Police Commissioners Ban Lunch in Saloons
After an officer is fired for drinking on the job, the commission issues a strict new rule prohibiting police from using saloons for meals.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The special meeting of the police commissioners last evening was confined to the investigation of charges against Officer M. Jaycox, which resulted in his dismissal, and the adoption of a new resolution regarding where officers shall eat. The charges against Jaycox were preferred by Chief Jackson, who claimed he was intoxicated and drank whisky in the Kentucky saloon on Front street. Jaycox denied the charges, claiming he only went there for lunch. Commissioner Cheassy announced the dismissal of Jaycox from the force, and read the following resolution: 'Resolved, That while police officers should enter saloons when necessary on official business, yet the procuring of lunches by police officers in saloons is not a part of their official duties and will be hereafter considered a breach of discipline.'
“The procuring of lunches by police officers in saloons is not a part of their official duties and will be hereafter considered a breach of discipline.”
This 1893 crackdown on police conduct reflects the ongoing tension between law enforcement's presence in neighborhood nightlife and the expectation of professional detachment. The 'Kentucky Saloon' mentioned was located on what is now First Avenue, a site that has seen over a century of shifting standards for policing and public vice.
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