Box 12, Folder 30, Document 52

Box 12, Folder 30, Document 52

2 ot ee i ee

HARVARD UNIVERSITY
August 1, 1967
THE POLICE CHALLENGES AND CHANGES IN ATLANTA

by

H, T. Jenkins

Since the beginning of modern day local government, as we know it, the
police power has been the vehicle that enforces the wishes
of local officials,

The police power is a two-edge sword and when it is misused, it causes
local governments to fail to furnish the service that it was
designed to furnish all of its citizens,

Originally police services were furnished by volunteers and local citizens
under the supervision of a Justice of the Peace.

This was known as the "hue and cry" system that depended upon the friends
and relatives of the victims of crime, to apprehend and

prosecute the perpetrators,
In 1829 Sir Robert Peale organized the Metropolitan London Police
Department and laid the foundation on what is based
all metropolitan police systems of the free world today,

This was the first time that a local government employed a full time uniform
police force and accepted all of the responsibility to
prevent crime and to arrest and prosecute all law
violators,

This system provided for a division of uniform officers, or constables
as they were called at that time, to patrol and to furnish
a day watch and a night watch, also a plain clothes or
detective division,’ '

The duties and responsibilities of the police has changed very little since
that time and are designed to maintain the peace and good
order, to prevent crime, to protect life and property, to

. enforce the law and to guarantee the freedom of the individual,


The American cop that you see working his beat today, gets his nickname
from the abbreviationof 'Constable of Police".

This system has been changed and expanded SBE MoU ety by adding
specialized sections, such as police training, traffic
control, fingerprinting, crime laboratories, community
relations, crime commissions and many others,

The greatest deterent to crime and the most effective crime prevention
program coma ine the Night Watch and the Day Watch
by qualified uniform police officers,

The most important function of a police department to successfully meet
changing conditions today, are police recruitment and

‘ ‘
police training,

Theodore Roosevelt recognized this in 1895 when he was Police Commilastenes
of New York City and organized the first police academy,
or the first police training program for a local city police

department, :

ev


The police department that has been most successful in.meeting the

challenge of today, are those departments that have the

best training program, and arc best prepared to meet

changing conditions from day to day.

The Atlanta Police Department has not been up to full authorized strength

for many years, for the simple reason that a young man,
who is qualified to meet the high standards of the police

fe
department is not willing to subject himself to the dangers _

and the hazards of the job, or subjecting himself and his

family constantly to investigations, ridicule and criticism,

He can earn a better living for he and his family and enjoy a better and
f

To fill these

more pleasant life by following some other vocation,

vacancies and to provide the necessary coverage and patrol, the

Atlanta Police Department has adopted one-man patrol cars,
This is a highly controversial subject and has brought great criticism to
the chief of police,

This is a subject that is quite often misunderstood and often eeelogey
controlled,

When a police officer is injured or killed in line of duty, it gets lots of
publicity and there are those who sincerely believe the
incident would have hea prevented by twoeman patrol
cars, but the facts do not support this belief,

We adopted the one-man patrol cars for the following reasons:

1, The records, both locally and nationally, will show that more police
officers are killed in two-man patrol cars than in one-man
patrol cars,

2. Amajority of the calls answered by the police, do not require any action

by the police, only require counciling and giving of advice,
« 6-=

3, When a police officer needs to call for assistance, he has twice the
number of units to call on, and he can get more help
quicker than he could epoT ae

4, It is good sound police management that requires an officer to do his
own thinking, to use his iniative and imagination, and to
develop a higher degree of performance,

5, For the Atlanta Police Department to arbitrarily adopt the two-man
patrol, would cause the number of patrol units and the
police service to be cut ~1 half, or it would require all
police personnel to work seven days per week, instead
of five days,

To overcome these and other handicaps, the city is soraetee! striving
to increase police compensation and fringe benefits,

which make police services extremely expensive for the

taxpayer,
This requires complete cooperation and understanding between the business
community and the city officials,

The needs and increased demands for additional city services has confronted
our city with a large financial problem,

This is complicated by the refusal of the state government to allow the city
to broaden its tax base,

The main source of income for the city is from ad valorem taxes,

It is believed by most tax experts that real estate and personal property
is already being taxed to its limit,

A recent survey by the National League of Cities predicted that American
cities will experience a revenue deficiency of 262 billion

'

dollars in the next ten years,

Crime against property and crime against the person continues to increase

year by year, while the protection of life and property becomes

more complicated and expensive,
There is no common cause for crime, therefore there is no common cure,
but a combination of many things,

The records will show that most crimes are committed by repeaters,
persons who have already been tried and convicted
of a similar crime,

They have escaped or they are out on bond, or they are on probation or
parole,

I had an opportunity recently to testify before a Cbngressional Committee
that was holding hearings on ''The Safe Street and
Crime Control Act",

The City of Atlanta supported this act 100%, but I went even further,

'
I looked forward to the day when the U. S. Justice Department and the

U. S. Congress will say to every city police department,

regardless of its size -


If your department meets all the professional gendeo ds in police
recruitment, police pay, police training, and
police supervision, the Federal Government will
contribute a percentage of your annual budget --
it should be about 50%.

