORTHINGTON. This Detroit law is covered by State legislation that I know of referring to a specific city. In the others there are general grants of authority; for instance, in Massachusetts, that Mrs. Van Winkle referred to, and Wisconsin, the cities were authorized to establish departments. But the Detroit provision is mandatory, and the woman's police bureau is established with very much the same powers as are set forth here in this bill. I might answer a couple of points that seem to have been raised; for instance, the question that was raised in that board of trade letter, which also seemed to have been in the minds of the local District society here, and that is a misapprehension that this bill would take the authority of the women's bureau in Washington away from the major and superintendent of police. But this bill does not provide for that at all, but merely provides for the continuance the permanent continuance of the bureau until such time as Congress may wish to repeal the law. But it does not provide that the relationship of the bureau shall be any different than it is at the present time; and it does specifically provide that they shall be under the major and superintendent; for instance, on the very first page, lines 5 to 7 of the bill, there is this language providing for the continuance of the bureau, "to consist of one director with the rank of assistant superintendent, who shall be directly responsible to the major and superintendent of police." Then, again, on page 3, subdivision (c), lines 10 to 14: "Except as otherwise provided in this act, the officers and members of the women's bureau shall be subject to the same rules and regulations and to the same discipline as other officers and members of the Metropolitan police force." Mr. REID. Except as provided in the act? Mr. WORTHINGTON. And there are no provisions in the act that are inconsistent with that. Mr. REID. What do you mean by that? Mr. WORTHINGTON. That are inconsistent with the statement that the women police are directly under the major and superintendent. Mr. REID. You do not mean to say that this bill does not give the women's bureau any standing at all other than within the discretion of the chief of police? Mr. WORTHINGTON. It gives it the same relationship as it has at the present time, that is, that it shall be subject to the major and superintendent of the police; it is not a separate police department. Mr. REID. Do you have separate duties? You are an expert on this bill, I take it. Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes. Mr. REID. Do you claim that this gives this women's bureau no separate and distinct duties? Mr. WORTHINGTON. No; not at all. Mr. REID. None at all? Mr. WORTHINGTON. I do not claim that at all. This provides that the women's bureau shall be subject to the major and superintendent of police. But that in addition to the ordinary duties which a police officer may have they shall exercise the functions set forth in section 4, where it is specifically stated that although they shall be exclusively police functions they shall include preventive and protective work, which is more or less a new idea in police work, but which is now conceded to be one of the important functions of police departments. Arthur Woods, in his book entitled "Police," states that the most important function of the police department is in the prevention of crime; and Raymond P. Fosdick, who has written "Police Systems," and many of our police authorities, have said substantially the same thing. Therefore, the purpose of section 4 is to outline specifically what those special functions of the women police are which distinguish them from the men police. Mr. REID. Let me ask you this question: If it is a matter of discretion as to what should be done with a woman or child, could a member of the Metropolitan police or any of the officers override the discretion or opinion of the women's bureau as to that particular question? Mr. WORTHINGTON. I don't quite get your question clearly. Mr. REID. In handling women and children, a person accused of crime or about to commit crime, there is a great deal of discretion imposed in certain individuals, is there not, in all police work? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes. Mr. REID. Under this bill the matters referring to women and children are absolutely in control of the women's bureau, and no other member of the Metropolitan police force, that is, a male, can have anything to do with that woman or child; is that correct? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Will you answer that, Mrs. Van Winkle? Mrs. VAN WINKLE. No; there is a clause in the Senate billI don't know what place it has in the House bill-I think it was in the Senate bill Mr. GIBSON. The House bill is the same as the Senate bill. Mrs. VAN WINKLE. It doesn't seem to come in the same line, although the sections may be the same. It is paragraph (c) of section 4. Mr. REID. Doesn't that do just what I said? Mrs. VAN WINKLE. It says: "Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of any officer or member of the Metropolitan police force not connected with the woman's bureau " not connected- 66 Mr. REID. Go on. Mrs. VAN WINKLE. "Except with respect to women and children who are in the custody of the police "-if they are in custody. We admit that women can take better care of children and women in custody than men can. Proof of that is available. Mr. REID. That is true, however, is it not, what I asked you? Mr. WORTHINGTON. On that particular point-that is, a point that was raised very recently by some one from Illinois. The secretary of the Juvenile Protective League of Chicago, Miss Jessie Binford, stated to me very recently that the police department in Chicago are now bringing to their local precinct station houses several thousand children during the course of the year. Those children are placed in those station houses-many of you do know what station houses are, how far they are from being proper environment for children. But as it works out at the present time without a woman's bureau in Chicago, children are being brought in and kept in station houses by men policemen. Such a point of that was