Radio and Crime Detection

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 22, 13 December 1929, Page 10

Radio and Crime Detection

An Efficient Organisation. ~~

SCIEN ‘E has long bec recognised by police organisations throughout the world as an important and infallible ally as a means of crime detection. With the rapid development of all branches of science in the past féw years has come the application by criminals:of new technical methods to many* forms of crime, aud to cembat this de. velopment it has been found necessary to apply modern scientific methods to crime detection. Perhaps the most interesting adoption for this purpose is the ‘utilisation’ by police officials of radio as a swift and efficient weapon in the never-ending battle against crime; and_its efficacy has been demonstrated in an almost unbelievable fashion by the Detroit Police Department duri ing. the past .two years, my . The perfection of the radio system of "communication between swift, powerful. nolice automobiles and the radio sta"reat headquarters has enabled ar. = to be made in less than 80 seconds’ v the transmissiov of the ‘alarm ..ght hundred arrests, at an average time of less than 90 ‘seconds each, have been made by the radio-equipped auto. mobijJes of the Detroit police during the past fifteen months. More than 15,000 messages have been transmitted to the ears, and of these more than half have been direct orders to proceed to the scene of some actual! or reported crime. The balance of the messages have been descriptions of wanted:and missing persons, license numbers of stolen cars, and other police information. .Four to six seconds after the report of 2 major crime reaches the Detroit police, every radio-equipped police automohile in the city has received the warning simultaneously-a _ city-wide alarm in a- matter of split. seconds. One or more of the ears, depending on their location at the time and the seriousness of the crime, speed off to the scene of the trouble. ‘ The dispatcher at headquarters on re ceiving notification of a crime plugs in on a switchboard and thus establishes connection with the transmitting station which is situated ~some miles (rome — ont

away. The transmitter is thus automatically put on the‘air, andthe dispateher at headquarters broadcasts his message, repeating it twice to ensure ‘aecuracy, The alarms are clearly received by the automobiles scattered through the city, and as they are speed * ing: towards the location of the reported crime,. further details as to the nature of the crime and descriptions of the criminals are broadcast. Two types of automobiles, termed eruisers and scouts, are in use at. present:...The former are high-powered, severi-passenger touring cars, manned by a_crew of four officers armed with automatics, shot-guns, and tear-gas bombs. Complete equipment for the taking of finger-prints is carried also The scdtits are light, fast cars, manned by ‘a°crew of two. Each automobile is nllo¢ated to a district patrol, but are often ordered to proceed to the location of crimes committed in other parts of the city. When a serious crime such as a bank hold-up or a murder takes place, every’ police automobile is ordered to converge on the scene of the happening, thus making the task of escaping -extremely difficult for the eriminal. .The receiving sets are of the sixvalve type, "and are tuned in to the police radio station, locked in position, and then padlocked in a metal cabinet. The Grews of the patrol cars have a® cess to. the volume control, but canno tune to any other station than the one. Situated at headquarters. The aerials, consiscing either of numerous strands of wire vr of copper gauze, are mounted in the hoods of the carts. Extra receiving sets are always ready for installation. ang the substitution ‘s effected in a few seconds. These-sets are tested »very sight hours, and hait-

hourly test calls enable .2e patrol crews to determine whether or not their. sets .aré continuously © working throughout the day. | Crimes are actually prevented by zhe speed of the radio-dispatched cruisers. Recently the actions of three men in a large sedan parked in front of a store aroused the suspicions of an alert shopkeeper, who telephoned the police. A cruiser was ordered by radio to proceed to the locality, and in less than two minutes after reception: of the message the ‘crew sighted: the three suspects. The trio immediately fled. but after a:‘pursuit of some miles were overtaken and secured.: All three were fully armed,:and were later identified us the perpetrators of a hold-up robbery which had taken place some weeks previously... * Countless incidents such as the one mentioned above, where criminals ‘have actually been caught red-handed, testify to the efficiency and importance of radio when tised: for police purposes. It is not in the least surprising that criminals of all varieties have come to view the ‘police use of radio with fear. Seconds‘count with the criminal, so narrow is the margin of escape and capture... With the radio enabling the police to reach. the scene while he is still engaged in.a erime, or even before he actually attempts a crime, the chance of eseape become poorer. every day. to . The results: obtained in the use of radio by the Detroit police were not ‘secured overnight, but are the result of ten years*"of research in this direction. The.Commissioner of Detroit police recently remarked that radio communication for police patrol work is the greatest: development of modern times in the prevention of crime and the apprehension of criminals. He predicts that. in the near future every policeman on duty in the city will be equipped with a portable receiving ‘set. Experiments to design a suitable lightweight set for this purpose are at present being: carried out, and when perfectéd instantaneous communication with every police officer in the city Will be. possible. _ ,