The greatest objections to this is the fear of central or federal control,

I was asked reeently in Washington if I was advocating a national police
force,

Well, I am not advocating a national police force, but the thought of it
does not frighten me ‘any more,

The Atlanta Police Department devotes most of its time and effort in
enforcing state and federal laws, rather than city
ordinances,

To enforce federal laws, it is necessary to accept a certain amount of

federal control and to follow federal procedures,
- 10 -

We have no choice in these matters now, and personally.I have no
objections,

The time has come when the best efforts and ae of the federal,
state and local government are required to meet the
high cost of law enforcement and to check and reverse
the trend of increasing crime that we have been
experiencing in recent years.

We read and hear a lot of criticism directed to the courts, especially to
the U, S. Supreme Court,

I am not one of those who join in this criticism,

Personally I have no criticism of the courts or any of their decisions,
for the simple reason that the objectives and the ultimate

goals of the courts, and the police, are identical ~-

which is -
» ll =

To maintain the peace and good order -«

To prevent crime --

To protect life and property --

To enforce the lawe-

And, to guarantee the freedom of the individual,

This we can all agree on,

Then, the only disagreement between the courts and the police are ~-

how we achieve these goals,

When the courts and the police disagree, this is an indication to me, that

the police are in error and must change their actions

accordingly.

It is not, however, possible to furnish 100% security and 100% freedom

to all citizens of this nation at the same time,

Judge Thurgood Marshall recently replied to a 'question from Senator John

‘McClellan that the crime rate in this nation was critical,


but it must be fought within the framework of the
Constitution, and it must not be reduced at the
expense of the freedom of the individual,

It appears to me that the courts in some cases might have given freedom
of the individual regardless of his conduct, top Salona
over all other rights and considerations,

I would respectfully suggest that we might take another look at this
proposition,

The cases that are most frequently discussed are -

The Mallory case

The Escobedo case
The Mapp case

and, the Miranda case,

There have been many documents and articles written on these cases
and a great many speeches made, both pro and con,

but friefly this is what happened in these cases,
a ,

-~ 136

MALLORY VERSUS UNITED STATES

Mallory was arrested in Washington, D.C. on April 7, 1954,

He was detained in Washington jail and charged with rape,

After considerable questioning, he admitted the charge,

He was later tried and convicted,

In 1957, the U. S.Supreme Court reversed the conviction and stated that
"A suspect must be taken before a Magistrate without
delay.

"Any unnecessary delay will invalidate a confession obtained from the
accused person prior. to his appearance before a
Magistrate," : '

ESCOBEDO VERSUS ILLINOIS

Escobedo was arrested in Chicago, Illinois, on January 19, 1960, and

was charged with murder,
. « 14

He asked for an attorney and his attorney asked to see hink

Both were denied,

Later he confessed and was tried and convicted,

In 1964, the U. S. Supreme Court reversed the conviction and stated
"A person has a right to an attorney and the right to
remain silent,"

MAPP VERSUS OHIO



Mrs, Mapp was arrested in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 23, 1957, after
officers forced their way into her home without a
warrant, and found obscene material,

The officers denied her attorney exited during the search, nor would
they permit Mrs. Mapp to see him,

She was later tried and convicted,
~ 15.4

In 1961, the U. S.Supreme Court reversed the conviction and stated
that evidence cannot be used in any court if collected
in a search and seizure that is unreasonable or illegal,

MIRANDA VERSUS ARIZONA



Miranda was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 3, 1963,
He was detained in the Phoenix jail and charged with kidnapping and rape,
After considerable questioning, he admitted the charge,
He was tried and convicted,
In 1966, the U. S, Supreme Court reversed the conviction on the grounds
that he was not advised of his right to counsel, and the
right to remain silent,
I cannot agree that these cases have legally handicapped the police in any way.
But, I believe we can agree that the changes that these cases required
in police procedure has made police work more complicated
and much more expensive, because they put severe restrictions

ti

on custodial interrogation.
wo 6: =

To completely investigate a case and determine all of the facts prior to
the arrest of the suspect, requires more investigators
and a great deal more time and effort, but this is legal
and necessary to protect the rights of the individual,
and in these cases the perpetrator is the individual,

The question that disturbs me, and has not been answered up to this point,
is, "what about the rights of the victim?"

They also are entitled to protection under the law,

It is very easy to forget a victim after the first "splash!" of publicity, and
after the perpetrator has been identified and taken into
custody.

All of these are routine police problems that address themselves to good

police management,
ra | ;
| as oe

The greatest challenge that has faced a city or a police department

especially in the South, has been the social and racial
revolution that we have experienced in the last twenty years..oce
where custom and tradition versus the law, and in most
cases where the federal law and the state law were in
conflict or contradicted each other,
For many years the American Negro was segregated and discriminated
against because of the color of his skin, and kept in
a position of secondary citizenship,
Segregation was never designed to separate the races, but to keep the Negro
in his inferior place;
’ It was written in the law, and it was the law,
During these years the principle function of the police was to keep the

Negro in his place,
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The President of the United States, the Mayor of the City of Atlanta, Ralph
McGill, Editor of the Atlanta Constitution, and many
others said this was wrong and must be changed,

The U. S,Supreme Court held in many cases that this was unconstitutional
and the American Negro was entitled to all the rights and
privileges that goes with first class citizenship.

In 1945 the courts gave the Negroes the ballot,

This was the first time that the American Negro could actually participate
in the management of his government,

In 1954 the courts held segregated schools to be unlawful and unconstitutional,

Perhaps these two decisions effected more people, brought about a greater
change in attitude, habits, customs and action, than any
other decisions,

Between the years of 1958 and 1963 the City of Atlanta received court

‘ orders to desegregate -«