Suggestions for the Reduction of Preventable Crimes

It must be apparent, to all who have given more than a passing thought to the relation between the criminal classes and the law and order departments of our government, that the peace officers to whom the public looks for protection can do but little more than apprehend criminals after they have committed crimes. For, although the modern system of identification, including the arts of photography, physical measurements and record of finger prints together with a biographical sketch of the suspect or convict, enables the police to locate a known criminal and to frequently determine the probable identity of an unknown who committed a crime from the more or less faithful description furnished by the victim, it is understood only too well that personal knowledge in possession of the peace officers concerning the criminal propensities of a given individual is not sufficient warrant before a trial court to justify the imprisonment of the criminal; and, furthermore, the readiness of venal counsel to plead the cause of guilty persons for a consideration is another insurmountable obstacle to the safeguarding of society against the depredations of the vicious classes who entertain such high respect for their freedom of choice in moral matters that they decline to sell it for bread.

In short, the point sought to be brought out forcibly is that property holders are depending entirely too much upon the police for protection and too little upon themselves. If the prevention of crime be possible then it rests as much with the prospective victims to prevent it as it does with the guardians of peace, seeing the latter number scarcely more than one to the thousand of our population and cannot be everywhere at the same moment of time.

There is one practical method for successfully combatting stealth and deceit, and its keynote is awareness. The local department of safety has no bureau of publicity through whose functions the whole public may be educated in the latest schemes for obtaining money and valuables by false pretense, stealth and force, as well as apprised of the presence in the community of this, that or the other well-known confidence crook, sneak or robber. Just as the fire department is but partially efficient in preventing fires and is necessarily devoted to their suppression after they have come into existence, so the police must often await the call for help from the thief’s victim before they may take action. This is not always the case, of course, as in critical times of crime epidemic, or upon the threatened approach of criminal action, or in cases of exposed conspiracy, all the potential as well as actual criminals in the community may be rounded up and detained by operation of the vagrancy act. However, even in times of ordinary or seeming quietude the total amount of losses suffered by the public and which are never accounted for satisfactorily makes a staggering sum. All losses are not discovered at once; of those that are all are not reported to the police; whilst of the reported losses only a fraction are ever recovered.

Many victims of the criminal classes prefer for one reason or another not to let their losses come to light. One reason is lack of confidence in the capability of the police to apprehend the criminal or recover the loss, and this feeling is often held unjustly, arising out of the failure of the victim to recognize the fact that police are no more omniscient or omnipotent than other men, but labor under quite as rigid limitations as do the victims of the criminals.

It devolves, therefore, upon the public at large to co-operate as far as possible with the peace officers in preventing crime by the adoption of self-protective measures, not measures of violence, but of self-education in the methods of crime and of elimination of such glaring opportunities as constitute a standing invitation to the morally weak and irresponsible to help themselves to whatever is not nailed down, sewed up in a bag, or too hot or of too high speed. The average citizen disdains to inquire into the modes of the criminal element; it is so sordid! Besides, he hires the policeman to do this dirty work for him. It is the policeman’s business to rake in the muck and to get himself slaughtered, if need be, in return for the ninety dollars per month which the citizen pays him. Again, Mr. Citizen is asleep at the switch regarding self-protection until he suffers a loss, or he may have to suffer a great many losses before he awakens to the realization that he as well as the policeman has a certain part to play in the maintenance of public security.

The United States Supreme Court has held that it devolves upon a plaintiff to secure himself against fraud through altered bank checks by the personal use of the most approved devices which insure protection. Suppose this same principle were applied to every merchant in the protection of his goods against theft; to every automobile owner; to every individual who carries money on his person; to every householder who carelessly leaves vulnerable points to the watchfulness of Providence; to the credulous people who fall easy victims to the wiles of confidence men of a hundred schemes? Of course, there is no danger that the principle will be applied except by the Supreme Court of your personal conscience after you have looked the issue squarely in the face. Then you may come to the reduction of preventable crimes, whose solution rests upon a due recognition of carelessness and ignorance as the chief factors. Non-preventable crimes occur by reason of public impotence, both physical and mental. When your pocket is picked it is because of your ignorance; or if you were previously aware of the pickpockets’ methods then your loss is to be ascribed to carelessness. You wouldn’t dare put your hand into a lion’s mouth because you are afraid he will bite it. You know a pickpocket will put his hand in your pocket and yet you are foolhardy enough to carry valuables in accessible depositories.

