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About The news-review. (Roseburg, Or.) 1948-1994 | View Entire Issue (March 13, 1952)
Lack Of Space, Facilities, Pay Bring Headaches To City Police SECOND SECTION Eitoblithed 1873 ROSEBURG, OREGON THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1952 62-52 It ..y kw VV 0, o.v NIGHT PATROLMAN Meredith Freeman (left) takes call over police radio while Leif Hanson jots down notation on a police car's clip board or "hot sheet." V NT" J ; SANITARY FACILITIES at city jail afford little privacy and is subject of numerous complaints among prisoners. when you buy house point I rr . j i w . SIVP X HOUSE PAINT 1W " olosi w"' n am v ?- J SHERWIN-WuiTmJC SWPjMSEPAINT IS WEATHERATED for your protection AGAINST: A EjrtTAClwA I .... Ch.k8 ond Cot,l r , ' Every drop of SWp . of He rvp o( Zl enervia-WiUuuat label. .05 Prisoners Crowd Old Jail; Turnover Of Officers High By KEN METZLER It's tough to be a cop in Roseburg, and it's no picnic to be a criminal offender. Lack of such basic police handicaps the Roseburg force. But if they catch their man, he'll find jail isn't at all comfortable. Overcrowded conditions are readily apparent when the week end drunks and vagrants are stack ed behind the iron bars. As many as 31 prisoners have been held in the jail originally built tor five. Women for whom there are no facilities, are lodged in the county jail. That, and a lot of other things, are problems the Roseburg po lice force are faced with day after dav. Sometimes it make: officers want to quit their jobs in Rose burg and find employment else where. Low pay, inadequate facil ities and lack of space are the three major faults, officers say. Such was the upshot of a re cent discussion with the Roseburg department's night shift. Only three men Chief Ted Mazac, assistant Chief James Mc Alpine and Meter Maintenance Man Erwin Short have been on the police force for more than one year. The rest of the constantly-changing department is brand new at Roseburg, though some of ficers have had considerable ex perience elsewhere. Job Become Likeable Most officers like police work. Despite low pay inconveniences and odd wording hours, they'll tell vou it gets iu the blood to the point where they'd rather oe a policeman than eat well almost. inrougn expuneiu-c aim iiaimuK they soon come to be able to spot a drunk driver a mile away. He's either driving too slow, too fast or too erratically. They can spot offenders and wanted subjects, too, often just by the subject's reaction to the sight of a uniformed officer. Compared to other cities of sim ilar size, the officers say, Rose burg is fortunate in having few major crimes. It does, however, have the usual quota of drunks, drunk drivers, "yags," and other petty offenders. The patrolmen estimate that a good 90 per cent of the crimes here are the result or an aftermath of drinking. Included in this category are offenses like disorderly con duct, drunk driving, assault and battery, brawls and similar vio lations. . Sex offenses, rampant In many cities, are "unbelieveably low" here in the opinion of the police- But traffic tie-ups due largely to narrow, erratic streets, present a problem. Officers also state that street lighting in many of the city's residential areas is poor ana con ducive to prowling. Needed Items Listed But the main problem reverts to equipment. Sgt Harry demons, in charge of the 4 to midnight shift, says an $800 equipment al lowance would take care of the basic "must have" articles. These include such simple items as brooms and dustpans to sweep glass off streets after an accident; fingerprint equipment, a camera for taking evidence pictures, night sticks for each officer (there's only one in the entire department), tear gas for breaking disturbances and flushing subjects from buildings, flares, blankets, axes, measuring 't (V.lol "r certoln oro) per. needs as fingerprint equipment tapes, . gas masks the list could fo on for many paragraphs. The departent has none of these items. Citv Councilman Frank Ashley chairman of the council's police commission, told The News-Re view that $800 didn t seem unreas onable. Much of the problem and also the solution of the problem hinges on the city hall, built in the 1890s and condemned 25 years ago. The police department has ex panded since then but the build ing is as small as ever. As a result, ' space is at a premium, and simply doesn't exist for stor age of equipment and evidence. -- Furthermore, when some of the town's finest citizens are paying their overtime parking fines, of ficers' faces are rightfully red when they are forced to brine pris oners through the main office to the iail in the rear. Pay Scale Cited ' When an officer starts work . at Roseburg he's required to buy his own uniform a common practice for most small cities. He also must buy his own firearm, gun belt, handcuffs, ammunition ev erything, in fact, except the badge which is