Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1932, Part 4

Author: Fairhaven (Mass.)
Publication date: 1932
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 166

USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1932 > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Appreciation and a Growing Need

I take this means of expressing publicly my appreciation of the co-operation our townspeople have shown the department in furnishing information for use in our work. I want to public- ly thank the other departments of the Town for help given the department in the forms of free service, information, and equip- ment loans. For some years the New Bedford Police Depart- ment has answered our every need for ambulance service in emergencies. The City of New Bedford has given Fairhaven

this service free of charge and with no expectation of any return. Faced with a decreased budget and the problem of meeting New Bedford emergencies when their equipment is being used in Fairhaven, New Bedford is beginning to feel that we should make some effort toward securing equipment of our own. In appreciation of New Bedford's generosity in the past and their present problems it seems only fitting that I recommend the acquisition of suitable ambulance equipment at the first oppor- tunity.

Misnomers

My financial report this year differs from that of other years in that I have presented in one amount those items which were formerly classified as either Patrol Duty or Investigating. My budget did not permit both follow-up and preventative work. Complaints and reports requiring investigation pouring into the station left me no alternative but to assign to investigations men who would have otherwise acted as patrolmen and gone about the highly important duties pursuant to crime prevention. A careful analysis of the following pages will reveal that the de- partment's accomplishments are almost entirely attributable to follow-up work and that the true functions of patrolmen were executed on only a skeleton plan. To speak of the regular of- ficers as patrolmen under these conditions would be far from the truth.

During the past year I have been amazed by the number of persons who have considered the department's expenditures for Clerical Work as being the pay of ordinary business house clerks doing routine work and being of minor value in the conduct of police business. I definitely assert that any such idea as this is absolutely wrong. The men paid as "clerks" operate a system of records that is mentioned in the next section of this report. They are men with considerable training and experience in law. They are men with years of experience in contact with the public in private and public enterprises. This experience, training, their experience in the department, and their mental and physi- cal qualities have made them men who command the respect and esteem of all whom they so faithfully serve. Throughout the year these officers are sought out by men and women for advice, information, and help; by young men and young women in need of a helpful word, encouragement, advice, a confidante, or a friend ; by children who have lost their toys, clothing, or mother. The places of these men in the department are properly those of ranking officers; their places in the community are those of humanitarians. The continued growth of the department's busi- ness will require a larger expenditure to carry on the work of the office; but this increase is not for pay increases. Among those who do extra "clerical" work for the department are one

of the most able statisticians in town and an equally able draughtsman. These lines of work are required at police head- quarters occasionally. All of these workers are residents, tax- payers, and voters in Fairhaven and are most certainly deserving of at least a living wage and whatever honor may be bestowed upon them.

Complete System Required to Meet Public's Needs

The department does many things not mentioned in the following pages. I am required by law to file a monthly report and a yearly report with the Bureau of Investigation of the De- partment of Justice at Washington. The law also requires that a monthly report be filed with the Massachusetts Commissioner of Correction. The Commissioner allows this report to be filed on a yearly basis; but preparing the report involves much work, and it covers the criminal year which does not coincide with the calendar year. A monthly report is compiled for the Fair- haven Safety Council. It can be seen that these requirements and the anticipation of the hundreds of state inquiries made at the police station in the course of a year combined with countless other reasons calls for the keeping of systematic records. I. am proud to report that investigators visiting the department frequently comment Fairhaven's system. In previous years two men were able to handle the office work in the department; but this year's growth in business has made as many as three extra people necessary at times to keep the records up-to-date.

Expensive Savings and Paying the Way

I am reminding you for a moment that the Town Meeting Members voting at the 1932 Annual Town Meeting apparently did not understand the needs of this department and appro- priated $1,000 less than you gentlemen recommended. This made necessary, in order to operate anywhere near within the appropriation, a "saving" in Traffic Duty of $627.50. The cost of this "saving" was 27 more accidents and 41 more persons injured. This is a showing which speaks for itself, and becomes all the more significant when we realize that there were 59,000 fewer motor vehicles on the highways in 1932.

We have conclusive evidence that the amount spent for investigating and Patrol Duty was exceedingly small. I ask you to consider the many services rendered by investigating officers and patrolmen, and to consider also that just ONE of these services paid for the entire cost of Investigating and Patrol Duty and other phases of police work besides. Investigating officers and patrolmen received $9,661.88 during the year and property recovered during the year amounted to $9,805.74.

For those readers who are interested in comparing expend- itures with results I have assembled the following facts from police records :

Reports, calls and Complaints

Patrol Duty & Investigating

Thefts

Recoveries

1929

4,011

$5,415.82

$117,000.57

$109,000.33

1930

22,497

$9,772.25

$6,429.62

$16.524.35

1931

32,380

$10,135.72

$4,777.26

$4.503.40

1932

38,236

$9,661.88

$9,629.92

$9,805.74

Needs of the Townspeople and the Department

Because I believe the townspeople want and need to have themselves and their property adequately protected; because I believe that the taxpayers are willing to spend a reasonable amount to give both themselves and the officers a square deal; and because indications point to a further increase in police business in 1933, I earnestly appeal to you gentlemen and the other Town Meeting Members for an appropriation of at least twenty thousand dollars for 1933. There is no sound reason to either assume or hope that the affairs of the department can be properly conducted for this amount; but I have set this figure as a mimimum with full confidence that the amount voted will be enough more than this to insure adequate police protection for the Town of Fairhaven.

Respectfully submitted, WALTER H. FRANCIS Chief of Police.

To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :

Gentlemen :

On the attached sheets please find the report of offenses, arrests, and other criminal information concerning the year 1932.

You will also note that the report covers the other work of the department.

Yours respectfully, WALTER H. FRANCIS, Chief of Police.

1932 POLICE DEPARTMENT EXPENDITURES

Chief Walter H. Francis

$2,760.01

Albert C. Aiken and his Estate

138.75

Interpreting 2.00

Investigating and Patrol Duty

9,661.88

Clerical Work, day and night

3,468.40

Traffic Duty

612.00

Policing Town Hall

91.00

Policing Parks

61.50

Police Duty

103.20

Flashlights, batteries, and bulbs

27.65

Equipment for Men

12.80

Telephones

352.67

Auto Hire (Insane case)

9.00

Wrecker Hire

2.50

Taxi Hire

20.50

Automobile Hire (Regular Work)

2.00

Maintenance of Automobiles and Motorcycles 563.15

42.50

Birth Certificate

.25

Stationery, Postage, and Express

57.66

Physicians

50.00

Court-Imposed Expenses

36.80

Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1932, Part 4

Author: Fairhaven (Mass.) Publication date: 1932 Publisher: Number of Pages: 166

Author: Fairhaven (Mass.)
Publication date: 1932
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 166