The grand combination of popular attractions staged in all the cities of the Pacific Coast for the year 1915 will act as a powerful magnet to draw thither numerous criminals of almost every profession for the purpose of thriving upon the ignorant, the careless and the unprotected. They will operate upon the visitors and the natives with equal avidity and daring. Their ranks will be made up mainly of the cleverest members of their crafts; and as it will cost them a considerable outlay to come it is a foregone conclusion that they will come with a keener view to business than to pleasure. A few of them will inevitably fall into the clutches of the law; more, however, will probably be fortunate enough to get back to their native habitat laden with the spoils of adventure, whilst a percentage of the whole number may be expected, and reasonably, to fall by the wayside and thenceforth for an indefinite season be compelled to cast in their lot with the home talent and ply their trades in the principal coast cities. Every cosmopolitan law and order bureau will delegate representatives to the big celebrations to co-operate with local officials in identifying and apprehending pedigreed malefactors; still, a liberal estimate of the ratio of arrests to crimes will probably be one in every ten. Whilst the virtuous hold lawful carnival during the coming year the vicious will prosper.

There’s an old saying, “Three meals missed makes a possible thief and six meals missed makes a possible murderer.” More to the point, though, is the saying, “Eternal vigilance is the price of security.” Very little stealing occurs in well-regulated banks, jewelry stores and corporation counting houses, with the unavoidable exceptions of crimes by superior force or internal disloyalty, for the simple but signal reason that methods of awareness are in vogue there. This was not always so; for they had to learn awareness in the school of cold, hard facts, having been “bumped” and “twisted” and “turned” and “flimmed” and “gyped” times innumerable before they learned the value of precaution, self-defense.

There are two places from which a thief will not steal: where there is nothing attainable and where the possessors of the attainable are as wise and ready in self-defense as the thief himself. The eternal struggle to attain goods is not more strenuous than the battle to hold them. For, whilst possession is nine points of the law, dispossession is such an easy achievement with one professional despoiler in every thousand of our population that it behooves everyone in whose education this fundamental element of self-protection has been too sadly neglected to polish up his wit now and then by taking stock of what the bold criminal may do in the way of seizing opportunities. The self-reliant may not be frightened, yet it is not the purpose to frighten even the timid; it is, nevertheless, the duty of every citizen to pay heed to timely warning on the subject of preventable crime not alone that he may protect himself but likewise contribute to the protection of the weaker by removing as much of temptation from the path of the criminally inclined as is found to be practical and consistent with general commerce and the open enjoyment of honestly acquired wealth.

In this regard consider that twenty years and less ago jewelers all over this land, with very rare exceptions, were as easy prey to the pennyweighters, or diamond and jewelry thieves, as the burial mounds or “huacas” of the Incas with their fabulous treasure in gold ornaments and bullion were to PizzaroPizarro and his free booters. Such was the lack of self-protection in the system of display employed by the jewelers in the recent past that anyone with the desire and temerity could help himself out of trays in which gold ornamented with diamonds and other precious stones was heaped indiscriminately in such wise as to render detection of loss out of the question on the instant. Through the organized efforts of the jewelers and opticians, by means of their trade review, all this loose carelessness was wiped out, precision and order in display and necessary changes in fixtures were adopted; a system of surveillance and nation-wide reports on criminal developments were carried out methodically, until today it is a very infrequent occurrence for a capably managed jewelry store to suffer loss except by robbery through violence or by disloyalty of employees. And jewelers themselves are not the sole beneficiaries of this new order of self protection; they have almost totally denied to the sneak thief the opportunity, or temptation, of replenishing a depleted subsistence fund.

