Barrett had forgotten he had told the press he had what he called “evidence tending to show perjury” on the subject of Captain Richitt. Chairman Davis of the House District Sub-Committee, before which the stink started, got into the act and announced he, too, had closed the book on the affair.
The terms of the deal apparently were such that neither Barrett nor Richitt are ever again to question the other’s activities. Some months before, evidence was brought forth that Richitt had bought seven autos in addition to the one he was driving during 27 post-war months, when civilians could get cars only in the black market. No explanation was volunteered by anyone, though Richitt had sold most of the cars as soon as he bought them.
Your authors know this is a common practice in police departments all over the country.
A sergeant of the Bridgeport, Connecticut, force was fired for similar activities. Many cops used their emergency priorities to order cars which they then transferred to dealers, without ever taking possession. The cops rarely handled the money. The dealer went with them to accept delivery and paid the purchase price, the cops chiseling from $500 to $1,000 on each transaction.
When we arrived in Washington to dig for this book, we asked: “Who makes the fixes?”
In other cities, contacts are closed with precinct, ward and district leaders of the political party in office. If you want to retail women, make book, land pickpocketing privileges or get a summons or a violation squared, you go to see this local boss.
If money is to be passed it goes through him. Many favors are granted in return for party loyalty, votes or campaign contributions. He takes care of those, too. The leader passes the word along to city hall, where it is relayed to the local police station. In some towns, Chicago for example, the channels are short-circuited in advance, so the leader can go direct to his police captain.
But what happens in Washington, where there are no voters, so there are no district leaders? How do you fix the cops? Who is the collector?
Some naive Washingtonians said there is no such thing. There is no collecting. There is no graft.
That is cockeyed. The payoff is through the local police captain, who acts as the collector for anyone in the District Government who is to be fixed. The captain retains his own percentage of the boodle, plus anything he can steal, then passes the balance up above, through the regularly established channels.