madeMr. REID. What do you mean by that? Mr. WORTHINGTON. By the Juvenile Protective League-that Chicago has within the last two weeks decided to establish a woman's bureau and detention house. Mr. REID. Don't you know that every police station has a woman matron in charge-in Chicago? Mr. WORTHINGTON. I beg your pardon. Mr. REID. Don't you know that in every police station in Chicago there is a woman matron in charge, with assistants? Mr. WORTHINGTON. They have women matrons in charge? Mr. REID. Yes. Now, what do you mean by police taking children and keeping them in the station? Are you repeating somebody else's conversations or do you know anything about it yourself? Mr. WORTHINGTON. I know something about it myself. I have visited a good many stations myself. Mr. REID. All right. Mr. WORTHINGTON. But I am not prepared to answer about anything I have seen with reference to children. I do know what the sanitary conditions were in some of those Chicago police stations. Mr. REID. Do you know any police stations that are sanitary and pleasant to be in? Mr. WORTHINGTON. I know that they vary very much, some are very much better than others. The St. Louis jail, for instance, is very much superior to the old Cook County jail. Mr. BLANTON. Will you pardon an interruption? I don't know about the police stations of all big cities having matrons in each one of them, but there is no such provision or system in our police stations in Washington. There is no matron in our police stations in Washington. Mr. REID. We were talking about Chicago. Mr. BLANTON. Of course, now as to Chicago they may have a woman in each station. Does my colleague know that to be a fact? Mr. REID. Yes. Mr. WORTHINGTON. The point I am trying to make is that it is hearsay, but Miss Binford told me. Mr. REID. The point I was making is that you were talking about men police taking children to the police station and keeping them there all night. Mr. WORTHINGTON. That seemed to be an important enough point for Chicago to establish very recently a central house of detention. I received notice of that within the last 10 days from Miss Binford that that had been established in Chicago in order to obviate that condition. So that they will no longer be taken to those local precinct stations. Mr. BLANTON. Let me state this to you, that in Washington, concerning the many police stations here, if we did not have a woman's bureau and house of detention where men policemen bring children of either sex to the station, they would be there absolutely without a matron if it were not for our house of detention, to which place they may now be sent. Mr. RATHBONE. I would like to ask Mr. BLANTON. Just one other question, then I will be through. With regard to these women policemen, they are all Metropolitan police; they wear Metropolitan police badges? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes. Mr. BLANTON. And Major Hesse, who is major and superintendent of police, is now and will continue to be their major and superin tendent? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Absolutely. Mr. BLANTON. Their superintendent and commanding officer, from whom they get orders the same as all other Metropolitan police? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Absolutely. Mr. BLANTON. There is no attempt by this bill to take authority and domination and supervision and control out of the hands of Major Hesse? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Absolutely not. Mr. BLANTON. None in the world. Mr. WORTHINGTON. None in the world. Mr. RATHBONE. Have you completed your statement in substance? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes, sir. Mr. RATHBONE. Just a minute; I wanted to ask you a question or two. In order to get a succinct issue before us, will you kindly state in as brief a manner as possible just what you think are the good points of this bill, just what it accomplishes and just what improvements it makes, if any, over the present law and situation here. Let us get that clear. Mr. WORTHINGTON. The important thing, I think, about the bill is the permanent establishment of the women's police bureau in Washington, which will assure the present women's police in the department of the continuance of the type of work that they are doing now, so that they will be able to give their full time to that. We feel that they must be established by law because of the changing whims of different administrations. Mr. RATHBONE. Just a minute. Let us make this just as brief as possible. Do you happen to know of your own knowledge of any particular likelihood arising of this bureau being done away with as it now exists? Mr. WORTHINGTON. That has been done in other cities. done in Indianapolis with the change of administration. It was Mr. RATHBONE. Hasn't there been, if we may use the word "threat" in a certain sense-has there been anything that kind of threatened to take away and destroy this bureau as it now exists? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Not that I know of. Mr. RATHBONE. Or that you think should be guarded against? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Not that should be guarded against, but there is apparently a change of position within one year with reference to the idea, because last year the commissioners came on record before this committee, as I understand it; approving this bill. This year they have taken diametrically the opposite position. Mr. RATHBONE. Let us confine ourselves to matters of our own knowledge, I would suggest. Is there anything, then, in this bill that you consider an improvement over present conditions, outside of the point that you have mentioned, which I understand to be that it puts it on a permanent basis and does not make it subject to change? Mr. WORTHINGTON. That is the whole purpose. Mr. RATHBONE. That is the turning point of the whole matter, is it? Mr. WORTHINGTON. Yes, sir; that is the main principle involved. Mr. REID. I want to ask him a question when my turn comes again. Mr. RATHBONE. Go ahead; we are waiting. Mr. REID. I wanted to give somebody else a chance in between. I don't want to monopolize the hearing. Mr. RATHBONE. All right. The matter is open for the committee. |