What they have done for jewelers the banks, aided by the inventive genius of the Todds and the Burns Detective Agency, are doing for savings fund and commercial bank depositors. The fraudulent issuance and alteration of bank paper has assumed enormous proportions in recent years, but by the operation of protective measures this resource of the lawless will soon be entirely cut off.

The evolution of the small merchandising business into great department stores has proved another fruitful source for both the early schooling and continued support of petty and grand sneak thieves by the irrepressible display of unprotected goods. The eagerness to sell lays the managers open not only to personal loss, which must eventually be charged off to advertising or some other item of overhead costs, but also to widespread community loss by the activities of the successful thieves outside the department store. In proportionate measure nearly every storekeeper who openly displays small or compact and valuable merchandise is contributing to the temptation of first-timers and to the required opportunities of the professional thief and the kleptomaniac. When confronted with this truth storekeepers shrug their shoulders as though they are between the horns of a dilemma and say, “We set our goods out for people to buy, not to steal,” unmindful of the fact that of thieves in general some are born so, some become so by surrounding circumstances, whilst every son of Adam is a potential thief. You may deny this with as much vehemence as you care to expend in protest against the aspersion of perfectly honest people, but if you know the hidden workings of the human mind you must pause when you reflect that hope, the well spring of ambition, is a variable in every personality at different times, and when it, hope, reaches the maximum intensity it becomes avarice. And with avarice goes the power of lying, mendacity in word or action or both. Hence the above truth. For, a liar will deceive, and larceny is but a degree of deceit. And once capable of lying the particular manifestation of larceny is but a question of congenital talent or combination of talents. But to get back to the subject of preventable crimes.

Admitting that only a small proportion of crimes against property are preventable (and in these suggestions for the reduction of preventable crime only the crimes against property are being given consideration), when we come to deal in aggregate losses, say annual ones, whatever proportion may be prevented, by the timely dissemination of helpful information upon this subject, should be recognized as a definite gain. During this unusually active year the total losses to be inflicted upon the fixed and floating population will undoubtedly run into five and maybe six figures.

Of the dozen unorganized guilds of professional criminals enumerated in the introduction to the Vocabulary the most to be feared and guarded against are burglars, sneak thieves, merchandise thieves, forgers, utterers of false paper, confidence men, pickpockets and thieves who threaten violence. Of these the burglar and the robber who uses weapons as an aide are the most difficult to deal with. Their suppression is almost impossible, yet their partial defeat may be confidently hoped for by the increased watchfulness of the peace officers, aided by the greater prudence of householders and prospective victims in general.

What was said about banks, jewelry and specialty merchandise dealers applies with equal pertinence to householders and others who offer promising occasions for the application of the burglar’s skill. Ordinary locks offer little protection against the burglar’s master keys, jimmy and other tools of forcible or surreptitious entry; yet the greater secretion of valuables may prove an effective remedy against casual loss. Still, the best advice available for protection against this sort of loss may be laughed to scorn by the clandestine act of a desperate or determined criminal.

But of sneak stealing in stores much relief may be had by a sane regard for safety in display. Valuables should not be placed within reach of every ostensible patron, neither on top of counters and show-cases nor in end show-cases nor in unprotected windows. If show-cases are so narrow as to admit of access from the outside, in front, by reaching across, they should be kept locked. The same with all end show-cases, where free passage to their rears may be had. The merchant who violates these modern canons of commercial prudence not only assumes personal risk but he abets the thief and is a source of danger to others.

