The Park Governments of Chicago 113 



squad during 1910, the general superintendent of city police, in 

 his annual report for that year, says : 



"The work of men on the motorcycles has proven satisfactory. The 

 motorcycle men have been employed to arrest scorchers — for the purpose 

 of regulating traffic, arresting peddlers, and others violating the city 

 ordinances in regard to vehicle traffic in general. In addition to this 

 work, many arrests for crime have been effected by men of this squad." 



The Lincoln Park system is the only one of the three 

 equipped with a police telephone system. Although the captain, 

 lieutenant, and sergeant make rounds to see if patrolmen are 

 on duty, the latter also report every hour by telephone to the 

 central switchboard operator who records their reports on a 

 time sheet. 



The South Park district is not equipped with pull boxes, 

 nor are the patrolmen required to report for a roll call. They 

 go on duty direct from their homes, and are not even required 

 to arrive at or leave their beats at any designated places. The 

 captain, lieutenants, and sergeants are supposed to visit the sev- 

 eral beats to see if the patrolmen are actually there, but other 

 than this, there is no check as to when they arrive or depart. 

 Transfers are rarely made, most of the patrolmen having traveled 

 the same beats during their entire service. 



The West Chicago Park district is not equipped with pull 

 boxes, but patrolmen assemble at the offices in Humboldt, Gar- 

 field, Douglas, and Union Parks before going on duty and a roll 

 call is had. This occurs at 7 a. m., 12 noon, 6 p. m., and 10 p. m. 

 While a roll call is much better than no roll call, it does not 

 serve as any check on the men during interims thereof, nor can 

 commanding officers on their rounds supply the lack of pull 

 boxes. 



Patrolmen of the South Park Board assigned to duty in the 

 small parks which contain field houses work independently of 

 the field house directors, which fact is not conducive to the best 

 results. It is suggested that the men assigned to field houses be 

 instructed to obey orders of the directors thereof. This method 

 is used by the city police department in assigning men. 



No copies of the police handbook of rules of the South Park 

 Board have been available since the Bureau began its investiga- 



