“TIPPED OFF” RAIDS.
In violation of their oaths, the police daily hand the public that is paying their salaries over to the gamblers.
Often they are compelled by public demand or through some newspaper to raid places which are running flagrantly. Frequently, as has been shown, the keepers of the places are “tipped off” before the raid is “pulled.” The keepers leave a “blind” to impersonate them and “ringers” to appear as customers. These men are arrested with a great flourish and blowing of trumpets by the police. They are fined. The fines are readily paid by the real gamblers who are thankful to the police for the advance information given them.
STRANGE IGNORANCE OF POLICE.
The police pretend not to know of the existence of gambling places, as evidenced by the recent statement of a high police official when formally asked by his superior if he knew of any gambling in his district. He declared he did not know the location of one place and was sure there was no gambling in his district.
A day later the Mayor of Chicago, angered at the fact that the gamblers were flaunting their trade in the face of the public, and while a gambling and police investigation was under way, ordered that a policeman be stationed in every gambling house in the district of that police official.
Strange to say, although he had sworn he knew of no gambling, when he realized that the Mayor meant business, he mysteriously found nineteen gambling places that same night and stationed men in them. That is one of the laughable inconsistencies of the police department.
One of the policemen, assigned to the work of standing guard over a gambling house when questioned about the matter, said:
“Of course we all knew these places were here and running full blast. But that wasn’t the question. I have been a policeman for fifteen years and I haven’t been asleep all that time. I have learned that the policeman must not obey the law written in the statutes. He must follow the tacit customs of the department. A policeman must never make a move until he is told to do so. If he does, he finds he is treading on some big man’s toes and then the transfer slip comes to him soon.”