In department store prudence these same observations hold good, and what is more important every clerk should be trained as thoroughly in the protection of the goods submitted to his care as he is in the execution of common exchange formalities. No goods should be shown any customer without mental inventory of the number of separate displays, so that accurate account may be constantly kept of them, and when the fancy or demands of the customer are not satisfied with an accumulation of goods which is assuming proportions too difficult to inventory in a spontaneous summary they, or at least a part of them, should be removed. Goods should not be left upon display while the clerk withdraws his presence in search of other samples. The secret of the successful store thief consists in his ability to obtain a confusion of displays and then send the clerk for an article which lies at some distance. The over-polite clerk or shop-keeper may at first object that he cannot afford to be discourteous, disrespectful, suspicious, gingerly or risk wounding the susceptibilities of a patron. This objection would have greater weight in a drawing room or at some function where politeness is on trial; in business it counts for far less than safety.

Observe the presence of mind of your jeweler when he finds it necessary to go in search of other displays. He knows it might prove fatal once in a hundred times to leave a stranger in undisputed possession of a tray of valuables, for even though he has them so arranged in geometrical formation as to detect an abstraction he is aware that a substitution might be made in the flash of an eye and thus wipe out the profits accruing from the previous ninety-nine customers who inspected his goods. No, he feels that business can dispense with the urbane conventions, and he avoids possible loss from this source of ever-present danger, as the veriest tyro of either sex and any age possessed of inordinate desire could easily help him or herself whilst the clerk’s back is turned.

When store sneaks operate in pairs or threes one, or in the latter case perhaps two, of the number assumes the attitude of purchaser whilst the seemingly indifferent companion or companions plot to secrete goods. It is generally considered the duty of a floor or department manager to keep a lookout for such seemingly unoccupied companions of purchasers, yet it would be a profitable investment of time and pains to instruct each and every clerk in the simple rules of protection. An incentive, such as a bonus or promotion, should be held out as an extra inducement to clerks to prevent thefts. Loss sustained through internal peculations is, of course, a constant annoyance, not so much on account of actualities as on account of possibilities. In well-regulated establishments where no employee may enter the display rooms with hat, package, umbrella, coat or wrap, and can therefore carry none away, the chief losses by dishonest employees are those of such small articles as may be hidden on the person. There still remains the avenue of secret transfer of the store’s property to friends of the clerks who may carry the same away in bags, suit cases or in packages wrapped in paper imported into the store by the clerk’s confederate. However, such cases do not come up frequently and are very difficult of avoidance except by means of daily or weekly inventories and an exhaustive knowledge of the employee’s previous character and associates, which is an almost superhuman problem.

Clerks in all stores should be warned to scrutinize, not impertinently, all strangers carrying packages of bulk, boxes, traveling bags, umbrellas unfurled and loose or heavy wraps, whether worn or carried on the arm, as these all afford means for secreting goods. Yet if the few previous suggestions are observed no goods may be extracted from a special display, though the fixed and open displays do afford opportunities for the use of these sneak thief aides. Dangerous or professional store thieves thrive not on trifling articles, but upon the more valuable lines of merchandise, such as silks in bolts, articles of silk manufacture, furs, leather goods, art works, jewelry, wearing apparel, millinery and dress trimmings. Such goods should be removed as far as possible from exits.

In smaller establishments these same rules for secruitysecurity should be carefully carried out.

The stupendous losses suffered by business men of every class from the operations of forgers and utterers of false paper could be materially lessened if not wholly stamped out were obliging business men to adopt the commonest measure in vogue in the telegraph offices, express offices, postoffices and banks throughout the country—that of absolutely refusing to cash paper of any variety for unidentified strangers. The strict enforcement of this principle might sacrifice trade for a time but it would save loss and eventually when all reputable business houses by mutual agreement honor the observance the obtaining of money by false pretenses with paper as collateral would be impossible. Whoever writes a check or draft or signs a note or other negotiable instrument unrecorded without protecting the same by the most modern methods is foolishly laying himself liable as well as contributing to the loss of other individuals. Whoever thoughtlessly leaves his check book in accessible places incurs the jeopardy of community and personal loss, seeing that “paper hangers” are vigilant in the search for these. A locked desk drawer is not sufficient protection as a “jimmy” will pry open any furniture lock.