provided by the city. Rookie patrolmen start at S285 per month and after six months ar raised , K00 That., where the raises stop. A sergeant gets S3 15, assistant chief $330 and chief $350. The Roseburg department- con sists of 14 oersnns, including Chief Mazac, Assistant Chief McAlpine, Mcterman Short: three shift ser geants, Harry demons, Leif Han son, and Vernon Murdoch; Clerk Catherine demons; Night Patrolman-Clerk Lester Hogan; and six patrolmen, Vernon Zimmerman, joe Suiter, Meredith Freeman, Ed Katzmarek, John Brennan, and Carl Smith. In addition to Its usual role of arresting offenders, investigating crimes, and handling traffic, the police department provides infor mation, handles messages, and re turns lots of lost youngsters to their parents. - ... k . jCQlTiS yiOVOr' i ' Qgyif) DGlSOtGCl p C.m D!utl By The Amociated Preu Voters went to the polls in re cord numbers at municipal and other elections in cities and towns across Washington state Tuesday, with these main results: Seattle elected a new mayor but rejected fluoridation, a thorny is sue that had divided the city in the stormy pre-election campaign. Tacoma named a retired police captain public safety commissioner replacing James Kerr, who re signed after a bitter dispute with the city council. Everett apuarently turned down Archie T. Van Winkle, Congres sional Medal of Honor winner in his bid for a city council seat. And Yakima voters handed Pro gressive Education a seback by supporting a school board majority involved in a controversy with the school administration. Elections also were held in Bel lingham, Aberdeen, Bremerton, Port Angeles' and Renton, as well as 14 third class cities and 172 towns. Mayor Devin Unseated Approximately 155,000 votes a record high for a municipal elec tionwere cast in Seattle, where William F. Devin was unseated after 10 years as mayor. Complete unofficial returns gave the office to Allen Pomeroy, 45-year-old attorney who was Devin's unsuccessful opponent in the may oralty race four years ago. Pome roy polled 78,602 votes to 75,202 for Devin. Some 3,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted but there NOW! NEW LOCATION WE ARE NOW OPEN IN OUR NEW HOME AT 230 N. STEPHENS. For all your plumbing needs see or call . . . KIER-CROOCH PLUMBING CO. 230 NORTH STEPHENS DIAL 3-5 377 nnDDi'DDDDD'D, OVERCROWDED JAIL is routine to the city police foce. On the night this picture was token, 1 1 prisoners " ere lodged in the jail originally built to hold five. Extra prison ers are placed on top of cell block and on cots in front of LACK OF BEDDING at city (ail Is Illustrated by prisoner In picture at left who sandwiches himself between two mot- was little chance they would chance the result. Police Chief George Eastman was an incidental election casualty. Eastman, a Devin appointee, an- nounced he will resign when Pome- rov takes office in June. During the campaign Pomeroy promised he would fire Eastman if elected. Bond Issue Carries Seattle voters reelected four In cumbent city councilmcn but turn ed thumbs down on fluoridation of the city's water supply. They also approved an eight million dollar school bond issue but a 1 Mi mil lion dollar library bond issue ap parently lost because it lacked the required 60 per cent majority. In Tacoma's heated race for pub lic safety commissioner, William Farrar, a retired police captain lialfl a haitar than turn-fn-nno mar gin over Robert S. Tcmme, onetime salcty commissioner wno once re lieved Farrar as police chief. State T-B Hospital Enlargement Planned SALEM Wl The State Board!' of Control announced Tuesday it would call for bids in two or throe weeks on a ?7)D.0OO addition lo the Slate Tuberculosis Hospital in Salem. The project includes a $2ii4,000 employes dormitory and a $155,000 addition to the hospital's main Building. NOTICE WE WILL BE CLOSED FROM 2:00 P.M., FRIDA?, MARCH 14th, UNTIL 7:00 A.M., SATURDAY, MARCH 15th. UMPQUA HOTEL CZ! HI:; fUUUULil ran - M2 .1 S3 i S bM - i - , I - ''-: 't. . - .-1. m t 1 . Prt'.&X'y . , ; - ; f ; "' L, iMMM It i COMPLAINT is received by phone by Sgt. Harry Clemons, sitting before department's radio transmitter. Patrolmen Carl Smith and John Brennan check back records on inves igation. At upper left hangs the department's only night stick. COFFEE SHOP cell block. Record for city jail is 31 prisoners. Saturday nights usually see large number of prisoners, most of whom bail out by Sunday noon. (Staff pictures) resses while prisoner at right him warm. JOBLESS FUND UPPEO SALEM Wl T.ie Oregon Un employment Compensation Com mission's reserve fund gained $2,- J h 1 Ul Mil I 1 -r . . JOHN'S CURVE 3 Milet North of Myrtle Creek on Hiahwov 99 C3 125 f .CI Q ;1 j. 1 i s r -t C'N.,-.4 has only burlap sacks to keep 200,000 the past year, despite high er benefit payments. The fund now totals 7 million dollars. IN PEBSOM ALVINO REY AND HIS ORCHESTRA MARCH 15 Saturday Night v ri sji f 202 NORTH JACKSON PHONE 3-6628 r
