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CHAPTER VIII

THE DETECTIVE BUREAU

HE detective bureau is the second major division of the police organization. It is a bureau of specialized operations, involving not only the solution of crimes which have occurred despite the preventive efforts of all other divisions, but the apprehension of the perpetrators who have escaped after the commission of crime. Work on the solution of murder and manslaughter cases requires considerable time, but the investigation of complaints involving loss of property is by far the largest part of the detective bureau's work. These complaints include robbery, burglary, housebreaking, grand larceny, frauds, and swindles.

The bureau is commanded by a deputy inspector of police, who is detailed by the chief of police to serve as inspector of detectives. Similarly, he may be transferred from the detective bureau at the pleasure of the chief. Two captains of police are detailed to serve as captains of detectives, assisting the inspector in command. These commanding officers are generally drawn from commands of the uniformed patrol force, instead of being taken from the detective bureau membership.

The present inspector of detectives served as a captain in command of the Third Police Precinct prior to being detailed to head the detective bureau. However, he had had some previous experience in detective work as a member of the old detective bureau. One of the two captains of detectives was previously in command of a precinct station, and later had charge of the police training school, from which he was transferred to the detective service. The other captain was originally a patrolman detailed to the detective bureau. Upon receiving his promotion to the rank of sergeant, he was transferred from the detective service to a precinct to supervise uniformed patrolmen, afterward going to the traffic division. Upon being promoted to the rank of lieutenant he was transferred to desk duty in a precinct. Later he was promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of a precinct station. From this post he was transferred to the detective bureau.

From records of this sort it is easy to see that no attempt is made to develop detective commanders from detective personnel. The de

tective bureau in Cleveland is directed by men who have had no adequate training in the detective business, and whose promotion to leadership depended, in the first instance, on attaining a certain rank, and only secondarily on experience and fitness. Under the present system, if a patrolman, serving as a detective, obtains promotion to the rank of sergeant, he must leave detective work and take up uniformed patrol supervision merely because there is no rank of sergeant in the detective bureau. He must then continue in the uniformed patrol or traffic service until he has attained the rank of captain before he again becomes eligible for transfer to the detective service. The detectives who do not ascend through the uniformed ranks of sergeant and lieutenant to captain are barred from attaining a post of command in the detective bureau.

There are 81 patrolmen detailed to the detective bureau at the present time. They are assigned to various duties as follows:

4 assigned to desk duty

5 to office duty-clerical work

5 to the automobile squad

4 to the bureau of criminal identification

3 to the taxicab quad

2 to the pawnshop squad

1 to apartment house detail

1 to the hotel detail

1 to the bank detail

1 to the rooming-house detail

50 on general assignments

Of the 50 general men, five are carried on the detective bureau roll, but assigned outside of the bureau as follows: one as a clerk in the chief's office, one to the law department for investigation of civil action cases involving possible damages to the city, one in charge of the department's telephone exchange, one as a clerk in the office of director of public safety, and one to the mayor's office, serving as the mayor's bodyguard. These men are not doing detective work and there is no justification for carrying them as detectives.

All detectives are taken from the rank of patrolmen in the uniformed force. Detectives who have served in the bureau for ten years or more are paid a salary of $2,406.80, which is slightly more than the salary paid to lieutenants of police in the uniformed force; those with less than ten years' service to their credit receive $2,288, which is the same as the salary of a uniformed lieutenant. Detectives are selected by the chief of police. Whether he is permitted to exercise his own judgment without influence of any sort depends on the mayor and director.

Detectives may be returned to duty in the uniformed force in the discretion of the chief of police and by his order. The privilege, however, is rarely used. The detective assignment is considered as a promotion, and loss of the assignment occurs only in such extreme cases as would result in demotion in rank in the uniformed force as a result of charges of incompetency.

POOR QUALITY OF DETECTIVES

The detective personnel is supposed to be the "cream" of the uniformed patrol force. The superior type of work demanded of detectives and the greater compensation which they receive would seem to require that they be the ablest patrolmen in the service. We doubt the truth of the presumption that the detective personnel in Cleveland is entitled to rank as a group having superior abilities. In the first place, there appears to be no adequate provision for selecting detectives on the basis of proved worth in doing the type of work required. No particular standards are followed. Not infrequently policemen are detailed to the detective bureau in recognition of daring and as a reward for the performance of some unusually good bit of work in the uniformed force, such as making an arrest at the scene of a major crime. Daring and quick wit are valuable assets to the detective, but their display in a single case does not warrant the conclusion that the men have other qualities of perception and aptitude needed in detective work. The point is that there is no regularly pursued practice of looking out for detective material or of trying men out in an apprenticeship assignment in the detective service.

Another consideration on which we base our conclusion that the detective personnel is not of the uniformly high caliber which should characterize a detective force is the low rating of the detective group in the United States Army Alpha Test. It is a singular and significant point that the detectives as a group made a lower average rating in this standard psychological test than any other group in the police service. The range of scores made by 10 different groups is shown in Table 3.1

'This psychological examination was made in connection with the present survey. The method of marking is as follows:

TABLE 3.-MEDIAN SCORES AND RANGE OF SCORES OF POLICE DIVISIONS

From this record it is seen that the average of scores made by 63 detectives is 8 points below the average of scores made by 759 patrolmen doing duty in uniform, 16 points below the average score of 26 vice bureau operatives who were chosen from the uniformed force in the same way that detectives are, and 36 points below the average made by 46 lieutenants who are rated on approximately the same salary schedule as detectives.

Another basis of scoring which shows the number attaining different group ratings is given in Tables 4 and 5.

From this tabulation it is seen that no detective was rated in the A group, although all the other classes of the service had some percentage of their membership in this grouping. The percentage of detectives in the B group was less by one-half than that of any other class, and six to seven times smaller than the percentage of lieutenants, sergeants, and vice bureau operatives in the B group. Two detectives were in what is rated as the failure group, with a score of less than 25, while no member of the lieutenants, sergeants, or vice bureau classes fell so low.

Of course the Alpha test is not a complete measurement of ability. As has been pointed out, the ratings are useful as measures of general intelligence, but they do not include measurements of personality and character traits such as initiative, leadership, bravery, honesty, etc. They are measures to indicate the speed and accuracy with which persons are able to deal successfully with new situations and problems. But the comparison, even on this limited basis, is highly significant. The "cream of the uniformed force" serving as detectives should not fall below the uniformed force in a test involving general information and ability to meet new situations quickly and accurately.