As for confidence men, that satirical old saying “There’s a new sucker born every minute” is so true that the task of educating them all to the folly of entertaining get-rich-schemes is quite beyond the power of even a wise man. The shortest and safest rule for self protection against misrepresentation is “Don’t do it in a hurry.” Take your time; if the proposition is good it will keep for a day or so; besides it will bear full investigation. If you are considering the investment of any sum of money in somebody’s else scheme don’t be too proud or stubborn to seek the advice of a man of large affairs and unquestioned integrity—your banker, for instance, or your legal adviser. If you have no relations with either of these professions consult your friend. Anyway, take it easy, take it easy and don’t swallow the hook at one gulp. This will be especially difficult to avoid if your cupidity be aroused, provided, of course, you be burdened with such excess emotional baggage. If you make wagers with strangers or casual acquaintances you are a candidate for the mourner’s bench, and sometimes all your regrets and the best efforts of the police are of no avail to bring back a single dollar of your loss. You simply pay so much money for so little experience, which may be likened to a mule’s kick, not being worth anything when acquired.

As for pickpockets know these things: If you must carry money on your person carry it in an inside vest pocket, or nearer in yet if possible. And don’t keep your hand on it, nor feel of it every once in a while to see if it is still there, lest a pickpocket observe your concern is solicitous and shortly cause you to learn that it is not there but elsewhere; just where no man may be able to inform you.

Avoid crowds if you carry money on your person and do not be too eager in the press when boarding or alighting from street cars, when leaving a theatre or other public gathering, or when seeking a vantage point at a fire or other unusual spectacle. For it is in these places that they do it. It may be your house rent, or your entire savings, or your employer’s or your friend’s money that you are carrying, but if you must carry money don’t exhibit it nor get in a jamb. If you observe these suggestions the only opportunity the pickpocket will find to relieve you of valuables will be when you are intoxicated or hypnotized. Women who carry money in a hand purse or bag on the street, especially at night or in crowded places, run an even greater risk of loss than do men, for there are ten amateur pickpockets, maybe a score, to every one who by practice has acquired the skill necessary to extract valuables from the person, and the amateurs operate on women chiefly, finding little difficulty in opening a hand bag and extracting a purse therefrom in a jamb. The fairs and carnivals on the Pacific Coast in 1915 will call many of these gentry from the East.

Greater familiarity with the ways of criminals could be acquired if the department of public safety were provided with the means for organizing and maintaining a publicity bureau whose operatives should be charged with the duties of developing measures for preventing crime by circulating all the information available upon the subject. Against this proposal will be offered the objection that too many are already familiar with criminal methods. On the contrary, though, the fact of the matter is that too few are prepared by foreknowledge of the proper means for defeating the propagation of criminal actions.

The present system maintained by each community leans more toward a cleansing of the locality of criminals by “floating” them off to another locality than it does toward either prevention or permanent suppression of criminals. These delinquent ones are as much the nation’s wards as are the hundred-odd thousand dependent Indians or the insane. While a great step in advance of old customs has been taken by the adoption of the indeterminate sentence law, so long as the individual who has repeatedly demonstrated his propensities for moral obliquity is merely restrained and not improved both physically and intellectually just that long will he continue to be a thorn in the side of law-abiding society. And he will not be improved until you demand that he shall. When a man’s principles and actions square with each other you are impotent to convince him of his wrongness and your rightness; and if punishment, the punishment of confinement, cannot awaken a higher feeling of responsibility in the convict how can you hope to eradicate his evil by hiding it from your sight, by consigning him to a living limbo? This accusation against society’s present methods could not be made without fear of refutation if it could be shown that the ratio of criminals to population has diminished in the past fifty years. But it has increased rather than diminished, which points out the fact that there is a palpable flaw in the system of apprehending, convicting and imprisoning criminals at such tremendous expense. A sincerer effort must be made to lift up the delinquent if lasting good is to come from our peace measures within the house.