PARK POLICING 783 



EXAMPLES OF LEGAL PROVISIONS GIVING POLICE AUTHORITY 

 TO PARK AND RECREATION EMPLOYEES 



"The keepers of the several parks shall be sworn in as special police 

 and be intrusted with the enforcement of the provisions of this article, 

 and shall at all times have the assistance of the regular police force in carry- 

 ing out the same." (Revised Code or General Ordinances, St. Louis, Mis- 

 souri, Article LXVIII, Section 1884.) 



" Police powers. The superintendent of recreation and playground 

 directors, while on duty and for the purpose of preserving order and the 

 observance of the rules, regulations, and by-laws of the commission, shall 

 have all the powers and authority of police officers, and it shall be incum- 

 bent upon them to preserve order on the playgrounds and in recreation 

 centers at all times. Any person or persons who shall violate any of the 

 rules of the commission shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of disorderly 

 conduct." (Extract from Code of City of Savannah, Chapter X, Section 

 2io, page 56.) 



"Police powers. The directors of playgrounds shall have full police 

 powers, and for that purpose shall be sworn in as special policemen by the 

 superintendent of police, and furnished with suitable badges of authority, 

 and shall have full power to eject from any public playground any person 

 who acts in a disorderly manner or in a manner calculated to interfere with 

 the full enjoyment of the same by the public. Special officers must report 

 every three months to the assistant superintendent of police to renew their 

 commissions." (Rules and Regulations, Municipal Playgrounds, City of 

 Chicago, Illinois, 1924, page n.) 



PARK POLICE PENSION FUND 



One of the serious drawbacks to service in most of the park police 

 forces in this country is the lack of a pension system. Pension systems for 

 municipal police are now almost universally adopted in the larger cities, 

 and in some states there are general state laws covering this subject with 

 respect to municipal police. There are only a few park systems that have 

 a scheme for pensioning their park police. Among these few are the following: 



i. Illinois. In Illinois there is a general law covering the subject. 

 (See Illinois Revised Statutes, Cahill, 1925, Chapter CV, Sections 418-428 

 inclusive, pages 1774-1778.) This law provides that wherever any persons 

 have been constituted a board of park commissioners in any one or more 

 towns and such board of park commissioners shall have established a police 

 force under the employ of such board, there shall be created, maintained 

 and disbursed in the manner prescribed in this Act a pension fund for such 

 policemen. The fund is constituted by deducting two and one-half per 



